15) Spider-Man Arcade (1991)
It’s a little surprising that Spidey didn’t star in more coin-operated arcade games, but this one was a staple in bowling alleys across America. As a four joystick game, Spider-Man is joined by Black Cat, Namor, and Hawkeye, all with their own unique moves. It included the gimmick of re-positioning the camera for different levels, changing the game from a standard side scrolling beat-em-up, to more of a navigation challenge. While it didn’t perfect the arcade formula, it had enough clever ideas to make it stand out against the classics.
14) Spider-Man: Mysterio’s Menace (GBA, 2001)
Is this the best 2D Spider-Man game? Arguably. It looked great, had cool comic book-style cutscenes, and a fun take on power-ups. What really makes this game amazing though are clever design choices that open up options for the players. Levels can be completed out of order, which was a big deal in 2001. Even cooler, the game used verticality to open up the levels. Instead of simply going from left to right, you could find hidden areas and new ways to progress. This was the Spider-Man game that came closest to feeling like a Mario or Sonic game.
13) Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
A lot of people hated this movie, and a lot of people hated this game. But you know what? It actually tries pretty hard. The emphasis in this game is on web-swinging, and while it’s not the best execution of all time (more on that in a bit), some slick animations made the player feel pretty cool. Combat was a straight Arkham series rip-off, but hey, it works. And whenever the story veered away from copying the movie, it actually went to some pretty cool places, even making villains like Alistair Smythe scary and interesting. Perfect by no means, this game gets a bad wrap.
12) Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The third Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie was a bloated mess, and the same goes for this game. It throws a lot of character and ideas at you, and none of them are too memorable. The voice cast comes straight on over from the movie, and they do a fine job. The movie’s villains show up, and New Goblin is as lame here as he is there. The gangs, the open world stuff, the story, it’s all fine. Basically, this game repackages the far superior movie adaptations in a competent but not great package. Sort of like the movie it’s adapting!
11) Spider-Man: The Animated Series (Sega Genesis, SNES, 1995)
Is he strong? Listen bud, he’s got radioactive blood. In the 90s, the Spidey cartoon was the best way to experience ‘ol webhead outside of the comics. A game adaptation of the cartoon adaptation? That was a 90s kid’s dream. The graphics tried to faithfully (and somewhat successfully) recreate the style of the cartoon, and the game, while clunky, was definitely a Spider-Man adventure. For a long time, this was the peak of Spider-Man platformer games.