After being taunted by the Scorpion, you make your way to the right, beating up assorted no-goodniks, including purple and blue glad henchmen carrying stun guns who look like Putties from “Power Rangers” and coo like quails when you hit them and really, really fat dudes with mohawks who literally roll at you like boulders. The backgrounds have a very pulpy, washed out texture to them, and the characters speak in text bubbles - heck, you even get some very melodramatic cut-scene intros before each stage! Much like the iconic Genesis “Spider-Man” game from Sega ( which was made even better in a criminally underappreciated Sega CD port), this is definitely a game made by people with a reverence for the source material, and their attention-to-detail is to be lauded.Ĭhapter One (i.e., the first level in the game) is titled “The Mystic Power Stone.” As does 90 percent of all 2D beat-em-ups ever made, it begins on a city street, which is suspiciously devoid of pedestrians … and even more suspiciously, populated solely by ninja warriors in matching robes. I’m sure he and Spidey have had their fair share of adventures together in the comics, but for the life of me, I just can’t figure out why they didn’t choose a more orthodox character, like Iceman of the Human Torch ( or Firestar, if we’re aiming for the “Amazing Friends” trifecta here.) Alas, as weird as the playable character choices may be, it’s the gameplay itself that matters most, and you better believe Sega’s coin-op “Spider-Man” brings it in spades.Īfter you watch the character bios scroll in attract mode, the first thing you will probably notice about the game is the faithful-to-the-comics aesthetics. I suppose it makes sense for the Black Cat to make an appearance, and even a good bit of sense for Hawkeye to make the roster, but you really have to wonder what the suits at Sega were smoking when they decided to throw Namor the god-damn Sub-Mariner into the fray. Since it would be weird ( although not unheard of) to have four different Spider-Men at your disposal, the designers included three additional playable characters, and my goodness, are they ever the mixed-bag. Since beat-em-ups are more or less designed to be multiplayer experiences, the game allows for up to four players simultaneously. Outside of the fact that the game just wasn’t as ubiquitous as its more famous genre kin, I just can’t figure out why this one isn’t universally hailed as a mini-masterpiece.Ī perfectly reasonable retort when goosed by a Putty from It’s filled to the brim with iconic villains, there are a ton of neat little nods to the comics (Spider-Man’s webbing comes complete with a corresponding “thwikt” sound effect bubble) and it even incorporates some inspired platforming levels into the mix for good measure. Obviously, it had the Spidey license, and it is clear that the designers of the game held the property in high-esteem. Released in 1991, “Spider-Man: The Video Game” was a very well-made little side-scroller, with a ton of things going for it. While most of their genre offerings were fairly forgettable ( anybody remember “Arabian Fight?”) they did wind up releasing at least one really memorable beat-em-up title in 1991 - and seeing as how it starred arguably the greatest comic book character of them all, you really have to wonder why it never gained the widespread popularity of some of its contemporaries. #Arcade sega beat blast seriesWhile Sega released arguably the most iconic console beat-em-up series of the 1990s, they sadly had few forays into the arcade brawler market. What started with “ Double Dragon” and “ Bad Dudes” blossomed into an array of all-time arcade classics, including Capcom’s “ Final Fight” and “ Captain Commando,” Konami’s “The Simpsons” and “X-Men” and SNK’s “ Burning Fight” and “ P.O.W.: Prisoners of War” - and that’s not even taking into consideration all of the weird-ass, one-off coin-op brawlers, like “ Night Slashers,” “ Ninja Baseball Bat Man” and both “ Sonic Blast Man” games. The early 1990s were really the heyday of the side-scrolling-beat-em-up genre.
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