Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro

Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro is an action-adventure video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision for the PlayStation in 2001. It is the sequel to Neversoft's Spider-Man title, which was released the previous year. The game follows Spider-Man as he attempts to stop another old nemesis Electro from obtaining a source of power known as the Bio-Nexus Device. Game bosses include Shocker, Hammerhead, Lizard, Sandman and the exclusive charged-up Hyper-Electro.

Plot
Shortly after the Symbiote Invasion, a series of robberies led by Electro have taken place throughout New York City. While out on patrol, Spider-Man spots one of the robberies taking place at a building owned by BioTech. Planting a Spider-Tracer on the head thief's motorcycle, Spider-Man follows it to an abandoned warehouse where the thief is passing off a stolen briefcase to a contact. Spider-Man takes out the thugs and interrogates one of them, but is then attacked by the head thief: Shocker.

After defeating Shocker, Spider-Man follows the thug's tip and heads for the airfield, where the contact is heading towards. Along the way, Spider-Man is forced to disable a bomb threat, take out a machine-gun nest, and stop a runaway airplane from crashing. As the contact escapes via helicopter, Spider-Man is able to plant another tracer on it and track it to a trainyard owned by Hammerhead. Fighting through the mob-employed night staff and Sandman, Spider-Man races to catch a fleeing train and meets with the contact, who is revealed as The Beetle. The masked villain escapes with his briefcase, but he unknowingly leaves Spider-Man a clue: an invitation to the Science and Industry Ball.

Elsewhere, Electro explains his plan to the other villains. He and his partners have stolen the parts to the Bio-Nexus Device, which can amplify one's bio-energy to power a city block, and Electro plans to use it to increase his own powers. The device is currently incomplete, and only its creator Dr. Watts knows how to finish it. Hammerhead and his goons are sent to the Science and Industry Ball to take Dr. Watts hostage.

Though Spider-Man arrives at the Ball and manages to defeat Hammerhead, Sandman secretly escapes with the good doctor. Spider-Man decides to call Dr. Curt Conners at BioTech for some answers, but hears the sounds of a battle on the line. Spider-Man immediately infiltrates BioTech and reaches Dr. Connors's lab, where his alter-ego The Lizard is on an uncontrolled rampage. After being changed back to normal, Conners explains Electro's goal to become a god with the Bio-Nexus Device. He instructs Spider-Man to go and check out Dr. Watts' lab. Following a rooftop chase, Spider-Man eventually arrives at the lab and learns of the device's main power source, only to be caught in another battle with Sandman. After defeating Sandman by flushing him down the sewer grate with water, Spider-Man subsequently sees a newspaper article about the power source - a sapphire named Zeus's Tear - being on display at the museum. Electro is also informed of the jewel when one of his thugs brings him the same news article.

At the museum, Spider-Man catches up to Electro, who is still holding Dr. Watts as his hostage. He offers to give her up if Spider-Man gives him the Zeus's Tear. Spider-Man reluctantly obeys, and Electro tosses the doctor as Spider-Man throws the jewel. When Spider-Man attempts to snag the jewel back in midair with a web, Dr. Watts accidentally throws off his aim and he misses, allowing Electro to catch it. The Bio-Nexus Device complete, Electro activates it and flies off in an electrifying flash of lightning bolt. Spider-Man follows the villain to a massive conductor at a tower, where he supercharges himself into Hyper-Electro, a being of pure electrical energy. Unable to directly attack Electro, Spider-Man instead uses the tower's generators to overload and destroy the Bio-Nexus Device, ending Electro's power play for good.

The next day, The Mighty Thor is credited in the Daily Bugle as having saved New York from Electro, much to Spider-Man's disappointment. In prison, Electro sits in his cell moaning over his defeat while Hammerhead and Shocker play Poker. In a nearby cell, Doctor Octopus and the rest of the villains from the previous game are still locked up, and Shocker attempts to ask them if they know how to play Go Fish.

Cast

 * Spider-Man - The main protagonist of the game. Voiced by Rino Romano.
 * Shocker - Sent by Electro to steal a piece of the Bio-Nexus Device. Voiced by Darran Norris.
 * Beetle - An armored criminal that serves as Shocker's contact. He is not fought as a boss. Voiced by Darran Norris.
 * Hammerhead - A mob boss with a literally-steel head, Hammerhead is sent by Electro to capture Dr Watts. Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
 * Lizard - The reptilian alter-ego of Dr. Curt Conners, who currently works at BioTech in hopes of developing a cure for his condition. Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
 * Sandman - Appears several times to stall Spider-Man with his sand powers and to kidnap Dr. Watts when Hammerhead fails. Voiced by Darran Norris.
 * Electro - The main antagonist, he wants to use the Bio-Nexus Device to increase his electrical powers. Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
 * Hyper-Electro - Electro's transformed state, exclusive to this game. Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
 * Beast - Appears in the first level to act as a guide for first-time players. Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
 * Professor X and Rogue - Both appear in Training Mode, which takes place in the X-Men's Danger Room. They will provide instructions for each training exercise. Voiced by Darran Norris and Jennifer Hale.
 * Dr. Watts - The inventor of the Bio-Nexus Device. She is targeted by Electro for her knowledge in completing it. Voiced by Jennifer Hale.

Costumes
By completing certain in-game goals, new special costumes can be unlocked for Spider-Man to don and use. Many of them have special powers to alter the game experience. Included are all the costumes from the first game (see Spider-Man) with the same abilities, as well as several new sensational outfits. In addition to the costumes, the player can also access a new option called "Create-A-Spider" mode, which allows the player to apply up to 3 in-game powers to any unlocked costume. The game powers include enhanced strength, unlimited webbing and invincibility best of among others.

Differences
Although the gameplay and design are relatively similar, one major difference between this sequel and the first game was the ability to play on ground levels. In the first game, if Spider-Man swung too low he would fall into the yellow mist that dominated most of the games levels and die. This game; however, presented levels that are based in city streets. They were confined grids rather than a free-roam environment. Also, Spider-Man was given an additional ability to shoot a Web Ball while in mid-air, which would come in handy during some of the fights. Also, this time around, the training mode takes the player to the X-Men's Danger Room Simulator wherein Rogue and Professor X assist and navigate Spider-Man on what he needs to know with everything that may be useful during the course of gameplay. The hand animation is also changed. Now, every character's hands can react instead of waving fists. The basic punch and kick combo moves are also changed, doing away with the 2-handed uppercut/mule kick for the third strike.

What If? mode
Like the first game, What If? mode is again present and accessed by entering a cheat code. However, the changes this time around were not as numerous and often repetitive.

References To Popular Culture
The cutscene involving Hammerhead talking to his henchmen wielding a baseball bat is a reference to the speech that Robert De Niro's characterisation of Al Capone made in the 1987 Brian De Palma movie The Untouchables. The speech is modified to fit the context of the game.

Reception
The game was met with average to mixed reviews. GameRankings gave it a score of 74.49%, while Metacritic gave it a score of 74 out of 100.

Delay
The original version of the game was delayed after the September 11, 2001 attacks in order to change the final battle stage and add a large bridge to the buildings to make them less resemble the Twin Towers, although the radio antenna from the North Tower was never changed. Originally, the battle was to be set atop the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, but since the towers were destroyed on 9/11, the game was modified and released with a different ending. Originally, Electro shouted "Top of the World!" as he departed his battle with Spider-Man for the towers, giving Spidey the clue he needed to track him down for the final boss battle, but in the final release of the game, he just happens to guess correctly without using a spider tracer.

Original copies were printed in disc form, but never released or packaged in the PlayStation jewel-case and as such, are rare and difficult to acquire.