Page 47 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #3

quite nicely. Everything from the sky- Web Firings ing civilians, and it's up to
scrapers to the various mazes and By the mid-90’s, Spider-Man to stop them.
backdrops are drawn with nice detail. Sega would try once Unlike other Spidey
Spider-Man is drawn with close atten- more to deliver a great games where there's at
tion to how his body acrobatically Spider-Man game. least a comic book-like
bends into various crouches and posi- This time he would story for the player to fol-
tions. Spidey has plenty of moves and appear on Sega's 32- low between stages,
various ways of using his webbing to bit system attachment: Web of Fire only displays
help beat an opponent. One nice move The 32X. Spider- headlines from the Daily
that Spidey can perform, unlike the Man: Web of Fire had Bugle as a way of telling
other titles (with the exception of Maxi- been hyped since the the story. The game de-
mum Carnage), is his ability to climb up introduction of the 32X signers do absolutely
the front of New York’s buildings. but would take over a nothing to explain how
Spidey can choose to explore rooftops year to hit store the Web of Fire has
and stop to enjoy the horizon of the city shelves. The ads shrouded New York.
at various locations in the game. showed a cool graphic The graphics are the
Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin also of Spider-Man swing- only strong point to this
offers alternate endings: Mary Jane ing in mid-air, sur- title. The rich background
may live or die. In the final battle be- rounded by a back- of the city, from its sky-
tween Spider-Man and Kingpin, Mary drop of New York City skyscrapers on scrapers to the George Washington
Jane can be seen slowly being lowered fire, and a giant electrical plasma grid Bridge, are quite pleasing to the eye.
into a large vat of deadly acid. Since shrouding the city's skyline. Spidey Spider-Man has a variety of action
the game features a happy ending or a fans were eagerly anticipating Spidey's moves from his basic web swing to jab
sad ending, it's up to the player's fast leap into the 32-bit world. This title punches and running kicks, although at
hand-eye coordination to decide which would also happen to be the last game times his movements seem awkward
one he or she will see. released for the 32X before the sys- and unnatural. The graphic designers
While the tem's demise. didn't seem to put a lot of thought into
game is fun at The game fea- animation.
times, the poor tures a huge fatal Some of the villains such as
story and forced problem because it Dragonman, Dreadnoughts, and Su-
sequences se- pits Spider-Man per-Adaptoid are nicely done. Obsta-
verely hamper against one of the cles like Probes, Rocket Launchers,
this Spidey title least popular vil- Spheres, and Fish (yes, there's actually
from scoring high lains, the military a fish-like flying probe) range from uni-
marks. There group HYDRA. HY- maginative to ridiculous. Once again
isn't enough vari- DRA hasn't made the game's villains suffer from the
ety of henchmen many appearances same repetitive fighting boredom that
in this game, and in any of the Spider- all Spider-Man games would have: bat-
there are too Man comics in a tling the same henchmen over and
many policemen long while, leading over again till you reach the level's
all over the city Spider-Man (PlayStation) Spidey fans to wonder boss.
(anyone living in why Sega would feature The Daredevil makes a guest ap-
New York would understand why see- them in a video game. Hydra rarely pearance in this game as a back-up for
ing so many policemen in one city registers in Spidey fans' minds be- Spidey whenever he gets into a sticky
block just isn't realistic). A great Spi- cause there are so many more villains situation. Unfortunately, to get Dare-
der-Man game should move at a that have a direct and profound influ- devil's help, you have to find and col-
slower pace. It should offer more plot- ence in Spider-Man's life. It would lect special Daredevil icons in order to
lines and chances for Spider-Man to seem natural for a Spider-Man game to summon him. There are also first aid
secretly observe the villains rather than pit our hero against the likes of Venom packs and web fluid icons, which must
forcing him to jump head first into the or the Green Goblin. be found
action and fighting. HYDRA is more of a and col-
All Spider-Man games lack one im- job for the Fantastic lected if
portant ability which makes Spider-Man Four, Nick Fury, or you're to
special: his Spider-Sense. His Spider- The Avengers. finish the
Sense should be included to warn him The game lacked level.
any time danger is near. So often in in every area that a Even on
Spider-Man games, the Spider-Sense great Spider-Man the easiest
only tingles when he's about to battle game would need: level, you'll
the bosses. It would be nice to have a characters, depth, probably
system to warn when the goons and plotlines, and story. find your-
ghouls are approaching. It would also Essentially, Web of self run-
add a new dimension to the game: Fire is a 2-D side ning short
Strategy. Spider-Man would be able to scroller where Spider- on web
hide in areas around the screen where Man is nothing more fluid and
the player would know he or she is safe than a puppet, sur- Spider-Man (PlayStation) health be-
from danger because his Spider-Sense rounded by lackluster villains cause there are
isn't tingling. This would also allow him and a superficial plot: HYDRA has too many cheap hits Spidey is forced to
to spy on the various people in Parker's shrouded New York City in a Web of take from HYDRA agents and com-
life from Harry Osborn to J. Jonah Fire that's crumbling buildings and fry- puter attack droids.
Jameson.
Classic Gamer Magazine Spring 2000 47