RANKED
1. Spider-Man 2 for Xbox
Treyarch 100% nails the open-world format first try. Spider-Man for PS4 really only improved the graphics and story. The thrilling gameplay is all here 14 years prior and the web-swinging is still the best. Has endless challenges and an epic endgame arena.
Release: Jun 28, 2004
2. Ultimate Spider-Man for Nintendo GameCube
Second only to Spider-Man 2. Has a canon story told with innovative editing and rendered in a timeless comic art cell shading. The gameplay is toned down for accessibility, but made up for by the brutal playable Venom and mission variety.
Release: Sep 19, 2005
3. Spider-Man for Sega Dreamcast
Spidey hits his stride swinging into 3D, thanks to Tony Hawk's engine. Webbing and crawling feel way better in three dimensions. The collectable costumes with different powers and Stan Lee's narration really underline the commitment to quality. A big graphical upgrade.
Release: Apr 19, 2001
4. Spider-Man for Xbox
Treyarch builds off their Dreamcast port, even bringing over the janky camera. The exclusive Kraven level is worthwhile. The unlockable playable Green Goblin would be $25 DLC today. Maguire and Dafoe's voice acting is incredible, but Bruce Campbell steals the show.
Release: Apr 16, 2002
5. Ultimate Spider-Man for Nintendo DS
The best side-scroller in the series. Incredible cinematic cut scenes based on Bagley's art, a story in continuity with the comics written by Bendis, stylish cell-shaded graphics and impressive innovative touchscreen Venom gameplay.
Release: Sep 19, 2005
6. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions for Xbox 360
A proto-Spider-Verse bringing back classic cartoon voice actors that plays like a modern sequel to Enter Electro, right down to the cozy Stan Lee narration. Long levels centred around villains makes each feel like a one-shot comic.
Release: Sep 7, 2010
7. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage for Super Nintendo
The best Spidey game at the time. A challenging beat 'em up made fair by tons of secret collectables. A premium package for a change, with impressive cutscenes recreating comics and an eye catching red cartridge.
Release: Sep 16, 1994
8. Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace for Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Vicarious Visions returns to finish the handheld trilogy strong. Captures the 3D games art style in 2D. Has a hub world allowing levels to be played out of order. They even roll out Big Wheel for boss fight!
Release: Sep 19, 2001
9. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions for Nintendo DS
A Spider-Verse style plot with playable 2099 and Noir variants. Doubles down on Web of Shadows' Metroid influences, even adding Shinespark puzzles. It's truly the perfect fit and it's a shame they got here so late. I want more!
Release: Sep 7, 2010
10. Spider-Man for Super Nintendo
Based on the '90s cartoon with bosses like Chameleon, Hammerhead and Hydroman but includes some comic classics like The Owl, Beetle and Jack-O-Lantern. Difficulty settings keep it fair but you can get stuck maneuvering between two planes.
Release: Feb 13, 1995
11. Spider-Man 3 for Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Sticks to what works from years of Spidey side scrollers with smooth movement and combat for taking out crooks and saving civilians. The beat 'em up car chases are great for web swinging and the boss fights are clever and challenging.
Release: May 4, 2007
12. Spider-Man for Nintendo Game Boy Color
By Vicarious Visions of the recent Tony Hawk remake. An in-depth sandbox style adventure with RPG elements. Great graphics, cut scenes and animation. Passwords and infinite continues keeps grinding and finding collectables enjoyable.
Release: Sep 1, 2000
13. Spider-Man: Miles Morales for Steam Deck
The pacing is much stronger with less civilian missions and braindead minigames. Spider-Verse left some big Jordans to fill and this Miles just feels like a knockoff right down to his adidas. Has snappy gameplay and UI, but weak bosses drag it down.
Release: Nov 12, 2020
14. Spider-Man Remastered for Steam Deck
Took what worked, added much needed polish, then smothered it with terrible civilian missions and minigames. Batman's Arkham combat is welcome, but his gadgets aren't. The characterization feels off accross the board. The new face is actually an improvement. It has the best line up of costumes.
Release: Nov 12, 2020
15. Spider-Man Vs. The Kingpin for Sega Genesis
Kingpin framed Spidey, armed a nuke, had Venom kidnap MJ and hired villains including Lizard, Electro and Hobgoblin. Impressive graphics and an innovative photo mechanic. Plays well but the bosses are janky the ending is cheap.
Release: 1991
16. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows for Xbox 360
It's a Venom pandemic and up to you to either save NYC or be a psychopath. Nails the feeling of a comic event as the city gradually falls into chaos and heroes like Wolverine & Moon Knight show up. The frame rate drops in the third act.
Release: Oct 21, 2008
17. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for Xbox One
Two handed web-swinging returns and it makes a big difference. The added depth keeps traversal engaging. The Cletus Kasady serial killer plot was interesting. The costumes have unique stats and level up and theres even a Spider-Carnage one.
Release: May 12, 2014
18. Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro for Sony PlayStation
A great sequel offering more of the same while expanding on the bonuses like the Stan Lee narration and costumes with swappable powers. Alas, its stuck on the inadequate PS1 and suffers from muddy graphics and a bad frame rate.
Release: Oct 19, 2001
19. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for Xbox 360
A simple dumb fun beat 'em up by Nintendo owned Next Level Games sporting more polish than the usual movie tie-in. The enemy variety is poor, but it has a pretty rewarding loop of beating villain bosses to unlock and upgrade them.
Release: Oct 2, 2007
20. Venom / Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety for Super Nintendo
A rushed cash grab sequel to Maximum Carnage with co-op and much easier bosses. Mostly follows The Lethal Protector comics. A repetitive format with limited enemy variety, but it can be fun with a friend.
Release: Nov, 1995
21. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows for Nintendo DS
It’s like Metroid 2 but you’re Spidey and every time you lose an Energy Tank you have to play a touchscreen minigame. It even has an emergency escape at the end. The low poly enemies look like assets reused from another game.
Release: Oct 21, 2008
22. Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six for Nintendo Entertainment System
Developed by Bits Studios. The 8bit graphics, while a step down, give it an endearing quaintness. Includes Vulture for the first time. Follows a strict structure but mixes it up with the rare fetch quest. Relatively fair and very playable.
Release: Oct, 1992
23. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for Nintendo DS
This version is a surprise with charming low poly graphics that spread the action across two screens, tracking the rooftops and streets as you hop between. Cuts the playable cast back to the Raimi villains, Black Cat and Blade.
Release: Oct 2, 2007
24. Ultimate Spider-Man for Nintendo Game Boy Advance
A side scroller swapping between classic Spidey gameplay and a Venom that needs to feed to stave off draining health. Feels a little rushed toward the end. Remarkably achieves cell shaded models with smooth animation.
Release: Sep 19, 2005
25. Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six for Nintendo Game Boy Color
They ditch the RPG elements for a more refined but formulaic experience. Controls well with fair but basic bosses. What stands out is the high production values and detailed levels, even including weather effects.
Release: May 30, 2001
26. The Amazing Spider-Man for Nintendo Game Boy
A surprisingly good old school beat 'em up developed by Rare of Goldeneye and Banjo Kazooie fame. Challenging but beatable. A laughable story with Mysterio, Green Goblin, Scorpion, Rhino, Doctor Octopus and Venom as bosses.
Release: Jul, 1990
27. Spider-Man: Edge of Time for Xbox 360
A rushed Spider-Man 2099 sequel to Shattered Dimensions that strips down the art style and sets all the action indoors at Alchemax. Peter David pens an authentic story with a great cast, including an under-utilized Val Kilmer.
Release: Oct 4, 2011
28. Spider-Man 3 for Xbox 360
The City looks great but the models are terrible. Expands scale with tons of indoor areas including a massive subway. A mission uncomfortably forces you to abuse Mary Jane. The web-swinging is simplified, combat lacks polish and it really overdoes the quicktime events.
Release: May 4, 2007
29. The Amazing Spider-Man for Nintendo DS
A Kirby style hub world with short repetitive missions. Some great hand drawn sprite animation with a dynamic camera zooming in and out of the action. It's a good format for a rushed movie tie-in, it just needed a lot more variety.
Release: Jun 26, 2012
30. Spider-Man 2 for Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Everything from the first game is expanded, including the annoying fetch quests. The 3D free roaming hub world hilariously overreaches the GBA's capabilities, but it's all in good fun. It has the cut Lizard and exclusive Puma boss fights.
Release: Jun 28, 2004
31. Spider-Man 2 for Sony PSP
Treyarch reuses the format and assets of the first movie game for this incredibly rushed sequel. It even has the same Shocker and Vulture boss fights. No costumes, no Bruce Campbell, no budget. At least they finally upgraded the camera.
Release: Jun 28, 2004
32. Spider-Man: Battle for New York for Nintendo DS
A prequel rushed out to cash in on Ultimate's success. Ron Lim illustrates the great motion comic cutscenes. It bafflingly ditches the innovative Venom controls for a playable Ultimate Green Goblin. It's repetitive and janky.
Release: Nov 14, 2006
33. Spider-Man for Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Snappy controls and animations are bogged down by a flat art style and bland levels that have you scavenger hunting under a time limit. An overpowered special move breaks the boss fights and the Mode-7 web swinging is completely vapid.
Release: Apr 16, 2002
34. Spider-Man 3: Invasion of the Spider-Slayers for Nintendo Game Boy
Alistair Smythe and the HR Giger Alien inspired Spider-Slayer MK X are hunting Spidey. Developer Bits brings a more standard action experience but clunky controls and randomized enemies make scaling levels painful.
Release: 1993
35. Spider-Man 3 for Sony PSP
Impressively fits the PS2 version's Manhattan sandbox, but at the cost of the frame rate and load times. Has boss fights with Morbius and an unrecognizable Shriek. It's short and has really clunky combat, leaving little reason to explore.
Release: Oct 16, 2007
36. The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition for Nintendo Wii U
Beenox expands to an open world, but shallow web swinging mechanics, a choppy frame rate and screen tear completely botch the experience. That said, you can play as Stan Lee and the Man-Spider costume is dope.
Release: Mar 5, 2013
37. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for Sony PSP
A stripped-down version of a simple beat 'em up ruined by poor hit detection. Ditches four playable characters for exclusives Electro and Carnage, but the latter only unlocks if you beat it in co-op, and good luck with that in 2022.
Release: Oct 2, 2007
38. Spider-Man 2 for Nintendo DS
Has the framework for a great 3D take on the retro side scroller Spidey format but botches it with a few bad mechanics. It's maddening to not have a map in these labyrinthine levels with anxiety inducing timers on a system with two screens.
Release: Jun 28, 2004
39. Spider-Man 3 for Nintendo DS
Takes cues from the great Ultimate Spider-Man on DS with touchscreen controls and comic panel cut scenes, but the cut scenes use muddy console screenshots and the half baked gameplay is obscured by an annoying cursor. Even the bosses are bad.
Release: May 4, 2007
40. Spider-Man: Battle for New York for Nintendo Game Boy Advance
I don't think anyone has ever wanted to play as Ultimate Green Goblin. It has clunky controls and runs poorly. The levels are dragged out in the beginning, then suddenly rushed as they got closer to the deadline.
Release: Nov 14, 2006
41. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows | Amazing Allies Edition for Sony PSP
A 2.5D side scroller on PSP should be a sure thing but this misses the mark big time. It's small and simple but still runs poorly, often completely freezing during action. It feels like Bevis and Butt-Head wrote the dialogue.
Release: Oct 21, 2008
42. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for Nintendo 3DS
The last of the classic 2D games. Over 20 years of these behind them and nearly no progress is shown. Its the same barebones combat, repetitive padded levels and weak bosses, but this time they force a pointless web-swinging mini-game between each level.
Release: Apr 29, 2014
43. Spider-Man 2 for Nintendo Game Boy
Bits Studios takes over and thwips together two games in one year. In a plot to torment children they focused the direction on arcane fetch quest puzzles. Bosses include Carnage and, for some reason, Graviton. A few good ideas but its mostly just bad.
Release: Aug, 1992
44. Spider-Man: Edge of Time for Nintendo DS
The worst Metroidvania I've ever played. The map is completely broken. You just gain abilities that open different colored barriers. The boss fights have about two frames of animation. I respect the inclusion of Big Wheel 2099 though.
Release: Oct 4, 2011
45. Spider-Man for Tiger Electronics
You know the retro gaming market has gone too far when they start remaking Tiger Electronics handhelds. This replica of the 1988 release has you scaling 99 identical floors, but you can just scroll to the Hobgoblin boss fight before the hazards even load.
Release: May 1, 2021
