Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage

"Mysteriously overrated brawler"

Released in 1994, contained in those cool-looking red cartridges, and inexplicably boasting a soundtrack from no-name rockers Greenjelly, came Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, one of many financially successful video games based on everyone's friendly neighborhood superhero. The graphics, comic book storyline, and cameos from other famous crime fighters are cool, but why this game with its unfair difficulty level, busted gameplay mechanics, astoundingly repetitive boss battles, and utterly useless webslinging powers has become a cherished classic in the minds of so many gamers is completely beyond me.

The storyline centers around the criminally insane villain Carnage breaking out of the mental hospital, rounding up a gang of villains nobody has ever heard of, and driving the citizens of New York City to lunacy. Spider-man springs into action to try to save the city. Venom, who is usually an enemy to Peter Parker, finds that he and Spidey have a common enemy in Carnage and comes to his aid. In addition they enlist the aid of a laundry list of other heroes, who range from the notable (Captain America), to the ones who don't even get recognized in their own city (Firestar, Deathlock).

Gameplay consist primarily of simplistic beat ‘em up levels. The player can choose between the speedy Spider-Man or the brute strength of Venom. This sort of gameplay can and has worked very well, see Final Fight or Streets of Rage 2 for reference, but it's very poorly executed here. There are two main types of levels: fights against hordes of thugs and fights against some combination of the game's five boss characters. Unfortunately, both kinda suck.

The biggest flaw with the gameplay mechanics in the fights against thugs is Spider-Man and Venom's tendency to automatically grab any enemy that gets within five feet of them. Unfortunately, grabbing and hitting an enemy offers no advantage as it actually does less damage than a punching combo, and your character is vulnerable to attack while grabbing an enemy. It's hard for me to understand just why any self-respecting superhero would want to repeatedly execute a move that gets the crap kicked out of him every time he tries it, but Spidey and Venom keep grabbing their enemies anyway.

The other levels are boss fights with some combination of the game's five villains: Doppleganger, Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, and Carnage. These fights wouldn't be so bad if they weren't so absurdly repetitive. The game has you beat down each of the villains over a half dozen times apiece. The only decent boss in the game is Carnage, but the game even shoots itself in the foot with him, as its climax has you beat him down three times in one identical fight after another. With the exception of Carnage, none of the bosses are terribly interesting either. Doppleganger is bland, Shriek is a pushover, Carrion is nothing but a hovering nuisance, and Demogoblin offers little more than pumpkin bombs and a counterpunch. To say that the game crams these characters down our throats and runs them into the ground is an understatement.

Still, the game does boast some nice production values and some excellent music to fight to. It is also cool that all of Spider-Man and Venom's powers are at your disposal. You can wall climb, swing from building to building, and grab enemies with web to your heart's content. Unfortunately, the well-executed wall climbing mechanics are only used in one stage, and using web powers during a fight is pointless when simply punching is so much more effective.

Maximum Carnage is a game that could have been good. Letting you use all of the powers of your favorite superheroes is a good idea, and the entire production has the look and feel of a well-made game, but it's killed by poorly executed fights and redundant boss battles. Spidey deserves better than this seriously flawed product.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/16/04