Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge

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Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge
Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge
Super NES cover art by John Romita
Developer(s)Software Creations
Unexpected Development (Game Boy)
Publisher(s)Acclaim Entertainment
LJN (Super NES, Game Boy)
Flying Edge (Genesis, Game Gear)
Composer(s)Geoff and Tim Follin
Platform(s)Super NES
Mega Drive/Genesis
Game Gear
Game Boy
ReleaseSuper NES
  • NA: November 1992
  • PAL: August 19, 1993
Mega Drive/Genesis
  • PAL: November 1993
Game Gear
  • NA: March 1994
Game Boy
Genre(s)Action, platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge[1] is a video game first released for the Super NES in 1992 by LJN. It was later released for the Genesis and Game Gear (under the Flying Edge brand) as well as the Game Boy. The game features Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and the X-Men as they battle their captor, the villainous Arcade.

Summary[]

While swinging his web throughout the city, Spider-Man notices the disappearances of X-Men Cyclops, Storm, and Wolverine; he then notices a tube from a garbage truck sucking up Gambit, and after figuring out it's Arcade, swings his web to the truck.[2][3] He tracks Arcade down to an abandoned building, which is the location of the first stage; the player portrays Spider-Man de-activating "Security Eyes" in an set order (as indicated by the Spider-Sense) to enter.[4] Inside, he, along with Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and Gambit, are placed in the deadly games of Murderworld, a simulated program designed by Arcade to torture and kill his victims.[5]

The player must successfully complete each Marvel hero's two "events" in order to get to control Spider-Man in a final battle with Arcade and escape.[6][7] While any character's first event can be selected at the player's will, his or her second event isn't playable until the completion of the first.[7] All the heroes have the same lives, meaning if one hero loses a life, the others do as well.[8]

  • Spider-Man's levels: New York City rooftops with the bosses being the flying demon N'astirh and Shocker in the first stage, with Rhino and Carnage in the second stage.
  • Storm's levels: Underwater maze level with Storm having a limited air supply. Her bosses are various machines used to control the giant tank-like levels.
  • Wolverine's levels: Fun house first level, with duplicates of the clown villain Obnoxio the Clown as enemies and the boss being Apocalypse. A rampaging Juggernaut chases him throughout the second stage.
  • Gambit's levels: Doom caves two levels, both of which take place in a cave where a giant spiked ball is chasing him; the first level boss being a giant playing card, the final boss a gigantic robotic version of Selene.
  • Cyclops' levels: Two stages, each set in Genosha underground Sentinel mines, plus a final boss stage featuring Master Mold.

After completing each stage, the player controls each hero as they fight in similar-designed mini-levels themed after the "behind-the-scenes" of Murderworld.[6] The only character to have a significant change is Storm, who now walks, shoots multiple bolts of lightning rapidly and calls upon gusts of wind and jumps about four times the height of the other characters. The last level takes place inside a large room, where Arcade chases Spider-Man back and forth in a large Arcade-shaped robot, which operates like a Matryoshka doll, until Arcade is finally defeated. The X-Men stand-by at the edges of the room, occasionally attacking on their own.

After surviving the deadly traps and defeating arcade, he blows the building up. Spider-Man and the others survive but there is no sign of Arcade.[9]

Development and release[]

According to Richard Kay of Software Creations, development of the game was fraught with problems: "Spider-Man And X-Men started going horribly wrong and Acclaim were screaming at us and threatening litigation and we ended up with three teams on this one game".[10] The Genesis and Super NES editions of the game are nearly identical, apart from different instrumentation in the soundtrack.

Reception[]

Reviewing the Game Boy version, GamePro commented the graphics are good but the controls are frustratingly imprecise and complained of the fact that players must re-solve the tedious level 1 maze every time they start the game.[18] They gave the Game Gear version a negative review as well, saying it retains the problems of the Game Boy version.[19] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Game Gear version a 6 out of 10, praising the ability to play as multiple different characters but criticizing the difficulty as overly high.[15] Brett Alan Weiss of AllGame criticized the Game Gear version for "awkward" controls, particularly of Spider-Man and its weak portrayals of the superheroes.[6] Super Gamer reviewed the SNES Version and gave an overall score of 75% stating: "A whole host of superheroes make this attractive for any comics fan. Gameplay is varied and tough, graphics impressive and sound brilliant."[37]

Over the years, his soundtrack composed by Tim Follin became heavily praised by its fans for having some of the greatest and most advanced music on the system.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the Game Gear port was by five critics with different ratings; three gave it a 6/10, one 5/10, another 7/10.[15]
  2. ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the SNES version was by four critics that scored it differently; two rated it 6/10, one 7/10, another 8/10.[16]
  3. ^ GamePro scored the Game Boy port two 3/5 scores for sound and fun factor, 2.5/5 for control, and 4/5 for graphics.[18]
  4. ^ GamePro scored the Game Gear port two 3.5/5 scores for graphics and sound, and two 3/5 scores for control and fun factor.[19]
  5. ^ GamePro scored the Mega Drive version 5/5 twice for control and fun factor, and 4.5/5 twice for graphics and sound.[20]
  6. ^ Nintendo Power scored the Game Boy port 3.5/5 for graphics/sound, 2.8/5 for play control, 3.3/5 for challenge, and 3/5 for theme/fun.[26]
  7. ^ Nintendo Power scored the SNES version 3.8/5 twice for graphics/sound and theme/fun, 3.2/5 for play control, and 3.4/5 for challenge.[27]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Handheld and console versions show this name on the title screen.
  2. ^ LJN 1992, p. 2.
  3. ^ Software Creations (November 1992). Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Spider-Man: I just hope I'm not too late!... / First Cyclops, then Storm and Wolverine... / Gambit!! Lookout! / [GNNR-SFLANNG!] / Spider-Man: I know that truck! / ...Arcade!!! I have to go after them. / The lives on the X-Men depend on me!
  4. ^ LJN 1992, p. 3.
  5. ^ Software Creations (November 1992). Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Arcade: Welcome one and welcome all. / I'm so glad you could make it, Spider-Man. / Your presence here is a bonus I didn't plan. / Still, there's plenty of fun for everyone, / Let the games begin...
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Weiss, Brett Alan. "Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b LJN 1992, p. 9.
  8. ^ LJN 1992, p. 10.
  9. ^ Software Creations (November 1992). Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Arcade: Well done. You have excelled yourselves. / Obviously that wasn't me– more of my robots. / Now I've got just one more surprise. / I'll give you a clue. 5..4..3.. / Wolverine: Run!..The whole place is gonna blow! / [KABOOM!] / Spider-Man: You think he got out? / Gambit: You can count on it. / Cyclops: C'mon... Let's go home!
  10. ^ Bevan, Mike (December 2013). "Bubbles, Baseball and Buzz Saws...". Retro Gamer (122). Imagine Publishing. p. 75.
  11. ^ Uli (April 1993). "Spider Man & X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". Aktueller Software Markt. p. 130. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  12. ^ Lord, Gary (March 1994). "Spider-Man X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". Computer and Video Games. p. 81. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  13. ^ "Supershots". Computer and Video Games. No. 155. October 1994. p. 102. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  14. ^ Keen, Steve; Anglin, Paul (March 1993). "Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". Computer and Video Games. No. 136. pp. 20–24. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "Review Crew: Spider-Man/X-Men". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 59. June 1994. p. 40. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  16. ^ Harris, Steve; Semrad, Ed; Alessi, Martin; Sushi-X (December 1992). "Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 5 no. 12. p. 30. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  17. ^ Skid; Brody (October 1992). "Viewpoint". GameFan. Vol. 1 no. 1. pp. 6–7. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b Doctor Devon (May 1994). "Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge". GamePro. No. 58. p. 126. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Bonehead (June 1994). "ProReview: Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge". GamePro. No. 59. p. 144.
  20. ^ Gideon (September 1993). "Spider-Man and X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". GamePro. No. 50. p. 30. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  21. ^ McCarthy, Patrick (November 1992). "Spider-man and the X-Men". GameZone. No. 1. pp. 20–22. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  22. ^ Wildgoose, David; Humphreys, David (December 1993). "Arcades Revenge: Spiderman vs. X-Men". Hyper. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  23. ^ T.S.R.; Olivier (November 1993). "Spiderman and the X Men". Joypad (in French). p. 136. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  24. ^ Steve; Gus (September 1994). "Spider-Man X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". Mean Machines Sega. No. 23. pp. 78–79. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  25. ^ Rich; Paul (November 1993). "Spiderman X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". Mean Machines Sega. No. 13. pp. 88–90. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  26. ^ "Now Playing". Nintendo Power. No. 57. pp. 102–107. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  27. ^ George; Rob (December 1992). "Now Playing". Nintendo Power. No. 43. pp. 106–109. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  28. ^ Rich; Jaz (November 1992). "The Amazing Spider-man and the Uncanny X-Men". Nintendo Magazine System. No. 2. pp. 20–24.
  29. ^ Bielby, Matt (January 1993). "Spiderman & the X-Men". Super Play. No. 3. pp. 72–74. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  30. ^ Wolfgang (June 1994). "Spider-Man X-Men". Video Games (in German). p. 116. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  31. ^ Eggbrecht, Julian (October 1992). "Spiderman & the X-Men". Video Games (in German). p. 138. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  32. ^ Slate, Chris (February 1993). "Spider-Man & the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge". Game Players. Vol. 6 no. 2. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  33. ^ Rob; Max (March 1993). "Spiderman and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge". N-Force. No. 9. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  34. ^ "Spider-Man X-Men". Play Time (in German). May 1993. p. 82. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  35. ^ Hickman, Sam; Leadbetter, Richard (September 1994). "Spider-Man and the X-Men". Sega Magazine. No. 9. p. 77. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  36. ^ "Spider-Man / X-Men: Arcade's Revenge SNES Review Score". Archived from the original on 2019-05-22.
  37. ^ "Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge Review". Super Gamer. United Kingdom: Paragon Publishing (2): 123. May 1994. Retrieved March 24, 2021.

Works cited[]

External links[]

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