Spider-Man fans have always fantasized about being able to spin a web, of any size, and catch thieves just like flies. It's no surprise as Spider-Man is one of the most famous and recognizable heroes, super or otherwise, in any medium. However, toys can only go so far as to emulate that experience. Perhaps it's for the best. Luckily, friendly neighborhood video games can save the day!
Spider-Man has long had a relatively positive history in the video game medium, which makes Spider-Man unique as superhero video games have had much more lows than highs. It wasn't until the Batman Arkham franchise that the superhero genre collectively turned a corner. This golden age of superhero video games has also benefited the Spider-Man franchise as fans have been able to experience some of the best Spider-Man video games to date.
Not all Spider-Man games have a Metacritic score. The scores listed are from the games with the most reviews.
10 The Amazing Spider-Man (Xbox 360)
Metacritic Score: 69
The Amazing Spider-Man was the first film reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. Andrew Garfield's take on the web-slinger endeared many Spider-Man fans. However, the two Amazing Spider-Man films received a mixed response from critics and fans alike. Their video games didn't do much better.
The first Amazing Spider-Man game fared better than the second. Critics found Amazing Spider-Man enjoyable to play with its tight controls and open-world sandbox. However, critics were not as high on Amazing Spider-Man's story and sidequests, feeling both left a lot to be desired given the high potential for any Spider-Man game.
9 Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro (PS1)
Metacritic Score: 71
Spider-Man for the original PlayStation continues to be lauded as one of the best superhero video games ever made. It later spawned three sequels in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six for the Game Boy Color and Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro for the PS1. Enter Electro was released a year after the PlayStation 2, which held it back from building upon its predecessor.
Most critics felt Enter Electro fell short both in terms of literal length and in comparison to PS1's Spider-Man. Enter Electro is perhaps best known for Vicarious Visions changing the location of the final level, which was meant to be on the World Trade Center. Enter Electro was released a little over a month after the tragic September 11th attacks.
8 Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Xbox 360)
Metacritic Score: 76
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions has a firm argument for the most important Spider-Man game ever made. Its story of bringing together Spider-Men from different universes together would go on to help inspire the "Spider-Verse" comic storyline that eventually served as the basis for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and the MCU's Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Each of the four Spider-Men were voiced by previous Spider-Man voice actors in Neil Patrick Harris, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Dan Gilvezan, and Josh Keaton. Shattered Dimensions' voice acting saw plenty of praise as well as its narrative and combat.
7 Ultimate Spider-Man (Xbox)
Metacritic Score: 77
One of the four Spider-Men that starred in Shattered Dimensions was Ultimate Spider-Man. The Ultimate Spider-Man comic series did receive a game in 2005's Ultimate Spider-Man, which is set within that universe. Ultimate Spider-Man was developed by Treyarch who had previously developed the Spider-Man games based on the Sam Raimi films.
Ultimate Spider-Man carries over the open-world gameplay from 2004's Spider-Man 2: The Movie, but with a much more vibrant and expressive visual style. Ultimate Spider-Man was praised for its mission and quests, especially the ability to play as Venom. However, its combat received a mixed response for being generally fun while, at times, repetitive and frustrating.
6 Spider-Man Unlimited (IOS)
Metacritic Score: 79
Spider-Man Unlimited was an extremely popular mobile game in its time, having over 30 million downloads before its discontinuation in 2019. An endless runner, Spider-Man Unlimited is more than just a game of making it as far as possible as players have missions they need to complete if they want to defeat the Sinister Six.
Spider-Man Unlimited has a vast amount of content to unlock including stages, enemies, and different iterations of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. Spider-Man Unlimited was praised for this level of content. However, much like most mobile games, its energy resource system provided a frustrating and limiting obstacle for avid players, particularly free-to-play players, to confront.
5 Spider-Man: The Movie (Xbox)
Metacritic Score: 79
The Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy has a very special place in comic book superhero history for helping plant the seeds for the multi-billion dollar golden age of superhero films. They each helped break the superhero genre away from its niches and become a force in the mainstream. The game based on the first Spider-Man film wasn't bad either.
Spider-Man: The Movie featured role reprisals of both Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe with the former receiving criticism for his voice acting. Spider-Man: The Movie was also criticized for its short length and terrible camera. Most critics found themselves enjoying the levels that took place outdoors while not feeling near as strongly on its indoor levels.
4 Spider-Man 2: The Movie (Xbox)
Metacritic Score: 83
Spider-Man 2: The Movie was arguably the gold standard for superhero video games prior to the Batman Arkham series. Spider-Man 2: The Movie was everything fans dreamed of: a Spider-Man game that took on the newfound Grand Theft Auto structure of open-world gameplay with a Manhattan that felt alive and full of crime to stop.
Not only did Spider-Man 2: The Movie retell the already fantastic story of the critically acclaimed Spider-Man 2 film, but it also added many story elements that were not in the film. Critics overwhelmingly praised Spider-Man 2: The Movie's open-world sandbox as a joy to traverse.
3 Spider-Man (PS1)
Metacritic Score: 87
Before there was Batman Arkham City and Spider-Man 2: The Movie, there was 2000s Spider-Man. Spider-Man was a ray of light in a superhero genre with many forgettable and even outright terrible games. Spider-Man was developed by Neversoft and utilized their Tony Hawk's Pro Skater engine. Stan Lee also served as the narrator, which makes Spider-Man a must-play even today.
Spider-Man hit all the right notes from its gameplay to its doppelganger story. Spider-Man was released on numerous systems with the PS1 version seeing the highest praise featuring a more polished and complete version of the game.
2 Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)
Metacritic Score: 85
Since Spider-Man 2: The Movie, Spider-Man has seen its highs and lows in both gaming and film. In recent years that has changed thanks to Spider-Man's inclusion in the MCU, Into the Spider-Verse, and 2018's hit Marvel's Spider-Man by Insomniac Games. Marvel's Spider-Man saw a spinoff in 2020 in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales for the launch of the PS5.
Miles Morales, much like Into the Spider-Verse, gives much-deserved attention to another Spider-Man in Miles Morales. Miles Morales was praised for its story as well as bringing quality-of-life updates to the gameplay and combat of Marvel's Spider-Man, making Miles feel unique from Peter Parker in the process.
1 Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4)
Metacritic Score: 87
Marvel's Spider-Man is the culmination of every Spider-Man game before it. The result was one of the best games in 2018 and a high bar for future superhero games to meet. Marvel's Spider-Man is the first entry of a growing "Insomniac-verse," which has been formally designated as Earth-1048. Marvel's Spider-Man's Peter Parker is set to appear in the Into the Spider-Verse sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in 2023.
While Marvel's Spider-Man saw criticism for not doing more to separate itself from the typical open-world game, adding to the modern fatigue for the genre, critics almost universally recognize it as one of the best superhero games ever made. Marvel's Spider-Man was praised for its fluid combat as well as its narrative with Yuri Lowenthal receiving high marks for his portrayal of Peter Parker.