It is the sequel to Spider-Man (2000), and directly follows the events of that game, as Spider-Man tries to stop Electro from becoming all-powerful using a mechanism called the Bio-Nexus Device. It was developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision for the PlayStation. 16.Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro is a 2001 action-adventure video game based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Amazing Spider-Man gets bonus points for taking place after the film, meaning it tells an original story instead of forcing fans to watch Uncle Ben get shot for the 100th time. The closed off world of the film also saps a lot of the fun intrinsic to setting other Spider-Man games in the larger Marvel universe. The citywide swinging felt almost as natural as before, but the action is built around a repetitive series of objectives that arent all that different from Spider-Mans first open world game-beating up thieves, transporting people to hospitals, etc. We were happy to see this gameplay return, but the game had little new for the Wallcrawler to do in the Big Apple. The Amazing Spider-Man game does a similar job of reintroducing fans to a concept theyre already familiar with, dropping Spidey into an open world version of Manhattan for the first time in years. The Spider-Man films saw a reboot in 2012, retelling Peter Parkers early adventures to some audiences that were only introduced to the character just ten years earlier.
If you come in with lowered expectation (and dont pay full price), Battle for Earth ends up an enjoyably simple diversion for Marvel diehards. The 2.5D action focuses on timing and flailing around as accurately as possible, which feels silly until you see it translate into a fairly involved combo on-screen. Spider-Man and the rest of the Avengers get in motion-based battles against evil alien clones, giving a storyline excuse for Spidey to beat the tar out of fellow heroes. Based on the hit Secret Invasion comics storyline, Battle for Earths simplified fighting gameplay cant compare to the depth of its Capcom competition, but its better than people expect from its Kinect-based gameplay.
Fans may never see him on the team in movie theaters, but they do get to see Spider-Man take part in games like this one from Ubisoft. Spider-Man has been a core member of the Avengers for over a decade in the comics, despite the fact that he doesnt appear anywhere in the billion-dollar film franchise. Comic fans will find slight pleasure seeing Spider-Mans super friend Daredevil make a non-playable appearance, becoming a level-clearing bonus attack after Spidey saves him early on. The web-slinging is adequate thanks to Sega sticking to its own Spider-template, but its actually worse than the publishers previous arachnid efforts, partly thanks to a failure to use the 32Xs power appropriately. Web of Fire is from the same mold as Segas previous Spider-Man titles (more on those later), with average stages full of nameless thugs and doomsday devices. This unlucky game saw a very limited release, making it a highly collectible title, but dont make the mistake of thinking its some lost gem just because people are charging $400 for it on eBay.
Unfortunately, the 32X had a small install base and an even smaller library of games, meaning Sega discontinued the system the same year Web of Fire came out. The 32X was one of a number of Segas mid-90s misfires, but youd think that the 32-bit add-on would get a boost from an exclusive Spider-Man game.