For the inaugural Mobile Monday, I am revisiting a mega hit from 2014: Spider-Man Unlimited.
Original Release Date: Sep 10, 2014
Publisher: Gameloft
Genre: Action
Sub-Genre: Endless Runner
Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
When Spider-man Unlimited first came swinging into the mobile landscape, the game took a lot of heat. User reviews in the Apple store averaged around 3 out of 5 stars. For an officially licensed game as big as Spider-man, mediocre reviews would quickly peg the game as a disappointment. In the long run, the decision to initially release a buggy game turned out to be a huge success for Gameloft.
From Freemium to Premium
In the vast ocean of mobile gaming, “freemium” games often sink before they even sail out of the studio’s harbor.
A few months ago, I wrote about a well polished “freemium” game known as Hearthstone hitting the Apple Store. When it was released, Hearthstone had already won Best Mobile/Handheld game at the 2014 Game Awards so there was very little risk fro Blizzard to release the game for the iPhone. On the other hand, most mobile games don’t have the luxury of being developed by the most lucrative video game studios of all time.
Spider-man has always been a “freemium” game from the get-go. But it was a combination of key gaming aspects where Gameloft excelled, elevating Spider-man to a premium game.
Game Play
There are multiple endless runners to kill time on your phone and they all follow the same basic formula.
Spider-man Unlimited is very much the same as Temple Run or Despicable Me: Minion Rush (another Gameloft production) where you control a single character running forward towards an endless horizon.
As Spidey runs tirelessly forward for no reason at all, his path is bombarded with all kinds of obstacles. I guess he just really likes the dramatic chase…
The game controls allow you swipe four directions (left, right, up to jump and down to slide) in order to avoid the plethora of comical proportions. It is an overly simple control scheme but the game quickly picks up the pace, forcing you to eventually make a mistake. Once you smash your web head into robot, you have the option of spending one of your precious gems to have Spide-man suck it up and keep going. I recommend saving your gems and starting over. Practice makes perfect.
Presentation
Colorful, stylized animations look great across the clean, realistic back drop of New York City. Even if boss fights are limited mostly to you punching explosive Shield balls at villains, the finales let you tap your heart out, with each tap finishing off the baddie with classic Spider-man creativity.
Spider-man’s web swinging heroics and sky scrapping aerobatics fit perfectly between the running levels. After defeating one villain, he will smash his way out of Oscorp, flipping through the air onto the next series of building tops. The most fun you will have as Spider-man is being able to leap effortless from the tops of sky scrappers and simply tap the screen to watch him web swing dramatically across the city.
The witty banter, explosive sound effects and dramatic music also fit perfectly with the action, bringing the comic books to life on your pocket screen.
Replay Value
Special Events give plenty of rewards
Although the gameplay will quickly get repetitive, there are plenty of daily quests and special events to keep you coming back for more. A thin story mode tries to rationalize why there are so many different Spider-men and an endless supply of villains reigning upon the city but I usually skip the pre-run comic strips so I can jump right into the action. I also find the Unlimited mode and the special events to be more enjoyable. No matter which mode you are playing, your Spider-men will always be earning experience and leveling up. The more experience your Spider-men have, the more points they will earn you.
If the comic nerd in you wasn’t stoked enough trying to level up your Spidey collection, there are 146 Spider-Man permutations to grab in the game. Spider-man has been one of my favorite comic book super heroes for many years but I haven’t even heard of half of the variations of him in the game. After almost a year of updates one would think Gameloft would run out of Spider-man suits for you to play but it seems they are still pushing out new content each month.
Spider-man is free to play so you have nothing to lose by trying out the game. Like most “freemium” games, gems can be purchased for real money to help you collect more Spider-men or advance quicker through the game. The best part about Spider-man Unlimited is that if you are quick enough with your swipes and time your web swinging well, you never HAVE to spend a dollar on the game.
Over the past year, Spider-man has gone from a plain old freemium game to premium, endless nerd satisfaction.
Mobile Monday is a weekly series from Central Nerd Network where they examine the best, the worst and the obscure games from the vast world of mobile gaming.
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