Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage

"True believers! A Spiderman game done right!"

Introduction: I remember seeing this game back in 1994 when it came out. I knew nothing about it, other than how fun it sounded and how cool it looked. I bought it, took it home, and was happy with the results. This is one of the few Spiderman games that is actually fun, challenging, and done right. This is also a great game because you can play as Venom. Which is great, because there aren't too many Spiderman games that can let you play as ''them''.

Story: The story is kind of like any other Spiderman game or comic book. One of the many bad guys is causing havoc, and it's up to you as Spiderman to stop them. The main threat is Carnage, the red freak symbiote. When Eddy Brock(Venom) learns of Carnage running loose, his symbiote takes him over and ''they'' also try stopping Carnage.

Game play: The game is a side scrolling beat 'em up. You fight all sorts of different thugs, actually, you fight about 4 or 5 different looking thugs that are identical to each other, besides their clothing colors. Sometimes, you can get in a jam and get beat up pretty badly, but it's a good thing there is lots of hearts which restore your health along the way. There are a bunch of different secrets throughout the game. And there are also power ups that allow you to summon other super heroes that attack all enemies on the screen, such as the Black Cat and Cloak&Dagger.

Sound: The sound totally ROCKS!! The punches sound good, the baddies getting hit sound perfect, but the music is what does it! The music was recorded by Green Jelly, a rock band, and their music did a hell of a job for this game.

Replay value: Replay value is definitely here and that's a good thing. Towards the end, the game can get very tough, the last few bosses are very difficult.

Cons: There are cons to this great game, which is why I didn't give it a full 10. One of them is, that there is no option menu. So you can't alter difficulty, lives, continues etc...something that some players might have liked a lot. The second one is, there is no multi player. This would have been a great two player game, one person could be Spiderman, and the other Venom.

Scores:
Story: 7/10
Game play: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Replay: 8/10

All around: Despite a couple of minor setbacks, this game is still awesome and totally worth your money. This is the only Spiderman beat 'em up I know of, and one of my favorites. So get down to your local game store, and look for the red cartridge and sit back and have fun with this awesome game!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/03, Updated 03/29/03