Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage (SNES) review "Paint the town red"

Very few games capture the essence of Comics-related stories and Maximum Carnage is one of those extraordinary few. Based on the 90s Marvel Comics arc, Maximum Carnage centers on the titular villain, Carnage who escapes from prison to wreck havoc and murder in New York unhinged, followed by some other super villains who decide to join in the massacre. It’s up to Spider-Man to try and stop the bloodthirsty crew but he is on the disadvantage, until Venom joins forces with him to stop Carnage and his nefarious gang once it for all. On the way you get the aid of other Marvel superheroes like Black Cat and Captain America, all which can be summoned to get rid of enemies on screen when available on stock. The game also features cut scenes straight out of comic book pages as you progress into the game.

You get to choose between Spidey and Venom after a few stages into the game. Both have similar styles of fighting and the difference seems only cosmetic, but their moves are quite easy to pull off and manage to deal with enemies fairly enough. The game play itself is similar to Streets or Rage or Final Fight, on which you beat thugs left and right until the screen commands you to move on forward. You can also pull off a master move pressing both buttons to clear enemies at the cost of a fraction of your health, and even pull off a power move when your bar flashes after fighting enemies long enough. Both characters can crawl on walls and use their web to sling about the stage, often finding power-ups on hard to reach places and also as shielding against enemy attacks. Even with all these moves at your disposal, the game can get quite brutal when boss battles are encountered, and having limited continues makes you want to hold on to any precious extra men you have in your tally.

The game also features a great soundtrack with tunes performed by Green Jelly, who offered their musical talents for the game. The tracks are engaging and go along with the action onscreen quite well.

Maximum Carnage is well executed, and at times feels really short, but with enough challenges to make you want to perform well into the final battle. One of the finest Marvel themed games that debuted in the 90s. It is not perfect by any means but the fact that it features a lot from the titular comics line into it makes it for a collectible among many of its kind, or at least a fine short rump beating up baddies in a casual gaming session. Quite a good title.

Community review by CptRetroBlue (November 03, 2018) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.