After 18 years and with Spider-Man 2 just around the corner, there is no better time to look back at a classic Spider-Man game!

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Ultimate Spider-Man was released 18 years ago. Feel old yet? The early 2000s were a great time to be a spider-man fan. We received two excellent games from neversoft, a solid movie tie-in game for the newly released Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man, and its sequel Spider-Man 2 solidified itself as the best movie and game in the characters history for years to come. The next Spider-Man game would have a lot to live up to, and in the case of Activision's next Spider-Man title, they would already be at a disadvantage. Their new title was not tied to any mainstream film under the same name, and rather an, arguably more niche, comic book run. As we approach the release of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, there is an ever increasing chance that we will see the greatest portrayal of Venom in a video game. So to refresh our memory let's look back at what I believe to be the best video game portrayal of Venom in one of the better Spider-Man games; Ultimate Spider-Man. And of course, spoilers ahead.

Spider-Man 2 broke the mould in many ways for the wall crawler, and Ultimate Spider-Man aims to refine the fundamental advancements made in that game, while also moving in a new direction. The result is a game that succeeds in many areas, fails in some, and most importantly, has such a sense of identity that it has become timeless. After 18 years, Ultimate Spider-Man is still one of the greatest Spider-Man games out there, with its largest flaw being just how little of it there is. This is a Spider-Man game that is mechanically dense, but prioritises quality over quantity to a detrimental degree, which these days seems backwards to many. Personally, I would prefer a game to be short and sweet than long and boring, but this discussion means nothing, because we can’t buy the game. Due to Activision losing the licence to their Spider-Man games, they can no longer be sold, which means getting your hands on this game is impossible. Of course, pirates are still able to access the game with ease but I won’t condone any of that.

Ultimate Spider-Man takes place within the Ultimate comic universe, and while at first being a canon story likely taking place in between issues 71 and 72, the plot of the game was later reworked and adapted to issues 123 to 128, so this game is in a strange limbo between canon and non canon. Regardless, while having the backstory of the comic series will further contextualise the plot here, it is not needed to understand the simple story. Keeping with its comic book roots, this game boasts a unique visual style that looks like a playable comic all the way from its cel shaded art style to its cutscenes which feature comic panels, onomatopoeias, and other visual styles that are otherwise associated with comics. This allows the game to have an identifiable visual flair that ages at a snail's pace.

Something important to note about Ultimate Spider-Man is that it is building off of the precedents set in Spider-Man 2. It has enough to separate itself, but this game does not get the same slack Spider-Man 2 got because it is not the first to attempt an open world with physics based swinging and organic city events. Now in a poorly made Spider-Man game this would be a problem, but this is no ordinary Spider-Man game, and that is visible through every single frame. The visual style of Ultimate Spider-Man is timeless.

Spider-Man is one of my favourite characters whether its Peter Parker or Miles Morales, both of which are Spiderman and Ultimate Spider-Man to me. The Ultimate Spiderman game which is discussed in this Ultimate Spider-Man review is one of the best games from my childhood. This Ultimate Spiderman review will look at Ultimate Spider-Man 18 years later, and see if 18 years later, it still holds up. This Ultimate Spider-Man retrospective will be of the game and not a comic Ultimate Spiderman retrospective. While we will never get an Ultimate Spider-Man 2, we can at least look forward to Spider-Man 2, and if there never is an Ultimate Spiderman 2, then maybe we can hope for an Ultimate Spider-Man remaster, as an Ultimate Spiderman remaster would make me lose my mind. This is one of many Spider-Man reviews on the That Boy Aqua channel, and this Ultimate Spider-Man analysis will not be the last review before Spider-Man 2, which may be the best Spider-Man game. I'm excited for the new Spider-Man game, and I hope you are too.