As one of, if not the, most popular superheroes ever created, Spider-Man has swung across just about every entertainment medium there is since his humble beginnings in comic books. In addition to cartoons, TV shows, and many blockbuster films, he’s also starred in tons of video games. With a history in the genre dating back to the old Atari days, the wisecracking webhead has had plenty of ups and downs in his video game representation over the decades. He’s been portrayed in multiple art styles and genres, and passed between many developers, but some stand out as being more spectacular than others. We can’t list every game Spider-Man has appeared in without taking up your entire day covering it all, so here are just the best of the best Spider-Man games of all time, ranked from best to worst.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
T
Platforms
PlayStation 5
Genre
Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure
Developer
Insomniac Games
Publisher
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release
October 20, 2023
There’s really no debate. Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has comfortably swung its way to the pinnacle of all Spider-Man games. Building off everything learned in its previous two entries, Spider-Man 2 goes bigger and better in every way we wanted it to. You can now play as both Peter and Miles at basically any time you want, with a story that fleshes out and builds on the pair’s relationship. There are also new, greater villains to face, a bigger world to explore, and new ways to traverse thanks to the gliding mechanic. Swinging, arguably the most important thing to get right in a Spider-Man game, is again pitch-perfect. Oh, and the way this game utilizes the PlayStation 5 is almost unbelievable. From top to bottom, this is the definitive Spider-Man experience and will likely remain that way for quite a long time.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
T
Platforms
PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Genre
Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure
Developer
Insomniac Games
Publisher
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release
November 12, 2020
No, we’re not just going in reverse chronological order. Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the previous game from Insomniac, just so happens to be the next best experience you can get in a new Spider-suit. Yes, this is based very heavily on everything from the first Spider-Man game from this studio, but it does just enough to edge it out as the better core experience in our ranking. Miles is a fantastic protagonist and has a story we find more interesting and unique compared to Peter’s. The location, while still the same city, felt fresh thanks to the winter setting. The more compact story kept the focus, with fewer “busywork” tasks popping up to water down the experience.
Marvel's Spider-Man
T
Platforms
PlayStation 4
Genre
Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure
Developer
Insomniac Games
Publisher
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release
September 07, 2018
Insomniac’s first crack at bringing Spider-Man to consoles was a smash hit. This was the best feeling we had ever experienced while swinging up to that point, as well as the most detailed and well-designed city to play around in. We were also relieved to start the story deeper into Peter’s career instead of falling back to yet another origin story. The plot itself was an interesting twist that felt respectful and appropriate within the universe and had fantastic payoffs and emotional beats that the sequels would run with. The only downsides were some odd puzzles and slow sequences where we had to play as other, powerless characters.
Spider-Man 2
T
Platforms
PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Genre
Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure
Developer
Treyarch, Activision
Publisher
Taito, Activision
Release
June 28, 2004
Not to be confused with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the first Spider-Man 2 for PS2 may not be the best overall game for the wall-crawler, but it’s undoubtedly the best of his titles based on a film. While many mechanics may feel simple and a bit old today, the swinging this game implemented became the bar against which all future games would be measured. Needless to say, until Insomniac got a crack at it, no other game was able to clear it. These days, the open world will feel a bit bare, and the missions somewhat repetitive and dull, but it had a great story, fun combat, and exciting bosses.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
E10
Platforms
Wii
Genre
Hack and slash/Beat 'em up
Developer
Beenox
Publisher
Activision
Release
September 07, 2010
Before Spider-Man 2 gave us two Spider-Men to play with, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions attempted to present four different versions of our neighborhood hero. Each one has their own distinct stages that cater to a different playstyle to offer a ton of variety over the adventure. You get the classic Spider-Man, Noir, 2099, and Ultimate Spider-Man each working together (but separately) to save all of their realities. The drawbacks were the simplicity of how the story unfolded, as well as the linear design of the game, which failed to offer more open environments to explore and swing through.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Platforms
Game Boy Advance
Developer
Vicarious Visions
Publisher
Activision, Taito
Release
September 22, 2005
Before going for super-realistic graphics was the de facto move, Ultimate Spider-Man tried to go for a more authentic look closer to Spider-Man‘s graphic novel origins. The cel-shaded style matched the hero’s origins perfectly and smartly kept the focus tight. While it still featured an open world, this is about as boring a city to explore as you can get, with basic collectibles, races, and tokens to hunt down as your side activities. However, the saving grace comes in the form of a completely separate story to play through as Venom. Each has a very different feel, and playing both sides of the conflict was a novel move at the time.
Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage
Platforms
Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Genre
Fighting, Hack and slash/Beat 'em up
Developer
Software Creations, Acclaim Black Team
Publisher
Acclaim Entertainment, LJN, Playtronic
Release
September 16, 1994
We’re going very old school for our final pick. This is another instance where we were delighted to get a playable Venom. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage introduced Carnage as a villain so dangerous that even these two archrivals had to team up to take him down. Knowing the limitations of the consoles at the time, the decision to make this a brawler was inspired, and really let the team shine in designing the most entertaining combat mechanics possible for the two characters. This game also tied in tons of other great heroes who jump in to help, such as Captain America, Iron Fist, and even Morbius. This game holds up as a great-looking, great-sounding, and great-playing beat ’em up, but unfortunately doesn’t offer a lot of reason to return to it after playing it as each character.
Spider-Man
E
Platforms
PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Genre
Platform, Adventure
Developer
Treyarch
Publisher
Activision, Capcom Co., LTD., Activision UK
Release
April 15, 2002
We have to give at least a nod to Spider-Man for laying the groundwork for how the hero should be handled, though in a very basic way. This title does suffer from being tied directly to the movie, but still managed to be a fun enough game in its own right. The open world is there, though swinging is as basic as can be, and there are a few extra activities to seek out. Combat was, again, serviceable, but showed what this hero’s moveset could evolve into. What can’t be denied was how cool unlocking Green Goblin as a fully playable character was!
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