Looking Back at Neversoft's Spider-Man

About 17 years ago, a Nifty PS1 Game was released by Neversoft... Yes, the Tony Hawk Pro Skater guys.


They made a Spider-Man game (that used the THPS engine), which is MOST LIKELY why Spider-Man is an Easter Egg in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

This was Spider-Man's first foray into 3D Gaming and after some hits and misses in 2D, fans were praying for a hit... It WAS. the Sequel made by Vicarious Visions was a sloppy cashgrab that felt like a partial rehash/cashgrab.

Then Treyarch, the Call of Duty boys, made the Tobey-Man game, which was an improvement over the PS1 Spider-Man, then came Tobey-Man 2 which gave us New York, and like Yamcha, everything went downhill from there... Vicarious Visions came back for the PS2 Port of Tobey-Man 3 and let's get back to Neversoft's Spidey, because I'm going on a tangent here.

Back then the game was awesometastic. Is it Nostalgia, or does it still hold up? Let's Find out!

Story:
You're Peter Parker, also The Amazing Spider-Man. You're taking pictures of a Reformed Doctor Octopus who has some inventions for the betterment of mankind. You accidentally bump into Eddie Brock as "Spider-Man" steals Doc Ock's invention and breaks Brock's camera... Cue Tonguey... I mean Venom. Then 2 Mysterious Villains release a "Poison?" fog in New York City which in reality is a plot contrivance that covers for the limitations of the PS1. Now as Spider-Man you must attempt to clear your name and stop a couple of bad guys who are up to no good.
6.5 before the pitchforks and torches come into my face, hear me out. The story is NOT THAT good if you look at it on paper. It's your classic evil  Doppelgänger frames you for a crime you didn't commit story. That the actors playing the roles did an amazing job, that's a different story and a different area to rate, but looking at the story on paper, it's been overdone.

Graphics:
This is a PS1 game from 2000. You can't expect PS4 Graphics from this game.

The characters are a bit stylized DUE to the limitations of the Era. On some characters it works decently, like Peter. Notice I said Decently, not perfect, since Parker and Spidey have very different face shapes. Other Models look atrocious, even for a PS1 game... I'm looking at you, Doc Ock... Black Cat too!
6.5 FOR A PS1 Game...

Controls:
This game has some controls that are clunky by today's standards. You move with the D-Pad, your worst enemy is the camera and sometimes the cause of unnecessary deaths. These were the foundations of modern Spidey controls and the stiffness/limitations from being the first generation shows. Nostalgia remembers them a bit smoother. That Underground Sewer Section.... ARRRRRRRGH!!!
7.0

Sounds and Music:
Most of the game's music is a bit bland and forgettable. The only memorable piece is Apollo 440's take on the 1960s Animated series theme... The voices on the other hand...
Jennifer Hale returns as Black Cat... Mmmm! Anti-Freezing Peptide... While we don't have Chris Barnes as Spidey, we have Rino Romano... Insert a Reference to Sandy Cheeks' boobs here. The Late Ephrem Zimbalist Jr. is once again Doc Ock... Dee Bradley Baker as Carnage, Rhino, JJJ and others... Dee Bradley Baker. His name sounds familiar. Wait... He's PERRY THE PLATYPUS!!
Also, Mysterio is Anti-Cosmo...

No, really... Listen to Mysterio, and every now and then Anti-Cosmo's voice pops up!
And obviously, the Narrator is The GOD OF MOTU Himself, STANDOR!!
9.5

Gameplay:

It's an action game, so basically, get from point A to point B, fight some enemies, avoid being killed by stage hazards. Some stages you have to race against an opponent or escape from attackers. There is a little variety and I Love how this game tackles some bad guys. You can use Rhino's charge attacks against him and forcing him to ram some power generators for him to get shocked. You can trick Carnage into touching a sonic bubble, so it's not simply beat the crap out of your enemy.
8.5

Overall
Spider-Man gets a 7.6 in this era. The graphics are the weak spot, even if being fair to them being PS1 era graphics. The controls have not aged well and the story wasn't great. The dialogue was entertaining, but the story itself wasn't that great. Back then this game would've been an 8.0 at minimum.

I'm not going to touch Enter Electro... BLEGH!!