Harsh J

I have to play every Spider-Man game produced, somehow. So I went ahead and got my hands on the most recent one of them, “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions“, and oh boy. I’m blown away!

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Box Cover showing all four playable Spider-Men -- 2099, Amazing, Noir and Ultimate (The Ultimate character comes with a Venom suit)

After playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, my bar that sets the definition of a good RPG action game just took a shot towards the sky. The game-play in it was the most involving for a comic character based RPG, based on a comic character who’s at human heights. The fights were great, the moving around the area fluid and just like how the character would do, etc.. I’m sure you’ll appreciate the game if you play it, cause the story doesn’t disappoint you either.

Along came the Spider-Man game, and brought in perhaps for the first time ever, the Spider-Man 2099 and the Spider-Man Noir characters into video games! I think they’re great characterizations. The former imposing the role upon himself to get rid of a drug addiction, and the latter just facing a twisted history with his timeless humor. Their comics are great too.

Spider-Man Noir -- Incapacitating a henchman. All in total silence. Way cool.

Now case-in-point: Spider-Man Noir. The Noir Spider-Man levels in Shattered Dimensions is very similar to what much of Arkham Asylum had to offer. Only, it has much more pace. Any Spider-Man game worth its salt would offer deadly combos and faster-than-eye-can-follow agility during battles, and Shattered Dimensions doesn’t disappoint. The way you could incapacitate a henchman in Arkham Asylum, you can do it with Spider-Man Noir using webbing. Sneak up on them in the darkness, and web yank them to blackouts. Its Arkham Asylum all over, but with webs and sticking on walls! I’m not getting enough of this, so am going and playing more of it now. What’s more is that it offers a great bunch of classic rogues from Spider-Man gallery, across different timelines; yet you don’t get lost!

You should try this game out, its good fun with not too repetitive themes. For Spider-Man fans, it is an imperative. Stan Lee has himself voiced over a few narrations. This one is surely a timeless classic.

Super-Hero Squad Show is Marvel’s new animated TV feature that is pretty funny and has a serious plot about certain powerful infinity fractals in its first season.

Where's Spider-Man?

I’ve watched this for about two months now, hoping to spot my favorite characters, and may I say transformations, in it but am yet to see Spider-Man. What’s the issue here? Spidey is Marvel’s top franchise (Maybe second most today since Iron Man’s claim to movie-fame) and not showing him in their own show just doesn’t make sense to me. Credits for Spider-Man’s voice appears to be the same guy who’s doing Silver Surfer but no screen-time appearance yet.

They’re either saving him for the end, or are skipping him for continuity issues with Spider-Man’s own television feature, or are facing licensing issues with their own character? Heh.

Is that true? Spider-Man doesn’t swing between buildings, or generally the city in the recent game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe ?

And the PC version is a PS2 port again, as if the last Spider-Man 3 game wasn’t bad enough as an XBOX port .. Grrr, the graphics are so crappy that it wouldn’t even satisfy a 7 year old (Thats the rating the game’s recieved). Am not playing this one .. I’ll choose to play some odd game like Tarr Chronicles instead.

Kids’ WB! has announced a new Spider-Man animated series, starting early 2008. I can has a w00t please? Thank you. w000000t!

Its called The Spectacular Spider-Man: Animated Series. The 6th Animated series of Spider-Man that am gonna watch now

But I do hope the animation’s way better than this image they’ve shown us. I’d love it even more if its animation is like ‘Spider-Man: The New Animated Series‘ which was partially 3D and very modern and cool in its story arc.

And as this image shows, its the same villains as ever, I can recognize The Vulture’s shadow, Dr. Octopus’ tentacles, Sandman’s fist and the smoke of Green Goblin’s glider. What’s the radioactive liquid like thing?

Oh wait, that ain’t smoke, its just metal obstructing the camera shot .. Thanks Karthik for this.