What is it like being behind a super-hero's mask? Well, sure, nowadays we know thanks to titles like Infamous, Prototype (yeah, Alex and Cole do not need masks) and Batman: AA, but what about during the PSone era? You did not get that pleasant and exciting shiver of adrenaline pumped action that accompanied the pages of a comic book. Against all odds, in the year 2000, a game was released that made comic book fans everywhere explode in their pants.

Spiderman does not bother with the origins of the characters and that is good cause everyone knows the deal (and even if they don't, the game provides you with info in the unlockable extras) Instead, it features a non-canon, exclusive for the game story. A reformed Doctor Octavius revels at his latest scientific breakthrough at an expo in the beginning of the new millennium. Peter also attends the event and still remains skeptical of the Doc's true motives. Then to everyone's surprise, including Pete's for that matter, Spiderman appears on stage, knocks the security guards out and takes off with Octavius' invention. Unable to get into costume until the imposter is long gone, Spidey has to clear his name, retrieve the device and solve the mystery of a strange fog that circles the streets of New York. A carefully coordinated plot surfaces that takes our hero to the greatest heights and bowels of the city and makes him face ghosts of his past that once again, come back to haunt him in the worst way possible.

Activision used the Tony Hawk engine to deliver 3Dmensional environments that not only revisited the Marvel Universe but also expanded it. Daily Bugle, The Lizard's Lair and more. They all look great and shrouded in the comic book feel. The stages are unique in every aspect, from the buildings and secret locations to the henchmen and different creatures you have to defend yourself against in each area. The movement in the game is not restricted in anyway but there is a certain path that you have to follow in each mission. Most of them are in the style go from point A to B, with the exceptions of the bosses and some other notable levels in story mode. That is not a bad thing, oh no sir. There are no invisible walls and the levels are fairly linear when taken individually but in a whole, they vary incredibly. At one time, you find yourself trying to evade snipers and at another, playing a game of hot and cold at the sewers. From eye candy to eye candy, Spiderman is also a very versatile character, both visually and in gameplay.

What made the game special was not the graphics neither the development company. It was control. The level of effort put into the game to make you feel and do everything a spider does is incredible. Spidey can do a crapton of things. Interactivity with the environment really took a hell of a take off with this title. How? Imagine yourself wall crawling across a building for the first time. Come on. I dare you not to say that you did not get goosebumps. Buildings, cranes, pipes, antennas, vertically, horizontally, diagonally, there were very few areas that were not accessible. This gave a great sense a freedom which is amplified when you remember that this is not a sandbox Spidey game. Combine that with the ability to web swing across great distances and you got yourself the first true incarnation of one (if not THE) most exciting travel mechanics in a video game. You want to crawl in that direction. Sure. More buildings to swing from but you are low on health. So what about this other one? There are power-ups but more enemies this way. There were all kinds of small decisions you had to make and these did not even include the means Spider-Man could use to beat the snot of his enemies.

Proficient players could use what we call web breaking, allowing them to swing greater distances

The game's HUD had 2 meters. One was the health bar and the other the web meter. Playing with the comic book Spidey, you have a 10 web cartridges capacity to stock in his utility belt (no spider signal, sorry). Depending upon the situation, you can make him beat up bad guys with his fists and feet on the ground or from the air. After you soften them up, you can either finish em off or use one of the available web attacks. There are a bunch of them to take advantage of and some of them can even be coupled with hand to hand combat to create combos. According to their damage, these moves drain up your web meter and make you conservative and more strategic. Surrounded by enemies? Use the shockwave power of a web dome. Want to get close and personal? Whip up some web gloves or yank the bad guy to ya. Not feeling like going head to head? Compress your web to create a ball of impact web.

When talking about control, you must mention the camera. Seeing that Spidey can crawl on ceilings, the ceiling turns clear and the direction controls do not change. The camera is always above the hero and never leads you astray. The proof is that the camera actually helps you. Simply point to a guy that you wanna take down and then immobilize him with web. You WILL hit him. And if you are at a tight spot, the game also presents you with a targeting mode, that can be used both offensively and when you are trying to swing through some tricky areas.

The cutscenes will win you over every single time.

Even though Spider-Man has a lot of moves up his sleeve (even for a PSone game), his enemies also adopt to his tactics. You are close? They will punch you. They will shoot you and throw you explosives from afar. Some of them will even grab you. The bosses also feature some amazing knick knacks. Lasers, seismic tosses and even web yanks keep you from keeping a safe distance most of the times. You always have to keep a steady distance and two of them even have their own agenda to get into while you fight them. They are an excellent non linear break from the mission levels.

Before we get into the cons section, let me just say that the visuals are great. I already talked about the environment but the characters are a whole other story. If Spidey kicks an enemy two times from the air, it will take him more time to recover from the second kick. He will crawl normally across most surfaces but when on a girder for example, his arms and legs are not stretched out but squeezed in. Punch an enemy too hard and he will roll backwards. The hits register perfectly and the sound goes as far as making the fabric of Pete's costume sound when climbing. The cutscenes and the dialogues are awesome and one of the main reasons to play this game. Spidey's wit is dominant and his snappy one liners are great. TAG!

Even though the game was an instant homerun for Activision, there are a few issues that should had been addressed. The game falls into the short and easy side. So far as to include a Kid difficulty setting that not only tweaks the controls but also changes the levels. This can be a bit of a turn-off and it can cost you the mission if until then you have been used to the normal control scheme. Not to mention that you can plow to the end credits in about 6 or 7 hours.

Spidey has also an extremely unfair habit of inversing the controls for wall-crawling from time to time, making you go back and forth. It also bugged me (hah, made a funny) that if you get shot while you are airborne and not swinging, you fall to your death every time. That was not a smart move, since we are talking about a guy that apart from liking wheatcakes (I cannot even touch these things) can pull off aerial acrobatics like no other. It would also be nice if the unseen sections between the levels and the cutscenes were playable.

Playing a game for approximately 10 years of my life is something that a title other than this one has yet to accomplish. Even though it is kinda short, there a million reasons to dive back into it. Comic book covers to collect, costumes with new powers and challenges are only some of the reasons this game still has a rather ravishing charm. The dialogues, the gameplay and the style fused to create an amazing title that other super hero games eventually built upon. Whenever I pop this thing in my PSone, I get sizzles. One of the few underdogs of the super hero genre, Spider-Man was also released on the PC, Dreamcast and N64 and is a milestone of humor, adventure and comic book gaming. It is truly hard to come by these days but if you see it, do not think twice. Steal it, beg the salesman for an IOU, I do not care. It will blow your load.

I played this on N64, and I seriously loved it. So well done, accurate, and still comic-booky. ^_^

Brilliant as always, looking back they were good, whereas the 'recent' spiderman 3, just annoys me... really need to complete the races on it too. :(

Yes! I loved this game! Actually what I loved most about this game was the terrific voice acting. (Venom and Carnage especially)

Great review.

Armored Prayer:
Yes! I loved this game! Actually what I loved most about this game was the terrific voice acting. (Venom and Carnage especially)

Great review.

Tell me about it. BRING IT ON , GRANDPA!

This game was fantastic. I'd play it today if I had it!

Ah the PS1, the golden age before pretensions to consequences for your actions and morality meters.

I never played this game (always more of a batman fan, and I only got my fix of THAT this year) but this really sounds great, it was a joy to read.

here's to more, my good man.

Throwback! One of the best Spider-Man games ever released!

Ah yes, remember this game quite well, got the whole web singing thing down quite well and the boss fights were epic, the one with mysterio sticking out most clearly.

domble:
Ah the PS1, the golden age before pretensions to consequences for your actions and morality meters.

I never played this game (always more of a batman fan, and I only got my fix of THAT this year) but this really sounds great, it was a joy to read.

here's to more, my good man.

Thank you, buddy. And yeah, the roles are now completely reversed. Arkham Asylum was amazing and SM3 was craptastic. Makes me wanna quote Bob Dylan.

I loved this game, even if the voice acting was hilarious.

Nice review.

I remember that game, and it was one of my favorites from the moment I played the game demo. I had beaten up several times after, and I still love it.

One thing I wish that had to be mentioned was the soundtrack.

Talk about great boss fights, the music made you really feel like you were in the Spiderman Saturday morning cartoon.

The final level with the monster Ock chasing you while he screams, "DIIEE!" was like the nightmare you wish you never had, and the music was nothing short of terrifying. I can still have nightmares of Monster Ock scare me.

All in all, the best Spiderman game perhaps, of all time.

shogunblade:

One thing I wish that had to be mentioned was the soundtrack.

And I was wondering what did I forget. Ah well, thanks for pointing it out!

I got stuck with the computer version that was so bugged (pun not intended) that it was nearly impossible to beat the level where Spider-man crawls up the construction site. It would have been a good game otherwise.

awesomebillfromdawsonville:
Throwback! One of the best Spider-Man games ever released!

I would actually say it is the best, better than Spiderman 2. Nice review, by the way.

This is my favorite super hero game.

I remember playing it as a kid, beating the game over and over again, doing all the challenge levels, using all the costumes...

Those were the days, this game is amazing, and I long to play it, if only I could find it...

It makes me long for my days as a child.

I loved this game. I remember you could unlock Captain America with a cheat code. Or that may have been the sequel. But I remember the bank robbery, or that may have been the sequel. I remember the train bit, though, and that was DEFINATELY in the first one.