In honor of Spider-Man: Brand New Day coming out later this week, I decided to talk about Spidey’s video games since I recently played one for my gaming channel.
Spidey has had numerous video games over the years.
Spanning systems, arcades, and consoles since he first dropped onto the pages of a Marvel comic all those years ago.
Some have definitely been better than others.
One even won Game of the Year.
Overall, there’s always so much talk about which one is the best. The greatest of all the Spider-Man games. People believe it might be Insomniac’s 2018 game. Others remember fondly playing one as a kid on their PS2 about Tobey’s version of the character. Declaring that is the greatest.
However, here’s what I believe – the greatest thing we have is all the Spider-Man games.
I’m not just saying this to be neutral or to keep people from loping my head off about why their choice is the best choice. Personally, my favorite to play is the 2018 Insomniac game. But because it holds a lot of special meaning to me as well. Not just for the game or the looks or whatever.
But that’s also not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about how amazing it is to have all these versions of this beloved character. To be able to debate for hours on end about why one is better than the other.
To be able to complete a game and play a different Spidey game.
Play one four different times to get four different endings.
To rage against the one that made you rage as a kid for falling into the fog of doom. To be able to take Spidey on the go with you as a kid in long boring car rides.
Or sit at the nail salon with your mom, aunt, and cousin playing Gameboy games to pass the time with Spidey.
I want to stop looking for the best one for a minute and be grateful for all the versions of the character in all the games we got. Good or bad. And be grateful they exist. That we have plenty of choices.
Because I miss the days when random ass games came out just for fun.
Movie tie-ins with questionable everything.
Where’s my movie tie-in games for Tom Holland? Huh? Why is that thing we got rid of?
Sure, The Amazing Spider-Man video games aren’t the greatest, but they also are. I played as Spider-Man for hours on end and just enjoying myself. I didn’t need a finely tuned video game or a great storyline. I just wanted to be one of my favorite heroes for a couple of hours.
Defeat the bad guys and be the hero.
That’s what those games are.
And the older I get, the more and more I wish we could keep those silly versions of video games. Rather than the always serious versions we get and pick apart because it wasn’t as good as the first one.
Sure, maybe it’s not. Maybe Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac wasn’t as good as the first. But you know what? That mattered very little to be stuck in bed with a horrible contraption holding my foot on after a terrible motorcycle accident. It was the very thing I needed to take my mind off the pain. The fact that I was stuck in bed. Needed help doing the most basic of things. For a little while, I could escape and be Peter Parker. Spider-Man.
And that’s what video games do for us.
Give us an escape into another world.
Just for a little while.
And the more and more I delve into the older Spidey games, the more I wish we could have had things like this for other heroes. Like say, Superman.
Considering we have around three total Superman games to Spidey’s crazy number of games – it would be nice to have more of the Man of Steel.
I don’t need a perfect game. I need fun. I need a distraction. I need something to make me forget the real world for five minutes and bring me to another place where I’m the hero. Where I decide.
And I love that for many years and many games Spidey brought that to us.
I think more people need to go back and play the corny Spidey games just to see that a game doesn’t need to be perfectly polished or acted to be a good time. I need something to suck me in for a few hours and give me a break. To follow a character I know and love through whatever crazy shenanigans he’s up to here. Or his villains are up to.
Maybe just maybe, if we stop overthinking things we’d have more fun.
Stop trying to figure out how to make a Superman game interesting since he’s so powerful and just make a freaking Superman game. Focus on the character the same way the movies do and the game will come.
Which as a YouTuber said – whose name I’ve forgotten, I want to say it’s Goose, but I’m not sure – described about the Spider-Man game in 2018, it felt loved. The people behind the game poured love and happiness and fun into the game making it what it was. Which will work for any game.
And sometimes, even when everything doesn’t work well in a game or it glitches. Sometimes those are the fun parts. Sometimes, it makes the game what it is.
When you feel the fun and love and chaos that went into making it.
I love that and I think more people should be allowed to breathe life into the games without worrying about deadlines.
Maybe that’s just me.
Regardless, play an old school game. Play video games. They don’t need to be perfect. They just need to be perfect for you to play right now because it’s what you need or want.
Thanks for reading! Spread the love and read on!
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