I couldn't call myself a comic book fan if I didn't know who Spider-Man was. And I am a comic fan. Most definitely I am that. But...I couldn't call myself a videogame fan if I didn't play the new Spider-Man - The Movie for the Nintendo Gamecube. This game is fantastic. Remember the good ol' days when you could count on the fact that a movie licensed video game was gonna suck? Not so anymore, my friends. The hype of the upcoming Spider-Man movie definitely played a part in convincing me to try out this game. I mean, I truly thought the game was gonna kinda blow and I'd have a nice little pan of a review ready. Was I wrong.

Story - Contrary to what you might think. Spider-Man - The Movie barely scratches the surface of the film. There are a couple key points that the game and the movie share but other than that, this game is it's own entity. You are Peter Parker and you've recently gone through some outstanding changes after being bit by a radioactive spider. You've just put your special powers to the test in a prize fighting ring. The fight commissioner has cheated you and soon after he gets robbed. Even though you had a chance to stop the burglar, you allow him to leave...figuring that the commissioner deserved it. On your way home, you see that there's a police line around your house and many officers gathered around. You find out that your Uncle has been killed in a robbery. Without thinking you hit the city skyline in search of your Uncle's killer. This is where you start the game. You track the killer's gang from rooftop to rooftop trying to find the man who killed Uncle Ben. Thus is the birth of the legendary superhero, Spider-Man.

Spider-Man's deeds are being watched very closely by Norman Osborn. Father of Peter parker's best friend, Harry, and owner and head researcher for Oscorp. Oscorp is a leading contractor for the nations bio, mechanical and chemical weapons. Their latest attempts at engineering the perfect human weapon have met failure after failure and Norman Osborn belives that Spider-Man holds the key. So, as you rid the city of villains like Shocker, Scorpion and Vulture...you're also having to thwart Norman Osborn's attempts to nab you for himself. After a handful of unsuccessful attempts by his mechanical spiders, Norman decides to be put into his super scientific chamber and is thusly turned into the Green Goblin. The ultimate nemesis and only true threat to Spider-Man.


Gameplay - The gameplay is pretty involved but, thanks to the ingame training mode, you have all the time in the world to get yourself familiar with the control scheme and button placement. (For anyone who doesn't know....the Nintendo Gamecube controllers are rediculously complicated) They have training for anything you might wanna learn. Fighting, Web Swinging, Web Zipping, Jumping, Shooting Webs at a Distance....it's insane. But what makes this training mode oh soooo special? All the training sessions are narrated by none other than Bruce Campbell himself. Expect his usually wit and sarcasm as you make mistakes on your way to becoming a superhero.

The gameplay is pretty nice and tight though. You press a direction and Spider-Man goes that way. What's cool is the Spider-Sense that's built into the controller. If the controller vibrates from one direction...move the other way and you avoid being hit. I didn't know this game was THAT detailed until I just played around with it a bit. GOOD WORK!! It doesn't take forever to get Spidey to go somewhere. The hit detection is pretty nice until you have to duke it out with Green Goblin. For some reason, this bitch can do whatever the hell he wants to you whenever he wants to do it and you can barely get a swing in. It takes lots of skill to beat this guy.

Other than the technical aspects of the gameplay, the actual things you do in the game are pretty amazing. when engaged in a battle above the city streets you can land on some enemies backs and start pounding away at them and the camera will start to pan up and show the cars speeding by below you as you and the Goblin clash. You can infiltrate offices and wherehouses and remain undetected by bad guys by staying hidden in the shadows. It's all pretty extensive and impressive.


Graphics - This game looks incredible. The characters are rendered or animated or whatever to the smallest detail. There is, however, a lack of diversity when it comes to some of the bad guy models. Like it just took a little less time to make the game if they decided to make all the bad guys look alike. The levels are extensive and look beautiful and you can interact with almost everything you see on the screen. See a shelf in a wherehouse you don't like? Bust it up!! The CG sequences are rendered very nicely. The animated versions of Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe look JUST LIKE THE ACTUAL PEOPLE!! It's really cool.


Sound - I'm surprised that Activision didn't try to nab a song or two from the movie for the actual game. I'm in no way disappointed in the music in the game...just surprised there wasn't any cross promotion there. All the music in the game is synthesized and mixed specifically for the game. There are, however, som really memorable pieces. The song to the first level just fits the attitude of a scene where we're seeing the first steps to a great superhero. And the music in the last scene of the last level is great. Gives it that perfect "comic book/ultimate clash" kinda feel.

The voice work is no laughing matter either. Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe voice their movie roles in the game. They didn't phone it in either, folks. They actually did a great job characterizing their roles in the videogame. The other characters were pretty quality as well. I love when you jump on a bad guys shoulders and start hitting him and the guy says "Shoot him! Shoot him!" and another bad guy pulls out a gun and points it at the two of you and then the bad guy goes "No!! Wait!! Don't!!" It's hilarious. The sounds of the cars and people of the city below you is sooo realistic and done very well. The closer to the ground you fall, the louder they get. Also, they have sounds that fit different locations. You're more apt to hear seagulls when you're swinging around the bay area. There are construction sounds closer inland where most the roadwork goes on...it's totally cool.

Overall - My overall impression with this game is pretty darn great. It was a wonderful challenge and a stunning game. I was pleasantly surprised that the game ruined NOTHING of the movie. Even the ending, as similar as it is to the end of the movie, is still more like the original Green Goblin storyline from the comics. I thought I was gonna go into the movie knowing all that would happen after playing the game. NOT SO! They did a great job making this game it's own story. (I repeat myself) You can live in the training courses alone in this game....but play through the game. It's great. You unlock some great production art from the film and hidden movies and stuff.

The game is out on Playstation 2, Nintendo GameCube, X-Box and Gameboy Advance. I dunno how the other versions look but the GameCube version is gorgeous.

The game get's a A. Would have been a A+ if fighting the Green Goblin wasn't such an impossible feat.