Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage

Last updated
Spider-Man and Venom:
Maximum Carnage
MaximumcarnageSNES boxart.jpg
North America cover art
Developer(s) Software Creations
Publisher(s) Acclaim Entertainment [lower-alpha 1]
Producer(s) John Pickford
Mark Flitman
Designer(s) Chun Wah Kong
Programmer(s) Paul Murray
Composer(s) Green Jellÿ
Chris Jojo
Tony Williams (Genesis)
Platform(s) Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis
Release
  • NA: September 16, 1994
  • EU: November 24, 1994
  • JP: May 26, 1995 (MD only)
Genre(s) Beat 'em up
Mode(s) Single player

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Mega Drive/Genesis, developed by Software Creations and published by Acclaim Entertainment and its subsidiary LJN in 1994. The game, based on the comic book story arc of the same name, features numerous heroes, including Spider-Man, Venom, and their allies from the Marvel Comics fictional universe like Captain America, Black Cat, Iron Fist, Cloak and Dagger, Deathlok, Morbius and Firestar, all teaming up to battle an onslaught of villains led by Carnage, including Shriek, Doppelganger, Demogoblin and Carrion. [1]

Contents

The first prints of the game for the Super NES and Genesis were sold in red-colored cartridges. Later prints came in standard-colored cartridges. It was followed up by a sequel titled Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety .

The game received mixed reviews upon its release, but in later years, reviews have been more positive and it is regarded as one of the better Spider-Man games in the 16-bit era.

Plot

Eddie Brock is proven innocent after being in jail for a while, and promises to not use the Venom symbiote for evil. While leaving prison, the symbiote bonds to Brock’s former cellmate, Cletus Kasady. Later, Spider-Man meets Venom and asks him if his promise to do good was true, but Brock says he is still thinking about it, angering Spider-Man. The two fight, with the showdown being broken up by Kasady, who has become Carnage via the symbiote. Brock, desperate to stop Carnage, attempts to attack him, but the two are evenly matched and Carnage manages to escape into the city. Spider-Man and Venom vow to stop Carnage, despite their rivalry. In the city, Carnage begins a criminal empire in the sewers, and hires Shriek as his second in command. Hobgoblin attempts to join, but is rejected by Carnge, causing him to gain demonic power and become Demogoblin, who Carnage hires. Later, Carnage finds a four-armed reproduction of Spider-Man called Doppelgänger, who he manages to employ after restraining him. Finally, Carnage finds the degrading clone of Jackal named Carrion, who he hires as the final part of his team. Carnage then attacks New York with his team, causing Venom and Spider-Man to almost be killed when they confront them. Spider-Man and Venom retreat, but create a “resistance” out of his previous allies, who they finally confront Carnage with. Despite the power of his team, Carnage is defeated after an epic battle, retreating into the sewers. Spider-Man thanks Venom, saying he hopes he will work with him in the future, but Venom retreats before replying. Meanwhile, the Carnage symbiote escapes the scene.

Gameplay

In this single-player side-scrolling beat 'em up (with a format similar to Double Dragon and Final Fight ), the player controls Spider-Man and Venom through various levels to stop the supervillain Carnage and his team, as well as hundreds of criminals they inspire in their wake, from taking over the city. The two 16-bit versions are virtually identical.

One of the game's comic-styled cutscenes. This one is based on the final panel of Spider-Man Unlimited #1. Sprmn&Venomcutscene.PNG
One of the game's comic-styled cutscenes. This one is based on the final panel of Spider-Man Unlimited #1.

Other Marvel heroes can be summoned by collecting appropriate items hidden within certain levels. The locations of the power-ups necessary to summon aid are set. Depending on which character summoned them, the summoned heroes may help out in different ways, usually being more effective for whichever character (Spider-Man or Venom) they favor.

Development

Maximum Carnage is one of the first video games to be directly based on a comic book story, rather than simply using comics characters in a standard video game "action/adventure" plot. Many of the game's cutscenes feature semi-animated versions of art taken directly from the comics. It was also the first Spider-Man video game to receive a teen rating (while the SNES re-release version had a rating of K-A, the Genesis version was rated MA-13).

The game's soundtrack was written and produced by American rock group Green Jellÿ. [2] The title screen theme song appears as the first track on the band's 1994 album 333 as "Carnage Rules". Due to the limited storage capacity of SNES and Genesis cartridges, the soundtrack was not recorded music, but a computerized rendition of the songs. Additionally, an uncredited version of Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules" appears in the soundtrack, during the boss battles against the super villains.

Reception

The game received "mixed or average" and "generally favorable" reviews. The reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the SNES version a unanimous 5 out of 10, commenting that the appearances by other superheroes are "cool", but outweighed by the "sloppy" graphics and mediocre control. [5] The SNES version was also given a 3.45/5 from Nintendo Power. [6] Reviewing the Genesis port, GamePro commented that "all the graphics, features, and fighting action are identical on the Genesis version—unfortunately, so are the drawbacks that made this only an average SNES game". They elaborated that the game controls well but is overly long and repetitive due to the player character's limited selection of moves, the lack of objects to interact with, the low variety of enemies, and the similar look to all the backgrounds. [7]

Overall, critical reception of the game remarkably improved as the game received a cult following over later years, where it was praised for its inspired soundtrack, its fun, its faithful comic book adapting and the challenging difficulty, as well as the ability to switch between Spider-Man and Venom, as many called it "one of the best beat'em up games".

IGN gave the game a positive review, where they listed the game 85th in their "Top 100 SNES games of all time". [8] In 2013, Arcade Sushi ranked the game 8th on their "10 Best Retro Beat 'em Ups". [9] In 2018, Complex rated the game 63rd on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time". [10]

Comic book website CBR.com has given a more positive review about the game, calling it "the superhero game that changed and revolutionized the beat'em up genre and the superhero genre in a positive way, and becoming one of the great beat 'em up games of its era".

James Rolfe reviewed the game on his Internet series Angry Video Game Nerd . He considered the game to be decent, and was stunned to see that it was published by LJN, whose content he usually sees as terrible.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnage (character)</span> Character in the Marvel Universe

Carnage is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as an adversary of Spider-Man and the archenemy of Venom, in particular the Eddie Brock incarnation of the character, although Carnage and Venom would join forces if their goals aligned. The character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #361, and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, although the first published artwork of Carnage was penciled by Chris Marrinan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Brock</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Edward Charles Allan "Eddie" Brock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, making a cameo appearance in Web of Spider-Man #18, before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 as the most well-known host of the Venom symbiote. The character has since appeared in many Marvel Comics publications, including Venom. He has endured as one of Spider-Man's most prominent villains, and is regarded as one of his three archenemies, alongside the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. He later evolved into an antihero, slowly distancing himself from his initial goal to ruin Spider-Man's life to instead do good, even occasionally allying with Spider-Man.

<i>Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety</i> 1995 video game

Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game and a sequel to Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, released for Mega Drive/Genesis and Super NES and then ported to PC. One or two players team up as Spider-Man and Venom to defeat the evil symbiote Carnage. The game boasts many thugs that the player has to defeat: heavily armed Jury and Venom's symbiote children. There is also cameo assistance from Captain America, Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, and Daredevil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxin (character)</span> Fiction character of Marvel Comics part of the symbionts of the family of Venom

Toxin is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He has been depicted as a superhero and at times a supervillain. The character is the offspring of Carnage, the third major symbiote in the Marvel Universe, the ninth known to have appeared in the comics outside of the Planet of the Symbiotes storyline, and the first symbiote that Spider-Man considers an ally, despite several temporary alliances with Venom in the past. The Toxin symbiote's various hosts are former NYPD police officer Patrick Mulligan, Eddie Brock, and teenager Bren Waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cletus Kasady</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Cletus Cortland Kasady is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Erik Larsen, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #344 as the first and most infamous host of the Carnage symbiote, an offspring of Venom. Originally a deranged serial killer, Kasady bonded with the symbiote while sharing a cell with Venom's human host, Eddie Brock, and broke out of prison using the super-human abilities granted by it. Since then, he went on to menace both Venom and Spider-Man, resulting in various unlikely alliances between the two to defeat him. Kasady and Carnage are a perfect match, as they both have sadistic personalities, and the symbiote only increases Kasady's already existent violent tendencies. After being separated from the redeemed Carnage symbiote in Absolute Carnage, Kasady nonetheless continued calling himself Carnage, bonding with Grendel, Mania and several other symbiotes to become Dark Carnage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shriek (character)</span> Marvel Comics supervillainess

Shriek is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man, and the lover of Cletus Kasady.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scream (character)</span> Comics character

Scream is a supervillainess and antiheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Scream symbiote has appeared in Spider-Man comics, as one of five symbiote spawns created simultaneously and has had four different types.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Weying</span> Fictional character

She-Venom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is the ex-wife of Eddie Brock. She is the first character who goes by the She-Venom identity, and she is also colloquially referred to as the Bride of Venom.

<i>Maximum Carnage</i> 1993 comic book crossover

"Maximum Carnage" is a 14-part comic book crossover published in Marvel Comics' Spider-Man family of titles in 1993. It featured Spider-Man, Venom, and a host of other superheroes teaming up to face Venom's murderous offspring Carnage and his team of supervillains.

<i>The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes</i> 1995 video game

The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes is a 1995 action game for the Super Famicom featuring the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, released in Japan. The game's name appears to have been inspired by the 1993 limited series The Lethal Foes of Spider-Man, though its plot does not resemble that of the comic beyond including multiple Spider-Man villains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venom (character)</span> Marvel Comics character

Venom is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a sentient alien symbiote with an amorphous, liquid-like form, who survives by bonding with a host, usually human. This dual-life form receives enhanced powers and usually refers to itself as "Venom". The symbiote was originally introduced as a living alien costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252, with a full first appearance as Venom in The Amazing Spider-Man #300.

<i>Spider-Man</i> (1995 video game) 1994 video game

Spider-Man is a side-scrolling action game developed by Western Technologies and published by Acclaim and LJN in 1994 and 1995, based on the 1994–1998 animated series of the same name. The game was released for the Genesis and the Super NES. The two versions of the game have the same basic story but have gameplay, level, and enemy differences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Venom</span> Marvel Comics character

Anti-Venom is a fictional antihero appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #569, and was created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. The creature belongs to a race of amorphous extraterrestrial parasites known as the Symbiotes and is regarded as Venom's symbiotic brother. His physical features include white "skin", a black face, and spider symbol across his chest.

<i>Spider-Man</i> (2000 video game) 2000 video game

Spider-Man is a 2000 action-adventure game based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision for the PlayStation. The game was later ported by different developers to various systems, including the Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 that same year, as well as the Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows in 2001.

<i>Planet of the Symbiotes</i> Marvel Comics story arc

"Planet of the Symbiotes" is a five-issue comic book story arc written by David Michelinie and published by Marvel Comics in 1995. The arc spanned the five "Super Special #1" editions of the Spider-Man titles available at the time: The Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Venom, and Web of Spider-Man. The plot continued a narrative first published in the four-part limited series Venom: Separation Anxiety (1994) where doubt is placed in the mind of Eddie Brock about who is in control of the relationship between himself and the sentient Venom symbiote that grants him his powers.

<i>Venom vs. Carnage</i> Fictionus Comic Book Series

Venom vs. Carnage is a comic book limited series written by Peter Milligan with art by Clayton Crain published by Marvel Comics. It has a total of four issues and has been reprinted in trade paperback form under the title Spider-Man: Venom vs. Carnage. It features the first appearance of the Toxin symbiote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mania (character)</span> Comics character

Mania is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in Venom #1 and was created by Daniel Way and Francisco Herrera. Belonging to a race of amorphous extraterrestrial parasites known as Symbiotes, its hosts are Patricia Robertson, Andrea "Andi" Benton and Lee Price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolute Carnage</span> Comic book crossover storyline

"Absolute Carnage" is a 2019 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics, by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venom (Sony's Spider-Man Universe)</span> Sonys Spider-Man Universe character

Venom is a fictional character primarily voiced by Tom Hardy appearing in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Introduced in Venom (2018), Venom is depicted as a symbiote who binds with human investigative journalist Eddie Brock after landing on Earth, with the duo subsequently becoming a vigilante jointly known by Venom's name, and later as the Lethal Protector, facing Venom's former team leader, Riot, and later his son, Carnage, in combat. They are the second incarnation of the character in film, after Topher Grace and Tobey Maguire's respective portrayals of Eddie Brock / Venom and a symbiote-enveloped Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3 (2007).

References

  1. ↑ "Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (SNES)". Neoseeker.com. 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  2. ↑ "Cart Queries". GamePro . No. 66. IDG. January 1995. p. 12.
  3. ↑ "Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage SNES review score". Archived from the original on 2019-05-14.
  4. ↑ "Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage Sega Genesis Review Score". Archived from the original on 2019-02-27.
  5. ↑ "Review Crew: Maximum Carnage". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 63. Ziff Davis. October 1994. p. 32.
  6. ↑ "Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage for Super Nintendo". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  7. ↑ "ProReview: Maximum Carnage". GamePro . No. 75. IDG. December 1994. p. 108.
  8. ↑ Top 100 SNES Games of All Time - IGN.com , retrieved 2021-01-26
  9. ↑ Ledford, Jon (May 30, 2013). "10 Best Retro Beat 'Em Ups". Arcade Sushi. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  10. ↑ "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time". Complex. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  1. ↑ Released under the LJN brand name on the SNES.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.