I didn’t intend on reviewing two lackluster superhero games back-to-back, but sometimes seeing a new Spider-Man film puts me in the mood to play one of the wall-crawler’s earlier adventures. This is, in fact, Peter Parker’s only escapade on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, which always seemed a bit odd to me, and it came late in the console’s lifespan when most had moved onto the Super Nintendo.
Released in 1992 by publisher LJN, B.I.T.S handled the development, and their previous output had been hit or miss. I know everyone sees that rainbow of doom and wants to write off any game sporting it that isn’t Maximum Carnage immediately, but I had some hope for an action-adventure title starring one of my favorite heroes. Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six is loosely — mostly the title and general idea — based off of the Amazing Spider-Man run from #334-#339 in 1990.
There were some games that pulled a lot out of the NES in those last couple of years, but I feel like this wasn’t one of them. Perhaps I was expecting too much, but although some of the colors are bold and the backgrounds solid, characters blend into the stages in a lot of areas and everything is a little cartoony — in a bad way. The presentation does have some scenes between each stage that resemble nice comic art, but my favorite thing might be the cover art on the cart.
The soundtrack, on the other hand, is pretty good, producing a catchy loop, but seriously lacks in diverse tunes. It is the same thing over-and-over again. Not bad, but there certainly needed to be more of it.
Traversing the levels isn’t too bad. There are six total, one for each member of the villainous crew. The designs of these areas seem fine at first, but it is quite easy to get lost in a few of them. I also found myself stuck in a couple of areas that took a long time to get out of, as the web-swinging ability was nowhere near precise when used.
Return of the Sinister Six has some interesting elements by getting the player to collect items or interact with the stage to make the game easier and progress. A great example of this is how Mysterio’s stage requires the glasses to see in dark areas that are otherwise almost impossible to navigate.
Moving Spidey can be a bit wonky, as his forward jumps are nice and fluid but he will sometimes face or even walk the wrong direction. That annoyance didn’t happen often, but got me hit when it did. He can also climb walls or other items in the environment and back when this was one of the few Spider-Man games, it probably made players feel like the titular character.
Every hero needs to wallop foes, and I love how the enemies here look like they are exploding in large chunks of clay when they are defeated. I just wish the combat was better. The A button attacks with a punch, but that is hard to tell at first because double-tapping it does a jumping kick, even though I was just trying to hit twice. Quickly tapping B jumps and holding it down will perform a slightly higher leap, even if moving in the air is a pain. Those two buttons should have been switched and getting used to that took me a while, causing problems in the meantime.
It is hard to predict how Spider-Man will attack even when trying to keep not hitting the button too quickly in mind. That harmed me more than I think the enemies themselves could have done. The hero can obtain power-ups that allow him to use his webbing, giving him a projectile attack, but even this can be confusing at first when trying to figure out how much ammunition is left. The whole experience is a little clunky and awkward. Even Nintendo Power pointed out how the controls weren’t responsive, when perfect punches seemed like they can’t connect (source: Nintendo Power vol. 41 October 1992).
The game isn’t what I would call very difficult, but rather it is tough due to the controls. Players do have to be careful though. Spidey only has four blocks of health and one extra life, while additional health is obtained by defeating enough enemies.. Making one or two simple mistakes or bad attacks will send Parker to an early grave to meet Uncle Ben. A couple of the bosses can be fun but their patterns are simple and they are easily cheesed, making them less so.
The game also had versions appear on the SEGA Master System — which looks a little better — and a Game Gear port that I wouldn’t mind checking out. There is a hidden Pac-Man mini-game on the Game Gear version that can only be accessed on Nightmare mode for people who want to get the most out of the game. Both of these are apparently easier than the NES counterpart.
Most people shit on this game, but I enjoyed playing through it again, even if I won’t go back anytime soon. The game overall is short, able to be beaten in twenty minutes after going through it a couple of times. That ending does feel a bit abrupt though. I can see those who honestly find the game enjoyable wanting to replay this title, but most people don’t like Return of the Sinister Six and I completely understand. As someone who grew up a Nintendo kid, I’m sad Spider-Man didn’t have a better outing on the 8-bit console.
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
