Spiderman review - Sega Megadrive

The Master System game was an excellent use of the Spidey license, but this Megadrive version is far, far superior. A special mention must go to the control method. It's very cumbersome to start with, but once you've got to grips with it, Spidey can be made to do all sorts of things, including massive leaps and amazing web-spinning. This comes into it's own in the Lizard's domain, where there exists a huge open space where Spidey web-slings at speeds equal to Sonic at full throttle! The game difficulty levels are great too. On easy level, only a few of the levels are open to exploration. You have to play at NORMAL level to see the majority of the game, and it's very taxing. Infinite continues usually spoils a game, but here, you've still got the time limit to beat and you lose an hour or so for every continue used. For Spidey fans, as well as lovers of a decent platform game, it's an essential buy.

Megadrive Spider-Man is similar in concept to the Master System version we reviewed last month, but has a much larger play area and vastly improved gameplay. It's basically a Shinobi-style game, but has plenty of new touches to keep your interest - I particularly like the way you can take “photos” during the game, and being able to return home and rest when energy is low is a novel twist. The control method is quite tricky to get used to, but once mastered, Spidey can do all manner of moves, from running across the ceiling to swinging around on his web at high speed. Graphically, Spider-Man is varied in quality. The large Spider-Man sprite is nicely drawn and animated and all the baddies are excellent, but the backdrops are rather bland and look a bit rough around the edges. Still, Spider-Man is a very challenging game.

My Spider-Sense is tingling!!!

No…wait…I've just been sat in front of the TV too long and my foot's gone to sleep!

I did have something tingling back when I first played this game though. Spider-Man was always a favourite for most people and many games had been made featuring all of the Marvel characters, but this one was a notch above the rest. The jump-and-stick button meant that you could zip up walls, shimmy across the ceiling, swing the rest of the level and drop in behind Doc. Oc., to give him a good hard kick in the tentacles (cue 'boyish giggle'). The ease of movement and webbing and swinging felt natural and it still feels good even when compared to modern-day Spidey on the PS1.

I remember the game being quite a challenge, but when I played through it before typing this, I had to go online to find some cheats. The clock ticking away constantly is another headache, maybe I'm just getting old and slow.

Highly recommended, hunt one down on eBay and stick it in your slot (cue another 'boyish giggle' and add on a 'chortle' or two).

- Martyn 'MOB' Bowell