Sound:  
As with any GBA game, headphones are recommended. Even if you turn the volume down, keep the headphones on for two reasons: listening in on people when they think you can't hear them, and shutting out the world around you— take THAT, social interaction!

Anyway, the music in the game is technically impressive, but musically lacking. Whatever happened to, "does whatever a spider can?" That's the kind of music the people want to hear... Still, the attention to detail includes stepping outside a building and hearing the music that was playing inside a little muffled.

The sound effects in the game are top-notch. Not only do Spider-Man and enemies make grunts when they're fighting, but you even get a chime when Spidey's senses are alerting you to off-screen danger.

Gameplay:  
Spider-Man lets you choose what order you play the levels. On the map of the city you can decide to go to a pier, an amusement park, or several other places. I like how Spider-Man travels around New York in less than a second without spotting any danger, but it takes him half an hour to get through one building. Most levels have many suspended platforms on which to search for items and enemies. Other levels require you to find five artifacts or rescue five hostages (who, once rescued, run through a wall to escape and never say "Thank You") to proceed to the boss. Bosses are fairly easy taking just a few tries to defeat.

On that subject, this is one of those games that makes you want to keep trying over and over no matter how many times you die. Maybe it's the cool-factor of crawling on any surface and swinging across the roof-tops, but you will want to finish this game. Unfortunately though, the game ends far too quickly. You can revisit levels to find secret power-upgrades, but all they do is help you finish the game even faster!

Control:
Controlling Spider-Man is fairly intuitive. 'A' jumps, 'B' attacks, 'L' shoots impact webs, 'R' shoots capture webs, 'L' and 'R' together create a shield. Vicarious Visions included a wide range of fighting moves, but most aren't needed as the best strategy to winning a fight is to hit the 'B' button as fast as you can.

Multiplayer:
Nothing to see here, move along...

OVERALL:
This game is great for a hand-held system, it's short and sweet. Sometimes you just feel like playing a game and you don't want a sprawling RPG, so get out "Spider-Man" and have a good time. This game uses a password system to save, so it may not always be convenient in the car if your intent is beating it before the next bathroom break; but its non-linear design is perfect for picking up and playing a few levels if you don't have paper to write down a code. Hey, maybe you can get some paper at that next bathroom break!

 

The Lowdown on  Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace Aesthetics: Above Average Control: Very Good Gameplay: Very Good Multiplayer: Sound: Above Average Innovation: 3/6 Lasting Appeal: 4/6 Rating Explanation Overall: Very Good! "A Must-Buy"