Spider-Man (2002 video game)

Spider-Man (also released as Spider-Man: The Movie) is a beat 'em up video game based upon the Marvel Comics character, Spider-Man, and is directly based on the first feature film starring the eponymous character. It was developed by Treyarch and released in 2002 for Microsoft Windows and several video game consoles. The game has many scenes and villains that did not appear in the film. It was followed by Spider-Man 2 two years later to promote the release of the second film. Then, in 2007, to promote the release of the third film, Spider-Man 3: The Video Game was released.

Plot
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) develops super-spider powers after being bitten by a genetically altered spider. The game opens with an optional tutorial, narrated by Bruce Campbell, where Peter learns to use his powers and the player learns the controls of the game and how to read the HUD. After competing in a wrestling match as Spider-Man, Peter is devastated when his Uncle Ben is killed by the leader of the Skulls gang. Peter uses his new powers to track down and defeat the murderer. Peter vows to use his powers for good and to fight evil in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) and OsCorp are investigating the appearance of this new hero. Anxious to develop his Human Performance Enhancer "Super-Soldier" Serum, the main goals of which are already exhibited by the super-hero, Osborn orders the capture of Spider-Man, deploying hunter-killer robots for this purpose. Spider-Man fights these robots and emerges victorious. Meanwhile, the Shocker (Michael Beattie) has just robbed a bank, and is driving away with his thugs as Spidey lands, only to be hit by Vulture (Dwight Schultz). Spider-Man goes after Shocker first. His battle with Shocker leads him through Grand Central Station, into the sewers and to a subway station, where Spider-Man defeats him in a climactic battle. Afterward, Shocker tells Spider-Man about Vulture's lair: an old clocktower on the Lower East Side of town. Spider-Man climbs Vulture's tower, but Vulture escapes. Spider-Man defeats Vulture around a large building.

Osborn's scientists tell him that now two individuals with arachnid DNA are at large in Manhattan, and Osborn orders the capture of both. Spider-shaped robots pursue a desperate Scorpion (Michael McColl) through the sewers. Peter goes down to the subways to take pictures of his battle site with Shocker, when he runs into Scorpion. After Spider-Man helps Scorpion defeat the machines, the apparently paranoid and unhinged Scorpion turns on Spidey, and they fight. Spider-Man wins, but the Scorpion escapes. Meanwhile, Norman Osborn is fired from OsCorp and takes his own untested super-soldier serum to become the forever-feared Green Goblin. Spider-Man defeats the Goblin at the yearly OsCorp Unity Day Festival. Later, Goblin confronts Spider-Man again and is defeated, but tells Spider-Man of bombs planted downtown. Spidey races against time to defuse the bombs, and is attacked again by Green Goblin, this time with deadly small devices called razor bats.

In the Xbox version only, Norman hires Kraven the Hunter (Peter Lurie) after the bomb threat to capture Spider-Man; having lured Spider-Man in, Kraven poisons the web-slinger with a lethal gas, forcing Spider-Man to track Kraven through zoo corridors filled with traps before he finally confronts and defeats Kraven in a cage match in the main area of the zoo.

After studying a wing of a felled razor bat and determining that it was manufactured by OsCorp, Spider-Man goes to OsCorp to research its connection with the Goblin. He discovers that the company is producing highly dangerous chemical weapons, and shuts down the operation. After finding out that the Goblin is after Mary Jane Watson (Cat O'Conner), Spider-Man chases him down to a bridge. Here, Spider-Man has his final battle with the Green Goblin, who is impaled by his own glider. Spider-Man unmasks the Goblin to reveal Norman Osborn's face. Osborn's last words are, "Tell Harry, I'm sorry." Spider-Man replies, "I'm sorry, too." Mary Jane and Spider-Man are reunited, they kiss. Peter narrates the end of the story as the camera pans out, and he breaks the fourth wall saying "Looks like you're done here. Go outside and play."

Cast

 * Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voiced by Tobey Maguire)
 * Norman Osborn / Green Goblin (voiced by Willem Dafoe)
 * Mary Jane Watson (voiced by Cat O'Conner) (likeness provided by Kirsten Dunst)
 * Harry Osborn (voiced by Josh Keaton) (likeness provided by James Franco)
 * Herman Schultz / Shocker (voiced by Michael Beattie)
 * Adrian Toomes / Vulture (voiced by Dwight Schultz)
 * Mac Gargan / Scorpion (voiced by Mike McColl)
 * Mendel Stromm (voiced by Peter Lurie) (likeness provided by Ron Perkins)
 * Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven the Hunter (voiced by Peter Lurie)
 * The Narrator (voiced by Bruce Campbell)
 * J. Jonah Jameson (voiced by Jay Gordon) (likeness provided by J.K. Simmons)
 * Bone Saw McGraw (voiced by Jay Gordon) (likeness provided by Randy Savage)
 * Security Guard (voiced by Dan Gilvezan)

Gameplay
Like the 2000 Spider-Man video game, along with Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, Spider-Man is a level based beat 'em up video game, with the player as Spider-Man. Half the levels are indoors, but the rest of the levels are outside among the sky-scrapers of New York and require him to web-sling from building to building, however Spider-Man cannot land on the ground, as he will die if he gets too close. Levels are in "sections" with a different enemy for each, each section lasting about 3 levels. Each level, except for the last two, has a bonus screen after it. Generally, there are the bonuses "Time" (clear level in a set time), "Perfect" (Not take damage/detected) and "Style" (use as many combos as possible). Other level-specific ones are "Secrets" (Uncover a secret area), "Combat" (Defeat all enemies). Players can gain, depending on difficulty, points on completing these tasks. On Sidekick mode, each bonus is 500 points, Hero is 700, and Super-Hero is 1000 each.

The basic abilities are swinging, zipping, punching and kicking, web, camera lock, and the Web Mode in Enhanced Mode. Depending on how the player combines different buttons, it makes different effects. Wall-crawling is automatic, and players are also able to lift up heavy and light objects such as cars and chairs. There are 21 different combat combos which Gold Spiders are used to gain these combos, with 4 web controls, each having a type of "upgrade" to each. There is also "stealth mode", where Spider-Man is in shadow, and therefore is undetectable by enemies. This is necessary to gain extra points in the game.

After completing the story mode of the game, an unlockable bonus allows the player to play any level in the game as Harry Osborn in his father's Green Goblin costume, complete with his glider and arsenal, following an alternate timeline with Harry fighting an "alternate goblin" who claims to have been hired by Osborn, adding a slightly new feel to the story, although you are playing exactly the same levels as you do with Spider-Man. Unlockable costumes for Spider-Man include Peter Parker in his civilian clothes, the homemade wrestling outfit from the movie, and acclaimed comic book artist Alex Ross' prototype design for the movie Spider-Man costume, which also triggers the Goblin to wear Ross' early design during battles. A cheat code allowed players to play as Mary Jane but was dropped from rereleased versions of the game due to the perceived lesbianism implications of scenes featuring the "player" Mary Jane and the "in-game" Mary Jane kissing.

Enemies

 * Bone Saw (In the training mode "Basic Combat")‡ - This character is not present on the Game Boy Advance version.
 * Dennis "Spike" Carradine‡
 * Herman Shultz/Shocker‡
 * Adrian Toomes/Vulture‡
 * Mac Gargan/Scorpion‡
 * Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven the Hunter‡ (Xbox and Game Boy Advance versions only)
 * Norman Osborn/Green Goblin‡
 * Oscorp Super Mech‡
 * OsCorp Lite Mechs
 * OsCorp Super Soldiers
 * OsCorp Guards
 * Skull Gang Thugs
 * Shocker's Thugs

‡ The character is a Boss.

System Requirements
CPU:	Pentium III 500 MHz or Athlon processor RAM:	128MB RAM VGA:	3D hardware accelerator (32MB VRAM) with full transform and lighting DX:	DirectX 8.1 OS:	Windows 98/Me/2000/XP HDD:	1.3GB of free uncompressed hard drive space (plus and additional 200MB for Windows swap files) ODD:	4X CD-ROM drive

Behind the scenes
Josh Keaton (who would later voice Peter Parker/Spider-Man on The Spectacular Spider-Man) was chosen to provide the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the game. Due to Tobey Maguire taking over the role, Josh Keaton's audio was preserved by the addition of including the Green Goblin as a playable character.

Reception
The critical reviews for the game were positive. GameRankings gave it a score of 75.14% for the PC version, 76.31% for the GameCube version, 75.63% for the PlayStation 2 version, 78.37% for the Xbox version, and 77.56% for the Game Boy Advance version; likewise, Metacritic gave it a score of 75 out of 100 for the PC version, 77 out of 100 for the GameCube version, 76 out of 100 each for the PS2 and GBA versions, and 79 out of 100 for the Xbox version.

Many critics at the time considered it the best Spider-Man game yet. However, criticism fell on the indoor levels, Tobey Maguire's voice acting and bad camera, as well as the fact that it was too short and could be completed in 3 hours. The Cincinnati Enquirer gave the game four stars out of five and stated that it was "worth climbing the walls for."

High sales (two million copies of the PlayStation 2 version and over 400,000 on the GameCube and Xbox ) were sold in North America alone, allowing the game to enter the "Best-Sellers" of each console (PlayStation 2's Greatest Hits, GameCube's Player's Choice and Xbox's Platinum Hits). It was recently promoted to "Best of Platinum Hits" on the Xbox.