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With the success of Sam Raimi's 2002 film Spider-Man, a movie that has been credited by many for redefining the superhero action genre and paving a way for the hundreds of comic book movies that followed, it was inevitable that a licensed video game based off of it would be spread to as many systems as humanly possible. Perhaps the only surprise about Spider-Man (which we will refer to as the game from here on out) is its release timing—the game was actually released in North America a few weeks prior to the actual movie.

Activision certainly must have been certain of its success, understandably so, as their previously published Spider-Man (non-movie-based) titles on 5th-gen consoles were received and sold well. For those who were itching to get a sneak peek at the movie via the PS2 title, or those who were simply fans of the character, the 6th generation Spider-Man was a highly anticipated title, with the promise of seeing the web-slinging hero in a whole new light. For anyone who has had the misfortune of playing it since their childhood, it is little more than a complete disaster.

Let's start with Spider-Man's best feature, and the first one that folks will usually mention with reverie. The game's tutorial features a voice-over by Raimi's frequent collaborator Bruce Campbell, and it is genuinely funny and clever. For a tutorial that is otherwise completely unremarkable, Campbell brings a charisma that makes it one of gaming's more memorable learning sections for those who have played it. And then the game starts, and things start to go downhill very quickly.

The first and most obvious of Spider-Man's flaws is in its web-slinging mechanic; your webs are seemingly not attached to anything, and mid-air movement is both extremely basic and overly cumbersome. It seems like Spider-Man forgot that one of its characters main features was their ability to swing from building to building—it would not be surprising to find out that this was some kind of last-minute addition to what was otherwise supposed to be a very mediocre beat-em-up.

The problem is, then, that half of the game takes place in mid-air, including a variety of the least engaging boss fights you could ever imagine. You can only spam the jump kick button so many times before you start to lose your sanity. For what it's worth, combat fares no better on solid land, and so much of that part of the game feels like a generic brawler—you could be any superhero for 80% of the ground sections without a noticeable difference. For a character with such a versatile potential for moves and abilities, you'll be fine going through Spider-Man by entering the same 3-button combo throughout most of its thankfully short run time.

For a game based on a movie, the story is predictably bloated with filler characters and irrelevant missions, most disappointingly the game's focus on stealth sections, which it is woefully unsuited for and pushes the limit of boredom. And oh boy, the camera in Spider-Man is simply not up to par. Put simply, your movement of the camera won't affect your current movement input until you change direction, causing dozens of weird angles and accidental attacks at nobody.

The lock-on feature does little to remedy this, either, though it is useful in helping end the atrocious air boss battles earlier. Speaking of air, was it mentioned that web-slinging sections were limited to the sky and rooftops only and that getting too close to the ground will result in an instant death? Perhaps it wouldn't be fair to expect a GTA3-style open city that you can explore, but the fact you can't even walk on land in this game really drives the point home that this game was likely pushed to release in line with the movie, as opposed to when it was actually ready.

If Spider-Man deserves any other bits of credit, it's the reward for beating the game on Hero difficulty; you unlock the ability to play as the Green Goblin, and while the story is basically the same, it's an impressive feature to hide a whole other character with a completely unique moveset (and, admittedly, a better controlling moveset) as a post-game reward. This is probably the other game's most famous feature, and it's certainly one that would get the younger Spider-Man fan excited.

For those playing it without the promise of an upcoming summer blockbuster, though, it's more of a cute curiosity that will be swiftly discarded once you realize that playing as the Green Goblin will mean having to play the game again. In an era where licensed titles had mostly lost their luster as a guaranteed source of at least decent gameplay, Spider-Man's 6th gen debut does it almost as badly as it was possible to do, especially given the fair reception of their previous franchise titles. There's a reason why most folks refer to Spider-Man 2, this title's sequel, as the definitive Spider-Man experience. Frankly, whether the sequel is a well-made game or not is beyond the point; this one isn't hard to beat.

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