My Spidey-Thing Is Tingling 

Publisher: Activision Developer: Neversoft Genre: Action Release: November 21st, 2000 Buy Now 

Fear not scarred super fans a truly great superhero game has finally arrived!!!! I first played this gem on the PSone and immediately knew that there was something different about this electronic device. The freedom to web-sling everywhere is euphoric and the fluidity is awesome! I never really liked Spider-Man before but I sure do love his game! (I never  liked any comic book heroes for that matter.) Imagine this game as Metal Gear Solid meets Spidey. You can crawl on walls, ceilings, buildings, pipes, everything! It is just too much fun to play as Spider-Man. This game excels in one thing and it is gameplay. Ever heard of gameplay THQ? Hehe, of course you haven't. 

Graphics

Not the best but not Superman. (Thank god.) The character animations are right on and rival those of MGS and other high profile games. There are some drawbacks that I'll go ahead and point out. Firstly I found myself magically stuck in the floors and walls or even in a vertical item such as a pole or something. Also the draw-rate of the game is quite horrid considering the N64 could do much better, i.e. Conker, Zelda etc. Ultimately my main complaints come from the city levels that unfortunately include terrible pop-up. To be honest though these graphic problems don't detract from the game at all. It just would have been nice to have some icing on the cake.

Sound

We all know the N64 has a sound chip slightly better than the Game Boy's but recently developers have gotten a lot out of the dated machine. Conker had beautifully orchestrated music and Spider-Man continues this trend. The only problem lies within the voices. Much of the cinemas were edited due to the large amount of voice acting but they did manage to keep quite a bit intact. The game uses cool "comic book" style interludes to relay the story to us. Like I mentioned before the music is a story all itself. While it is very clear and powerful it is on the repetitive side. The guitar riffs are thick, chunky and original but I wonder if they couldn't have included more. Not really a complaint but a request. I loved the music and never found myself annoyed at hearing the same song a hundred times when I died 99 times. Overall a good effort on Neversoft's part.

Gameplay

Ah, here is where the game shines. If you are looking for the premier adventure game to hold you over awhile until GameCube arrives then this is it. There are a great amount of levels with some nice challenges that should keep any veteran busy. The controls could take some getting used to and luckily there are a varied amount of settings. For the younger players there is a "Kid Mode", which compresses all the commands to fewer buttons for an easier game playing experience. Easy, Normal and Hard mode require gamer's to learn different techniques with the web-slinger that include throwing your enemies and shooting a ball of webbing at them. Half of the game's fun is using these different moves because they look so damned cool. As brilliant as the game is it has one glaring flaw, the camera. I found myself crawling up a tunnel only to have the camera and Spidey change direction. Not only that but Spidey will never change his direction unless you let go of the controls and start again. I feel this is something they didn't find crucial enough to change but I ran into this problem too many times!! Other than that I have to say the boss battles are quick and ferocious and the game moves at a smooth pace. Fast and furious action at its best!

Longevity

You will play this game through more than once. When you finish the game you receive a few "gifts" like the symbiote suit that lets Spider-Man use unlimited webbing. Other suits and codes are at the bottom of this page. Another feature is collecting several authentically labeled comic books throughout the game. It is nice to see the history of Spidey. I think the replay value rest in the game itself. Simply crawling on ceilings then falling down on your enemy and strangling him to death is a rush of pure joy! The game is part stealth and part action with a touch of comedy. You'll come back to this game time and time again. Not only that but Stan Lee makes a guest appearance as the narrator. This is a great package that you should not miss. 

Overall: 80%

-Clay Withrow

Codes

Unlock Ben Reilly Costume

DA CLONE

Unlock Captain Universe Costume

POWCOSMIC

Unlock Peter Parker Costume

MISTERMJ

Unlock Quick Change Spidey Costume

GTATNKFST

Unlock Scarlet Spidey Costume

SPID INRED

Unlock Spider-Man 2099 Costume

SPTWOKNN

Unlock Spidey Unlimited Costume

LIMITED ED

Unlock Symbiote Spidey Costume

SYMBSPID