Software:Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage

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Short description: 1994 video game
Spider-Man and Venom:
Maximum Carnage
North American SNES box art
Developer(s)Software Creations
Publisher(s)Acclaim Entertainment[lower-alpha 1]
Producer(s)John Pickford
Mark Flitman
Designer(s)Chun Wah Kong
Programmer(s)Paul Murray
Composer(s)Green Jellÿ
Chris Jojo
Tony Williams (Genesis)
SeriesSpider-Man
Platform(s)Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis
Release
  • NA: September 16, 1994
  • EU: November 24, 1994
  • JP: May 26, 1995 (MD only)
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage is a 1994 beat 'em up video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Mega Drive/Genesis, developed by Software Creations and published by Acclaim Entertainment and its subsidiary LJN. The game, based on the comic book story arc of the same name, features numerous heroes, including Spider-Man, Venom, and their allies from the Marvel Comics fictional universe like Captain America, Black Cat, Iron Fist, Cloak and Dagger, Deathlok, Morbius and Firestar, all teaming up to battle an onslaught of villains led by Carnage, including Shriek, Doppelganger, Demogoblin and Carrion.[1]

The game received mixed reviews upon its release, but in later years, reviews have been more positive and it is regarded as one of the better Spider-Man games in the 16-bit era. It was followed up by a sequel titled Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety.

Plot

Eddie Brock is proven innocent after being in jail for a while, and promises to not use the Venom symbiote for evil. While leaving prison, the symbiote bonds to Brock's former cellmate, Cletus Kasady. Later, Spider-Man meets Venom and asks him if his promise to do good was true, but Brock says he is still thinking about it, angering Spider-Man. The two fight, with the showdown being broken up by Kasady, who has become Carnage via the symbiote. Brock, desperate to stop Carnage, attempts to attack him, but the two are evenly matched and Carnage manages to escape into the city. Spider-Man and Venom vow to stop Carnage, despite their rivalry. In the city, Carnage begins a criminal empire in the sewers, and hires Shriek as his second in command. Hobgoblin attempts to join, but is rejected by Carnage, causing him to gain demonic power and become Demogoblin, who Carnage hires. Later, Carnage finds a four-armed reproduction of Spider-Man called Doppelganger, who he manages to employ after restraining him. Finally, Carnage finds the degrading clone of Jackal named Carrion, who he hires as the final part of his team. Carnage then attacks New York with his team, causing Venom and Spider-Man to almost be killed when they confront them. Spider-Man and Venom retreat, but create a "resistance" out of his previous allies, who they finally confront Carnage with. Despite the power of his team, Carnage is defeated after an epic battle, retreating into the sewers. Spider-Man thanks Venom, saying he hopes he will work with him in the future, but Venom retreats before replying. Meanwhile, the Carnage symbiote escapes the scene.

Gameplay

In this single-player side-scrolling beat 'em up (with a format similar to Double Dragon and Final Fight), the player controls Spider-Man and Venom through various levels to stop the supervillain Carnage and his team, as well as hundreds of criminals they inspire in their wake, from taking over the city. The two 16-bit versions are virtually identical.

One of the game's comic-styled cutscenes. This one is based on the final panel of Spider-Man Unlimited #1.

Other Marvel heroes can be summoned by collecting appropriate items hidden within certain levels. The locations of the power-ups necessary to summon aid are set. Depending on which character summoned them, the summoned heroes may help out in different ways, usually being more effective for whichever character (Spider-Man or Venom) they favor.

Development

Maximum Carnage is one of the first video games to be directly based on a comic book story, rather than simply using comics characters in a standard video game "action/adventure" plot. Many of the game's cutscenes feature semi-animated versions of art taken directly from the comics. It was also the first Spider-Man video game to receive a teen rating (while the SNES re-release version had a rating of K-A, the Genesis version was rated MA-13).

The game's soundtrack was written and produced by American rock group Green Jellÿ.[2] The title screen theme song appears as the first track on the band's 1994 album 333 as "Carnage Rules". Due to the limited storage capacity of SNES and Genesis cartridges, the soundtrack was not recorded music, but a computerized rendition of the songs. Additionally, an uncredited version of Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules" appears in the soundtrack, during the boss battles against the supervillains.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings66.33% (SNES)[3]
80% (Genesis)[4]

The game received "mixed or average" and "generally favorable" reviews. The reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the SNES version a unanimous 5 out of 10, commenting that the appearances by other superheroes are "cool", but outweighed by the "sloppy" graphics and mediocre control.[5] The SNES version was also given a 3.45/5 from Nintendo Power.[6] Reviewing the Genesis port, GamePro commented that "all the graphics, features, and fighting action are identical on the Genesis version—unfortunately, so are the drawbacks that made this only an average SNES game". They elaborated that the game controls well but is overly long and repetitive due to the player character's limited selection of moves, the lack of objects to interact with, the low variety of enemies, and the similar look to all the backgrounds.[7]

Overall, critical reception of the game remarkably improved as the game received a cult following over later years, where it was praised for its inspired soundtrack, its fun, its faithful comic book adapting and the challenging difficulty, as well as the ability to switch between Spider-Man and Venom, as many called it "one of the best beat'em up games".

IGN gave the game a positive review, where they listed the game 85th in their "Top 100 SNES games of all time".[8] In 2013, Arcade Sushi ranked the game 8th on their "10 Best Retro Beat 'em Ups".[9] In 2018, Complex rated the game 63rd on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time".[10]


Notes

  1. ↑ Released under the LJN brand name on the SNES.

References

  1. ↑ "Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (SNES)". Neoseeker. Neoseeker.com. 2012-09-11. http://www.neoseeker.com/Games/Products/SNES/spiderman_and_venom_maximum_carnage/. 
  2. ↑ "Cart Queries". GamePro (IDG) (66): 12. January 1995. 
  3. ↑ "Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage SNES review score". https://www.gamerankings.com/snes/588683-spider-man-and-venom-maximum-carnage/index.html. 
  4. ↑ "Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage Sega Genesis Review Score". https://www.gamerankings.com/genesis/586308-spider-man-and-venom-maximum-carnage/index.html. 
  5. ↑ "Review Crew: Maximum Carnage". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (63): 32. October 1994. 
  6. ↑ "Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage for Super Nintendo". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/snes/588683-spider-man-and-venom-maximum-carnage/index.html. 
  7. ↑ "ProReview: Maximum Carnage". GamePro (IDG) (75): 108. December 1994. 
  8. ↑ (in en) Top 100 SNES Games of All Time - IGN.com, https://www.ign.com/lists/top-100-snes-games, retrieved 2021-01-26 
  9. ↑ Ledford, Jon (May 30, 2013). "10 Best Retro Beat 'Em Ups" (in en). https://arcadesushi.com/best-retro-beat-em-ups/. 
  10. ↑ "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time" (in en). https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/the-100-best-super-nintendo-games/. 
  • Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage at GameRankings
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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