From the stunning contemporary web-slinging shenanigans of Insomniac’s Spider-Man games all the way back to Neversoft’s still-good Spider-Man effort on the humble but beloved PSOne console, it’s certainly fair to say that your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man has translated well to the beloved medium of video games. With great power comes great responsibility and so it’s our responsibility to let you know just what the best spider-man games are in this handy guide.
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Not just the best Spider-Man game to pop along in an age but one of the best superhero games of the last few years hands down, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a tour de force to say the least. Casting players as the titular hero, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales confidently stakes its claim as the best spider-man game.
Not only does it build upon the superb traversal and open world adventure beats of 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man game on PS4 with a much tighter focus on compelling stuff to do, but it also weaves a more interesting and emotionally affecting tale to boot, reflecting the fact that Miles Morales himself is a resoundingly more emotionally resonant Spidey than Peter Parker is. Throw in some cutting edge visuals, greatly improved combat and a heartbreaking final battle, it’s easy to see why Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales sits at the apex of the best Spider-Man games.
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Insomniac’s first take on Spider-Man was something of a revelation when it was released on PS4 approximately 1,000 years ago back in 2018. Marvel’s Spider-Man was an enticing one-two and, well, three punch of engrossing open-world traversal, satisfying combat and an engaging cast of characters – all of which added up to make Insomniac’s take of the Life and Times of Spider-Man a resounding success.
Not since Rocksteady allowed players to don the cape of the Dark Knight in Arkham Asylum had a superhero video game felt quite so empowering. Indeed, in a similar fashion to how the Arkham games made you feel like the Caped Crusader, so too did Marvel’s Spider-Man make you feel like the webbed wonder as you swung, lept, spun, dived and tumbled with ease through an immensely detailed take on the Big Apple. Marvel’s Spider-Man is the good stuff and set the stage for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales which arguably refined that excellent formula yet further still.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
A licensed and very loosely based take on the 2014 Marvel flick of the same name, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 thrust players into downtown Manhattan as Spidey himself, boffing bad dudes, unlocking new abilities and taking on side-missions to improve the webslinger’s reputation – with failing to do so causing the authorities to come after you.
Though more than a little formulaic and certainly over familiar, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game nonetheless had a series of really quite epic boss battles which helped to separate it from other superhero efforts of the time.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Doing the whole multiverse thing roughly eleven years before it was cool, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions expanded the stakes of Spider-Man’s escapades massively beyond the local neighbourhood of your friendly Spider-Man. Taking control of the web-shooters of not just one, but four different Spider-Men (Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man 2099, and Ultimate Spider-Man), Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was certainly something of a departure from the Spider-Man games that preceded it.
Much more of a linear effort than the more open-world Spider-Man games that would release later on, Shattered Dimensions nonetheless earns its place on this list thanks to stylish combo system and some neat set-pieces – one of which has Ultimate Spider-Man taking part in a television show hosted by Deadpool. Oh and it also inspired the creation of the resolutely superb Into The Spider-Verse animated movie which debuted in 2018, too. So that’s nice.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Being the only Spider-Man game to bring Venom into the fold as a playable character (2023’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 features the classic villain as a non-playable antagonist seemingly), 2005’s Ultimate Spider-Man switched players between ol’ Petey Parks and Venom as they attempt to put a stop to classic villains in the form of the Sandman, Carnage and more.
Where Ultimate Spider-Man made its mark though, was in how Spider-Man and Venom both had their own unique playstyle. Spider-Man is able to zip around the city at speed and use his webs to immobilise foes, whereas the hulking Venom can gobble up random folks (his health slowly decreases otherwise if left idle) and cause chaos in the city by smashing up cars and buildings; resulting in the authorities coming after him in earnest. It’s a wonder that more Spider-Man games haven’t made Venom a playable character quite honestly.
Spider-Man
Neversoft’s Spider-Man has been deemed by many to be one of the best takes on the masked web-slinger ever made and, well, they’re not wrong. Encompassing a cavalcade of Spider-Man’s most dangerous villains, including Doc Ock, Venom, Carnage, Mysterio and more), Spider-Man made the most of the ageing PSOne hardware that it was primarily developed for, whisking players across a number of challenging platforming and combat focused levels.
Though that might sound a little unexciting to us with our massive open-world expanses and fancy traced rays, Neversoft’s Spider-Man was nonetheless the first video game that really made you feel like Spider-Man – giving you full agency over his impressive array of acrobatic abilities, combat and web shooting shenanigans. A neat bit of trivia for you – Spider-Man leverages the same engine that powered the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (another Neversoft joint).
Spider-Man: The Movie
Often forgotten by many folks, there was actually a Spider-Man title that was released on the original Xbox all the way back in the dark mists of 2002. Known as Spider-Man: The Movie, to help promote the Sam Raimi directed movie of the same name, this Treyarch developed Spider-Man effort followed the linear design principles set out by Neversoft’s take on the licence some two years earlier. Encompassing all manner of combat, traversal and stealth across its numerous linearly designed levels, Spider-Man: The Movie was also notable for allowing players to play as Harry Osborn after the game is completed the first time, providing eager Spidey fans with an intriguing scenario which depicts the younger Osborn getting to grips with the Green Goblin armour in the wake of his father’s death.
Spider-Man 2
Much like Spider-Man: The Movie before it, Spider-Man 2 was largely created to accompany the second of Sam Raimi’s Spidey flicks, however it had a lot more to offer than just its Hollywood connection. Spider-Man 2 was not only notable for being the first Spider-Man game to embrace an open-world setting but it was also one which keenly remembered that Spider-Man and Peter Parker are in essence two separate people, as it had the player splitting their time between smashing up bad guys as the former and keeping up appearances with the friends and family of the latter.
Shop Marvel Games Here
Many of these games may be out of reach of our store, but if your taste buds desire a bit of Marvel on them then check out our full range of Marvel games right here. From LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, we’ve got plenty to keep any Marvel fan happy.
