JANUS2's Spider-Man: Web of Fire review

Thanks for kicking this thing off. On the other hand, to hell with you for reminding me about Maximum Carnage for which I now need to drop everything for to immediately replay.

It kind of sucks that this game is so bad – The Eel is one of those ironically brilliant super-villains who‘s entire super power is that he’s kind of slippery, so him being used right in a game could have been brilliant. Bringing up Carnage so early is an excellent tactic with this in mind, because it tells the reader that this came after a comic book game that absolutely nails its source material so Web of Fire is running low on excuses. Same with ensuring you note early that it was the last system release; if any game should start getting the best of the 32X’s pitiful lifespan, surely it would be the last ever release. You tie this point up well later when you talk about things that could have redeemed the game. Noting the release of Mario 64 is a savage boot to the face. You monster, you.

It’s a really good review – I also enjoyed how you give web swinging such backhanded praise and drop in a description of the best stage. It shows the game isn’t completely without ambition and effort while making it very clear that those efforts didn't pan at. At all.

Assuming there’s no objections, I’ll nudge Jason to get his side of promoting this review to staff underway so you can’t sneakily delete it the second my back is turned so we can take the first game off the completion list.

Haha, I knew you still secretly hated me for deleting all those reviews.

On the subject of blasts from the past, I was checking my HGMail archives the other day. The highlight is a message from bluberry with the subject "I'm as drunk as f***". Nostalgia...

Thanks for the comments. I wanted it to come across exactly as you described so I'm glad you liked it. I might even take some screen caps if it's gonna be bumped up to staff. (Do we still do that?)

I think one thing that resonated most with me was the disappointment a player could feel looking at how none of the enemies were particularly big-name Spiderman foes. Regardless of actual quality, the one thing that separates a superhero game from any random action title is that the characters have a certain validity due to being in other mediums of entertainment. So, when you go past the A-listers and base a game around a group of lesser-tier villains, it just seems second-rate. Reminds me of the god-awful Silver Surfer NES game, where I hadn't even heard of some of the bosses.

If you're going to use no-names (in the grand scheme of things), that's cool...but keep them secondary to the true big-name threat (like the second X-Men PS2 game did...one early boss was a guy who doesn't even rate his own Wiki page, but the main foes were Apocalypse and Sinister).

Boo's all respectable these days. He wears a monocle and only drinks finest cognac when social situations like the grand ball dictates it.

Screenshots are still a thing if that's a route you want to go. Let me know when you're at the final stage of the review and I'll upgrade it.

I've added screens so it can be upgraded now, if everything's in order.

Thank you, Janus! I've updated the review, which looks great. I hope this isn't the last 32X game you find time to review. You did a terrific job on this one.