Comic book classic Spider-Man has featured in countless games, from the days of the Atari 2600 all the way to the most recent title on the PlayStation 5. The web-slinger is one of the most recognizable and popular characters from the Marvel Universe and his outings in comics have given developers plenty of material to adapt to a wide range of games that have been almost as popular for just as long.
As some of the older consoles have been discontinued and developers have lost their licenses to use the famous wall-crawler, plenty of his games have fallen off the face of the Earth and become harder and harder for fans to get their hands on. Here are the ten hardest-to-acquire games featuring Spider-Man.
10Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six
Out Of Print On A Discontinued System
A sidescrolling platformer on a handheld system,Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Sixis a tricky game that features crunchy combat, web-swinging, wall-crawling and all the villains that fans could ever dream of. Players will battle their way through plenty of iconic New York locations including Central Park and the World Trade Centre to face off against the infamous team: Mysterio, Sandman, Vulture, Scorpion, Kraven the Hunter and finally Doc Oc to save Aunt May from the evil squad. The game released to very positive reception, but due to the outdated platform it released on fans will likely never get the chance to play this title again.
Torus Games shut down in March of 2024, so anyone looking for a rerelease of this classic game is likely out of luck. Original copies of the game still occasionally sell on auction sites, but this has become more of a collector’s item.
Surprisingly,The Amazing Spider-Man 2tie-in video game is now remarkably hard to come by for such a modern game. Perhaps because it was so linked with the Andrew Garfield fronted movie of the same name that performed poorly at the box office,TASM2deviates massively from the story of its sister release. Featuring fan favorites from the comics like Kingpin, the Black Cat, Shocker and Carnage, and with widely praised web-slinging mechanics, the game didn’t sell as well as the studio expected and was the last Marvel game to be released before publisher Activision lost the license.
When mixed and middling reviews started to flood in the game was delisted on digital storefronts and now the disc sells for exorbitant amounts online. Although it may not be one of the best entries in theSpider-Manfranchise, it is still a unique and worthwhile take on the webslinger.
A title that was developed for handheld and home consoles at the same time, and resulted in releases of very different quality,Ultimate Spider-Manis an open-world game peppered with missions across acomic book, cartoony Manhattan and Queens. The game has been called the best Spider-Man game of all time; it allows players to swap between two unique stories that run in parallel and give the player control of either Spider-Man himself or the much heavier and slower Venom.
The two move across the setting in different ways, control differently and have different combat styles that are a delight to explore. The diversity in missions and boss fights makes the whole package a must-play for fans of Spider-Man. Another game that has slowly shifted to become a collector’s item,Ultimate Spider-Mancan still be scooped up second-hand occasionally.
A strange outing in the character’s series,Spider-Man: Battle for New Yorkisa handheld-only gamethat features the Green Goblin as a playable character in an alternate story. Players must quickly make their way around the map to save civilians and take out criminals and keep the threat in the city low. If players do not solve the problems in time, they will game over. The variety in these crimes that must be stopped, tasking Spidey with disarming bombs and webbing up damage to save people makes this an interesting break away from the much more story-focused narrative Spider-Man games.
It is an action platformer of the most basic kind but still a fun comic book game to look into. Selling mainly on auction sites now, it will be hard for fans to get their hands on this lesser known gem.
Delisted On All Storefronts, With No Physical Copies
Now considered ‘lost media’,Spider-Man: Unlimitedis a very ambitious runner mobile game. With different aspects to the game that see players running, falling, swinging and crawling, Spidey will find himself challenged at every corner. The game even features a story mode that lets players use different Spider-Men across the multiverse to face off against bosses from the Sinister Six across different realities.
Despite some microtransactions, the game never fell into the pitfalls of many pay-to-win mobile games and remains a popular fan favorite that is still missed today. It is impossible to legally downloadSpider-Man: Unlimitedtoday as it has been removed from mobile storefronts.
A time-travelling adventure that lets players control Peter Parker, the Ultimate Spider-Man alongside Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man 2099.A threat to both timelines forces the pair to team up to save both Peter and the whole universe. The pair have different move sets, and the future changes in accordance with Peter’s actions in Miguel’s past. Despite the interesting story and gleefully chaotic set pieces the game only ever received mixed reviews, in part because of the repetitive nature of the combat.
A unique look at some fan-favorite villains, alongside some wacky time-travel shenanigans makes this a worthwhile find for any Spider fan. It is now mostly available through auction sites with very high asking prices.
Scaling down the freedom of the previous games and returning to a 3D beat-em' up,Spider-Man: Friend Or Foetasks the wall-crawler with collecting shards of the meteor to stop the growing threat of robotic enemies trying to conquer the world. Along the way, Spidey will face off againsta collection of villainsand, after beating each one, he will recruit them. They are unlocked as playable characters that can perform elaborate team-up moves with Spider-Man and allow for some exciting co-op gameplay.
The range of characters who make playable appearances will be a treat for any Marvel fan; Blade, Sandman, Iron Fist,Doctor Octopus, the Prowler and other lesser known characters all have a chance to shine. The game is only occasionally available on auction sites, and the Xbox version is particularly rare.
Returning to an open world Manhattan, and delving deeper into Peter Parker’s morality,Spider-Man: Web Of Shadowspits Spidey against a full-scale symbiote invasion. Combat is much more fluid, with aerial attacks and a focus on momentum that makes every action set-piece feel fast and frantic. Players can switch between the traditional Spider-Man costume and ablack-suit infected with the symbiote and each has a different slew of attacks and differing combat styles.
Fans will be able to determine what the residents of Manhattan think about Spidey through their actions which will also decide which allies can be called on to help out; if Spider-Man is heroic he can call on Wolverine and Luke Cage and many more, but if he is villainous he can work with baddies like Black Cat and Electro. Mainly a collector’s item now, the PS3 version in particular can be very hard to find.
One of the most under-appreciated Spider-Man games,Shattered Dimensionslets fans play as four different Spider-Men across different realities. Each controls in a similar way but has different combat abilities and has to play in a different way to beat their sections. Amazing Spider-Man takes on enemies in the same way as players will expect, while Ultimate Spider-Man will unleash his symbiote abilities, Noir Spider-Man will stick to the shadows for tactical stealth gameplay and Spider-Man 2099 tackles freefalling sections.
The game takes on the multiverse in a way that connects perfectly with the current MCUand fans of the web-slinger will find the depth of combat abilities and differing Spidey’s a treat to explore. Finding any copy can be difficult currently, although the very poorly received Nintendo DS port can be scooped up regularly on auction sites for fans who just want to see the story.
Another mobile game,Total Mayhemsees Spidey swinging across the city in gameplay that seems almost like a rhythm game with players tapping in time with Peter Parker’s swings. When he reaches the enemies fans have to move using one half of the screen and use the other half as a series of buttons to pull off long combo chains to attempt to charge up powerful special moves and take out waves of villains. With a starring cast of infamous villains that fans might have come to expect, and stylized combat that focuses on comic book flourishes, it performed quite well on release.
The game is made up of 12 levels,which can then be replayed with a different combat style in the symbiote suit. The app is no longer available for download anywhere and is almost impossible to play today.
