Mysterio's Menace: A Mystery

[Anonymous No.10506021]

I'm sure many here are familiar with Neversoft's 2000 release, under Activision... Spider-Man, or Spider-Man 2000, as many prefer to call it due to its simple title being a bit TOO simple for its own good. Heck, there's a thread about it on the catalog right now! (>>10504406) I recall loving this one, and it's clear many people did too, who didn't love goofball Venom afterall? ("Surf the web! Surf the web!") I have a hard time thinking of a more iconic super hero video game than this one. It's more well known as a PS1 title, but the ports on N64, Dreamcast and PC helped bring in lots of fans to the party aswell, and it was fun.

Well, did you know that there was a sequel for it? It was called Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, it wasn't made by Neversoft, but instead Vicarious Visions, and feels quite similar to the OG title, but not as good... it's not bad, I actually love it, but it's clear that it's not as appealing as what its trying to follow up on, and a lot of people didn't even know this existed, perhaps due to it being a 2001 PS1 title, or it being a PS1 exclusive... well, we also had the GBC port of the OG title, which got its own sequel! Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six, and it was superb, probably the best 2D Spider-Man up until that point, made by Torus Games.

Well... here's where it gets odd... on that very same year, we had one last Spider-Man video game before the Sam Raimi films, called Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace, for the GBA. So, it's not called Spider-Man 3... but it does seem to take place in the same universe as the PS1 or GBC titles, and was released at around the same time, by Vicarious Visions, which had made the OG on GBC and the sequel on PS1... well, it's 2D and on a Game Boy, so surely it's a sequel to the GBC titles, right? Still, the pre-rendered sprites, UI and lots of the mechanics are from the PS1 titles... so, which one is Mysterio's Menace following up on?

[Anonymous No.10506041]

Yeah I know about this game, played it as a kid

[Anonymous No.10506057]

>>10506041
Nice, anon. I recall renting it a couple of times, but I had the OG GBA and the screen was quite hard to see for me, so I never managed to get all that into it, but after finally emulating it years later with screens I like a lot better I was finally able to properly appreciate it, and really enjoyed it, to me it's the best of the bunch, with the only exception being Neversoft's original title in 2000.

Well, what did you think of it, anon?
Also, do you think it's a sequel/spin-off to which continuity? GBC, PS1 or neither?

[Anonymous No.10506321]

>>10506057
I thought it was good and used to boot up the game just to listen to the soundtrack.
>Also, do you think it's a sequel/spin-off to which continuity?
Isn't it officially a sequel to Enter Electro?..

[Anonymous No.10507016]

>>10506321
Oh, is it? I don't know, the manual didn't say that about it, and the only information online I've got that downright states it's a sequel to the PS1 and not the GBC is the Wikipedia article, but there's no citation for that part of the article, so I'm not sure where exactly they got that one from at all.

[Anonymous No.10507351]

>>10506021
I like the first two movie games on the GBA more

[Anonymous No.10507673]

>>10507351
I've never managed to get into those, but I'll be honest that I've never given them a proper try, I immediately got intimidated by the timer since I despise time limits, they make me anxious, which I'm sure sounds kind of dumb, but it's just how I am I guess. How are they like? What do you like about them, anon? As much as I've never got into them, for my own dumb reasons, they look good.

P.S. I don't mean to be a prick with the picture I'm attaching to the post, I just think it's a funny one and it's good to have for when the situation calls for it, so here it is so other anons can save it too.

[Anonymous No.10508214]

>>10506021
This was the first GBA game I had. Also had circle of the moon and Metroid fusion. Loved and beat all 3. Spider-Man was decent , I enjoyed playing through it.

[Anonymous No.10509358]

>>10508214
>Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
>Metroid Fusion
>Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace
Now that's a KILLER lineup you had growing up, I'm happy for you, anon.

[Anonymous No.10509374]

Enter Electro has come clear improvements over the first game. While the tone is much grittier, the pacing more stilted and has to use less iconic villains from the rouge's gallery it's still a very solid effort. What is a shame that neither game got to use green goblin. There's just the small reference to him in the first game.

[Anonymous No.10509443]

>>10509374
I find the OG to be a better video game overall... but a part of me genuinely prefers Enter Electro nowadays. I LOVE the darker and moody OST and aesthetic it goes for, the atmosphere of the OG was a lot like the early comic books and the 90's animated series, which is perfect for Spider-Man, but I love the gritty atmosphere the sequel goes for, and having the webbing on the suit is great.

I think my favorite improvements were the new lock-on system, which is crucial on some bosses, and the focus on stealth, which makes me tackle levels in a different way from how I did in the OG.

It's really satisfying to sneak around and avoid a lot of unnecessary combat, it's what I'd do if for whatever reason I really was Spider-Man, and this is especially helpful on the hardest difficulties.

It's a shame that the OG used most of the more iconic villains, but still I feel that, while Electro's well done here, and I love the over the top voice acting, something like Kingpin would've been a lot better for a main villain, similar to SEGA's title from the 90's. I believe Green Goblin/Hobgoblin weren't done because they fly, maybe it was a bit tough to pull that off on PS1, still a shame really.

[Anonymous No.10509465]

>>10509374
>>10509443
P.S. One thing I forgot to mention, that is likely one of the reasons I'm more fond of the sequel nowadays, is because I'm a completionist when I truly enjoy what I'm playing, I like completing it 100% whenever I can... now, at first glance this should favor the OG because in the sequel, the comic book locations depend on the difficulty settings, which means you need multiple replays on all difficulties to get them, you might go to a place you know has a comic book, only for it to not be there because you're not in the proper difficulty setting... but the OG is still 10x worse.

It's all because of one thing... one miserable and unfair thing... the Quick-Change suit. I grew up with the PS1 version, so that's the version I really wanted to get 100% on, but this version, and the N64 one too, have one fatal flaw that got fixed on Dreamcast and PC... to get this suit, you need 10.000 points in the Zipline Training, and it was changed to 7.500 only in the later versions...

10.000 points in 90 seconds essentially means... 23 FRAME PERFECT JUMPS IN A ROW WITH NO ROOM FOR ERROR. I kept trying, ever since I was a kid, and only pulled it off for the 1st, and only time because I'm not doing this again, earlier this year, over 20 years of attempts... WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? If I ever replay this with a new save file, I'm never going for 100% again, while with the sequel I might go for it since it's quite manageable in comparison, and that to me is a big difference, since I enjoy 100% completion whenever it's not a hassle, like it is in the OG...

I love you, Neversoft... but FUCK YOU for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEuNwj1l3Dg