Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six on the NES

Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six is one of the better games published by LJN. It isn’t necessarily a good game, but it is better than the other ones in the publisher’s library. There is something about it that I really enjoy, because it can be fun to laugh at.

This is one of the many games my friends and I rented. It came out before the cartoon in 1994, so it was based on the comic book storyline. I wasn’t into comics at the time, so I didn’t know about most of the characters that are in the game.

The controls are awful. It really sinks the whole game. Things feel much harder than they should be. There is a good game in here, but like the other LJN games, it feels unpolished, as if the developer needed more time to finish it.

TLDR: Good Graphics but Awful Gameplay.

Narrative

The game is loosely based on the story arc of the same name in The Amazing Spider-Man comics #334-339. In the NES game, Doctor Octopus is planning on using the Sinister Six to take over the world.

I wanted to see how this story was adapted from the comics. The game is more straightforward with what you need to do, and the comics have a few twists. It is a different medium, and there are more opportunities to tell a story.

As someone who didn’t read the comics before playing the game, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it. I can only imagine that some comic book fans would be upset over the changes in the video game. Because of the internet, there are more things for people to get irrationally angry about things like this.

Gameplay

This is a side-scrolling action game. You play as Spider-Man, and you traverse a nonlinear level until you fight one of the Sinister Six. It is exactly what you should expect from an NES game that is centered around a superhero.

The controls are atrocious. It shouldn’t be too hard, but there are numerous issues. I didn’t like that there is a pressure-sensitive system where, if you press the attack button, you perform a forward jump kick, and if you tap it, you do a punch. If you press both A and B, then you can shoot webbing.

You can swing from the webbing, or you can shoot it as a projectile. Moving and fighting enemies feels harder than it should be. This game is frustrating to play.

One of the many things I don’t like about this game is how much of a pain in the ass it is to avoid things that can hurt you. The landmines, or whatever they are, blend in with the ground. It is easier to avoid enemies than to try to fight them.

While this strategy will get you to the boss fights, it leaves you unprepared for them. It took an embarrassing amount of time to get a handle on the controls. This game comes so close to being broken.

The stage design is awful. You wander aimlessly around a tangled mess of ladders and platforms until you find the door to where the boss is hiding. It would be better if it looked like anything at all.

The stage enemies are generic. There are also those insanely annoying enemies that are too small to hit. You’ll find crap like this in many games published by LJN.  

Once you adjust to the controls, you’ll find that the game isn’t much better, but you can feel some sense of accomplishment for having adjusted to how bad this is. This isn’t a game that I enjoy at all. There are so many other side-scrolling action games that I would rather play.

Visuals

The graphics are the only aspect of this game that I can say is great. I love the graphics and how each level ends with a little comic book picture of the Sinister Six. After this, things begin to fall apart a bit.

Spider-Man and the Sinister Six look good, but the other enemies are very generic. Some things are so small that it’s hard to hit or realize what they are. Seeing the landmines is so annoying. Oftentimes, it is so much harder to avoid them than it needs to be.

Some of the graphics look great, while others are awful and confusing. The graphics are often a problem and impact the gameplay. I want to like this game, and the graphics are the only thing that I somewhat enjoy about the game.  

Reviews at the Time

Surprisingly, this game got some good reviews when it was released. I’m not sure what they’re talking about when they mention the controls and how great they are. Nintendo Power gave the game an average score, which I think is closer to reality.

I got these from MobyGames. It is nice that they were able to collect all of these reviews for the game.

5.5/10. The level design and controls really hurt this game. I like some of the graphics, but the gameplay is a serious problem. It isn’t a good game.

Pros

• Decent Graphics Overall

Cons

• Bad Controls
• Awful Level Design
• Terrible Hit Detection

Conclusion

I really wanted to like this game. Like many of the LJN published games, it feels like a good game hidden in here somewhere, but it couldn’t come out. I prefer Jaws and Friday the 13th to this one.

The graphics are the only thing that I like about the game. It is the only saving grace in all of this terribleness. I do enjoy the game, but not for the reasons that the developers intended.

This is a better game than the X-Men game. I know this isn’t saying much, but it is at least better than the other LJN video games. It is playable, which is an accomplishment for a LJN game.

If you liked this post, please check out my other posts on LJN games, such as Back to the Future and X-Men.