Double Take: Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin

[Melf]

Sometimes, a game that doesn't look like much ends up playing a pivitol role in history. You wouldn't think that Sega's Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin would fit that mold, given that it never really seemed to set the world on fire. Underneath it all though, was a concentrated effort to do the character justice and be true to his roots. The result was a game that set a blueprint for future titles, and it remains one of the more faithful super heroes titles of the era. Sega-16 takes a deeper look at the importance of Spider-Man's Genesis debut in the latest installment of Double Take. Read on, true believer!

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

Is the cart really better than the sega cd version? The sega cd has those rockin jams at the beginninG

[108 Stars]

Man, this game sure is one of my most hated on MD. It´s not one of the worst (although it is pretty bad imho), but definately one of the most disappointing games for me. I was a huge Spidey-fan, but this game bored me like few others did.

I cannot say much about how much better this Spidey was than earlier incarnations...I have only played many of them. But I do believe Spider-Man on Atari 2600 did a damn fine job considering the hardware, and Rare´s Spider-Man for the Gameboy was more fun than this. Another early good attempt was Questprobe Spider-Man for C-64. On Mega Drive I prefer Spider-Man/ X-Men a bit for it´s smoother controls.

[Zebbe]

My brother has the Spider-Man game on the PS2. It seems to be utter tosh. The movie itself with that nerd, plastic villain and totally unsensical plot is also tosh. This article brought my interest up to try out this game.

[108 Stars]

Hmh...I liked the first two Spider-Man-movies a lot (best superhero movies ever), and I generally like the gameplay of the PS2-Spideys; they only suffer from a lot of repeating events, you have to save people the same way over and over again, the Shocker trys to rob a bank every 10 minutes...a bit more variation would have been nice.

[Zebbe]

Pfffft... Best superhero movies ever? When he did that thing in the cage, all the staff of that knew who Spider-Man was. But then when everybody is asking themselves who he is and what he does, it seems they have all forgotten about it. Batman and Batman Returns is far better on all accounts. At least they don't have a CG rendered villain who looks like a plastic toy for 6-year-olds.

[108 Stars]

Pfffft...Batman and Batman Returns are good, but they don´t stand a chance against the greatness that is Spider-Man 1 and 2. Never before has a movie adaption of a superhero-comic been so well received by the comic-fans.

BTW, in the next Batman-movie Heath Ledger will be the Joker...it is said that the little press preview of him has been awesome. And now he´s dead, so that will help the film earn some extra money!

[Zebbe]

Yes, backing up my arguments by the general reception proves the movie to be great! The more it sells, the better the quality is! Volkswagen just PWNS the Ferrari!

[108 Stars]

No; I never said it had to do with how much money it makes; I said that the Spidey-movies were received better by the comic fans than any other superhero movie before. I can neither change your opinion, nor "prove" one movie is better than the other; I can just tell you you are pretty lonely with it. You called it tosh, I tell you that´s an opinion most people disagree with. That easy.

[Zebbe]

Shit, I am lonely again. I'll have to wait until someone who agrees with me posts his opinions about one of the worst movies ever here. Mr Smith? Joe Redifer? ary_incorparated??? Anyone!? PLZ post now !!!!!1 I can't live with the fact that a majority of the human race likes this movie! On the other hand, they tend to like religions and political ideologies I'd rather die than follow.

[108 Stars]

So, what´s the sense in discussing it at all? You expect me to agree with you because you believe it is tosh? No, I don´t think you do. You don´t like it, I love it, that´s all there is to say. Are you having your childish day?

I never even tried to change your opinion in the first place; I said I liked the first 2 movies a lot; it was you who felt the need to convince me that was wrong.

[Zebbe]

No, it was you who started to discuss this when you didn't agree with me. To prove that I was wrong, you said it was the most well-received superhero movie ever, something that has nothing to do with an individual opinion about this certain movie.

I don't see any reason to continue beating this dead horse, especially not when the insults come as early as the fourth post.

[Genesis Knight]

The first run of Batman movies is humbled by Batman Begins. Buuuuuut - OFF TOPIC! Thanks for the article, Ken. I have *never* played this game but I think I'll have to. I've heard a lot about it, and this is just more prodding to pick up a copy.

[Benjamin]

Didn't care much for Batman Begins. So much brown it'd make UPS jealous. Batman would not allow someone to die as he does ("I can choose not to save you!!!" ) Too much devoted to token female love interest, a problem with seemingly every "decent" Batman film. (Assuming everyone is only counting live action, as Return of the Joker mops the floor with anything and everything. )

Anyway, great article. Spider-Man is a terrific use of the license. The fact that Parker uses the camera to snap shots of Spider-Man in action to sell to the newspaper to fund his web fluid was a brilliant idea. The game really is a Spider-Man game through and through and not a standard platformer with a license slapped over it a la NES Batman (great a game as it certainly is, there's nothing really Batman about it.) The feel of swinging was perfect, and the level design and boss fights unique and interesting throughout.

I do know some people were offended by Spider-Man's attacking police officers. I recall it getting a "Nay!" in VG&CE back in the day, but it makes perfect sense within the story that Spider-Man would have to defend himself from them given the frame-up job. I never did play the Sega CD version... I thought it only added the pinball part to the Genesis game beyond the music and animated cutscenes?

[GelmiR]

Ken,

Thank you for taking the time to write this article on my favorite Mega Drive
game, a very nice and interesting read. And thank you for standing up for it,
I somehow hope it will make people curious to give it another chance. I also
agree with you on the Sega CD version. After hearing so much about it I
downloaded the rom to give it a shot. I was very dissapointed with the game-
play and soundtrack. The cart version is also *the* version for me.

@108 stars: We talked about Spider-Man vs Kingpin and Spider-Man & X-Men
before, and I respect your opinion. What I don't understand however, is that
you find Spidey/X-Men's controls to be more smooth, but maybe that's just
me. I've never had any problems with Spidey/Kingpin's controls.