Video Game Harmony

Spider-Man
Released: April 16, 2002
Developer: Treyarch
Composer: Michael McCuistion, Sergio A. Bustamante II

Playlist

Yes, I do still exist, it’s just with the holidays and all I haven’t had as much time to post, but it’s time to get back to it. Unfortunately, making video games to tie into movie releases isn’t really a thing anymore, and while I will admit there have been some clunkers in the past, there were some games that lived up to the hype. 20 years ago this year Sam Raimi directed the first in the Spider Man trilogy, and of course there was a game to go with it. This game is similar to the game of the same name released in 2000, which I may have to talk about some day, but this specifically tied into the movie. I remember playing this game all the time as a kid. Everything about the game was awesome! (including the tutorials. I mean they were narrated by Bruce Campbell for goodness sakes!)(Bruce Campbell has appeared in several Sam Raimi films, including the Spider-Man trilogy, in case you were wondering). The soundtrack was certainly no exception.

If you want proof of what I’m talking about, just watch the intro here. You won’t be disappointed. It’s no Danny Elfman, I’ll admit that, but how can you not be hyped up with this?!? The menu theme is super (see what I did there?) also. It’s hard to explain, but it’s one of the most Spider-Man sounding themes I can image.

When you finally get to start playing as Spider-Man (or I guess at this time the Human Spider) you get to hear this, which is very excitement inducing. I get to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, which is my life’s dream! I don’t know about everyone else, but it was my life’s dream for me.

And then there’s combat a-plenty (it’s a Spider-Man game, what did you expect?) Much of it is somewhat repetitive, but it serves it’s purpose. There’s a lot of combat in the game. You not only have to fight thugs and the Green Goblin, but also villains that are in the comics but not in the movie, such as Shocker, Vulture(not Michael Keaton this time), and Scorpion. In addition to combat, there’s also sneaking around. You get the pleasure of sneaking into places such as Vulture’s Lair and Oscorp. I can imagine if it’s Oscorp that means there’s a pretty high level of security. Just listen to the music here. I feel like I’m in a heist film.

Finally, you can see the concept art and get background music to go with it. I expected it to be a little more chill than this, and I wouldn’t want to watch the concept art for a whole 25 minutes because hearing the music on repeat might make me go stir crazy!

However, if you’d like some nice background music, play the bowling minigame (I’m not kidding, this exists).

I recommend this to anyone who likes the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie, and if you don’t, I missed the part where that’s my problem (sorry, I had to). There isn’t a whole lot of variety to the soundtrack, and it’s no Danny Elfman score, but I really like some parts such as the intro and the main menu theme. I give the soundtrack 4 out of 5 stars.

★★★★

Thanks for reading! If people are interested I can talk about more Spider-Man games in the future, because I’ve certainly played a lot during my lifetime.