| Table Of Contents | |
| Introduction - Marvel | |
| Introduction - Spiderman | |
| Gameplay | |
| Trivia | |
| Extras |
Introduction - Marvel
The golden age of comic books is a phrase used by comic fans to refer to
the period between 1938 and 1956 when the first modern day comic books
were published and quickly grew in popularity. This was the time period
when well known heroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were
first seen.
In 1939 a magazine publisher called Martin Goodman expanded into this new
market creating timely publications. This newly founded company would go
through several different changes until 1961 when it became what we know
today as Marvel comics.
Marvel comics is one of the largest and most recognizable comic book
publishers in the world which has created an uncountable amount of
superheroes and villains over the years, with people estimating anywhere
between 7,000 to 50,000 unique characters
Turning these intellectual properties into just about any type of
merchandise imaginable, from action figures and apparel to the gigantic
marvel cinematic universe which continues to grow gaining three new films
a year.
Introduction - Spiderman Atari 2600
In 1982 marvel made the leap into the video game market with Parker
brother's spider-man. This was the very first game based on a marvel comic
IP and was created for the atari 2600.
The green goblin has placed super bombs on top of several skyscrapers
across the city and it is up to spiderman to defuse as many as he can. On
his way he has to avoid a variety of hazards plus a gang of criminals that
have been sent by the green goblin, who is determined to stop him.
Gameplay - Movement & HUD
In this game spiderman doesnt have the ability to climb walls and as such
must shoot webs in order to ascend the skyscraper. These webs can vary in
length and direction but cannot be attached to a window or any
portion of the sky. If a web is fired and hits either of these positions
spiderman will begin to fall and another web must be fired in order to
catch him
You start each game with a total of 3 lives, represented by the spiderman
logos in the bottom left. You gain an extra life for every 10,000 points
you earn.
The red line in the bottom right represents your web fluid, which is
required to fire webs. If you run out of web fluid, spiderman will fall to
his death and will lose a life. Web fluid slowly decreases over time but
can be refilled by capturing criminals and stopping time bombs.
Criminals will randomly appear at different windows of the
skyscraper in an attempt to prevent you reaching the top. If one of your
webs happens to cross their path they will cut it sending spiderman
tumbling down. If spider-man's body crosses their path however they will
be captured, earning you 30 points and some extra web fluid.
Gameplay - High Voltage Tower
At the very top of the building is the high voltage tower which is harder
to navigate than the skyscraper. This is because there are less
places to attach a web.
The green goblin will occasionally drop time bombs in this part of the
building, which change from black to red depending on how close they are
to exploding.
They can either be avoided, or defused by crossing spider-man's body over
them. Defusing a red bomb earns you 50 points whereas a black bomb rewards
you 80 points. Defusing either type will reward you with more web
fluid.
If your web crosses a bomb it will cause it to explode, destroying the
web and causing spiderman to fall. This will also happen if a bomb
explodes too close to spiderman.
Gameplay - Super Bomb + Green Goblin
At the top of the high voltage tower is the super bomb guarded by the
green goblin himself. The green goblin has no weapons and simply moves
side to side; however if any part of spiderman or his web touches him, the
web will break and spiderman will begin to fall.
Once you are passed the green goblin, simply cross spider-man's body over
the super bomb to defuse it. If successful you will be rewarded bonus
points equal to the points scored on your way to the top of the building
and will move onto the next level.
If the super bomb explodes before you get the chance to defuse it, you
lose a life and have to start the level from the beginning.
Gameplay - Increased difficulty (Next Level) & Two Player
Variant
Each time you complete a level the game will increase in difficulty. You
will start at the bottom of the next level with the same amount of lives
but with the following changes.
The building and high voltage tower sections can either be longer or
shorter, web fluid will decrease at a faster rate and the green goblin
will move faster and change position.
The game features a two player variant where each player has a
separate score and amount of lives. player one goes first and plays the
game as if it were the single player version until they lose a life at
which point it is player two’s turn. This continues until both players
have lost all their lives and the game ends. Player one’s score is
displayed at the top of the screen while player two’s is at the bottom of
the game over screen.
Trivia - Odyssey 2 Version
For a long time the Atari 2600 version of spiderman was believed to be
the only port of the game Parker brothers intended to release.
Until 2002 when collector Rene Van Den Enden found possible evidence of a
Magnavox Odyssey 2 version. They discovered, in a 1984 issue of
commander-ROM magazine, a list of Odyssey games due to be released which
included Parker Brother’s Spider-man for the Magnavox Odyssey 2
In 2006, at a retro gaming convention held in the Netherlands, Bas
Kornalijnslijper sold several copies of the port confirming its existence.
Bas is a dutch game collector who had purchased an old EPROM containing
the game from an ex philips employee.
Some of the most notable differences between this version and the Atari
one are as follows;. The building is slightly smaller in length with less
windows on each floor, the high voltage tower is not diagonal like in the
Atari version and there is an introduction screen where Spiderman swings
into frame revealing his logo. Footage of it being played can be viewed on
YouTube.
Trivia - The incredible Hulk (Atari 2600)
The Incredible Hulk is an unreleased Atari 2600 game which was advertised
alongside spider-man. Barely any information is known about the game apart
from some brief descriptions and a single screenshot from advertising
materials
What we do know however is you would have played as Bruce Banner, in a
city which has been taken over by evil creatures. They have kidnapped
Bruce's girlfriend, Betty and it's up to you to rescue her.
The game would require you to complete increasingly difficult maze-like
missions, which take place across three different levels of the city.
Climbing up ropes or jumping down manholes would have allowed you to
switch between these levels.
You would also have to pick up gamma charges, either to prevent Bruce
from turning into the Hulk or allowing you to turn into the Hulk for
longer (both ideas appear on separate adverts).
One advert also said the game would have been for either one or two
players although absolutely nothing is known about the two player
variant.
A prototype / promotional box for the game was found by a collector at a
flea market in 2007 along with promo boxes for several other unreleased
Parker brother games.
It's unknown why the game was never released however some people have
speculated it could have been due to the infamous 1983 video game crash,
which saw a almost 97% drop in revenue from video games
The marketing material mentioned above as well as a few extras can be
found on atarimania -
Link Here
Here are some PDF files containing some interesting extras such as the
games manual and advertising materials. (All links go to google drive)
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