Welcome again, land-dwellers, to the dawn of a new era of licensed Marvel games. Gone are the lowly 8-bit games of the NES and the Master System. Gone, too, are the games of the arcade era with their excessive amounts of quality and hype (other than Galactic Storm, which of course had neither quality nor hype). Now, we enter into a new age of cape games; the 16-bit home consoles.
These totally radical games will make you exclaim ‘whoa dude, ergonomic!’, or whatever it is that all those commercials made by middle aged marketing executives thought kids were saying. This is a world of blast processing, and mode-seven graphics, and a world of very hit-and-miss soundcards. Will the DOUBLE MEGA POWER make a difference? Will there come a day when I’ve played the final Marvel game? When will the X-Men get a truly good game?
I don’t know the answer to that first one, but I do know the answer to that second question. And it’s sooner than you think…
These are probably some of the most well known of the Marvel licensed games (other than the Capcom arcade games perhaps), and this whole era was dominated by licensed games in general. By ‘92 or so is when the whole ‘shovel these cheap licensed games out the door, now’ energy took hold of many publishers and companies. We had a good number in the NES days of course, but I feel that the Genesis/SNES era was the real critical mass.
These articles are going to have five games each, which I think is a doable amount given how a good number of them have already been mostly covered in the 8-bit articles. These games will have a likely more brief rundown for their 16-bit versions, and will mostly be a comparison of quality differences. That being stated, let’s get into the first one which is just such a game; Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin on the Sega Genesis.
Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin
Developer: TechnopopPublisher: Sega
Platform: Genesis
Year: 1991
Finally, some good food. This is quite easily the best version of Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin yet, and more in line with that I wanted the previous 8-bit versions to be. It's fitting perhaps that this was the first one technically, as this Genesis version was developed first then ported backwards for the earlier Sega consoles.
This original version of vs. the Kingpin also was very successful, and is what singlehandedly saved Sega’s Marvel license from being rescinded.
The game follows an identical storyline to the previous versions, save for no Doctor Strange appearance like in the Master System port for some reason. You can still take photos of the enemies and bosses you fight for cash to pay for more webfluid, which is a cute little mechanic I love.
Love how Electro is so dead-set on murdering you that he keeps spamming lightning bolts over your already dead body. He just can’t contain himself, he doesn't stop until the screen fades out.
The graphics are clear and colourful, and the controls are a perfectly acceptable level of responsiveness. You have a good mix of moves, from web balls to a kinda useless web shield to a jump kick, and a cute crouching toe kick that’s easily the best move in your arsenal. All in all, it’s a passing grade in purely technical gameplay control which already puts it above the GameGear version, not that it's a particularly high quality benchmark.
I love Spider-Man’s standing sprite. The angry looking eyes, the slightly leaning forward torso; he’s not playing games anymore.
The game is still difficult, but not as absurdly so as previous versions. The bosses show no ****ing mercy, but are usually defeatable through some specific gimmick. The Lizard for example will always crouch down if you do, so I quickly devised a foolproof strategy of crouching down, standing back up then quickly crouching down again and just spamming the web button as quick as I could before he’d be able to crouch down again. It feels on brand for both the characters, honestly; he just has a tiny little lizard brain, after all.
Poor guy, doesn’t even know that he’s about to get absolutely wrecked. If it weren’t for all the mayhem and all the scheming to turn people into reptiles or whatever the hell the Lizard does, I’d almost feel bad.
My time with the game came to an end in Central Park, with the appearance of an insurmountable enemy, the true nemesis of Peter Parker; a random gorilla. He thoroughly and repeatedly trounced me, and so I moved on. While it’s far from Spider-Man’s first battle with a simian enemy, it’s a little strange how a random gorilla was putting even Electro to shame. Also, this gorilla has nothing on The Gibbon, bless that forgotten villain's heart.
Don’t even get me started on the ****ing snakes.
Honestly, even though I was humiliated by a monkey, I may actually come back to this version. I can see why it was such a success upon release, and I would actually recommend playing this if you’re just looking for a competent and fun enough Spider-Man action platformer. Just watch out for the ****ing gorilla, man.
Score
3 ½ out of 5 Thwips.
Captain America and the Avengers
Developer: MindscapePublisher: Data East
Platform: Genesis, SNES
Year: 1992
I’m ****ing sick of playing versions of this game. It’s hounded me since the inception of this whole series like the lingering sting of a bad memory. The arcade version was acceptable, and I thought that maybe with the addition of DOUBLE MEGA POWER that at least one home version would be even halfway decent.
I was, of course, entirely wrong.
The SNES/Genesis version of Captain America and the Avengers is bad. It’s just as unresponsive as the other versions, and feels so incredibly stiff in play. The only positive I can say is that your projectile attack this time around is bound to a single button press, and so it does still feel decently cool to throw some shields in-between tossing enemies around…when you can actually manage to do so without getting knocked down yourself.
The biggest sin of this version is only giving you a single second of invulnerability upon getting up from the ground, and trust me, you will get knocked down repeatedly in this.
Be prepared for pain a plenty.
This incredibly short window leaves you entirely susceptible to getting trapped in endless loops of getting your spandex clad ass kicked down when you get surrounded, and it’s just bull****. I can’t get past the second stage, due to a combination of that issue combined with some hit detection issues draining all of my lives by that point. I could persevere and ‘get good’ as the kids say, or I can do anything else with my time. Why is this game so cursed, other than the perfectly playable arcade game?
The SNES version, pictured in this article, removes the hilarious translation issues that are still in the Genesis version, but still keeps the sassy Vision pose. Why is he so sassy?
“You must be crushed!” the ultimate synthetic lifeform says, striking a dramatic pose with his hand on his hip.
I’m just tired of Captain America and the Avengers. I don’t want to look at it anymore, I don’t want to play it, and so that’s all I have to say about Captain America and the Avengers. It’s now finally over; there’s no more ports of it to cover. I’m free.
Thank god.
They kept in the side-scrolling shooter stages, I guess.
Were any of them worth it? Eh, I guess the arcade version was the best of the bunch and maybe worth a playthrough if you don't have anything else you feel like playing. I can now say, with utmost certainty, that you should not play any other version.
Score
1 ½ out of 5 Avengers!
Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge
Developer: Software CreationsPublisher: Acclaim/LJN
Platform: Genesis, SNES
Year: 1992 (SNES), 1993 (Genesis)
Here we go again, another not-so-good 8-bit game we’ve previously covered. This was one of the entries in the third gen handheld articles, and I believe it got a lofty rating of ‘2 Thwips out of 5’. It's weird how this game skipped the 8-bit home consoles entirely, but I digress; does the 16-bit SNES/Genesis version redeem the tarnished and far-too-long name of Spider-Man and The X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge?
You may be surprised at this one, but kinda? I wouldn't say it's fully redeemed, but it's definitely more playable.
It’s not exceptional or great by any means, but it’s not that bad either. It still has that atrocious opening level that sees Spider-Man collect dohickeys in a certain order, and it’s just as mind numbing and pointless as every other version. Why does it open like this?
Whenever I’m playing a Spider-Man game, I really always find myself wondering “okay, where’s the dohickeys to collect?” It’s really very fun, and didn’t almost make me turn the game off or anything.
Once you’re finished this waste of time and brain power, you’re brought to the game proper and it’s these other levels that have definitely gotten a little more love than in the previous handheld versions. Some are definitely better than the others, and I did not find myself enjoying the Cyclops section that takes place in a mine of some sort.
I know whenever I play as Cyclops in a game, I’m immediately saying to myself “okay, but when do the mine carts come into play?” It’s the first thing I think of whenever I picture Cyclops, riding mine carts around.
It’s aided mostly by the fact that the game actually responds and controls in an acceptable method, compared to the really sluggish and stiff responsiveness of the handheld versions. The graphics are…sort of okay. The sprites are rather small, and everyone has some weird proportions going on. It’s got some good use of colour, at least.
Also returning is the underwater Storm levels, which once again greatly confuse me. Why Storm of all people, who’s primary power of shooting lightning would be completely useless (if not dangerous) underwater. I suppose it’s not technically real water given it’s an illusionary Arcade trap (again, love that guy!) but still. She also still shoots the lightning bolts out of her eyeballs, and I think someone on the dev team was a little confused on that whole thing.
Perhaps the whole thing is a devious ploy by Arcade to trigger Storm’s claustrophobia. He’s kind of an asshole like that.
Overall, this was a decent action platformer. There’s better out there, but there’s also way worse and it’s pretty impressive how much better this plays than the GameGear/GBC ports, even considering the obvious hardware differences. It’s simple, straightforward and just acceptably playable enough to earn its entirely average score.
Score
2 ½ Thwips out of 5.
X-Men
Developer: Western Technologies, Inc.Publisher: Sega
Platform: Genesis
Year: 1993
It's finally happened. We finally have a good X-Men game. It only took 4 years since the release of the wretched Uncanny X-Men on the NES, which back in the retro game era was like 20 years practically. The Genesis’s X-Men isn't a perfect game, but it's so much more astonishing compared to the previous games featuring everyone’s favourite genetic weirdos that, in comparison, it's practically Half-Life.
Not to say the game isn't fantastic of course, because it is. The sprites are beefy and very proportionally accurate, the controls are precise, and the straightforward action-platforming is well done.
The story sees the X-Men trapped in the Danger Room after Magneto uploads a computer virus into it, which raises several questions. How did he do this? Is the Danger Room’s Wi-fi just an open network? It doesn’t matter; smash enemies and jump across platforms.
If you fall, Jean Grey will always catch you. She’s really handy to have around, shame she dies just about every other comic arc.
You can play as Wolverine, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops. You can even switch between them a few times per level, as they sometimes have a power or ability to let you progress; mainly Nightcrawler, for reasons that should be fairly obvious. Locked door or wall blocking you? No problem, the swashbuckling German man can just teleport right through it.
Impenetrable laser wall? No problem; bamf, mother******.
You can also call in ‘assists’ from Storm, Rogue, Archangel and Iceman through collecting power-ups with their face on it in the stages. These powerful screen clearing moves are incredibly useful, as the enemy count can get a little ludicrous in this game and the bosses are quite formidable.
Remember Zala Dane? I remember Zala Dane, X-Men on the Genesis; even if the game does misspell her name as 'Zaladane' like she's a topical ointment or something.
Like I said, the game isn’t perfect. Some minor complaints; I think only being able to switch characters a limited amount of times (I think it was probably like twice maybe) seems rather silly, and your energy gauge that lets you use your mutant ability comes back very slowly. The amount of energy you use with each button press is fine, just maybe let it regen a little faster as there was numerous times I was just ****ed without it. Also, this game repeats an unforgivable sin that some earlier Wolverine games brought forth; it drains your energy just to use his claws. Why? I will never understand this X-Men game phenomena.
Would I recommend X-Men on the Sega Genesis? Absolutely, hell yeah. There’s some minor enough complaints here and there, but it’s still an uncanny blast. If only there was a sequel that would improve on this game’s formula, that might just be one of the best retro X-Men games. If only...
Score
4 X-Genes out of 5.
The Amazing Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin
Developer: SegaPublisher: Sega
Platform: SegaCD
Year: 1993
Here we go, the final version of vs. the Kingpin. Not only did this version add on an ‘Amazing’ to the title, but it also added in something else: the futuristic technology of CD-Roms, being released for the much-clowned on SegaCD attachment. This brings a few changes to it over the Genesis version, including better audio, animated (and voice acted!) cutscenes, some new levels, non-linear approach to the levels and the central hub of New York, and an overall increase in gameplay speed. Is it worth it?
Hell yeah.
The overall controls are identical to the Genesis, but there are some new moves this time around added into Spidey’s small but effective arsenal. You can shoot out a single, very slow and short ranged ‘shotgun’ web to defeat enemies and I've never really found a use for this honestly considering the amount of web meter it uses. Something new that is actually useful is the ability to hold down your web button to fully entrap and defeat enemies by shooting a big ol’ long web. It doesn't use too much of your web meter for the basic enemies, so it's actually pretty useful. The greatest move in your arsenal, replacing the toe kick from the other version; the amazing Spider-Man crotch punch. He just lets those crotch punches fly.
He has the proportional strength of a spider, as you know, so I imagine that probably hurts like you couldn’t even imagine.
You can also do a kick attack when swinging on a web, which is something both thematic and yet oddly missing from any other previous Spider-Man game I’ve played.
Something that was removed this time around was being able to take photos of enemies in order to get cash dollar bills to refill your web cartridges. It was a small little touch, but it's strange why they removed it for this SegaCD version. I missed it, at least; it's nothing big but it helped the game feel more authentic to the character. To compensate the web meter power-ups are far more common, almost to a comical level.
The game is also quite a bit easier I think overall than the other versions. The Central Park gorilla, as of course it returns in this version, didn’t stand a chance against my Spidey crotch assault this time around, and that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.
It may be missing that one thing, but the SegaCD version has added so much more. The game is now a non-linear affair, letting you choose from an actually impressive amount of small levels to take on in whichever order you wish alongside the usual super villain bosses. 90% of these non-boss levels are pretty small and nothing overly special, but it's nice nonetheless. It's also added in more bosses, such as The Vulture and Hobgoblin, the perpetually underrated Goblin-type villain.
The improvements to the game’s controls are by far the greatest advantage of this version. Spider-Man moves at a breakneck pace now, and his default waking stance is crawling around like the weird little arachnid man he is. You can also get up and walk like a normal person, but are actually slower than crawling when doing so. You can now smoothly and almost effortlessly climb every wall surface by just jumping at them, and it honestly felt ****ing sick once I got the hang of it to be scurrying away just like a real Spidey.
Look at him go, dude!
Two last things that have to be stated about The Amazing Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin, both owing to the CD format; the soundtrack and the cutscenes. This game's soundtrack slaps. It is some of the purest, cleanest 90’s ‘butt rock’ I've ever heard in my life. Just give a listen to this 90’s perfection; here's the main theme, 'Swingtime'.
Like the soundtrack, the last CD improvement is in the animated and voice acted cutscenes. They can be greatly entertaining in ways most likely not intended. They don't quite reach that same level of 'surrealist abstract comedy skit' as something like the CD-i Zelda games, but they're not far off, honestly. Also of note is that a lot of familiar voices are in it; Jim Ward of voice acting fame (Captain Qwark from the Ratchet and Clank series, for one) voices Spider-Man in this, and it's incredibly noticeable.
You okay, Spidey? You look a little…misshapen.
Once again, just like the Genesis version, I am for sure going to come back to this. It’s very impressive how much this managed to improve on the original Genesis version, and I'd absolutely recommend it along with the other 16-bit version of vs. The Kingpin.
Score
4 Thwips out of 5.
And so ends the beginning chapter of this new age. This is the era of Marvel games that I have probably the second most amount of fore-knowledge of, but of these first 5 games I’d only played X-Men previously and my god, did both the 16-bit versions of Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin surprise me. I genuinely had no knowledge of either as I’d only played the GameGear version (unfortunately) even before my article on it. I cannot recommend either of the 16-bit games enough, but as you can see from my final scores I preferred the SegaCD version half a point more. You just can’t beat that soundtrack, you know?
What awaits us in ‘Marvel Games, the 16-Bit Consoles; Part Two’? I’ll give a little bit of a spoiler; one of the games (technically it has two different versions, as we’ll get into in the article) is probably the worst game of this entire era, and two of them are easily some of the best of this entire MEGA POWER era. So, the next article is going to be very up and down. You’ll see me at my happiest, and likely my most unhappiest.
Until next time.
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