This week has been a nostalgic week for Spider-Man fans. The release of the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer - which re-introduced some classic villains via the multiverse - instantly became the most-watched trailer within a 24 hour period, beating the likes of Avengers: Endgame. It's an incredible achievement, and unless you've been living under a rock, you're most likely one of the 355,500,000 views that helped break that record. As one of the many excited fans around the world, I've been on something of a Spider-Man high this week, leading me to check out some classic games based on the superhero. And you know what? Xbox has hosted some incredible titles over the years.
First, let's address the elephant in the room. PlayStation owns arguably the best video game iteration as a console exclusive, but there are still some mighty impressive games for us to dive into. Unfortunately, due to licensing, most of these games aren't backwards compatible on the Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S, but it's always nice to be nostalgic, right? It might even encourage you to dust off your old console for some quality web-slinging.
The first Spider-Man game to grace the Xbox was based on the original Sam Raimi movie featuring Tobey Maguire. While it was fun and serviceable, it wasn't until the sequel came out that the hero really got the chance to shine. A fully-fledged open-world version of New York City was crafted and players were able to let loose as Spider-Man. You could complete missions, stop crimes or just embrace the exhilarating web-swinging, which for the time was revolutionary. As far as movie tie-ins go, it's considered one of the best and for good reason. It truly embraced everything about the franchise fans have come to love over the years.
While many argue Spider-Man 2 is the best game, personally, I would go with the next title to release, which is Ultimate Spider-Man - a timeless game with a graphical art style that holds up today. There's something about the cel-shaded look that has always worked with me and even when booting it up in 2021 on an OLED TV screen, it still shines. There's so much personality in the world that it truly makes me feel like I'm eight years old again, wrapped up in my Spider-Man blanket on the sofa watching the Saturday morning cartoon.
If you haven't played it, you're doing yourself a disservice. Mechanically, it still feels great to play today. Yes, there are a few wonky camera issues and the web-swinging has been refined since then, but the combat, mission design and feeling of exploration is unrivalled, in my opinion. The addition of being able to play as Venom is also extremely cool, allowing you to play both as the hero and anti-hero. An early mission where you're forced to fight against Wolverine as the alien symbiote is a particular highlight.
Both Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man feel great to play. In today's world, each title would most likely have been bogged down with open-world fluff and rushed out the door to tie into the 'next big Spider-Man' movie. Yet, here they are in all their glory - two incredible games sitting on the original Xbox. It's a shame they'll most likely never be made backwards compatible, but if you can source an old console, they're absolutely worth the effort to do so.
Of course, these aren't the only two fantastic titles we've had. While not as polished as the previously mentioned games, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is an incredibly fun adventure on the Xbox 360 that aims to replicate the feeling of those nostalgic titles. It doesn't always hit the mark, and is perhaps a bit too moody, but the gameplay itself still presents itself magnificently. There's also Spider-Man 3, which plays similarly to Spider-Man 2, but is nowhere near as refined and polished, however does have some hilarious quick-time event fails. Probably doesn't help that it's based on a mediocre movie. But if you can see past its flaws, there's still some classic Spider-Man fun to be had.
Even the linear games which ditch the open-world setup have their positives. Both Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time are action-packed adventures, allowing fans to play as various iterations of the hero from over the years, such as the iconic Noir version of Spider-Man. The combat is a highlight, allowing you to use an array of skills that haven't previously been in any of the games. The duo act as love letter to the entire franchise and both helped pave the way for the universally acclaimed movie, Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse.
I'm also going to go out on a limb and defend the two Amazing Spider-Man games that were released to tie in with the Andrew Garfield films. There are some terrible moments, but the swinging was the best it had been since the original Xbox titles. At the end of the day, isn't that what being Spider-Man is all about? That sense of freedom as you shut out the rest of the world. The combat borrowed elements of the Batman: Arkham series, including the stealth sections. If you're looking for a pretty fun time, you can check out The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on Xbox One still.
While it's easy to look at Marvel's Spider-Man on PlayStation and be pretty miffed we won't have that same experience, there's still an entire legacy of fun, weird and genuinely great Spider-Man games across the Xbox's lifespan. Sure, not every single one of them works and others are a bit of a mess, but each title has at least something in it that's worth checking out. A few are even games I would consider truly amazing and a staple of my gaming life. If you've caught the spider bite since the No Way Home trailer, then try and check out some older Spider-Man Xbox titles.
You may be surprised!
Do you have a favourite Spider-Man Xbox game? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 15
I never played a Spiderman game before. I do plan on picking up a PS5 eventually and picking up Miles Morales Ultimate Edition and playing Spiderman remastered and then Miles Morales..
Great article!
I always felt that a lot of the 2000+ era Spiderman games are very underated. I also have very fond memories of Ultimate Spiderman. I give it a slight edge over Spiderman 2 as well, if only because when you swing in the game the camera sort of swings along with you.
Now I want to do a run-through of Spiderman games too.
Spiderman on the PS4 was so good! Too bad I won't be playing the upcoming sequel, since I don't plan to go multiplatform this generation. Consoles are too expensive, and specially so here in Brazil, where the economy is in a very, very, bad shape. 😥
Whilst they're not Spiderman related, I can also recommend a tangent of similar era Marvel games.
The open world Incredible Hulk: Ultimate destruction and the strangely addictive fighter X-Men: Next Dimension.
Screw it, I'm digging out my consoles from the era and doing a Spiderman/Marvel run through too.
@Magabro I'm in Canada so the economy is a bit better. But even here I am shocked some people buy 2 consoles so they can play like the 4-5 games that the other console won't get
I wish these games were still available to buy digitally (and under BC.)
So many fun games locked away from most legal access because bad licensing deals that force the stop of sale after someone else gets the license… 😔
Recently done a run through of the 90s spiderman arcade game and it was awesome, graphical style still holds up today. Insomniacs games are definitely the best though
I happen to have been playing through the PS4 games for myself for the first time this month, I'd highly recommend them. I don't think I've enjoyed a Spider-man game this much since Spider-man 2.
I know licencing issues prevent it but i do wish all the Xbox and 360 games were on One/SeriesX/S, its been years since i last played Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man and even underrated gems like Web of Shadows.
I do highly recommend the PS4/PS5 Spider-Man games though for those what have yet to play them, it does to Spidey what Arkham done for Batman plus Insomniac just went OTT on unlockable costumes what is always a plus for a Spidey game.
@pip_muzz Hulk Ultimate Destruction is fantastic and holds up pretty well even now. As a kid i must have spent 100's of hours playing it and replaying it, its one of those games i would love a remake off even if it can never happen. I think the closest we have now to that game is the Prototype series what i think was made by the same Devs.
Interesting article. Never played any of the Spider-Man games on Xbox, and to be honest after playing PS4's Spider-Man I'm not sure any of them could live up to the expectation.
Easily the best Spidey game I’ve played was the 2018 Spider-Man game on ps4. Before that all I’d played was a game for the Nintendo DS, which I cannot recall the name of. I recently purchased Spider-Man 3 for Wii (amongst other games) trying to recapture some feels from 2008. Doesn’t hold up.
I can't seem to remember any decent game from the marvel franchise.
Star wars on the other hand, has released many good games.
I liked the amazing games for the most part but there is a difficulty spike in amazing 2 that is very annoying. Spidey 2 and web of shadows are my favorite multiplat Spiderman games. I do wish there was a Spider-Gwen or iron spider MJ, or Silk (Any of the spider women really) game though.
Wait is Ultimate Spider-man BC compatible on Series X?
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...