A great franchise comes with great responsibility. Talk to any of the folks associated with icons like Star Wars, The Avengers, or Grand Theft Auto and they’ll give lip service to the importance of legacy. When you’re up against the imagination of millions of fans, you’ve got your work cut out for you. And 25 years ago one of the most iconic superheroes of all-time got a game so good it set a new bar for comic book IP years before Hollywood’s Marvel revolution.
When Neversoft released Spider-Man on the original PlayStation on August 30, 2000, the superhero video game landscape was bleak. Licensed games were churned out as quick cash-ins with clunky controls, uninspired level design, and a general sense that superheroes couldn’t have a distinct feel in a medium where plumbers and hedgehogs could be heroes, too. But Neversoft, fresh off the runaway success of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, had the pedigree, the technology, and the creative freedom to change that perception. Their Spider-Man wasn’t just a good superhero game for its time. It set the stage for everything that followed, laying the groundwork for future Spider-Man titles and influencing how the entire superhero genre would be approached in gaming.
