I have to respect what Bits Studios tried to do here. Not just making a sequel along the same lines as what Rare created prior, but actually attempting to evolve its predecessor into something more complex. This isn't some simple brawler, but an action-adventure title where you'll need to find items to open up new areas. There were times when I was impressed with its depth and variety of challenges. What keeps it from being an improvement however is that it's honestly a nightmare to play.
The basics of walking and punching work fine, but things immediately go straight down the toilet the second you have to use any of Spidey's powers. A regular requirement for progression. Directing or even getting your webs to stick to anything at all is almost entirely unreliable, and the controls for wall crawling inexplicably won't register your inputs sometimes. Both issues that cause what should have been normal traversal to be a pain, with the former proving particularly problematic as it can lead to repeated instantaneous deaths in at least one section of the game. Considering there aren't any continues or a save system, meaning running out of lives forces you to restart from the beginning, these faults are pretty unforgivable.
This is also a step back presentation-wise as well. I was often left impressed by the level of detail in the backgrounds, but the character sprites are ugly and the whole thing looks unusually foul against the green hue of the Game Boy screen. The music on the other hand starts off fine, but given that it's only one constantly replaying track it quickly begins to grate on the nerves. You most definitely will be turning the volume down at some point.
I applaud the developer's endeavor to create an experience with more creativity and nuance than what we typically see on the handheld by extending the scope of its gameplay beyond merely pummeling or hopping over whatever gets in your way. All that effort was for naught though as fundamental mechanics fail to function as intended. The plethora of design flaws such as how Spider-Man always seems to awkwardly squirt out a little of his precious webbing every time he gets hit like some premature ejaculating teenager give this follow-up an unwieldy, downright broken feeling that makes it somehow shockingly worse than its already lamentable precursor.
3.8/10
The basics of walking and punching work fine, but things immediately go straight down the toilet the second you have to use any of Spidey's powers. A regular requirement for progression. Directing or even getting your webs to stick to anything at all is almost entirely unreliable, and the controls for wall crawling inexplicably won't register your inputs sometimes. Both issues that cause what should have been normal traversal to be a pain, with the former proving particularly problematic as it can lead to repeated instantaneous deaths in at least one section of the game. Considering there aren't any continues or a save system, meaning running out of lives forces you to restart from the beginning, these faults are pretty unforgivable.
This is also a step back presentation-wise as well. I was often left impressed by the level of detail in the backgrounds, but the character sprites are ugly and the whole thing looks unusually foul against the green hue of the Game Boy screen. The music on the other hand starts off fine, but given that it's only one constantly replaying track it quickly begins to grate on the nerves. You most definitely will be turning the volume down at some point.
I applaud the developer's endeavor to create an experience with more creativity and nuance than what we typically see on the handheld by extending the scope of its gameplay beyond merely pummeling or hopping over whatever gets in your way. All that effort was for naught though as fundamental mechanics fail to function as intended. The plethora of design flaws such as how Spider-Man always seems to awkwardly squirt out a little of his precious webbing every time he gets hit like some premature ejaculating teenager give this follow-up an unwieldy, downright broken feeling that makes it somehow shockingly worse than its already lamentable precursor.
3.8/10