Players had to scale a skyscraper using the webhead’s signature abilities while dodging baddies with a penchant for sticking their heads out of windows. The fact that Spidey’s blue and red costume was somewhat recognizable while rendered with a few dozen pixels also meant that the visuals were considered impressive at the time. Although it was repetitive and simplistic, the game did, to its credit, explore the power fantasy of being Spider-Man – which, as we all know, largely revolves around swinging on webs and climbing buildings. The result was 1982’s Spider-Man for the Atari 2600 and Sears Video Arcade (essentially a rebadged Atari 2600 sold exclusively in Sears stores). For the first time the comic-book giant licensed out one of its characters to a game developer – the now-defunct Parker Brothers taking the honors. With video games exploding in popularity during the 1970s, Marvel saw a revenue source it could no longer ignore. Although he’s now starred in nearly 40 titles of his own, not to mention cameo appearances in everything from fighting to skateboarding games, Spidey’s gaming journey didn’t begin until the early 1980s. His video game life, however, was slow to start. Domination of the pop-culture world followed, with a now-heavily-memed animated series, big-budget (and a few extremely low-budget) movies, and countless action figure and lunchbox appearances. Though teenagers couldn’t necessarily relate to having their scientific mentor turn into a giant lizard, the fact that Peter Parker, Spidey’s true identity, still had to get his homework done while dealing with said giant lizard hit home.īy 1963 he’d been given his own comic, The Amazing Spider-Man, which continues to this day. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s creation – more relatable than the stoic, godlike superheroes of the day – was a runaway success with younger readers. This feature originally appeared in issue 101 of the Australian edition of Game Informer magazine. Almost immediately, it was clear that Spidey was destined for a greater fate than a throwaway appearance in a second-tier title. Spider-Man made his comic-book debut in August 1962, gracing the pages of Amazing Fantasy issue 15 with his striking costume, arachnid abilities, and a refreshing dose of youthful angst.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |