Spider-Man video games

There are numerous electronic games featuring the popular Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man that have been released. To date, Spider-Man has made appearances on over 15 gaming platforms, which also includes mobile games on cellphones.

Late 1970s-1980s

The Marvel Comics superhero "Spider-Man" was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in "Amazing Fantasy" #15 (August 1962).

By the late 1970s, Spider-Man had become a successful franchise. At this time the fictional character had already featured in two animated series ("Spider-Man" and "Spidey Super Stories" (1974) and a live-action series "The Amazing Spider-Man" (1978). As a result of the success, Marvel Comics licensed the character into a stream of electronic games.

1978 games

In 1978, Scott Adams released the second in the Questprobe series of text adventure games. The second in the series was titled "Questprobe #2 Spider-Man", and involved Spider-Man hunting for a series of gems at the behest of a mysterious character named the "Chief Examiner." An updated version of the game was released in 1984. The game was ported to the Commodore 64 [http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=2053] , Commodore 16 [http://www.commodore16.com/Games.htm] ,Atari 8-bit family [http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?MENU=8&VERSION_ID=13384] , ZX Spectrum [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0006855] , PC, Amstrad CPC, and the Apple II.

1982 game from Atari 2600

In 1982, Parker Brothers published a game for the Atari 2600 (and released on the clone Sears Video Game System)Fact|date=February 2007 titled "Spider-Man". The action game involves climbing a sky scraper, rescuing hostages and defusing bombs set by the Green Goblin. It supports two players.

1989 games

In 1989, "Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom's Revenge" was released for PC-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 [http://www.mobygames.com/game/dr-dooms-revenge] . The game was written by Paragon Software Corporation, and published by Medallist (a subsidiary of MicroProse). The story of the game is told in a series of comic panels, with the game play similar to that of "Street Fighter": The player, as either Captain America or Spider-Man, battles villains one-on-one until facing Doctor Doom.

In December 1989, "Revenge of Shinobi" was released on the Sega Mega Drive. The game's boss battles feature comic book characters including Spider-Man and Batman. Initially, Spider-Man was included without consent from Marvel, but when the game was released for the Sega CD, it does give credit to Marvel and edited the Batman character so as to avoid a possible lawsuit.

1990s

In the 1990s, comics enjoyed a boom, and the early 1990s saw a myriad of video games based on high-profile comic story lines and the 1994 "Spider-Man" animated series.

1990

The first game of the decade released was "The Amazing Spider-Man", a puzzle oriented action game developed by Oxford Digital Enterprises and released in 1990 for the Amiga, then later ported to PC:DOS, Commodore 64, and Atari ST. The title was published by Paragon Software Corporation and features over 250 screens! [ [http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/amazing-spider-man Moby Games] ]

Nintendo Game Boy

The next game released was a trilogy for the newly introduced Nintendo Game Boy. The first developed was released in 1991 by Rare titled "The Amazing Spider-Man". The game was published by LJN (a subsidiary of Acclaim), the first of a series of games published based on licensed Marvel characters. The game play involves running across New York chasing supervillains to locate Mary Jane Watson. [ [http://spiderman.ugo.com/?cur=video-games UGO.com Spider-Man Game Guide] ]

The second Game Boy game, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was released the following year and was developed by B.I.T.S. The game is a side-scrolling beat-'em up. Spider-Man attempts to clear his name after he is accused of a crime committed by the Hobgoblin. In 1993, B.I.T.S. released the third in the series titled, "".

Australian company Beam Software's 1991 game "" for the Game Boy features Spider-Man, although the character's involvement is negligible. The game is much like "Operation Wolf", with the Punisher shooting villains while protecting the innocent. Spider-Man appears between the action to offer advice on how to beat upcoming levels and swings in to rescue hostages once their captors have been shot.

Games for the Sega family of consoles

In 1990, "Spider-Man" was released for the first time on the Sega family of consoles. The game, "The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin", developed and published by Sega, premiered on the Sega Master System and was later ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991, the Sega Game Gear in 1992, and the Sega Mega-CD in 1993. Fundamentally, the game is the same on each platform with each iteration including new levels, enhanced graphics and a few incremental improvements to the game play. The story involves Spider-Man trying to collect six keys from six villains to defuse a bomb in New York planted by the Kingpin. Spider-Man has a finite supply of webfluid and the only way to replenish is to take photos, most profitably of the supervillains, to sell to the "Daily Bugle".

In 1991, "" was released for coin-operated arcades. Developed by Sega on the Sega System 32 hardware, the game is a four-player, platform beat-'em-up similar to Data East's "Captain America and the Avengers" released earlier that year. The player plays as Spider-Man, Black Cat, Namor the Sub-Mariner, or Hawkeye, with the game divided into four acts.

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System had already been the platform for several video games featuring Marvel super heroes. However, it wasn’t until 1992 that Spider-Man was among them. The game, "" developed by B.I.T.S., (responsible for the previous Nintendo Game Boy titles) was an action platform game that involved Spider-Man swinging across various levels to defeat each one of the Sinister Six; Electro, Sandman, Mysterio, Hobgoblin, Vulture and Doctor Octopus. Ports to the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear followed in 1993 and sported enhanced graphics and sound.

ega Mega Drive/Genesis and Super NES

"" the first Spider-Man cross platform game released on both Nintendo’s and Sega's 16-bit hardware. Despite the title, it isn't an arcade title - as that was merely the name of the game's villain. It was first developed for Super NES in 1992 by Software Creations (who went on to produce several games for Marvel) and published by LJN. The game was later ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1993. The game involves rescuing four of the mutant superhero X-Men (Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Gambit) from an assassin named Arcade. The player must navigate Spider-Man in search of the captured heroes (who join Spider-Man when found), fighting a variety of super villains. Software Creations later adapted the game to the Game Boy in 1993 and to Game Gear in 1994.

Major comic book storylines adapted into video games

During the mid 1990s, Marvel had two major comic book storylines adapted to a video game by Software Creations the first being, ' released on Super Nintendo and Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994 and the second, ' for Super Nintendo, Mega Drive/Genesis and PC the following year. "Maximum Carnage" was released to much hype with the Super Nintendo and Mega Drive/Genesis cartridges sporting a blood red color and achieved a high level of critical and commercial success. The sequel was released to less fanfare but still managed to succeed to a certain degree. Both games were side scrolling beat-'em up action games where you played as either Spider-Man or Venom fighting various villains from the comic book plotlines.

"" was released for the Super Nintendo only in Japan, very loosely based on the mini-series "Lethal Foes of Spider-Man".

"Spider-Man: The Animated Series"

1995 saw the beginning of a range of software incorporating elements form the critically acclaimed ' with a video game developed by Western Technologies and published by Acclaim titled, '. The game was released for the Super Nintendo and the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. The game play was similar to most titles of this decade, it was a side scrolling action platformer. The game features six levels: a Laboratory, Construction sight, Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island, a showdown in a Penthouse, and Ravencroft Asylum. The game features twenty bosses: Owl, Mysterio, Beetle, Jack O'Lantern, Shocker, Chameleon, Venom, Vulture, Rhino, the Lizard, Alien Spiderslayer, Tri-Spider Slayer, Alistair Smythe, Scorpion, Hammerhead, Doctor Octopus, Hydro Man, the Tinkerer, and the Green Goblin. The game also features the Fantastic Four. Another game titled "Spider-Man the Animated Series" was released for the Sega Genesis it was developed by Acclaim.

Tiger's LCD games

Over the years Tiger has released several LCD Spider-Man games. [ [http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/Spiderman.htm Tiger Spiderman ] ]

"Spider-Man Cartoon Maker"

In 1995, Knowledge Adventure released "Spider-Man Cartoon Maker" a software package that allowed the user to create films by utilising an archive of backdrops, animations and props from "Spider-Man: The Animated Series". The game featured the voice of Christopher Daniel Barnes, who played Spider-Man in the series.

"Marvel CD-ROM Comics featuring Spider-Man"

That same year Marvel attempted to release classic comic books onto CD-ROM. Only four were every produced, based on Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. The Spider-Man one titled, "Marvel CD-ROM Comics featuring Spider-Man" included animation from the series, trivia games, and four complete issues of the comic narrated by Christopher Daniel Barnes.

Capcom's arcade fighting games

As a result of the success of Capcom's fighting game ', Capcom developed "Marvel Super Heroes" for the CPS II arcade hardware in 1995 and later ported to Sega Saturn and PlayStation. An unrelated action game titled ' was also released for the SNES in vgy|1996. The game involves utilizing each of the Marvel superheroes through each of their levels to collect one of the Gems needed to complete the game. The SNES features Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Wolverine and Spider-Man

After "X-Men" and "Marvel Super Heroes", a partnership between Marvel and Capcom began, combining the two universes into the "Marvel vs. Capcom" fighting game series. Spider-Man would appear as a playable character in "Marvel Super Heroes", as well as "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter" in 1997, ' in 1998 and their last ' in 2000. Venom also appeared as a playable character in the latter two games. See [http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Marvel_vs._Capcom/Characters/Spider-Man Spider-Man's Marvel vs. Capcom] entry at [http://strategywiki.org/ StrategyWiki.org] for more information.

"Spider-Man: Web of Fire"

"" was developed by Harutyun Zatikian in 1996 and more notably published by Sega for the Sega 32X, as one the final titles for the add-on. This game marks the return of Sega publishing a Spider-Man console game since "Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin", with Acclaim actually not publishing it, possibly representing a fallout between Marvel and Acclaim as no later product were published by them. The game is a platform action game similar to the previous Sega title, "Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin" but this time teams up with Daredevil to prevent the invading forces of HYDRA from taking over New York City. The game is broken into six levels with featuring bosses; Eel, Tangle, and the Super-adaptoid. Even though the game itself can be regarded as flawed - due to excessive difficulty, poor controls, and bland visuals - it nonetheless usually reaches well over U$100 on eBay, for being one of the rarest 32X titles.

Developer Brooklyn Multimedia used the Spider-Man license in an atypical genre of video game, namely an adventure game titled, "". The game was released in 1996 and published by Byron Preiss Multimedia. The game allowed the user to choose their own path the narrative to go and allowed the user to interact with characters as Peter Parker, collect items, and included various puzzles and a range of boss battles in the form of mini games. The game was considered easy, unless understood it was targeted for young children.

"Marvel Creativity Center"

"Marvel Creativity Center" released in 1997 for both PC and Apple Mac by Cloud 9 Interactive teaches the user how to create comics, the 'Marvel Way' with Stan Lee and Spider-Man acting as guides. The "story" involves Marvel studios being infiltrated by a mystery villain who has broken contact with all the regular Marvel artists and writers, leaving it up to the user to plot, script, illustrate and letter a comic.

2000s

Throughout the late 1990s, Marvel Comics suffered an industry slump with Marvel filing for bankruptcy, which explains the lack of "Spider-Man" games towards the end of the late 1990s. However by 2000, Marvel was profitable again and was gearing up to drop the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system. They began seriously licensing its characters for major feature film adaptations (with the commercially successful "X-Men" film premiering on July 14, 2000). By the late 2000s, new Spider-Man games were in the works, being published by Activision to this day.

Early Sony PlayStation and Game Boy Color games

As a symbolic gesture of Marvel's return the development of two separate "Spider-Man" titles for Sony PlayStation and Game Boy Color were announced. Neversoft's PlayStation iteration was highly successful. Enhanced versions were ported by other developers to the Nintendo 64 in 2000 and PC CD-ROM and the Dreamcast in 2001. A sequel, ' was released in 2001 for the PlayStation and developed by Vicarious Visions. A sequel to the Game Boy Color version, ' (not related to the NES Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six) was also released in 2001 and was developed by Torus Games.

The PlayStation Spider-Man utilized the same engine as "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2" (released September 2000) which was also developed by Neversoft. As an easter egg, developer Neversoft Entertainment included the ability to play as "Spider-Man" if the player achieved a high level of success in 'career mode'.

When the Game Boy Advance launched one of the earliest titles released was "" developed and published by Activision in 2001.

In September 2001, "Spider-Man" made a small appearance as one of the fighters in the fighting game by Paradox Development, "" for Sony PlayStation.

"Spider-Man" (film) and "Spider-Man 2" games

As the live-action "Spider-Man" movie was released in 2002, a game developed by Treyarch titled, "" was developed for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube with a separate title developed by Digital Eclipse Software for Game Boy Advance. The game play was similar to that of Neversoft's previous Spider-Man game, except it featured for the first time aerial combat, and to an extent allowed the user to 'web sling' over New York openly, although not being able to land on the ground below. The game sported the voice of the actors from the film, including Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, cult icon Bruce Campbell, and including Josh Keaton as Harry Osborn and in a bonus story-mode where he wears Harry's Green Goblin gear.

After the critical success of both the first Spider-Man film and the video game releases, Marvel ordered a wider selection of titles to coincide with the release of "Spider-Man 2". The flagship titles being Treyarch's "" for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube, which extended the open environment concept started by their previous title. Unlike the previous generation of games based on the film, Treyarch's game was not released for the PC, and in its stead was an original game developed by Fizz Factor. The reasons for this remain unclear, and Fizz Factors game did not include the open environment game play as seen in Treyarch's game and appeared to be targeted towards a younger audience, despite the game being marketed the same as the console release. Later, in 2005, another version of "Spider-Man 2", this time for Sony's new handheld, the PlayStation Portable; which debuted in the first quarter of the year along with the system, was released. The PSP verison of Spider-Man 2 was the first action games for the PSP, Spider-Man has to stay at a certain height, and Vulture is exclusive to the PSP verison.

A game was also released alongside the Fizz Factor PC game titled, "Spider-Man 2 Activity Center", featuring puzzles and mini games clearly targeted at young children.

ony Pictures Mobile games

Sony Pictures Mobile released a Spider-Man game for wireless phone in 2003. The game was such a success that a number of titles were planned to be released alongside with the "Spider-Man 2" film. Some titles were delayed and are slowly being released. Current titles include; "Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock" (May 2004) (a multi-level action-adventure game where Spider-Man battles Doc Ock), "Spider-Man 2 Pinball" (May 2004) (virtual pinball game, themed with Spider-Man & Doc Ock characters), "Spider-Man 2 3D: NY Subway" (April 2005) (The player acts as Spider-Man as he leaps, swings and soars through the city, defeating thugs and ultimately facing off with Doc Ock. The 3D games feature superior graphics and sound and showcase the advanced capabilities of new mobile handsets.) and "Spider-Man 2 Text Messaging Games" (Players must show their knowledge of Spider-Man trivia and navigate through a mission-based text game). Other hand handheld versions developed appeared on the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance by Vicarious Visions and Nokia N-Gage by Backbone Entertainment.

JakksTVGames

In November 2004, in time for Christmas JakksTVGames released an all inclusive controller that includes an ATV input jack, to operate as a console plugged straight into a TV. It was titled "Spider-Man Controller with 5 TV Games", and as the name suggests includes five original video games each with a different goal; "Streets of the City", "Doc Ock Horror", "Green Goblin's Escape", "Venom's Vindication" and "Rogues Gallery".

Micro Games of America

Additionally, Micro Games of America towards the end of 2004 released a portable LCD game, titled "Spider-Man 2". Sony Pictures has also released, their own LCD game, titled "Spider-Man 2 Hand Held Game" and a virtual reality head set portable game titled, "Spider-Man 2 VR 3D".

"Spider-Man & Friends"

As 2005 began, Activision released "Spider-Man & Friends" for PC. It was developed by their internal company, Activision Value and targeted towards young children. It featured action game based gameplay with various puzzles used as a learning tool. In March, Activision Value released their second title based on the Spider-Man franchise, "Spider-Man Print Studio". The software allows the user to print various calendars, posters, bookmarks, flyers, door hangers, and masks from a library of pre-existing Spider-Man themed art, with Spider-Man as a guide to show the user the software.

"Ultimate Spider-Man"

"Ultimate Spider-Man" based on the Marvel Comics' Ultimate Spider-Man was released on September 22, 2005 for GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PC, Mobile Phones, and Game Boy Advance. In this game, players get to play both hero Spider-Man and fan-favorite villain Venom in their own storylines. The game also introduces the new Comic Inking Animation technology, cel shading that makes the entire game appear as if it were a living comic-book. The writing and art design for Ultimate Spider-Man were done by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, respectively, who both have worked on the comic book series of the same name since it was launched. The game's plot line also supposedly fits into the USM chronology, with issues 86 - 88 being advertised dealing with the aftermath of the events of the game. However, the issues did not deal with the game, and in fact had several continuity errors with the game (E.g. Silver Sable not knowing who Spider-Man is) and until Venom shows up again, it is open to interpretation where the game takes place.

"Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects"

Also in September 2005, "" was released, which includes both Spider-Man and Venom as playable characters. The game was released for Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS.

A spiritual sequel to "Marvel Nemesis" was scheduled for release. A preview of the game was released containing a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Doom, but due to the end of the partnership between EA and Marvel the game was cancelled.

"Marvel: Ultimate Alliance"

Spider-Man is a featured playable character in "" voiced by Quinton Flynn. The Scarlet Spider is an alternate costume for Spider-Man outside of his Classic, Symbiote, and Stark Armor costumes. Outside of playable character status, he is seen in the cutscenes with Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine. Spider-Man has special dialogue with various characters ranging from Dark Spider-Man and Dark Thor, Henry Pym, Lizard, Lockjaw, Mysterio, Rhino, Scorpion, and Shocker. A simulation disk has Spider-Man defending Dum Dum Dugan from Scorpion while on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega Base.

"Spider-Man: Battle for New York"

This Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance video game "" was set in the Marvel Ultimate universe. Spider-Man is voiced by James Arnold Taylor.

"Spider-Man 3"

The "Spider-Man 3" game was released at the same time as the film. The game is on all formats, with the PlayStation 3 receiving a Collector's Edition featuring an exclusive playable character - Harry Osborn's "New Goblin" persona. The black suit was handled differently by the different development teams that worked on the game, with some opting to keep the player in the costume until a certain point in the game whilst other versions of the game utilised the suit in a more strategic fashion, allowing the player to don or remove the costume while suffering side effects appropriate to how much the suit is worn. In October 2007, the New Goblin was released onto the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, making the PC version of "Spider-Man 3", besides the PS2 and Wii, the only version developed by Treyarch not to have the New Goblin as a playable character (Excluding fight against Sandman).

In 2007, two "Spider-Man 3" games were released for mobile devices, developed by Javaground USA and produced by Sony Online Entertainment. [http://webstart.mpowerplayer.com/content.mpowerplayer.com/hosting/sonypictures.com/SpiderMan3.jad "Spider Man 3 Action"] was released early in the year, followed by "Spider-Man 3 Puzzle" a few months later.

"Spider-Man: Friend or Foe"

"" was released on October 2, 2007 for X-box 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PC, PSP and Nintendo DS where Spider-Man is voiced by James Arnold Taylor. The game is a different take on the three films, adding humor and story changes. Players can team up with a number of super villans from the comics, including Venom, Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Sandman, Rhino, Prowler, Black Cat, Lizard etc.

tern Pinball game

Stern Pinball has developed a Spider-Man pinball machine that encompasses all three Spider-Man theatrical releases, due for release June 2007. This machine is designed by Steve Ritchie and programmed by Lyman Sheats.

Future games

Another Spider-Man game titled "" has been announced by Activison, and an official trailer has been released [ [http://ps3.ign.com/articles/867/867061p1.html Activision announces new 'Spider-Man' title] ] .

Additionally, on June 15, 2008, fourteen potential Spider-Man titles were announced, ranging from "Spider-Man: Agile Warrior" (a Wii-exclusive game which uses the Wii Balance Board to control Spider-Man) to "Spider-Man: Webslinger" (a game which claims to take full advantage of Spider-Man's web-slinging powers), as well as many more [ [http://kotaku.com/5016625/spider+man-wii-games-to-use-wii-fit-balance-board-web-shooter-controllers Spider-Man Wii games to use Wii Fit Balance Board, Web-Shooter Controllers] ] .Spider-Man will also be in the upcoming "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2".

ee also

* Spider-Man movie game series

References

External links

* [http://webstart.mpowerplayer.com/content.mpowerplayer.com/hosting/sonypictures.com/SpiderMan3.jad SpiderMan3 Action Demo] for Mobile - developed by Javaground
*moby game|id=-group/spider-man-licensees|name=Spider-Man games
* [http://www.spiderfan.org/software/index.html Spider-Man software at Spiderfan.org]
* [http://www.gamespot.com/features/vgs/universal/spidey_hist/ History of Spider-Man Games at Gamespot]
* [http://spiderman.ugo.com/games/ UGO.com's Spider-Man Hub]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6298415732364727022 Spider-Man pinball video]