THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN COLLECTION - Page 2

Welcome back, true believers! What scintillating tales of superhero daring do await our friendly neighbourhood web-slinger? If you missed part one, head on over to it here. If not, read on true believers...

It would be another four years and the beginning of a new millennium for the next Spider-Man licensed game to arrive. This time Activision has gained the exclusive rights and considering what their output would look like, this was nothing but a good thing. At least until they milked the franchise until it was a shadow of its former self like they're want to do (see Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, Call of Duty etc...).

Released on Sony's PlayStation before getting ported to the Nintendo 64 and SEGA DreamCast (and Windows too, but I'll be focusing on the superior console versions only), Spider-Man was the first 3D game in the series and the originator of mechanics that would feature in every 3D web-slinging game since. You are given almost complete freedom to proceed through a level with a large and varied move-set to assist you. Different web attacks are assigned to the D-Pad including offensive and defensive moves while the web and limb actions come from the face buttons. You can swing from nothing but the clouds about you with the right trigger that will satisfyingly clear large gaps between buildings.

Comparisons between the Sony PlayStation (left) and Nintendo 64 (right)

The levels may have dated a little due to their small size and limited progression - especially compared to some sublime Spider-Man games in recent months - but they are still very much playable for a modern audience. Some stages require stealth and cunning while others have you punching goons head-on. With all the acrobatics going on, the camera is well programmed, following the action rather well. In tight areas, it solves the camera issues by having it phase through wall and ceilings rendering them invisible if they're in our hero's way. There are some exhilarating set pieces I remember quite vividly that have sadly lost some of its oomph a little due after the bombastic nature of recent triple-A titles. It nevertheless plays a lot nicer than other action games of the era.

While the PlayStation began it all, I prefer the DreamCast port. This is how I played it back then, even though the collector in me now owns both. It's a very good port too, with improved graphics and frame rate that take advantage of the DreamCast's extra power that few other PS ports would. Modern emulation of the system has improved leaps and bounds the past few years so it runs as close to perfect as you could expect. When it comes the Nintendo 64, however, we get the same issues that would befall almost all other ports on the system. Animated cut scenes are reduced to static images with voice-less text. Controls are a little awkwardly mapped to Nintendo unique joypad. The blurry visuals of the system that once looked far better than the PlayStation don't upscale as well as the 32-bit consoles either resulting in a dulled and muddy mess. Not to mention some glaring pop-in from a supposedly graphically superior machine.

The DreamCast had the best visuals, both inside and out.

No matter your preference, it must have sold better on the PlayStation as the sequel - Enter Electro -  was a Sony exclusive. It uses the same engine as the original but includes some inventive level designs to make it stand out. Like its predecessor, some stages are entirely non-linear and as open as the PlayStation can handle, but adds on the original by reducing fog and even allowing the web-slinger to travel to the city streets. At least in some levels. They are often humorous Easter eggs to find which promotes exploration and experimentation.

Graphically, the game has been given a spruce up too. The draw distance and detail have been improved quite a bit with no fog and a better-looking skybox too. It's not as crisp as the DreamCast version of the last game but that's what quadruple specs will do for you. My only niggle is that there appears to be a lack of variety in regular enemy types. If one were to look at the numbers, it may not actually be the case, but they are more often bunched together in gangs here as opposed the being fairly spread out last time around.

Considering how close both games are in look and feel, you'll be surprised that a different developer handled this sequel. Vicarious Visions took over the reins from Tony Hawk creators Neversoft. They previously handled the GameBoy Color version of the original title and would later stick to the handheld ports of the Spider-Man movies (more on these later). Even though not much has changed, the one thing that I'm glad they didn't is Stan Lee's ever-enthusiastic narration. Read like an adjective-filled opening to one of his comic books, these titles were many people's first introduction to Stan the man. He leaves quite the impression too. Be sure to check out his comments in the character bios sections for backstories straight from the creator's mouth.

The draw distance in the sequel is greatly improved (left).

An explosive showdown with Shocker (right).

Believe it or not, there were a couple of GameBoy Color carts to accompany these console creations. The first is far better than any other handheld attempt so far with nicer artwork and gameplay. It still uses the basic template of those original SEGA games, with combat wall climbing and web swinging similarly taking centre stage. In fact, I would say it's on par with that Genesis original except it doesn't stand out as much in the 2000s landscape. Entirely average.

What isn't average is the sequel. Spider-Man 2 boast far more detail, animation and gameplay than its predecessor. I would even go as far as saying it's very much a hidden gem on the system. The levels are fairly large for such a small console and each are filled to the brim with a large number of enemies. They don't respawn either, which coming from someone who played those earlier LJN games is a godsend.

Spider-Man on the GameBoy Color is competently made, if a little forgettable.

The first level takes place in an abandoned theme park with Mysterio taking Aunt May hostage. His goons, some of whom are dressed in bear costumes for some reason - I guess they're furries - are easily dispatched with a kick or two. Even those with guns won't think to aim down when shooting at a crouching superhero. As the game progresses new enemies are introduced with new weapons that require different approaches. Some aren't as dumb as those in the first level, but I suspect most are just as kinky.

The bosses are also entertaining in a 3-hit CAPCOM kind of way. Like that company's renowned end-of-stage spectacles in games like Mega-Man, the villains here have a satisfying pattern to learn and overcome. I'm not saying it's as good as some of CAPCOM's classic platformers but it gave me the same type of nostalgic feel that I wasn't expecting from a licensed GameBoy Color title.

Who knew the let furries in as henchmen (left).

You have no idea how long it took me to get a screenshot saying 'Biff' (right).

There was one more release before Spider-Man would be dominated by the movie license in 2002. Mysterio's Menace for the GameBoy Advance starts off much like every other game I've mentioned - there's a theme forming here - but after you finish the first level the subsequent stages are a lot larger non-linear. For example, head towards the nightclub and you can explore the kitchens, the dancefloor, the bar and the swanky backstage corridors. There are even some more options with your webs too, with the L shoulder shooting a web like a damage-inducing projectile and R sends a net-like web trapping your opponent briefly.

The levels are little more inspired here, like this nightclub level (left).

There are several different armor types you can collect (right).

While I haven't included the home console versions due to their large size, each Spider-Man film also got saw some gaming on the go with adaptations on the GameBoy Advance and, for the two sequels, the Nintendo DS.

The GameBoy Advance game is again not bad. There are few additional mechanics to go along with what's gone before just to keep things fresh. For starters, Spidey can now swing around certain points, controlling the length of the web as you do so. It's quite tricky to pull off but when you do, it's very satisfying. The second level changes pace by having you rush down the many floors of a collapsing skyscraper, complete with a number of enemies, closed doors and - yes - blazing fires taking up your valuable time. As such, this is perhaps the hardest game since the 16-bit era but so far the difficulty is not unjust or unfair. It offers a decent challenge that can be worked through by the average gamer if you go in expecting to lose lives and continues. I do prefer Mysterio's Menace more so than this, but it's still quite decent.

Take pictures at certain moments for added points - and nothing else (left).

Fighting Vulture - as not seen in the film (right).

If you thought the first game tried to do something different with the levels, just wait til you play Spider-Man 2 for the GameBoy Advance. The first level is not about punching your way to the end nor rescuing innocent citizens caught in the middle of a New York in flames. It starts with you delivering pizza, crashing through the windows of your customer's fourth-floor living room in order to do so.

This hunt for hungry people is actually quite fun due to some above average level design and well-animated sprites with fluid controls. There are a few niggles when crawling around in tight spaces and the hit detection when punching out vents is a bit hit and miss but it mostly plays very well.

When the action does start in level 2, there's still very little in the way of combat. You're tasked with finding a number of hapless scientists in a burning building - it had to be here somewhere. It's the same find-the-thing gameplay as the first level and I suspect it may become too samey if further levels continue down this path.

With great power comes great responsibility. Like delivering pizza! (left)

I guess you you could use it to save a scientist of five (right).

The Nintendo DS game is very different and in my humble opinion a lot better for it. After a short stroll around the 2.5D streets of New York that act as an easily bypassed tutorial, the action kicks off pretty quickly. In many ways, it's the same idea as level 2 on the GBA, but there's a lot more going on here. Explore a burning building saving civilians along the way. What's different is that there are a lot more goons here, which is a good thing too as combat has been overhauled for the better.

Spidey has more moves than almost any other game so far, with the more spectacular ones accessed through the touchpad on the bottom screen. How does this work on an emulator? Well, one option is with the mouse. The game rarely requires these moves so this is a good alternative. Otherwise, a cursor can be mapped to the right analogue (read the controls section in the menu for more info). It might not be as good as a real touchscreen, but it's an adequate compromise for upscaled graphics played on a high definition screen.

Special moves are accessed using the touchpad, though I rarely used them.

To coincide with the cartoon of the same name, Ultimate Spider-Man would be the next to appear. I recall the big-boy version to be pretty decent playing similarly to Spider-Man 2 on the home consoles (the pinnacle Spider-Man game at the time). The handheld efforts are unfortunately a step back. Let's begin with a look at the GBA.

The visuals try to emulate the cartoon by having thick solid outlines to the smaller than average sprites. Couple this with the bright colour palette and it gives the game an ugly, ill-defined look. Gameplay wise, it's never more than OK. You can punch, kick and web swing as you again save civilians in burning buildings but I found the controls a little unresponsive. So much so that it resulted in a number of cheap hits. Health pick ups are plentiful so you have to really be in a jam to die, but that's no remedy for poor combat.

The outer walls will disappear when you enter a building (left).

The traditional burning building. Follow the arrow to rescue trapped civilians (right).

The DS fares slightly better on the physical hardware. The sometimes necessary touch controls with timed puzzles and action elements do leave you frantically fumbling when emulating on PC, but it's not impossible with practice. You begin as Peter Parker in a one-off fight with Venom before donning the red suit to save some peeps from yet another burning building. Actually, this time it's a little different. You have one hostage to rescue from a major downtown incident. Even the cops believe they're powerless to save him. From here, you have to explore the dilapidated building, turning off electric barriers as you go before the timer runs out and the hostage is killed. At one point the switch requires a timed touch-screen mini-game that threw me off a little on my first play. Simply touch (or click on) four lit circles before they turn into exes.

The next stage sees you playing as a hungry, rampaging (and somewhat visually unappealing) Venom. There's even more touching here as the symbiote can be controlled entirely with the touchscreen. As such, the action takes place on the bottom screen instead of the top. The touch controls are almost entirely optional, though each action is also mapped to the face buttons. Nice of them to think of that. Using the same 2.5D perspective as Spider-Man 2's dual screen outing, I do feel this game unfavourably got on the DS gimmick wagon way too much. I can think of worse offenders on the system (ahem... Spider-Man 3... ahem), but like motion controls on the Wii, touching on the DS is often more finicky than fun.

Touch controls mar an otherwise okay-ish game (left).

Thankfully they're almost optional in the Venom stages (right).

If you've played Ultimate Spider-Man, then you've pretty much experienced its successor, The Battle for New York. Both the GameBoy Advance and DS uses the same assets as their system's predecessor so if you didn't like the look of the first game, you won't here. Enemies, locations, power-ups; they have all been seen before with little to no upgrades.

Both versions follow a similar structure that's at least a little different - kinda. You begin the game as the Green Goblin who very much looks like the Incredible Hulk, except with a horn. You have to trash some parked cars and Peter Parker's school before reaching the end of the level leaving a trail of destruction. You do this by throwing fireballs at some Bunson burners scattered around the grounds. I guess their science department is well funded.

Those ghosts are the Goblin's inner demons. Their screams will haunt you (left).

Spider-Man trapped in a game-breaking bug (right).

After all this carnage, you finally get to play as Spider-Man. The game is named after him after all. Guess what you have to do now? That's right - save more people from a burning building. It's a little more interesting here as the building is the exact same school you previously tore apart. It's an interesting premise, but the execution in both games is poorly done. In the GBA version, they add fire obstacles and switchable sprinkler systems to spice things up. Your civilians have an easier time as they just disappear when you touch them. If they can apparate, why not do that earlier?

While graphically more interesting on the DS, the levels themselves are not so complex, instead relying on damned touch controls for variety. The earlier destruction also included some destroyed pillars alongside the exploding Bunson burners, but the obstacles left for Spider-Man are not so well thought out. You have to stabilise those pillars, traverse some patches of fire as well as save trapped civilians. They don't vanish into thin air this time around - you have to drag each of their sorry asses outside one by one. This gets tedious quickly as there are no shortcuts or fire extinguishers to assist you and you cannot move as fast with a live body over your shoulder.

So, Battle for New York has an interesting premise, lazy visuals and terrible execution. There's only a couple of games left in the compilation so let's see if Activision can recapture the charm of their earlier efforts.

Yes, that's the Green Goblin and not the Hulk

playing with fire (left). More touch controls! (right).

2007 has rolled around and Spider-Man 3 was disappointing cinemagoers the world over, but do the games based on it fare any better? The GBA game does at least. It still uses the same tropes that have gone before yet still manages to find some comparatively interesting level design out of it. There's the addition of coloured keys for some blocked doors that will be given to you by civilians you saved from a - you guessed it - burning building.

On top of this, the environment itself plays a little larger role. Spinning fans can be webbed to allow you to safely crawl past. Even the bosses play with expectations by having you zoom around New York on top of a couple of police vans. There's just enough here to keep it from getting stale.

Spidey should be used to the fumes of badly safeguarded premesis by now (left).

The Green Goblin is an exciting boss on top of some speeding vans (right).

The DS game, on the other hand, uses the touch controls almost exclusively. Moving Spidey is still mapped to the D-Pad, but the diamond-shaped face buttons do exactly the same thing. Wanna shoot? Tap the pad. Wanna punch? Swipe the pad. Actions performed like this were imprecise on actual hardware let alone mapping them to a mouse or joypad.

If you have the patience, you may be able to play through it using the keyboard and mouse combo, but in all honesty the fighting mechanic is too complex for such a control scheme. Enemies have way too much heath as well. In fact, the best moments in this game were while carrying civilians to safety from yet another blazing complex. Here, the gameplay is slower and more thoughtful as you navigate the flames. Everything else is a mess. Avoid.

So... Much... Swiping! Even dropping a distressed waitress takes several tries.

Finally, we're left with two more dual-screen, portable versions of major console releases. With the previous batch of games developed by Vicarious Visions, a couple of new teams were brought in. And they thankfully do a lot better than the thumb-twiddling movie licensees that came previously.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe by Artificial Mind and Movement is much more of an action-adventure than a side-scrolling beat-em-up or platformer, although it has elements of both. As such, it is a lot slower paced to focus more on story progression and minor puzzle solving. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of thugs to beat up as either Spider-Man himself or even one of his sidekicks. Throughout the game, Black Cat, Blade and even a number of famous supervillains such as Green Goblin and Doc Ock join your team. They each bring their own attacks and abilities which keeps the game feeling fresh.

There are some touch-screen moments that pop up here or there, but never for any action. It's mainly used for puzzles and mini-games such as interacting with the scenery or picking locks. You can take your time to move to the mouse to play these sections without affecting gameplay, which goes some way to alleviate the annoyance. Even mapping the pad to a controller won't be terrible as most interactions are simple taps.  The best Spider experience on the DS

You're super friends or foes have unique abilities to help you in more than just combat (left).

The touch controls in the puzzles sections are unobtrusive to the rest of the game (right).

The last game in this collection, Web of Shadows, was released in 2008 for all major consoles, but I've only included the Nintendo DS version here. It is the only version that is drastically different to the others due to the limitations of the system, but that doesn't mean it's not any good.

The guys and gals at Griptonite, who are known for developing handheld versions of big-name titles such as Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, handled this adaptation. They chose to go back to the old platforming mechanics found in earlier games but they didn't copy from them wholesale. Despite the game opening in yet another crumbling apartment block, Web of Shadows bucks the trend by not setting it ablaze. It's just infested with Symbiotes. Secondly, it plays very much like a dumbed-down Metroidvania title, complete with a helpful map permanently displayed on the lower screen. You can also upgrade your abilities to aid progression and save your progress in specially designated save rooms - just like Samus or Richter Belmont!

There's not an inkling of touch controls either which makes this infinitely more playable than almost all other DS entries. In fact, I suggest you go into the emulator options (F1) and play the game with the screen layout of 'Quick Switch'. This shows only one screen at a time, with TAB toggling between the two - my preferred way to play. Web of Shadows is a pretty decent entry to the hand-held Spider-verse. It's by no means revolutionary in the grand scheme of gaming, but for a licensed handheld title there's a surprising amount to depth here.

Keep an eye on your map to figure out where to go next (left).

The save rooms bear more than a little resemblance to Metroid & Castlevania (right).

So there you have it, a mammoth list of 47 games spanning 26 years. There are some notable omissions - the '96 adventure game has already been released from the Chamber, the super-large console games from the sixth generation proved to be too big and some below-par and pointless Windows ports of what's already here felt redundant - but it's comprehensive enough to give you a good chunk of the superhero's legacy.

Despite no longer being with us, the characters devised by Stan Lee and his co-creator Steve Ditko are sure to live on for centuries to come in many different guises. And if future games in the Spider-verse are as good as some of the best in this collection - or what has been released since - then those guises are more than welcome.

In his iconic sign-off to every one of his comic books, Stan Lee defined that final word as meaning 'onward and upward to greater glory'. Farewell, you giants among men - Excelsior!

part one

part two

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses FS-UAE with WHDLoad to emulate the Amiga and DOSBox to bring the DOS games to modern systems. Uses Retroarch with the Stella, Genesis Plus GX, Picodrive, MAME2010, TGB Dual, NEStopia, SNES9X, Mednafen Beetle PSX, Mupen 64, Flycast, VBA Next and DesMuME cores to emulate the console and handheld games. X-Input (X-Box) and select controllers supported for console and Amiga games. Manuals for most games included. Tested on Windows 10.
   03.06.2019 - Ver.2 - Installer now asks for destination folder
   05.09.2019 - Ver.3 - Fixed error with installation folders
   16.04.2023 - Ver.4 - Fixed installer

Added 8 additional Manuals

Swapped Amiga games for their WHDLoad versions

Compressed DreamCast GDI to CHD

Updated Retroarch to from 1.7.5 to 1.13.0

Updated Retroarch cores to their current versions

Added Widescreen HD hacks to the PlayStation games

Updated ChamberNotes & custom Menu

File Size: 1.98 Gb.  Install Size: 2.59 Gb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

Download



Spider-Man (the character) is © Marvel
Spider-Man (PS, DC & N64) & Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro are © Activision
Spider-Man (GBC) & Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six are © Activision
Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace is © Activision
Spider-Man: The Movie, Spider-Man 2 & Spider-Man 3 are © Activision
Ultimate Spider-Man & Spider-Man: The Battle for New York are © Activision
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is © Activision
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is © Activision
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

Like this? Try These...