Game Boy
Advance is not known for its groundbreaking experiences. Of the 200+ GBA
titles I’ve played, over 90% were either ports or clones of SNES titles.
Every now
and then the exhaustive chain is broken and a special game breaks through.
Since Nintendo has moved onto the DS and Wii, you would hope that any
potential success story would come with an easy-to-read tagline. “Play me! I
don’t suck!” Until that idea catches on with marketing, you’ll just
have to trust your gut.
For the past
several years, Spider-Man has been a name gamers and moviegoers could count on
to deliver solid action. I expected good things from the Wii version, which
delivered an on-the-edge-of-your-seat experience. On the Game Boy end I was
hoping for an adventure that matched the quality of Ghost Rider – fast action
mixed with decent challenges. Innovation, however, was not my expectations
list.
Call me
stunned the first time I picked up the GBA and discovered Spider-Man 3’s
control scheme. It is an impeccable translation of the stunts and attacks
Spider-Man performs on the big screen. It is also the primary reason for this
game’s success. Tap the A button to jump; double-tap to swing. His swing move
can be executed as many times as you like to fly through levels, bypass fiery
passages, and to swoop over and into enemies that won’t stop spawning.
Steering is a breeze – just press the D-pad in the direction you want to
travel.
You can also
use your web as a grappling hook to pull yourself up to the ceiling, toward
enemies, or to grab civilians and pull them away from danger. By the end of
the first minute of play you’ll feel like a pro, slinging webs as if you had
been doing this your entire life. It’s very close to the experience of the
console versions but from a 2D gameplay perspective.
Tangle
enemies and stop them from attacking by tapping the R button. Spider-Man will
fire a blast that envelops the enemy in webbing. One punch is all it takes to
break ‘em free, which also causes them to fall back and lose a chunk of
health. Enemies cannot be attacked while on the ground (silly game
restrictions!), but there’s nothing to stop you from striking as soon as he
rises.
The basic
motions and level speed are very quick. Spider-Man doesn’t perform his moves
lying down – he dives into action, running and jumping faster than anyone
outside of Sega’s little blue hedgehog. I know that doesn’t sound like
something that matters, and really it shouldn’t. But when you play a game
that’s anything less, suddenly speed becomes a major factor. With Spider-Man
3, it’ll never cross your mind.
If you’ve
seen the new movie, you’ll notice that the game loosely follows its plot.
There are the expected enemy run-ins (Sandman), dozens of walls to crawl, and
a never-ending array of club-wielding thugs to beat on. When you’re in an area
where enemies won’t stop spawning, chances are you need to fill your rage
meter before the level can be finished. There are only two ways to increase
your rage: by defeating enemies or by finding a rare pickup. Once the meter
has been filled, Parker goes over to the dark side and becomes Black-Suited
Spider-Man. In this faster, stronger, and more venomous form,
Spider-Man can plow through designated walls. Normal Spider-Man does not have
the strength to do it, hence the unlimited number of enemies in certain parts
of the game.
Spider-Man
3’s levels aren’t always as impressive as the control and combat elements.
Most are great fun. You’ll chase the Green Goblin by riding on top of a moving
vehicle, bust into burning buildings to save lives, and generally feel like
you’re a part of Peter Parker’s world. But there are a couple of stages with
objectives that aren’t overly clear. You’ll be given the basics: save
civilians, extinguish fires, destroy an enemy security system, etc. Most of
these objectives are met with clearly designed level paths. If necessary, the
game usually provides a radar system (Spider Sense) that pinpoints where you
need to go.
However,
there are a couple of stages where the game neglects to do this. I’m not
looking for straight linearity, but the GBA is very limited in its graphic
capabilities. Thus, many areas look the same. This makes it hard to decipher
which areas have already been visited. Although it doesn’t take very long to
find your way, the shift from non-stop, forward-moving action to a level
that’s a heavy on backtracking was not welcome.
As for the
rest of the graphics, ignore the ugly images plastered on the back of the box.
They’ve been enlarged to the point of pixelation, which is not a true
representation of Spider-Man 3’s visuals. The characters and backgrounds are
very low on detail. However, Spider-Man’s animations are top-notch. They’re
deeper, more realistic, and more varied than the boarders in Tony Hawk’s Pro
Skater (the GBA edition).
It won’t
take you long to finish Spider-Man 3, as it is a very short game. But it’s
also enormously fun to play several times over. Once a level has been
completed, it may be played at any time – eliminating the need to play through
the brief portions of the game that are less desirable.
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Gameplay: 8.0
Top-of-the-line
web-slinging fun. Spider-Man 3’s controls are excellent. The combat is fun,
the missions are appropriately paced (mostly), and the replay value is very
high.
Graphics:
6.0
Great animations
are noteworthy in any video game. In this case, however, it is the only
graphic element worth mentioning.
Sound: 7.0
Better than most.
The music changes from stage to stage and is generally worth listening to.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Not a great
challenge, not overly easy – Spider-Man 3 is a game anyone can play and beat.
Concept: 8.0
An amazing,
well-planned and well-developed video game based on and wholeheartedly
inspired by a great comic book franchise. This isn’t merely an action game
with licensed imagery – it truly is, in every sense of the word, a Spider-Man
game.
Overall: 8.0
Judging by
Nintendo’s sales figures, it is practically guaranteed that you have at least
one GBA game-playing device in your house (either the old GBA, GBA SP, GB
Micro, GBA-to-GameCube converter, or Nintendo DS). That being the case, there
is no excuse to avoid playing this version of Spider-Man 3.
