The Amazing Spider-Man (Game Boy) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of LJN's 1990 license-based beat 'em up for the Nintendo Game Boy, The Amazing Spider-Man.
Over the years, Spider-Man games have been largely hit-or-miss. Some of them have been fantastic (The Amazing Spider-Man on the Super Famicom, and the first Spider-Man game on the PS1), most have been somewhat mediocre, and some of them have left quite a lot to be desired.
Though it'd be easy to write-off The Amazing Spider-Man on Game Boy based on the LJN branding alone, that would ignore the fact that the game was actually developed by Rare. More often than not Rare's 8-bit games were good - occasionally they'd drop a stinker, but it didn't happen too often.
Unfortunately, The Amazing Spider-Man for the Game Boy is one of those (R)are instances. The graphics are nice and clear, with some good detail in the background and cutscenes (though Spidey's animation makes him look a bit "special needs") and the soundtrack is a typically good showing by David Wise.
However, the gameplay is really where the game gets caught with its pants down. Stiff, awkward controls, stunted attack range, and hit detection that often feels downright unfair pull the entire thing down several notches. So do the broken controls for the infuritaing rooftop secrions.The wall-climbing segments do fare much better than those sections, though, with better controls and physics that act... a bit more like actual physics.
I'm not sure what happened - Rare's games were usually quite good mechanically - as such an early Game Boy else, maybe it suffered from too rushed of a development cycle? The game had a lot of potential and it does actually manage to be fun at times, but it would have been a *much* better game if it had had a few more months worth of work done on it.
It's not the worst Game Boy game out there - not by a long shot - but it is a disappointingly weak effort from a developer who was capable of far more than The (Not So) Amazing Spider-Man would lead you to believe. It's good for some nostalgia, but if you go back to replay it, brace yourself for the moment when you realize that it was better as you remembered it than as it really is.
*Recorded using Retroarch's DMG shader for maximum retro ambiance! :)
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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[@SamtheBravesFan]

David Wise was the composer of the music so it's pretty decent and I love what he did with the title screen music as it's a variation of the 1967 cartoon theme song.

[@NintendoComplete]

The Amazing Spider-Man for the Game Boy was typical of what you'd expect from LJN (and far less than you'd expect from its developer, Rare!), but hey - at least it's much better than the NES X-Men game! That's gotta count for something, right?

[@NintendoComplete]

Mgrsdgfsd Afsdgrsdgfsdg I didn't cheat. Why would you say all of a sudden? I know the game quite well, and I thought it showed. I also practiced up on it for a good couple weeks before I was able to record it like this.

[@vgaoct91]

Mmm-hmm. I still think of one of the comments on (I think it was) the LJN Defender's Spider-Man Game Boy game vid. It was something along the lines of, "Even on one of their most off days, Rare can at least put out something playable".

[@NintendoComplete]

vgaoct91 Very true. Playable doesn't necessarily mean good, but it at least works. Bethesda could've taken that advice.

[@ruko9876]

Lol, NintendoComplete never cheats. He practices a lot before perfecting his gameplay. And Mgrsdgfsd Afsdgrsdgfsdg or whatever the hell your long name is, this game is completable if you memorized all the enemy patterns.

[@NintendoComplete]

The Clube Man Thanks :) I appreciate the vote of confidence

[@mixey01]

Sweet nostalgic vibes

[@mixey01]

One of the first games I had on my gameboy as a kid during the 90's. Great memories

[@tepan]

Great game! But the people of that city clearly have anger issues.

[@Skazellino]

I loved this game, beat it myself quite a few times.

[@israelflores4626]

This is one of LJN's not so bad titles, if you can get around wonky controls.

[@DeanRendar]

I never conserved web because I didn't think it mattered, then I realized the 2nd rooftop level left you no options. This ate up time for 7 year old me since continues were non existant. I dont think I ever got that end screen bit about MJs friends not being nice till now. I do get it now as an adult watching someone else play all the years later.

[@MFields2178]

This is one of the few games I owned on Gameboy and I hate to say, but I really liked this game as a kid. It had its flaws but this game, no joke, made me a Spiderman fan. Never played the sequels. I hear they are awful.

[@legionary2736]

MFields2178 They are,especially spiderman 3,that game is absolute trash

[@Seiko180]

@@legionary2736 I think Spiderman 2 for GB it's way more shitty than spiderman 3, at least that one it's a way more intuitive platform game, while spiderman 2 it's more like a quest game, you have to find some especific items in the entire level without any kind of map or clue, sometimes it's a fucking maze and you gets lose very quickly, it's terrible. I just beat it with a Playthrough video, I didn't haved the patience to figured out by my own, it's not worthy

[@TruckingLawyer]

To be honest,I like this game despite its flaws

[@Dorelaxen]

Normally, I'd 100 percent agree on pretty much any LJN game being garbage, but I actually really love this game. Once you overcome the crap ass controls, it becomes a lot more tolerable, especially with that fantastic soundtrack in your ears. Yeah, the nostalgia goggles might be strong here, but it's still one I can't really ever hate (especially since I could actually finish it. No mean feat on a lot of the old GB games). This and GB Batman took up a lot of my time in 1990.

[@maverickslb80]

My first ever Gameboy game that my parents bought me and I still love it. It's actually a decent game, very entertaining. Plus, Spider-Man is my favorite hero.

[@Gameboy-Unboxings]

That's because it's developed by Rare. Unlike the second & third spiderman games..

[@MultiVince95]

Brilliant

[@MajinKaine]

Todd McFarlane design of Spider man is dope

[@parmesanballz4631]

Holy shit this game used to piss me off

[@michaelleadingham6813]

When I hook this game up to my game boy game genie it made playing this game a lot more funner when I put in the infinity energy code I was unstoppable I love this game LJN did a great job with this game the soundtrack is just amazing great spider-man game

[@andrewbaldwin9194]

Are you going to put up amazing spider man 2 and 3 their sequels??? I’m working on #2 right now almost got the roller coaster level down!

[@Seiko180]

has ever appeared Kraven the Hunter in the 8 bits/16 bits era of the Spiderman games? I have played a lot of these games and I never saw him in at least one game.

[@donaldshaw8710]

I don't know if you know but the European port of "The Amazing Spider-Man" on Game Boy was published by Nintendo.

[@NintendoComplete]

Wow, really? I had no idea. Bad call, Nintendo. But they did bring a lot of stuff out that we would've never gotten otherwise, right? I seem to remember my copy of Mystic Quest on GameBoy being branded by Nintendo and not Square.

[@thecowboy2]

How did all those Spider-Villans get Peter's phone number and secret identity? I detect Norman Osborn's foul hand in this.

[@thecowboy2]

No the instruction manual for the game specifically said the villains called his phone.

[@susanfit47]

The Spider-Man Game Boy cartridge uses play mechanics and options that cause comparisons to Konami's Castlevania or Sega's Shinobi. Game Boy action games are typically old NES reruns.

[@eugenehill7165]

Alleyway lizard 🦎 sewers 2:30 Mysterio Green goblin 6:10 Scorpion 🦂 8:55 Rhino 🦏 12:02 Doctor Octopus 🐙🦑🦑🐙🐙 15:53 Venom 19:27 Mary Jane Watson Heart the amazing spider-man 🕷️

[@eugenehill7165]

The rooftop the subway 🚇🚇🚇 sewers web slinger

[@JohnnyOTGS]

I just don't get why Rhino is a boss, Rhino is a Hulk villain and not a Spider-Man villain. Rhino can easily fustigate Spider-Man because of his brutish strength. Still nobody can beat Spidey quite like Ryu can.

[@ruko9876]

The only problem i have with this game is that sometimes when you jump and wanted to release the web from your hand, the game does not do that and you fall into the depths and lose your life. Otherwise it is a decently average game that I enjoy playing as a kid.

[@technnicalvapor007]

Ok this game is aceptable. BUT THE SEQUEL IS MORE WORSE THAT THE MOVIE.

[@kokomanation]

I was 8 years old then

[@TruckingLawyer]

I also had the sequels to this game, they were by B.I.T.S Studios (The same people who made Spider-Man:Return of the Sinister Six), I thought Spider-Man 2 was decent, but Spider-Man 3 (for me) was quite terrible.

[@roieclair4120]

cool music but the playability was deem of an LJN game.

[@Simonsvide0s]

Amazing more like the very average spider man but I still like this game

[@aaronboothproduction]

Ugh I hate games with non-endings. One screen of text does not a satisfying ending make!

[@JohnnyOTGS]

That is LJN for you.

[@avalond1193]

Aaron Booth that was the norm during those days alot of the so called best games had no endings

[@Seiko180]

I hate games with no end credits, usually the shitty ones does that, it make me feel like even the developers are so ashamed to show their names.

[@Bloodreign1]

@@JohnnyOTGS That's not on LJN, that's on RARE. LJN has never, EVER made a game themselves, they always licensed games for release from smaller studios,and at that time RARE was a small studio.

[@kanuni1979]

Man i always failed at the sewer level. Didnt realized how close i was to finish the game. The controls were atrocious and the game has that "distinctive LJN style".

[@vitaly6772]

Why Spider-Man walks and fights in this game like he is 78??

[@projecta3halkida]

But... is it truly Amazing?

[@Dman3827]

This looks terrible. It looks like a guy in a black leather outfit and helmet on with bad posture. Crappy game play compared to NES. Glad I never heard of or saw this one. I liked Gameboy.

[@timothy790110]

jesus christ, all the game si hade were only 20 mins long! what a ripoff