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Spiderman, Spiderman,
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size,
Catches thieves just like flies
Look Out!
Here comes the Spiderman.
October 31, 2005 | 3:50 PM PSTby: Jeff Kennedy
Ultimate Spider-Man is a console title shrunk down to the small screen by the work of the team at Vicarious Visions known for their great work with the Tony Hawk franchise on the Gameboy Advance as well. As this is a shrunk down version of what made it to the home consoles with all its various events there had to be some sacrifices made beyond of course the 3D environment. Though I have not played the previous Spider-Man titles for the handheld I have been made aware that it basically plays out as a straight successor to the second game on the system subtitled Mysterio’s Menace.
Audio and Visuals:
Visually and aurally this latest Spider-Man game has a great mix of offerings to the player. Following a new artistic format used with the Ultimate Spider-Man titles he has a more cartoony appearance than the more serious look from the Spider-Man comics over the years. As the game opens up from the credits you will be treated to a slightly grainy, but very acceptably beautiful and smooth opening FMV featuring your favorite web slinger and one of his bigger arch-enemies, Venom. Within the menus and around the gameplay elements of the title Ultimate Spider-Man portrays the story by using a comic strip type format which you can read through at your own pace by pressing the button. During the stages this format has been adapted as well and very admirably. All the stages have the appearance of an artists ink and brush taken to a comic book sheet, but so do the various warning markers as well such as time limits and notification icons. The overall animation of each of the main characters, various enemies, and bosses are very smooth and backed up with a fair bit of color making them quite distinguishable. The only draw back to the visuals of the enemies is that there are just a small handful of them in the whole game so things can get visually repetitive. And on top of that visually at times you’ll appear to not be hitting a bad spot, but when it lights up you do anyways and suffer the consequences. To complement the video package of this decent little franchise title is a mixed bag of an audio package. While there are some decent tunes that play in the game, there aren’t all that many and will probably end up sticking in your head slightly after you’re done playing, but they’re not as memorable by far as the old Spider-Man TV jingle by any means. Along with the decent sound track for the title we’re also offered up a fair mix of sound effects but at best they are fairly standard and you may feel like you have heard them before. The game comes with the typical set of slaps and thuds for when you or the enemy gets hit. Beyond that there are lower toned explosions, shock effects, and one perhaps two yelps when someone gets pounded on and wiped out.
Audio and Visuals:
Visually and aurally this latest Spider-Man game has a great mix of offerings to the player. Following a new artistic format used with the Ultimate Spider-Man titles he has a more cartoony appearance than the more serious look from the Spider-Man comics over the years. As the game opens up from the credits you will be treated to a slightly grainy, but very acceptably beautiful and smooth opening FMV featuring your favorite web slinger and one of his bigger arch-enemies, Venom. Within the menus and around the gameplay elements of the title Ultimate Spider-Man portrays the story by using a comic strip type format which you can read through at your own pace by pressing the button. During the stages this format has been adapted as well and very admirably. All the stages have the appearance of an artists ink and brush taken to a comic book sheet, but so do the various warning markers as well such as time limits and notification icons. The overall animation of each of the main characters, various enemies, and bosses are very smooth and backed up with a fair bit of color making them quite distinguishable. The only draw back to the visuals of the enemies is that there are just a small handful of them in the whole game so things can get visually repetitive. And on top of that visually at times you’ll appear to not be hitting a bad spot, but when it lights up you do anyways and suffer the consequences. To complement the video package of this decent little franchise title is a mixed bag of an audio package. While there are some decent tunes that play in the game, there aren’t all that many and will probably end up sticking in your head slightly after you’re done playing, but they’re not as memorable by far as the old Spider-Man TV jingle by any means. Along with the decent sound track for the title we’re also offered up a fair mix of sound effects but at best they are fairly standard and you may feel like you have heard them before. The game comes with the typical set of slaps and thuds for when you or the enemy gets hit. Beyond that there are lower toned explosions, shock effects, and one perhaps two yelps when someone gets pounded on and wiped out.
Gameplay:
Ultimate Spider-Man as far as a standard platform game goes for the Gameboy Advance is a pretty decently assembled package. While the gameplay elements of the title are of a mostly linear nature, there will be some path deviations that at times you will have to take, and at others they are just encouraged as there are collectables which boost your player’s abilities. Throughout the seven chapters of the game more often than not each comic book (as they are shown as in the menu) typically has you either using Spider-Man or Venom throughout the entire spread. Spider-Man comes with his typical arsenal of punches, kicks, and web abilities like swinging, grappling, and binding enemies. Most the time his web slinging works when you want, but at times you could find yourself firing one off when you don’t want to dropping you straight into hurt box. Venom on the other hand as he is a parasite somewhat mimicking Spider-Man’s abilities has a few different tricks up his sleeve. Whereas Spider-Man needs to find health to survive, Venom can has to weaken enemies to a level then latch onto them and suck out their juicy insides to refill his life, which is a must, or the parasite will consume its human host Eddie Brock. Throughout the game the usual is to always do the objective, or the ‘hot’ objectives as they arise, complete the tasks, and head for the green arrow at the end of the stage. Most of the times it is a pleasure to do so, but in some cases the time limits allowed are downright sadistic and it becomes a cross between a game of memory and sheer angering torture. While it is usually fairly simple to try and nab something or diffuse a bomb, it is usually the catch this character while they’re getting away, or for Venom, sucking civilians dry which can drive someone nuts and just want to walk away for awhile. The large package offered as far as gameplay goes is fairly solid, and as linear as most areas are, they are designed quite large so some exploration will be required so things won’t be so stale that first or second time through trying to just finish, or finish with the added perks you can find off the beaten path. Sadly there is a huge problem here for fans of the series as far as notable characters go, they’re almost non-existent. Whereas the home versions of the game have quite a few big hitters from the comic series, this version does not. You do have battles with the Silver Sable and her merc cronies, but there isn’t much beyond that and Spider-Man taking on Venom.
Ultimate Spider-Man as far as a standard platform game goes for the Gameboy Advance is a pretty decently assembled package. While the gameplay elements of the title are of a mostly linear nature, there will be some path deviations that at times you will have to take, and at others they are just encouraged as there are collectables which boost your player’s abilities. Throughout the seven chapters of the game more often than not each comic book (as they are shown as in the menu) typically has you either using Spider-Man or Venom throughout the entire spread. Spider-Man comes with his typical arsenal of punches, kicks, and web abilities like swinging, grappling, and binding enemies. Most the time his web slinging works when you want, but at times you could find yourself firing one off when you don’t want to dropping you straight into hurt box. Venom on the other hand as he is a parasite somewhat mimicking Spider-Man’s abilities has a few different tricks up his sleeve. Whereas Spider-Man needs to find health to survive, Venom can has to weaken enemies to a level then latch onto them and suck out their juicy insides to refill his life, which is a must, or the parasite will consume its human host Eddie Brock. Throughout the game the usual is to always do the objective, or the ‘hot’ objectives as they arise, complete the tasks, and head for the green arrow at the end of the stage. Most of the times it is a pleasure to do so, but in some cases the time limits allowed are downright sadistic and it becomes a cross between a game of memory and sheer angering torture. While it is usually fairly simple to try and nab something or diffuse a bomb, it is usually the catch this character while they’re getting away, or for Venom, sucking civilians dry which can drive someone nuts and just want to walk away for awhile. The large package offered as far as gameplay goes is fairly solid, and as linear as most areas are, they are designed quite large so some exploration will be required so things won’t be so stale that first or second time through trying to just finish, or finish with the added perks you can find off the beaten path. Sadly there is a huge problem here for fans of the series as far as notable characters go, they’re almost non-existent. Whereas the home versions of the game have quite a few big hitters from the comic series, this version does not. You do have battles with the Silver Sable and her merc cronies, but there isn’t much beyond that and Spider-Man taking on Venom.
Final Word:
Overall this is a pretty decent package for the Gameboy Advance and Vicarious Visions did an alright job with trying to adapt the console game to this system. On the most part the game has a decent challenge to it trying to muscle your way through the stages. Some areas can be moderately to excessively aggravating which can bring down the amusement value of the title, especially for the younger audiences I would imagine. The game is not a very long trip as it only has a few stages to it. Ultimate Spider-Man could easily be finished in probably three to four hours if you don’t have a lot of problems, and web sling your way on through it with relative ease. When you do finish it, whether you got the bonus items or not, the only unlockable in the game is a harder version of the game called Challenge Mode which offers up nothing special at all for doing the effort. In all honesty it probably should have just been stuffed into a menu screen as just what it is Hard Mode.
Overall this is a pretty decent package for the Gameboy Advance and Vicarious Visions did an alright job with trying to adapt the console game to this system. On the most part the game has a decent challenge to it trying to muscle your way through the stages. Some areas can be moderately to excessively aggravating which can bring down the amusement value of the title, especially for the younger audiences I would imagine. The game is not a very long trip as it only has a few stages to it. Ultimate Spider-Man could easily be finished in probably three to four hours if you don’t have a lot of problems, and web sling your way on through it with relative ease. When you do finish it, whether you got the bonus items or not, the only unlockable in the game is a harder version of the game called Challenge Mode which offers up nothing special at all for doing the effort. In all honesty it probably should have just been stuffed into a menu screen as just what it is Hard Mode.
Visuals
A very nice visual package is given to the player with fluid animations and comic book type flair during and around the gameplay. Few enemy models though and generic.
8.0
Sound
Not bad, but definitely not great either. While the music is nice enough to listen to the sound effects just feel like I’ve heard them before somewhere else.
6.5
Control
Pretty tight control most the time, though you could end up slinging web when you don’t want to, and sometimes you can bump things you wish you hadn’t and didn’t appear to.
8.0
Gameplay
Typical punch and kick type side scroller with a few extras thrown in with web slinging and life sucking. At times it feels though like it could be any other title too that aside.
7.5
Lasting Appeal
Sadly the game falls flat here. You can replay it for missed bonuses or for fun, but aside from Challenge (Hard) Mode, it really is more of a one shot deal.
5.0
Verdict
While I have not admittedly played a Spider-Man game since amazingly the very first few on the original Gameboy I still felt quite at home here. That in itself is both a good and a bad thing, as not a great amount of new things were offered aside from what Venom can do to people and with them. If you are a fan of Spider-Man then I think it would be best to give this one a rental, and well, if you find yourself in love with this short adventure pick it up, but if you can finish it as fast as I did maybe you’d be better off not.
While I have not admittedly played a Spider-Man game since amazingly the very first few on the original Gameboy I still felt quite at home here. That in itself is both a good and a bad thing, as not a great amount of new things were offered aside from what Venom can do to people and with them. If you are a fan of Spider-Man then I think it would be best to give this one a rental, and well, if you find yourself in love with this short adventure pick it up, but if you can finish it as fast as I did maybe you’d be better off not.
November 20, 2009
