The Ultimate Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro FAQ/Walkthrough For Sony
Playstation/PSOne
Version: Final
By: SMiller (pac4051 at hotmail dot com)
This FAQ is copyright 2001-2002 by Scott Miller and is protected under
all international copyright laws. You have my permission to reproduce
this FAQ without written consent as long as the following conditions
are observed:
1: All content, including this copyright notice, and notice of
authorship, remains intact.
2: This FAQ may NOT be used for ANY commercial purposes whatsoever.
This includes, but is not limited to the following:
--posting it with web banners
--selling it, giving it away as a free bonus, or reprinting it in a
commercial FOR-PROFIT publication, on any storage medium now known or
later to be invented (for example: Magazines, pay web sites, floppy
disk, CD- or DVD-ROMs, etc.)
Users are permitted to make copies and distribute them freely, provided
that NO PROFIT is involved (for example, printing it or photocopying it
for a friend) and the content remains intact. Users are NOT permitted
to copy this work and post it, with or without alterations, as their
own work. Those who do this will be considered pirates and appropriate
action will be taken.
To put it bluntly: Don’t steal it and don’t sell it. S'alright?
S'alright.
MARVEL, SPIDER-MAN, and ELECTRO: TM and copyright 2001 Marvel
Characters, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision,
Inc., and its associates. All related characters and trademarks are
the property of their respective owners and are not used with
permission.
ASCII logo created by Beno Jange.
The following websites currently host this FAQ with my permission:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
Version History:
0.1--10/31/01: Beat game for the first time, begin making notes.
0.4--11/10/01: 1st draft walkthrough complete to "Spidey In The
Machine."
0.5--11/11/01: 1st draft walkthrough complete.
0.6--11/20/01: Final draft walkthrough begun.
0.8--11/21/01: Final draft complete to "Spidey In The Machine" (that
sounds familiar!)
0.9--11/23/01: Final draft complete to "Spidey Vs. Lizard"
1.0--11/24/01: Final draft complete. Release version.
2.0--11/24/01: Fixed typos, added borders, added character & movie
lists
2.1--11/25/01: Fixed a few more minor typos and mistakes
2.2--11/27/01: Fixed mistakes in "Rooftops By Night," "Smoke Screen"
and "Spidey Vs. Lizard;" added differences between difficulty modes (I
thought I'd done it already--d'oh!) and borders between sections 5 and
6 and 6 and 7
Final--12/03/01: Fixed the last few mistakes; added notes on where to
find FAQ. Unless some major new information comes up, this will be the
last update
Last--12/10/01: D'oh! Spoke too soon; two last inconsistencies to
fix. Also added an "unlock everything" method to clear up some of the
questions I've been asked and finally eliminated the rest of the typos.
This FAQ will no longer be updated
Last--12/17/01: Technically not really an update, so it's okay--added
the cool ASCII logo sent to me by Beno Jange (thanks again!)
Final--2/25/02: AARGH! This is the FINAL update. New stuff includes
an actual Frequently Asked Questions section (so I can stop answering
e-mail about this game) and a correction on the Insulated Suit unlock
method
Final--4/30/02: Maybe I should never give my FAQs a final version...
new info comes out of nowhere (well, ok, from my inbox) that demands
inclusion--and, naturally, it's about the Insulated Suit
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
Table O' Contents:
1: Comments
2: How To Play
3: Frequently Asked Questions
4: Training levels
5: Walkthrough:
A: Enter The Web-head
B: Burglary Interrupted
C: Rooftops By Night
D: Warehouse 66
E: Spidey Vs. Shocker
F: Smoke Screen
G: Hangar 18
H: Wind Tunnel (ver. 1 title: Crash Flight)
I: To Catch A Thief
J: In Darkest Night
K: Heart Of Darkness
L: Catch That Train
M: Gangland
N: Spidey Vs. Hammerhead
O: Spidey In The Machine
P: Mission: Spidey
Q: The Corkscrew (ver. 1 title: Downward Spiral)
R: Spidey Vs. Lizard
S: The Gauntlet (ver. 1 title: Aces High)
T: Spidey Vs. Sandman Again
U: Konichi-wa, Spider-san
V: Rock Of Ages
W: Spidey Vs. Electro
X: The Best Laid Plans (ver. 1 title: Top Of The World)
6: Extras:
A: Special:
a) Cheat codes
b) Costumes
c) Level Select
B: Gallery:
a) Bugle Headlines
b) Comic Collection
c) Character viewer
d) Movies and storyboards
e) Parker's Portfolio
7: Bugs and Gaffes
8: Acknowledgements
Welcome to the Ultimate Spider-Man 2 blah blah blah. This is (for all
intents and purposes) a handholding walkthrough, detailing one
particular path through the game. If you are looking for a general
FAQ, try Romy N. Junio's FAQ; it's a decent FAQ and should answer any
general questions. And no, I did NOT use his FAQ while writing mine--
this walkthrough was written "on the fly" while I played the game over
two very, very long and uncomfortable nights, which left me putting my
writing hand in an ice pack and with thirty-odd pages of illegible
notes in a spiral-bound notebook. (I wish I could afford a laptop.)
This FAQ is almost entirely based on my own gameplay experience, with
the important exceptions of 9 comics I could not find, for which I am
indebted to Lapin Kulta's reliable Comic Book Guide FAQ, and the method
for getting the Insulated Suit, for which I am indebted to whitespy
12's post on the matter (from the GameFAQs message board). The other
important exception is the list of cheat codes; the codes come straight
from Gamewinners.com (this list was compiled and copyrighted by Al
Amaloo). Everything else is based entirely on my own work--I spent
nearly a month tracking down, testing, and verifying everything in that
hastily scribbled first draft. All of the reader contributions have
been noted (with credit) in the FAQ.
This is truly a closed FAQ now. I intend to do no more updates, and,
with the addition of the "Frequently Asked Questions" section, it is
now truly a complete work. If you e-mail me with a question, you will
only be referred back to this document (or not get any reply at all).
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
2: How To Play; Or, Haven't You Read The Stupid Manual Yet?
Welcome to the section that appeals to renters, pirates, and those with
infant siblings that just can't stay away from that yummy glossy paper,
the "How To Play" section. (I remember when I used to rent a lot of
games from Blockbuster several years ago--the only instructions you got
tended to be on the back of the case, and, if a booklet was included,
it was probably missing pages. Usually someone had already stolen it,
or thrown it away.) This is where I explain what all the buttons 'n'
things on your nice old controller do. Are you ready? No? Too bad.
Basic Controls (given for default setting):
Analog mode switch (analog or Dual Shock controllers only)--turn analog
sticks on/off
Select--Toggles Stealth mode on/off (when power is available)
Start--starts game, pauses game, causes morons to need a FAQ entry to
explain its functions
D-pad--moves Spider-Man, selects menu options, makes a nice pattern on
the left side of your controller
Left analog stick (L3--analog or Dual Shock controllers only)--same as
above
Right analog stick (R3--analog or Dual Shock controllers only)--gives
opportunity to give right thumb stretching exercises in order to avoid
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Triangle /\--trap webbing
Square []--punch; press three times for a combo
Circle ()--kick; press three times for a combo
X--jump; in Kid Mode, press twice to web swing
L1--activate target reticle; to move the reticle, use the D-pad or L3
stick while holding L1; tap quickly to reorient camera
L2--special targeting; targets objects on the fly during gameplay
R1--Zip-line
R2--web-swinging (Easy, Normal, and Hard game modes; Normal Training,
Challenge, and Instant Action modes)
I am not going to give the game's other settings; open the options menu
and look for yourself, and choose the control style that feels most
comfortable to you.
Spidey's Special Moves:
This is where the superhero stuff comes in. Spidey has a variety of
useful moves, some of them brand new. Master these in the Training
modes and you'll be ready to whomp Electro's sorry butt all over the
streets of New York.
Homing Punch (official name: "Jumping Punch")--press X, then [] when
near an enemy to home in on them and give them a powerful headache; can
be followed with a combo
Homing Kick (official name: "Jumping Kick")--press X to jump, then ()
to home in on a nearby enemy
Grab--press [] + /\ or [] + () to grab an enemy
Grab and punch--while grabbing an enemy, press [] repeatedly
Grab and kick--while grabbing an enemy, press ()
Web gloves (new official name: "Web Spikes")--left + /\; lasts for two
full combos
Web Shield (new official name: "Web Dome")--right + /\; to break it
early, press X, [], or (); protects Spidey from harm for a limited time
Impact Web--up + /\; can also be done while jumping (very useful) or
while web-swinging (but not in Kid Mode)
Web Yank--down, down-left, or down-right + /\ to yank in various
directions; works on objects as well as people
Web Throw (official name: Overhead Web Yank)--[], then /\; of all web-
yanks, the most fun to watch, and sometimes the most useful
Breaking a web-swing--press X to break a web-swing (/\ in Kid Mode)
Trap webbing--press and hold /\ to immobilize and defeat an enemy with
trap webbing; doesn't work on bosses
Zip-line--press R1 to shoot web and zip from wall-to-wall or to the
ceiling
Spidey's Power Ups:
All power-up symbols are spider-shaped and are differentiated by their
colors (um, yeah, something like that). They are:
Health--white with a red cross; gives varying amounts of health
Web cartridges--a darkish blue; each one gives Spidey 1 cartridge, to a
maximum of ten (exception: The "power" Only Have 2 Web Cartridges,
found with the Quick Change Spidey, Peter Parker, and Amazing Bag Man
costumes--self-explanatory, I think); if Spidey is carrying 10
cartridges but has used some fluid, it will recharge his webbing to
full
Spidey-Armor--golden; found only in a couple of levels, this adds
another bar of health; the armor disappears when this bar runs out--
will NOT recharge Spider-Man's main health bar
Freon webbing--light blue, with a whitish center; found only in Hangar
18 and Heart Of Darkness (so far as I remember), this allows you to
freeze your enemies via trap webbing
Taser webbing--light green; found in most of the later levels of the
game, this allows you to more easily destroy the various Drone enemies
and the Animatronic Samurai
Serum--purple; found only in Spidey Vs. Lizard, and used to defeat the
Lizard; each cartridge give you three shots
Comic--okay, it's not a power-up, but when you see a rotating
polybagged copy of Amazing Fantasy 15, that means there's a comic to
grab
Options:
Here you can change control configurations, adjust the music and SFX
volume, or center the screen (if necessary).
Differences between difficulty modes: Apart from the differences noted
below in the walkthrough, here are the general differences between each
mode:
Kid Mode: Spidey takes very little damage and uses very little web
fluid--so little that it often isn't apparent how much he has used.
Enemies (including bosses) take more damage. Web-swinging is
accomplished by pushing X while jumping. You start with 9 web
cartridges.
Easy: Spidey takes some damage, but not much. Web-fluid use is more
noticeable, but still isn't much of a drain. Enemies (including
bosses) take more damage from Spidey. You start with 9 web cartridges.
Normal: Normal damage and web-fluid drain (duh). You start with 7 web
cartridges.
Hard: Spidey takes more damage (twice as much as he takes on Easy) and
the enemies (especially bosses) take less damage. Web-fluid use seems
to be about twice that of Normal. You start with only 2 web
cartridges, so make them count.
There! Now that you can do "whatever a spider can," it's time to put
this knowledge to work.
A repository for all the questions I get asked repeatedly about this
game (and that I am tired of answering). I've been making a list since
the end of November, and this is the "greatest hits" version,
containing all the most frequently asked questions. How's that for
following protocol?
Incidentally, I'm no longer practicing as a Free Spider-Man 2 Tips
Service, so read the FAQ carefully. It should answer any questions you
have. If it doesn't, there are message boards for that sort of thing.
Q: I can't get the Negative Zone costume! How do I get it?
A: First of all, the difficulty needs to be set to NORMAL. Not Kid
Mode, not Hard, not Easy. Second of all, you must collect all FOUR
keys (in any order) and insert them into the bomb (in any order; none
of this "Red-Green-Blue-Yellow" nonsense I've seen on the message
boards) before the ORIGINAL timer runs out. If the time extensions
granted by the keys allows you to insert all four, yet you didn't have
enough time left for all four before you started inserting keys, you
won't get diddly-squat. You'll know if you succeeded, because the game
will give you a message after you've completed the level.
Q: I got to the third room in Wind Tunnel/Crash Flight and I can't
find the door! Where is it?
A: There are FOUR rooms in Wind Tunnel/Crash Flight, counting the area
in which you start! (How hard can counting to four be?) If you get to
an area with a black wall in the rear where a door would normally be,
you're in the fourth room and can stop the plane.
Q: I got to the end but I can't stop the plane!
A: Stay away from the edges of the wings, or the propellers for that
matter, and use L2 targeting to target either the left or right
propeller, then use your trap webbing on it. Alternately, wait for a
red targeting triangle to appear above one of the engines, then shoot
trap webbing at it. When the plane starts to circle towards you, you
may need to move away to avoid being run over. Repeat until the plane
stops.
Q: How do I defeat the Sandman on Catch That Train?
A: You can't defeat him on this level. If you take his energy bar
down to zero, he'll run away and it will regenerate. When it returns
to full, he'll return to chase you around some more and get more sand
in Spidey's tights. The only reason to fight him is to gain some time
in which to destroy the sand barriers he puts in your path. (Well,
that and it's kinda fun.)
Q: I can't get the Insulated Suit!
A: Every previous version of this FAQ has maintained that this costume
was only available on Hard. Not so! Astute reader F-Rott reported
that he'd gotten this to work on Easy. I tested this, then found
(through further testing) that it works on ALL difficulties! The odd
thing is, I tried this back in November of 2001--and got nothing to
happen. (This isn't one of those "tested it once, didn't work" things,
either... I have no idea what I must have been doing wrong at this
point.) Make sure to use ONLY serum shots on the Lizard, and to let
him recover from each shot before you shoot him again. He won't lose
any energy from his health meter during this process! You've got to
keep track of how many times you've fired yourself. Do NOT let him
take any damage from anything whatsoever! Finally, some (but not all)
copies have a bug which keep you from doing this on your first try (and
possibly on successive tries if you're unlucky). You must fire at him
at least 15 times, then let him chase you for a couple of minutes to
see what happens. He won't lose health, so the only way to know
whether it's worked or not is to see if he falls down after fifteen
shots. If he doesn't fall, you've got a bugged copy. Pause and
restart the level. If you hit him enough times to down him on the
first try, you'll be able to bag him on the second, thus earning the
Insulated Suit.
Q: I played through the game twice on Normal/Hard but I didn't get any
of those costumes! What gives?
My Q: Did you select New Game?
A: Yeah...
My A: There's your problem. There's a reason that the Continue option
invites you to "Play Again!", and that's because you need to select
continue on your second consecutive game on either difficulty to earn
all those nice suits. Otherwise, you won't get squat. If you played
the original, you should know this.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
4: Training Levels
Welcome to the Danger Room (and the developer's plug for another
Activision game, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, a sequel that is actually
better than the original). There are seven Training levels for Spidey
to clear, each focusing on one of his particular skills, and I
recommend that newbies and those with rusty Spidey-skills give them a
quick run-through before you begin the game proper. If you're trying
to earn everything honestly, you don't have much of a choice, either--
you can't earn the Prodigy costume if you don't clear all of the
Training levels.
You have a choice between Kid Mode and Normal. Kid Mode is great for
newbies and young kids; Normal is great for those who want to get right
into the normal game. Playing through the Kid Mode versions will only
unlock Kid Mode Training levels and Challenge Sessions; playing through
on Normal will unlock both the Kid Mode and Normal Training and
Challenge Sessions.
Listen to Professor X; he gives you your instructions for most of the
areas (this is occasionally taken over, or added to, by Rogue).
Web Swinging: This is straightforward enough. You have to cross the
green spots and turn them blue; touching red will result in failure.
The first half of the level should be easy to get through; on the
second half, you have two large red fields to cross. You don't have to
cancel your swings to make it all the way across these fields; jump,
then swing at the apex of the jump. As soon as the swing ends, tap R2
again to initiate a new swing, and repeat when that swing ends. Three
of these will do for the first field, and four or five (depending on
the length and timing of your swings) for the second.
Kid Mode: You only have to do the first (easy) half of the level.
Challenge? What challenge? And note that you cannot skip the Full
Motion Audio (FMA) scene by hitting X; you cannot skip any of the in-
game FMAs in Kid Mode (although you can still skip the FMV clips).
Challenge Session: You are timed.
Web Yank: The easiest of them all. Do a normal web-yank, followed by
a yank to the left and a yank to the right, then an overhead yank, and
finally use any yank you like on the blue box (target it with L2 to
make it go faster).
Kid Mode: Same as Normal.
Challenge Session: Again, you are timed.
L1 Targeting: All you have to do is target the green areas to move up
the level. The only catch is that they must be on a different wall
from your own; no longer can you use L1 Targeting to move up a single
wall (why not?).
Kid Mode: Pretty much the same. There isn't as much difference as I
had originally remembered there being.
Challenge Session: You are timed.
L2 Targeting: Now for some target practice. Aim with L2 Targeting
(press L2 repeatedly to move the target) and fire with impact webbing
(up + /\). If you take too long hitting the targets, or hit a red
target, you fail. Not too hard.
Kid Mode: Same as normal.
Challenge Session: You are scored based on how many green targets you
can hit before the timer runs out or before you clear the course. Red
targets take away points. Any extra time left after you complete the
course will be added to your score.
Zip Line: Okay, this is a little hard. Actually, it sucks, to be
blunt. You have to stay on the green squares, period--no web-swinging,
and no crawling around. Release from the ceiling by pressing X, then
use R1 to zip-line up to the next green square. My method is to watch
the screen carefully to see when Spidey's head is overlapped by the
corner of the next green square, then immediately hitting R1 to return
to the ceiling--it's not perfect, but it's very reliable. There are
three tiers to cross--each pretty much the same length.
Kid Mode: This is just silly. All of the challenge has been taken out
of the level. How? Well, there's a big friendly green path for you to
follow on the floor of each tier, meaning that you don't have to zip-
line at all to pass--you can just run through most of the level.
Challenge Session: Back to being timed again.
Stealth: In the first half, stick to the ceiling as much as possible,
and use overhangs and nooks to your advantage, and only move when a
thug's back is turned, or you'll get spotted. You can get past the
thug on the raised floor by carefully targeting the side of the raise,
zipping to it, and crawling around it while hoping for good luck (if
you're careful, you can also get through here on the ceiling). When
you must cross the large pit with the red floor and ceiling, use L1
Targeting to find a safe spot on the other side and zip-line across
when the thug turns his back on your destination. After that, when the
path splits, pick the path that the thug is not facing or running
through. The path then splits again, and this thug will always be
facing you (in other words, he'll run around in the opposite direction
from wherever the first thug was). Get around him as carefully as
possible as soon as he turns his back and book for the end of the
level.
Kid Mode: The thugs seem to be a little less observant, but otherwise
this is the same.
Challenge Session: Another timed level.
Attack: Survive for two minutes against a regenerating supply of
Henchmen with only one web-cartridge and no power-ups. Stick to the
homing kick and use the raised sections in the middle of the room to
your advantage--your mobility is your friend. Don't let yourself get
surrounded out in the open--make them come to you. Once you get used
to that, this really isn't that hard.
Kid Mode: Spidey takes so little damage, and uses so little webbing,
that the real challenge would be to get KILLED within two minutes. If
you fail here, why are you playing this game?
Challenge Session: Beat as many thugs as possible before dying.
COSTUME ALERT: Beat at least 75 thugs in either Kid or Normal modes to
unlock the Prodigy costume. Note that the game will let you know with
a message whenever you manage to unlock a costume; this is true in the
regular game as well. If you don't get a message, you didn't unlock
the costume. You don't have to complete the challenge; you can quit as
soon as you've defeated enough thugs and the costume will still be
unlocked.
Instant Action: Travel around a huge virtual city testing your
newfound skills against Henchmen. There are power-ups available, but
there doesn't seem to be any goal to reach; the thugs keep on
regenerating. It's over when you die, or when you get bored and quit,
I guess.
1) When there's something extra to find or unlock in a level, like a
costume, comic, or alternate Bugle Headline, it's announced in capital
letters (like this: COMIC ALERT). Comic locations are given in the
exact point where they would be found in the walkthrough, and are
followed by a notation as to what difficulty level they appear on; the
others will be given at the beginning or end of that level's
walkthrough. I haven't given all the headlines, the movies,
characters, or Parker's Portfolio pictures, because these are
automatically added to your Gallery as you play the game, without any
effort on your behalf. These are only noted in the Appendix.
2) Major differences between all the modes (Kid, the main game modes,
and/or What If Mode) are usually noted at the end of each level
walkthrough.
3) I've done my best to note changes between the original version of
Spider-Man 2 (the pre-Sept. 11th version) and the version most widely
available (the post-Sept. 11th version). There may be some minor
details missing, but the only major change in any of the levels is in
the final level (the Twin Towers are now a pair of buildings joined by
a bridge). Everything else WILL work for you. For the record, the
version I used to write this FAQ is version 2.
4) The Bugle Headline titles in this FAQ are taken from the Gallery
viewer, NOT the actual papers, where the wording usually differs from
the Gallery title. You may or may not find that the titles have
changed from ver. 1 (I've heard all sorts of stories about this). If
so, don't worry; you WILL still be able to get the proper headlines by
following directions.
5) Finally, the paths and methods given for completing each level are
not necessarily the best way to go, and they definitely are not the
only way to go. They are MY way of doing things. If you have a
different method that works for you, great, do it your way, but do not
send in your suggestions. This is pretty much a closed FAQ.
A) Enter The Web-head
This is an easy level that is basically designed to give your
webslinging skills a quick in-game workout. Basically, you swing
across rooftops, beat up thugs, and have your intelligence insulted by
the Beast (whose voice is just inappropriate; it's better in the Mutant
Academy games); his hints are activated by the blue question marks (and
you can skip these hint scenes by pressing X in all modes but Kid
Mode). The only enemies you'll face are wimpy, stupid Henchmen.
Follow the Spidey-Compass while crossing the first couple of rooftops
(keep an eye out for 4 Freedoms Plaza; it'll be on your left). After
you've swung across several buildings, there'll be a crane on your
right; swing to it and climb up. There's a building under
construction, to the right; swing to that.
COMIC ALERT (Easy difficulty): Climb to the top of this building and
look around. Swing to the nearby crane--the one hoisting the girder--
and climb up to the cab (it's fun being able to defy gravity, eh
kids?). Comic number 22, Spectacular Spider-Man #197, will be sitting
right in the middle of the roof.
Now, from the unfinished building (and disregarding the above unless
you're on Easy mode), swing to the nearby rooftop with the crates. If
you can't make this swing, consider getting up onto the suspended
girder, then trying to swing to this rooftop.
COMIC ALERT (all difficulties): Web yank the three crates sitting
together on the left to get comic number 3, Ultimate Spider-Man #1
(white cover). Easy as pie!
All righty then. From here, you can swing back to the crane holding
the girder, then to the next building; or, you can head to the nearby
white building, then swing to that next building, whatever your
pleasure is (and when you get there, check out the Vicarious Visions
billboard for a cutesy comment from Our Hero). Beat up the Henchmen on
the lower roof to make the final question mark appear; either let Beast
insult you one final time (what's this "The guarding of the metropolis
SEEMS to be in capable hands" stuff? Geez, even established
superheroes can't get no respect in this world) or just head right to
the end of the level. You can now either quit to the Training modes
(which I recommend if you haven't done them already, if only to get the
Prodigy costume) or continue onwards.
B) Burglary Interrupted
After the movie ends, you'll be dropped squarely into an ambush from
two Henchmen. Take them out quickly, and don't let them shoot too many
times; definitely don't get so far away that they start throwing
grenades. Grenades can be avoided, but it's easier to keep them from
being thrown in the first place.
Head left up the street; when you round the corner, you'll see 2 more
goons standing by a parked car. Beat them quickly and--wonderful.
Seems they've been planting car bombs for fun. Use a little trap
webbing to seal up the side window on each side of the car and the fire
will be extinguished. Maybe "barbarian insurance" would be a good
thing to have in New York.
Head into the nearby alleyway (it's just ahead of you, on the right
side of the street) and head through to a T-intersection; go left.
You'll emerge into a courtyard, and, of course, another ambush. Don't
these guys have anything better to do? Take out the four thugs as fast
as you can, and grab the power-ups if you need them.
COMIC ALERT (Kid Mode): Once the Henchmen have gone to that great
gangbang in the sky, look for a trashcan sitting kitty-corner to the
brick apartment house across from the office building. Pick it up to
discover comic number 18, Web Of Spider-Man #100 (the origin of the
Spidey-Armor; it wasn't a very good issue, that's for sure).
Weirdness note: If you climb up onto the rooftops surrounding the
courtyard, you can find a basketball. Drop or throw it down into the
courtyard, and Spidey can play some hoops, if you can get him to
actually aim the ball at the basket when you pick it up. We got next!
Orient yourself so that the basket is directly behind you. Head north;
you should see a railing in the distance. Beyond it is the river (the
East River?)--it's not a good idea to try to cross the railing, because
he will drown in the skuzzy old East River.
Turn right and head for the trendy coffee shop, which, surprise
surprise, explodes. Take out the last two henchmen, then use L2
Targeting to target the cap on the nearby hydrant; web-yank it off to
put out the fire (more weirdness: If Spidey is standing in the
hydrant's path, the force of the water will shove him all the way
across the street).
Now head left towards the building you saw in the FMA.
COMIC ALERT (Normal): Climb up the building to the left of that last
building. Comic number 4, Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #13, will be
sitting right out in the open.
C) Rooftops By Night
WHAT IF MODE: Something's finally changed in the game! What could it
be? Why, it's a giant floating banana. (Eh?) If you can make the
tricky jump onto the banana, it will carry you to the second half of
the level with the machine guns.
Swing across to the rooftop with the Hired Goon and the machine gun,
and take them both out. Now swing north (this level is pretty much a
straight shot) to the suspension bridge (anyone wanna buy the Brooklyn
Bridge for a hunnerd-fifty big ones?) and cross it, either by swinging
or by running across the cables, which is harder and therefore a little
more fun. On Kid Mode and Easy, you'll find a checkpoint here on the
other side.
Swing across the next group of buildings (being mindful of more Hired
Goons) until Spidey decides to take out the machine guns. On the main
difficulties, your Spidey-Compass will temporarily disappear now; on
Kid Mode, it remains, and you only have to take out the first two
machine guns.
Machine gun #1: Swing to the old-fashioned apartment house on the
right.
Machine gun #2: From there, swing to the building just ahead (the one
with the water tower and fire escapes).
Machine gun #3: Now, look to your left. It should be right in front
of you, across a small gap.
Make sure to grab some health if Spidey takes too many bullets,
especially on Hard where he's a bit less resilient.
COMIC ALERT (Hard): Once you've taken out all the machine guns in this
area, return to the nearest end of the suspension bridge to find comic
number 9, Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2, #29.
Now, follow your Spidey-Compass forward to the warehouse. (It's the
long, low building with the curved roof, in case you got confused for
some reason.)
D) Warehouse 66
COMIC ALERT (Easy): Right when you start the level, turn to your left
and pick up the large metal barrel. You'll find comic number 15, Peter
Parker: Spider-Man #85, was hiding underneath it.
There's no special trick to this level. Take out all the Henchmen to
win. They're all over the floor and running around on top of the
crates, so you've got a lot to keep you busy for a couple of minutes;
still, this isn't that hard, even ON Hard, as long as you stay on your
toes and grab the available health (mostly on top of the crates) when
necessary.
WHAT IF MODE: The crates are now gift-wrapped and the barrels have
turned into giant cans of Spider-Man Web Soup. Mmm, mmm good.
E) Spidey Vs. Shocker
COMIC ALERT (Hard): In the flames just behind Shocker at the start of
the fight, you'll find comic number 13, Amazing Spider-Man #46. Be
careful; the flames will hurt you, the Shocker will attack you
constantly, and the comic is quite hard to see in the flames. Get in,
grab it, and jump out.
The Shocker has three attacks--he fires at you with his vibro-shock
crap, gloats, and sends hard-to-avoid waves along the ground at you.
Oh, yes, and did I mention that he gloats? And let's not forget the
fire racing towards the hazardous barrels--on Hard, it tends to move
fairly quickly. If those blow up, game over, man, game over.
There are two ways to beat him. One is to use L2 Targeting to target
one of the huge suspended crates lying around the warehouse and to pull
them down (via web-yank) onto him when he's close to one and in the
middle of gloating. Even on Hard, two of these will nearly kill him
(and, with an enhanced-strength Spider-suit, one can often take him out
if it's a direct hit).
The other way, which you might have to master if you run out of crates
or keep getting knocked down, is to pick up stray barrels and throw
them at him. This is much harder, because the camera stays focused on
him and the barrels are usually behind you, but it works nearly as
quickly. Either way, he's not much of a boss once you master his
timing.
BUGLE HEADLINE ALERT: Unlock the "Warehouse Theft A Bust" headline by
letting Shocker kill Spidey or by letting the fire reach the barrels.
F) Smoke Screen
Swing across the rooftops, ignoring the Mercenaries that happen to be
hanging around, moving in a straight line until the FMA starts. Once
it ends, you'll have 2 minutes 29 seconds to find the keys to disarm
the bomb. Each of the four keys lengthens the time limit (by over a
minute on Easy, perhaps 50 seconds on Normal, and by about 40 seconds
on Hard). When each key is inserted, you're done. Run out of time,
and you'll have to find them all over again.
On Easy and Normal (unless you're going for the costume--more on that
in a minute), it's easiest to just look for at least two keys at a
time, and sometimes three, then, once you've got them, you should take
them back to the bomb and insert them to lengthen the time limit. It's
not that it's that hard to get them all at once; it's not, once you
know where to look. It's just easier to have a larger margin of error
with which to work. On Hard, you should try to get at least three, and
preferably all four, in one go, because they add so little to the time
limit--if for some reason you can't find more than one, you may not
have enough time to find them and will end up restarting. The timer
speed stays the same, however, and it's fairly lenient, so you
shouldn't freak out too much.
The key locations are semi-random, but they always fall within the same
areas. The directions given assume that the bomb is north, with south
facing towards the Activision billboard.
The RED key is either on the rooftops to the east or south of the bomb,
or in the street just north of the bomb, or in the alleyways to the
immediate south of the bomb.
The BLUE key is either on one of the rooftops surrounding the
Activision billboard (or on that rooftop itself), or in the courtyard
south of that building; it can also (rarely) be found in the street
just north of the Activision building (the one separating this area
from the Red key area).
The YELLOW and GREEN keys are usually on the rooftops or alleys of the
neighborhood south of the Blue key neighborhood, often very close to
each other; occasionally one will be in the street separating the two
neighborhoods, by the parked police car. Most often they are in the
rear of the neighborhood, at the very southern boundary of the level--
just where you started.
Do a circuit of these areas, from north to south, keeping your speed up
by jumping or web swinging (travel is very fast on the rooftops, both
going from and returning to the bomb). Use the little red targeting
triangles that appear when Spidey is endangered to locate the telltale
groups of two or three Mercenaries that guard each key. Keep an eye on
the timer; if you're in the Blue key neighborhood, return to the bomb
at 25 seconds (make sure to NOT climb any buildings on the way, which
wastes a lot of time); if you're in the Yellow/Green neighborhood,
return to the bomb when you get down to 40 seconds.
And what of Kid Mode? Well, in Kid Mode, there's no timer at all,
robbing the level of any challenge whatsoever.
WHAT IF MODE: Some of the newspapers lying on the ground have now
become banana peels, and you can lead your enemies onto them, forcing
them to fall down. Whee (he said sarcastically).
COSTUME ALERT (Normal): Get all four keys (in any order) all in one go
and return to the bomb and insert them all in one go. You must have
had time left on the original timer for this to work; if you would not
have had enough time to insert all four keys, say, but do because of
the time extensions granted by each key, you will not earn the costume
(just reload your game if this happens and try again). If you succeed,
you will earn the Negative Zone costume.
G) Hangar 18
Ah, this is much easier than Smoke Screen. Your goal is to take out
all six of the machine guns scattered around the level (one on each
side of the level, two in the middle, and one on each side of the
hangar). The Mercenaries running around will do their level best to
shoot you down; therefore, it's not a bad idea to take Spidey's advice
and zip-line up to a lamppost (assuming you haven't been seen) and take
out thugs and guns at a distance. Keep in mind that the thugs can see
you moving between posts, so be careful. You can also find Freon
webbing for the first time--it's located behind a storage bin to your
right at the very beginning of the level, and there's another one on
the other side of the area. (Hey, Spidey, you do realize that freon is
a chlorofluorocarbon, don't you? Um, even if he doesn't realize how
dangerous it is, the newer coolant is much cheaper--a must for a
superhero on a budget. I guess that, like me, Vicarious Visions
couldn't remember what it was called!) If you have Stealth or
Invulnerability, just run around and take everything out, glorying in
your power and cheapness and their stupidity.
COMIC ALERT (Kid Mode): Once you've taken out the machine gun on the
left side of the hangar, and before you've taken out all of the machine
guns, go and pick up the crate in the corner in the rear on that side
of the hangar to locate comic number 17, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #92.
(The machine gun thing isn't really a requirement; it's just to keep
anyone from shooting at you.)
H) Wind Tunnel (ver. 1 title: Crash Flight)
Okay, we're back to suckiness. This may well be the hardest level in
the game (its only competition being getting the Insulated Suit and
fighting the final boss on Hard). What do you have to do, you ask?
Well. You have to run through a huge airplane hangar, just ahead of a
runaway airplane, taking out barrels and opening doors--and when you've
finished with that fun bit of business, you have to stop the plane with
your webbing. Shouldn't these kinds of things be saved for Superman?
The plane can't take too many hits (six hits on Kid Mode or Easy, five
on Normal, three on Hard), so your first objective is to take out as
many obstacles as possible without being knocked down by the plane--if
the plane hits you on Hard, you might as well restart. What's the
secret to this? Jumping. One of Spidey's new abilities allows him to
use impact webbing while jumping, and unless you've got a defective
controller, this is more reliable than standing and firing. The impact
webs will even take care of the switches. All you need to do is to
face the obstacle you're trying to take out while jumping (it doesn't
have to be exact) and fire constantly. Most of the webbing will fly
off and hit nothing, but you will hit your targets. Besides, there's
plenty of webbing to go around. Once you've gotten the plane to the
fourth area, turn and face the plane and L2 Target the left engine when
it gets close. Use the trap webbing on it until the engine stops; the
plane will begin to turn in a circle and come towards you. Jump out of
the way, target the right engine when possible, and stop that engine to
finish the level. Here's a threat breakdown for each area:
Area One--obviously, the three barrels right in front of the plane are
the most immediate threat. It's possible to take them all out, even on
Hard, but you have to be quick. If you can't get the barrel out in
front, leave it and try to get all the other ones.
Area Two--Two barrels at the far end and the switch for the door.
Area Three--Land as soon as you get through the door and L2 Target the
barrel hanging on a chain. You can pull it off with a web yank. If
you miss, or the plane is close behind you, let it go and get the two
barrels and switch at the far end. The plane will survive the impact
if you've done a good job thus far.
Area Four--Two barrels right at the beginning of the area.
COMIC ALERT (Normal): Once you've gotten to the fourth area and have
gotten rid of all the barrels, stop one of the engines on the plane and
run all the way back to the first area. Look for some netting covering
a pile of crates--it should be on your left. Run under the netting to
find comic number 16, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #90. The plane may hit
the wall if you didn't totally stop the engine or if the plane has
pulled too much to one side; it's all right as long as you've gotten
the comic. However, the plane should be fine, and you should be able
to return to Area Four to finish the job.
BUGLE HEADLINE ALERT: Die, or let the plane be destroyed, to get
"Spider-Man Apprehended."
KID MODE: Guess what? The plane moves more slowly than a lethargic
sloth in sub arctic temperatures, there's no barrel hanging on a chain
to worry about, and when the plane gets to Area Four, it stops on its
own. What, me worry?
WHAT IF MODE: The barrels all change into giant light bulbs. Really.
And my question is, "Why?"
And a final note: If you're the type of gamer who likes to challenge
yourself, try this: Get to the end of this level, on Hard, with both
yourself and the plane completely undamaged, WITHOUT jumping or
collecting web power-ups. It _is_ possible; I've done it.
I) To Catch A Thief
Nothing like a good old-fashioned chase level to cool things down a bit
and limber up the old shoulder muscles. To be perfectly honest, it's
almost impossible to lose the "race" with the Spider-Tracer's signal;
even on Hard, you have to stand around for a couple of minutes for it
to fade completely. The only real threats are the Mercenaries, who are
now armed with rocket launchers; needless to say, this makes for a very
painful experience. If you have the Stealth power, this level is
obscenely simple; if not, be careful.
Swing on over to the building just ahead (the one with the skylights
and them cute widdle Mercenaries) before they start firing rockets at
you; take them both out quickly.
COMIC ALERT (All difficulties): Swing to the next building straight
ahead of you, but don't go to the roof. Follow the narrow ledge around
(mind the Mercenary) to the rear of the building, and you'll find comic
number 21, Amazing Spider-Man #185.
From there, head back to the right, to the building under construction,
and take out more Mercenaries. When that's done, grab the Spidey-Armor
and you're now set. Follow the Spider-Compass across the cranes, a
couple more rooftops, and another set of cranes, and you'll eventually
come to a building much like the Empire State Building. The building
just ahead of it is the end of the level.
A Neat Trick With Stealth: If you have the stealth ability, push
Select during a FMA sequence; as soon as the sequence ends, the Stealth
will automatically activate. This trick works on any level.
J) In Darkest Night
COMIC ALERT (Easy): Comic number 20, Spectacular Spider-Man #157, is
sitting right out on the walkway to Area 2. I suppose they had to just
give us an easy one sometime.
Welcome to the train yards! Spidey will spend the next couple of
levels here trying to catch a train (if not a cold) with only the
latest gun-toting generic thug, the Train Yard Guard, to keep him
company.
This particular level is a real breather, since it's almost
pathetically simple. Make your way along the walkways to Area Four
(passing many guards along the way) and, once there, jump or swing over
to the right side of the level; there are a few more guards here, so do
be wary.
Throw the large red switch and nothing will happen. Why? Because you
have to solve another dumb puzzle, of course. (Unless you're on Kid
Mode; there, the level just ends when you throw the switch the first
time. Man, this mode gives you too MANY breaks.)
There are two switches activating circuit breakers in all four areas,
either on the left or the right (it's always the side opposite to the
walkways leading between areas)--the game will show them to you in the
FMA that follows when you hit that red switch. Hitting the right
combination of switches will turn all four lights on the red switch
green; if you hit that switch when the breakers are activated, the door
will open and Spidey can leave. Hitting these switches before you've
tried the red switch will do nothing (thanks, guys), requiring you to
do at least some backtracking to get out.
This is neither the only solution nor the best, but if you haven't
already figured one out, it'll do:
Return to Area One and hit the switch on the left. From there, go back
to Area Three and hit both switches. Now, return to the large red
switch, flip it, and leave.
K) Heart Of Darkness
Spidey may wonder about medical and dental; I wonder if these thugs
have vision. Well, never mind.
Hop on one of the freight cars and jump or swing over the wall, then
head right into the yard. Head straight for the door in the far wall;
this holds the power room, and somebody was considerate enough to post
a great big sign above it reading "Power Room." We all appreciate your
hospitality, friends. Go inside and throw the switch (but don't throw
it back, because it's over the size limit and may make somebody a nice
brunch).
COMIC ALERT (Normal): From here on, in each of the other two control
rooms, you must hit each switch regardless of what it does. Once
you've done so, before leaving the level check the No. 3 area inside
the roundhouse (behind a train) to find comic number 6, Peter Parker:
Spider-Man Vol. 2, #22. You cannot enter this area if you haven't
thrown all seven switches. Why? I don't know; I didn't program this
game.
If you've been playing on another difficulty or already have the comic,
follow these instructions. Head to the No. 1 door--grabbing the Freon
webbing by the crane--and go into the now-open control room. Take out
the two thugs and hit the No. 2 door switch.
Once back outside, turn right and go around the corner of the building;
the No. 2 door is the first one to your right. Enter the roundhouse.
Once the train has gone, head straight to No. 5, taking out the thugs
if they impair your progress (smoke 'em, yaknowwhatImean?), and go
straight to the final control room once outside. It's in the middle of
the area, at the far end of the raised platform (ignore the crane).
Take out two more goons, then hit your last switch, the No. 7 switch.
Go back to the roundhouse and exit through the No. 7 door (it's the
second one on your left).
L) Catch That Train
Is this another boss fight? Not really, no. You can beat up on the
Sandman, certainly, but you won't get doodly for it. Your real goal is
to Catch That Train, as the level title oh-so-subtly hints.
You have to break through at least three (and more likely four) sand
barriers to have a clear path to the train, while having Sandman chase
you like a rabid pit bull on the trail of a postal worker. Avoid his
attacks; he can kill you in four hits on Hard. He'll come after you by
turning his hands into bludgeoning weapons, and when your Spidey-Sense
goes off, it means he's about to land on your head--get out of the way
(you'll have almost no time to do so on Hard).
There are two ways to get to the train:
Attack Sandman until his health is gone, which forces him to retreat
and recharge. While he's gone, pick up one of the forklifts, or the
many barrels and crates lying around, and throw whatever you've picked
up at the latest barrier. Forklifts take them out in one shot on any
difficulty; barrels will also do that on Kid Mode, but on other
difficulties they take progressively less, down to about one-fourth of
the barrier's energy. Crates do the least amount of damage on all
difficulties, and are suitable mostly for throwing at Sandy's big, ugly
head; nevertheless, if you must use them on the barrier, they'll do the
job.
If that seems too difficult, or consumes too much time, ignore Sandman
entirely and just target the barrier.
Once you've gotten close enough to the train, either swing or jump onto
it to end the level. If the train gets to cross the bridge, however,
you'll have to start all over again. Finishing this level means you're
now at the halfway point. Woo-hoo! Or something like that.
BUGLE HEADLINE ALERT: Die or fail to catch the train for "Spider-Man
Unmasked."
WHAT IF MODE: The barrels are now all bananas, and the giant banana
from Rooftops By Night is now the train's primary cargo. Stop it, I'm
laughin'. Who's got the banana fetish, then? And why couldn't they
come up with something more imaginative?
M) Gangland
There were a lot of hostage rescue levels (three, anyway) in the first
game (the only really fun parts of which involved crawling around on
the ceiling, taking out goons before they even had a chance to see you,
which dull ol' Solid Snake could never do, wall-crawling not being
among his talents). It was a bit tiring, of course, but rescuing
hostages is one of those things a Spider-Man has to do every now and
then.
Well, there's only one hostage level in Spider-Man 2, and this is it.
It isn't too hard and doesn't take too long. You also have a new enemy
to look forward to: the Gangsters, who are (drum roll please, maestro)
gun-toting thugs. Well, at least they carry machine guns and not
rifles or handguns.
Take out the pair of gangsters, then look for a grate in the ceiling
via L1 Targeting. Once you've found it, use either impact webbing or a
good web yank to destroy it and zip-line into the air duct. Head down
the easy path, then, when you see the elevator (after the scene ends)
use L2 targeting to shore up the cable from a distance. Once that's
done, carefully jump over to the elevator car and hit the switch to
free the first hostage.
COMIC ALERT (Hard): After the hostage is free, return to the first
room. Comic number 27, Spectacular Spider-Man #220, will be hovering
in the middle of the room, casually violating the laws of nature. Hey!
It's a video game, what are you gonna do?
Once on the elevator car, use L1 Targeting to find the opening on the
left wall and swing up there.
Head down the hall, taking out three more Gangsters, then take out
another one in the room beyond to free two of the hostages.
COMIC ALERT (All difficulties): Once you've freed these hostages, pick
up the photocopier to get comic number 7, Amazing Spider-Man #21.
Now go down the new hall and take out two more gangsters, then--fast as
you can--get over to the bookcases and take out a third gangster before
he shoots a hostage. You can easily take out the first two from the
ceiling, but you can't get to this one fast enough on the ceiling; if
you are up there, drop down to take care of him (maybe knock him down
with a homing attack first). Impact webbing will also solve your
problems nicely.
Go between the bookshelves and find another grate in the ceiling. Take
it out the same way you got rid of the first one and follow the new air
duct. Once on the next floor, take out yet another stupid gangster
(they come in swarms, like locusts or wrongful-injury lawyers), then
jump into the nearby cubicle and take out another gangster; this frees
two more hostages.
Back out in the hallway, head past the other cubicles, meeting heavy
gangster resistance along the way, until the area is clear. Take out
both wooden doors with impact webbing and go up to the hostages inside
to free them (some of them won't move until they view the reassuring
visage of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man). Once everyone is
free, head towards the door at the end of the hall for your next boss
encounter.
N) Spidey Vs. Hammerhead
Oh, boy. Hammerhead. Am I ever overjoyed to see him. (Yeah, right.)
Oh, well, at least he hasn't been done to death in video games before.
Actually, he hasn't been done in a game at all before. It's his chance
to shine, baby! (And probably his ONLY chance to shine, if you know
what I mean.) Although, we could have fought the Beetle instead,
seeing as how he's in the game and all.
COMIC ALERT (Hard): Go down the hall that Hammerhead came out of and
hop onto the bar. Pick up all three signs for comic number 19, Amazing
Spider-Man #114. This tends to get a little tricky because Hammerhead
will follow and attack you, and if he's nearby, Spidey will punch
instead of pick up signs. Get Hammerhead to move away and immobilize
him for a minute with trap webbing if need be. This is one of the
hardest comics to get in the entire game, so don't be too surprised if
it takes more than one try.
Hammerhead is basically invincible as long as he has his machine gun.
Oh, sure, he'll take some damage if you attack him, but it'll take
forever to get rid of him this way. You have to get the gun out of his
hot little hands and let his eager little chin meet your big hard fists
(to paraphrase Our Hero). While you attempt to do this, he'll shoot at
you, punch at you, and try to ram you with his head (a la Rhino or
Juggernaut) if you get too far away. (You can also try to lure him
into ramming the wall, but this is not recommended.)
Use L2 Targeting to target his machine gun, then use a web yank and, as
soon as the gun hits the floor, move out of the way so that he won't
hit you when he charges (sometimes, however, he won't charge). Once he
starts to head for the gun, run over to him and tag him with your
fists; note how easy it is to cripple him this way. Lather, rinse, and
repeat. Once the fight is half over, he'll lead you out onto the
observation deck (sometimes this will stun him)--hey, a boss fight at
the Empire State Building. That's kind of cool, isn't it? Just
thought of that. Anyway, just keep on taking that gun away and he'll
be floored in no time, especially on Kid Mode or Easy, where he doesn't
just have a glass jaw but a glass BODY. Wimp! Wimp! Not much of a
boss; not much of a villain. I wonder if he uses Turtle Wax on that
head of his?
BUGLE HEADLINE ALERT: Die here to unlock "Ball Ruined 1."
O) Spidey In The Machine
Now that the merriment has ceased, let us now worry about the new
environment that we have found ourselves in. There are some new non-
thug enemies to fight (finally!) and a bunch of puzzles to resolve
(most of the rest of the levels are fairly puzzle-intensive--even a
couple of the upcoming boss fights). The Flying Drones won't be much
of a worry unless a Scout Drone (the little teeny-tiny ones that flit
around in one or two areas) calls for reinforcements. Basically, all
the Flying Drones do is fly around. However, they will fire at you, so
be careful. The best strategy is to tag them with impact webbing.
Once the FMA ends, you'll be thrown right into your first puzzle. A
group of messed-up drones will fly into all three boilers (only one at
a time, though), and it's your job to shut the boilers down.
Boiler #1 is right in front of you when you regain control of Spidey.
Jump over it and turn around to find the switch.
Boiler #2 is to your left (while facing the switch on boiler 1). Once
you turn, the switch will be directly opposite you. Easy.
To get to Boiler #3, turn right from your current standpoint and head
for the front of the room (where the green tunnel is). Keep the tunnel
to your left and the switch will be to your right.
COMIC ALERT (Easy): Once you've finished with all three boilers, climb
the ramp and follow the catwalk to find comic number 10, Amazing
Spider-Man Vol. 2, #30.
Head down the green hallway (check out the waterfall behind the
grating, and the puddle underneath it), being wary of the drone, and
take the left turn--why am I telling you this? There's only one way to
go! Ahem.
Once the latest FMA is over, run all the way past the big generators to
the far end and jump up onto the turbine platform (but not onto or into
the turbine if you don't want Spidey to be folded, spindled, and
mutilated). Poke around the front end of the left generator to get the
latest web power-up--Taser webbing! A little bit of this in your trap
webbing will floor those drones in no time flat, and it powers up your
impact webbing nicely, too.
Hop down to the floor in front of you and go over and inspect the
computer to solve another puzzle. This one's simple--all you have to
do is use the [], /\, and () buttons to stop their respective orbs in
the green circle in the middle. They don't have to be lined up in any
special order, they just all have to be in that circle.
WHAT IF MODE: The puzzle becomes a game of "Pong," here called "Paddle
Battle." Move the paddle back and forth with the analog stick or the
left and right on the D-pad. Score a point to solve the puzzle.
(There's another bug in the game here--the opposing paddle will
sometimes jitter and then stop dead. Someone told me that this was due
to a Gameshark code, which puzzled me, because I wasn't using a
Gameshark when it happened--the game is already on the easy side
without the aid of cheats. It may have been because I was fooling
around with the Stealth power. Nevertheless, it's easily solved--pause
the game and unpause it to restart the CPU paddle.) Hey, at least it
doesn't involve a banana.
Head up the ramp--now free of nasty lasers--and turn right to find the
control room. Hit both switches (one on each side of the room) to turn
off those turbines. Now you can get into the air ducts. (More
weirdness--you can move Spidey around during the FMAs that come up when
you shut off the turbines. Move him into the middle of the room and
jump up and down. It's Spider-Ant!)
Head back out into the turbine room and climb or zip-line into either
of the duct openings--you'll have to jump onto the top of the turbine
first if you don't zip-line first, but they're slippery and Spidey will
fall off if you don't jump on top right off the bat.
Head to the grate at the far end of the duct and peek out--that room is
where you're going next. Zip-line up into the greenish shaft, get the
health if you need it, and follow it to the next room.
Another security area--how novel! Go left after Spidey stops stating
the obvious and head into the corridor--which, of course, is guarded by
an Ever-Popular Laser Grid. Cute. Zip-line to the ceiling and
CAREFULLY crawl through the openings in the grid, being aware that
those lasers just love to take massive chunks of your energy (well, on
difficulties higher than Kid Mode).
Once in the new security room, take out both switches--one opens the
door and one shuts down the laser grid, making your exit a breeze.
Just take care of the two drones first. You can now leave the level.
COMIC ALERT (Kid Mode): Instead of leaving through the number 2 door,
go back up into the ventilation shaft. Return to the beginning of this
shaft and comic number 25, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, will be
sitting in front of the fan (next to the health, if you didn't pick it
up earlier; if you did, the comic will be all on its lonesome. Awww,
poor thing).
P) Mission: Spidey
COMIC ALERT (Hard): As soon as the FMA ends, use L1 Targeting to look
left to a little ledge. Swing over to it, then turn around and face
the walkway you were just standing on. Carefully jump and web-swing
back to the walkway, trying to land on its side. Do NOT crawl on any
of the surrounding walls; you will be electrocuted, and Spidey will
probably plummet to his death. If you succeed, crawl under to the
bottom of the walkway and use L1 Targeting again to look for a small
pinkish room below you in the central shaft. Swing down to it to find
comic number 8, Spider-Man #25. Getting back up to the walkway is much
easier than coming down was--stand at the edge of the little room,
target the walkway, and swing on up. I consider this to be the second-
hardest comic to get in the entire game, harder even than the comic in
Spidey vs. Hammerhead.
For the rest of you, don't move when the FMA ends. Instead, stand
still and hit R1. Spidey will zip-line up to a small ledge directly
above the walkway. Carefully crawl around to the top of this ledge and
face the central shaft. There should be a switch almost directly
across from you; target it with L2 and use your trap webbing to hit it
safely. Once you've done that, carefully push up to move Spidey off
the little platform. Stop holding up as soon as he falls, or he'll
fall to the wall and cling to it--and likely get zapped for his
troubles. (If he does hit the wall, use jump to quickly flip off
safely.)
Okay! Now that that fun task is over, we can enter the shaft and see
what new pleasure awaits us. There are now three more puzzles to be
solved before you can move on to the next level. Hit the switch just
ahead and go down the ramp to Area #1.
Area 1--There are three Drone Generators in this room, which, needless
to say, can make life hectic for Our Favorite Webhead. Head over to
the machinery on the left side wall and jump on top of it to get some
Taser webbing, which is a great help, then concentrate on taking out
the generator (don't be afraid to target the Drones, either, if they
begin to swarm you). Three hits will take out each generator. I find
that impact webbing works the best here. Once you're done with them,
hop over the conveyor belt and hit the switch. Return to the central
area and head right to Area 2.
Area 2--I hate this area. There are four laser turrets located around
a pillar in the center of the room. You want to get onto the pillar's
balcony, where you can find a switch that will allow you to reach the
switch that turns off the barrier guarding the way to Area 3.
Unfortunately, the pillar itself is guarded by a force field, and you
have to take out the laser turrets to continue.
There are two ways to do this: Listen to Spidey and let the turrets
take each other out, or just run amok and do it yourself. The only way
I can get the turrets to hit each other is to run between a pair of
them and then quickly zip-line to the ceiling (it's easier to do it by
going either to the right or left than doing it between the pairs in
front and back). Usually, the lasers track me half the time, and I get
hurt anyway, but it will take out the lasers--although sometimes you're
still left with one to destroy. Generally, although flashy, this
method tends to be very bad for your health (fortunately, there's a
lovely health power-up on the pillar's balcony). The other method is
no less damaging to you, but it gets them out of the way quicker (and,
if you have Stealth, they can't even shoot at you).
Once they're gone, go up on the pillar, hit the switch, and then hit
the other switch in the rear of the room. Again, return to the center
area and go right to get to area 3. (There's also a Taser webbing
refill out here, if you need it.)
Area 3--Did I think the last area was bad? This one is even more
annoying. There are two puzzles to solve, plus the very nasty Rolling
Drones, who can track by body heat (making the Stealth power much less
useful) and who enjoy firing missiles at our hero.
Go to the console on the left and push the temperature to max with the
/\ button, then shut off the shield in the middle of the room with ().
Exit the computer's interface and attack the Rolling Drones. If you
have webbing to spare, you can throw lots of impact webs at them; the
more efficient way is to put on web gloves, do two combos, put on a new
set of gloves, and repeat until destroyed. (For some reason, if you
have Taser webbing, the two machines in the rear on each side can often
be taken out with one impact web.) Every time you take out a Rolling
Drone, go back to the computer and push the temperature back up to max.
Once all four of them are out of the way, you can worry about the
switches.
You now have to time your web shots to the oscillation of the force
field to hit all three switches. Don't bother with targeting; it slows
you down and the reticle will disappear when the force field comes
back. Just stay at the bottom of the ramp and hit the button as soon
as the field disappears. Be aware that the oscillation will speed up
every time you hit a switch. Once you've taken care of these switches,
take care of the final barrier switch (in the rear of the room, as
always, behind the pillar). Leave Area 3 and go right. The exit will
be on the inside wall to your left.
COMIC ALERT (Normal): After you've solved all the puzzles, head back
to the entrance instead of leaving. Comic number 26, Amazing Spider-
Man Annual #21 (alternate cover) will be sitting out on the very first
walkway.
KID MODE: There's no shield to worry about inside Area 3, and there
are no Rolling Drones waiting for you. (Strangely enough, they will
still appear in the Character Viewer if you're on your first game.)
Q) The Corkscrew (ver. 1 title: Downward Spiral)
Oh, boy, another long level involving a lot of switch-pushing. Your
goal is to climb through four areas to the exit at the top of the
level, shutting off barriers along the way while dealing with a large
number of traps.
Each of the areas in this level is (apart from minor differences in
ledge placement) identical; therefore, the same method will work in
each area. Use L1 Targeting to look for a ledge with a flashing light
on it just above each set of the opening-shutting metal doors and swing
up to it while the doors are open. Carefully climb up onto that ledge,
then carefully move straight across the area so that you are standing
in the middle of the circular platform that runs around the bottom of
each area. From there, you can use your webbing to hit each switch
safely. Next, look for a ledge with a red light flashing above it;
swing or zip-line to it, then zip-line up to the ledge directly above
it--you are now nearing the top of the level. (It's best to zip-line
up when the outer wall is being electrified; otherwise, if you're not
careful, the lasers that fire here may kill Spidey and will definitely
cause him to fall). From here, locate the tiny brown platform
supported by metal struts at the top of the area and use L1 Targeting
to swing up to it. You can now repeat the process.
Here are the highlights of each area:
Area 1--The top platform has Taser webbing.
Area 2--Drones will appear after you hit the switches; take them out
before you continue your climb.
COMIC ALERT (Normal): Once through Area 2, head straight to the top of
Area 3 without hitting the switches. (This is very difficult; beware
the lasers, especially.) Look for a ledge near the top with a grating
behind it; it's just below and to the left of the top platform. Swing
or zip-line to the ledge to get comic number 32, Amazing Spider-Man
#341. This comic will NOT appear if you hit even one switch. (I
couldn't find this one on my own--it never occurred to me to try that!)
Once you've got it, go back down and hit the switches, then continue to
climb back up.
Area 3--You might encounter a drone; nothing else of note really
happens here.
Area 4--More drones will swarm you when you turn off both switches;
take them out before you climb back up. The exit is located on a ledge
with a flashing light on the bottom in the second part of the area.
Finally!
R) Spidey Vs. Lizard
Now this is a worthwhile boss fight. A very _hard_ boss fight. Head
immediately to the computer. Leave the containment option alone (for
now) and prepare to solve another puzzle, this one with a time limit.
There are three vats that must be turned green to make a serum to cure
Dr. Connors. In each of the vats, you must use the [], /\, and ()
buttons to stop their respective balls in the green zones of their
respective columns, so it's best if you do NOT have a hair-trigger
thumb for this puzzle. If you do, you'll be frustrated. If you
succeed, that vat's letter will turn green and you can move to the next
letter. Do NOT screw up! You really only have time to fix one vat if
something goes wrong. (This is a bit of a pain on Hard.) You also
cannot wait around too long. Once the time limit runs out, the Lizard
will emerge and start attacking you, even if the serum isn't ready, and
you'll have to restart. Once you've got the timing down on one vat,
though, it isn't too hard to get the other two vats right--the timing
only changes on each difficulty level, not between vats (the only
differences are where the green zones are and where the balls start
their up-and-down bouncing). On Kid Mode, you don't even have to do
this puzzle; lucky you. The serum will appear automatically once the
fight starts.
Once all three vats are green, choose the containment override option,
hit X, and then exit. The Lizard will now emerge and throw you into
the next room, where the fight begins.
COMIC ALERT (Hard): Once the fight has started, do NOT pick up the
purple serum cartridge! Instead, run directly to the third room.
Comic number 12, Amazing Spider-Man #44, will be sitting where the
second cartridge would normally be sitting. Another hard comic to get,
mostly because of the Lizard's constant attacks and the lasers in room
three.
COSTUME ALERT (Any difficulty): Defeat the Lizard with serum shots
ONLY to obtain the Insulated Suit, a must for defeating Hyper-Electro
on Hard (unless you like a good challenge). You cannot allow the
Lizard to be damaged by anything, and you must allow him to recover
between shots--you can't just stand there and fire shots at him while
he's vulnerable, or it won't work. His energy bar will NOT decrease,
so you have to keep track of your shots yourself. (A very big thank
you to whitespy 12, who figured that part out very thoroughly; I would
not have gotten the costume without that message board post. And an
even bigger thanks to F-Rott, who got the costume on Easy--which
pointed me at the correct solution.) It takes somewhere between 15 and
25 shots to floor him (the upper limit, according to eds; my upper
limit was 21, the lower 16, but I hit nearly every number in-between).
You'll know when it works--he'll suddenly swoon and fall over
(sometimes he'll start to chase you again first; when he falls over
after this, it's quite amusing. Always give him a chance to move after
15 hits before shooting him again).
(Incidentally, there is a bug in many copies of the game, which will
keep you from getting your costume on the first try and even on
successive tries if you're very unlucky. How do you know if yours is
bugged? Hit the Lizard fifteen times with the serum shots. After the
fifteenth, run away and let him chase you for a few minutes. If he
doesn't fall down within that time period, you've got a bugged copy.
Pause the game and restart the level, and it should work. It won't
work on successive tries if you don't hit him at least fifteen times at
some point. Go figure.)
WHAT IF MODE: There are now large bowling pins scattered all over the
level with the Lizard's face on them (who you gonna call?
Lizardbusters! There, try and make a franchise out of that,
Hollywood). The Lizard is just as vulnerable to these as he is to the
serum, and not only that, they damage him. For once, a helpful extra.
BUGLE HEADLINE ALERT: Die here to unlock "Zeus Tear 1." I make no
claims for spelling or grammar mistakes by the programmers; I just
tells 'em as I gets 'em.
The Lizard is one bad mammer jammer. What should we start with? His
throw? That doesn't hurt too much. What about his tail swipes? Well,
they knock you down, and he often tends to be invincible to the serum
while he performs it, but they don't hurt too badly. His claw swipe?
Okay, that hurts. What happens if you go to the ceiling? He follows
you and tries to knock you down. Now, put all this together and
realize that he moves fast and loves to attack incessantly, and you'll
realize what a bear this fight can be.
Unless you're going for that comic, get the serum cartridge right away.
The best time to shoot a serum shot at him is when he's simply walking
towards you and not attacking--you'll usually have a clear shot at him
and won't miss. If you're careful, you can also hit him as he's about
to attack or when he's leaping at you, but it's slightly harder to get
a good shot at him. Each serum cartridge gives you three shots;
picking one up causes the other to regenerate. The first cartridge is
in room 1, where the fight really starts; the second is in room 3.
Stick to room 2 for most of your fighting; you have a lot of room to
move there and can use R2 to move quickly across the room to either end
to get a new serum cartridge.
Spidey once again voices his concern for Dr. Connors, but bear this in
mind: "I was a fool to worry about hurting him before! I had
forgotten how strong his armor-plated skin makes him!" That's Spidey
himself, from Amazing Spider-Man #76 (a pretty good Lizard story, too,
btw, by Stan Lee and [the sadly late] John Buscema). Knock him around
as soon as the serum makes him groggy (unless you're getting the
costume). You can also try to lure him near the lasers--they cripple
him nicely--or throw the test-tubes at him, if punching and kicking get
too boring. There's also regenerating health in rooms 1 and 3. Take
him out as fast as you can--you can't outlast him by too much on Normal
and Hard.
S) The Gauntlet (ver. 1 title: Aces High)
COMIC ALERT (Hard): Crawl or drop down the back of the very first
building to find comic number 14, Spectacular Spider-Man #66.
For a change of pace, here we are with a web-swinging level. This one
is complicated by red lasers that track you, drone generators that spew
out clouds of annoying, well, drones, and laser turrets that want to
blow you out of the sky. Isn't anything ever easy for Spidey? (As
with all such levels, if you're having too much trouble, Stealth is the
best power to have.)
The first laser tower is ahead and to the left, but swing to the center
building first to take out a turret, get Taser webbing, and shut down a
generator. If the drones start to surround you, just get out of there.
Swing to the left to turn off the first laser detector, then cross to
the right side to take out the second one.
Ahead and to the left (via the middle) is detector number three--'ware
the laser turrets. Cross back over to the right side (again) to take
out the fourth detector. Head to the central tower--be very careful of
the four laser turrets at its base--and to the large dish to shut off
the fifth detector.
COMIC ALERT (Normal): climb down the rear of this tower for comic
number 31, Amazing Spider-Man #425.
You're almost to the end of the level now. Turn right and swing across
the buildings--there's another turret to watch out for, plus a drone
generator (take them out if you like) to reach the final laser
detector, perched on a third high tower.
COMIC ALERT (Easy): On the rear of THIS tower you'll find comic number
24, Amazing Spider-Man #217.
From the top of this tower, head left to end the level.
KID MODE: You only have to take out three detectors to end the level.
T) Spidey Vs. Sandman Again
Just for a change of pace, another boss level! (Don't worry; you're
almost out of the Bio-Tech area. This complex didn't span several city
blocks in Burglary Interrupted, did it?) It's time to get revenge on
the Sandman.
The Sandman will chase you all over the place, once again turning his
hands into blunt weapons and trying to bludgeon you, just as he did in
Catch That Train. When that palls for him, he'll attempt to throw you,
and if you get too far away from him, he'll throw a huge, narrow sand-
wave at you. This is not good on Hard, where he can level you in four
hits; however, you can avoid nearly all his attacks by jumping or
running whenever he starts to babble or laugh.
You have to head for the switch on the wall just in front of the fallen
girder; this will increase the water pressure. Head to one of the
other valves and stay in that general area. When the pressure reaches
its max, hit the valve and try to lead the Sandman into the water. If
you succeed, you can beat the daylights out of him while he simply
writhes helplessly and yells. Once the water stops, he'll sit there
wobbling for a moment, then turn into a puddle and reform, good as new,
apart from the loss of health, of course. Repeat until he goes down.
Believe it or not, even though he can often hurt you a little more than
the Lizard, this is an easier fight. Payback is so, so sweet.
COMIC ALERT (all difficulties): Use the water to stun Sandman, then
quickly climb up the building under construction. Climb on top of the
crane to find comic number 2, Amazing Spider-Man #4. Be careful; if he
recovers, he'll bring the entire building down on you, and you won't
get the comic. This is easiest to get on Kid Mode or Easy.
COMIC ALERT (Easy): Pick up the Porta-Potty by the construction
trailers to discover comic number 5, Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2,
#16. I am NOT touching that thing without a pair of gloves.
COSTUME ALERT (Hard): Defeat the Sandman and you'll automatically
receive the Alex Ross--Red costume. I think this is the prototype for
the costume used in the movie. It's also pretty cool (says my inner
comic nerd).
U) Konichi-wa, Spider-san
We are finally closing in on the end of the game. (Actually, once
you've cleared it once or twice, it's possible to beat this game in
about fifty minutes, even on Hard. Really.) Your goal now is to track
down Electro (who is hiding somewhere in the museum, making life harder
for you). To do this, you have to get out of this exhibit. Preventing
you from doing that is the newest and last enemy, the Animatronic
Samurai.
You'll start off facing a pair of these things, and, if you're smart,
you'll use impact webbing on them. Even on Hard, two impact webs will
take one of these monstrosities down; if you try going toe-to-toe with
them, you may not get such happy results. Once you've blown them up,
pick up the remains, carry them inside the center room, and throw them
at the generator (the first one will destroy only the screen and won't
damage the generator).
That's all there is to this level. The only difference between the
difficulty levels (aside from the amount of damage you take) is the
number of samurai necessary to blow up the generator (it goes from
four, including the one that blows up the screen, on Kid Mode, to eight
or nine on Hard). Check the side room on the right first, the one with
the two sumo statues in the middle of the room; there's Taser webbing
there, and that takes these things down even faster. Don't worry if
any of your throws miss; if you use up all the samurai, more will
emerge from the level's entrance, and you can always go for the ones in
the glass cases around outside of the generator room (just break the
glass with impact webs). You really shouldn't have that much trouble,
though.
COMIC ALERT (Easy): There's a room directly across from where you
entered, on the other side of the area, with a giant golden Buddha
statue sitting inside. Check behind the Buddha statue to find comic
number 23, Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 2001 Annual.
V) Rock Of Ages
Almost there! I used to really hate this level until I figured out the
trick that makes it just about the easiest level in the game.
You see, I used to zip-line and swing from sign to sign, trying to
avoid the lightning rings that circle the area and Electro's lightning
cascades, and also trying not to be zapped by the exploding
televisions. The usual result? I'd have to restart because I got
fried, or, failing that, I'd miss a swing and fall all the way to the
bottom. Which, of course, made this level take forever.
Now, I have to say, there's a much better way to do this level, no
matter what difficulty you're on. Jump up onto the wall, anywhere you
like, and crawl upwards until Spidey's Spider-Sense goes off. Count
off four beats as it goes off, leaving the D-pad or stick alone, and
then hit the zip-line just as the Spider-sense stops (after the fourth
beat). Spidey will zip all the way over to the opposite wall, avoiding
Electro's lightning cascade entirely. This is also the perfect time to
cross the lightning rings--because they stop when Electro tries to
attack you, removing a fatal hazard entirely. Just keep climbing up
and remember to use the zip-line trick every time your Spider-sense
goes off, and you'll get to the top within a minute.
COMIC ALERT (Normal): There's an alcove with a lightning ring running
across it near the bottom of the Ice Age area; it's a window looking
out at a wooly mammoth fossil. I have never been able to remember
which side it's on, but keep an eye out for it. Inside is comic number
28, Spectacular Spider-Man #258. Use your zip-line to go to the top of
the alcove and crawl out safely; it might be best to wait for Electro
to attack before you try to leave, because you'll be safe in there.
COMIC ALERT (Easy): There's a car sticking out of the wall near the
top of the level (?), which is very hard to miss, in contrast to the
above comic location. Sitting on the car's hood is comic number 30,
Amazing Spider-Man #422.
W) Spidey Vs. Electro
COMIC ALERT (Normal): Locate the giant model of the Earth (it's
usually opposite you when you begin the level) and zip-line up onto the
ceiling as near it as possible. Crawl over so that you're right on top
of it (while hoping that Electro won't knock you off the ceiling) and
drop down onto it to get comic number 1, Amazing Spider-Man #9.
If you're on Hard, stop the game for a moment and go put on the
Insulated Suit (unless you'd prefer a challenge); this will reduce the
damage you take from lightning by half, and the Enhanced Strength
ability is more than a little useful.
This really isn't such a hard fight. You need to get to the top of the
lunar lander to beat on Electro; in the meantime, he'll throw lightning
bolts at you and attempt to smoosh you with the giant flying saucer
model (this can be fatal on Hard). The easiest way to beat him is to
run up both ramps and throw an impact web to distract him (it won't do
much damage, though), then use a homing kick to take you straight to
him. After that, you'll have time to punch him at least twice before
his force field activates and pushes you off onto the floor. (Web
gloves significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to defeat him.)
There's plenty of health lying around and it always regenerates, so
this fight is often easier than the two preceding it. Why, I don't
know, but that's the way it is. Just repeat the process and he'll
shortly go down.
COSTUME ALERT (Any difficulty): You'll automatically receive the
Battle Damaged costume the first time you defeat Electro (if you're
wearing Spidey's original threads, they'll automatically change to
Battle Damaged when the next level loads).
X) The Best Laid Plans (ver. 1 title: Top Of The World)
Here are four handy hints to remember:
1. Stay away from Hyper-Electro.
2. Keep moving.
3. Stay away from Hyper-Electro.
4. There is no hint four.
Once the level finally starts, you'll have to take out the four
capacitors by targeting the eight power generators (two for each of
them). Hustle right along and use the jump-impact web trick to do it,
so you can keep moving away from Electro.
Locate the upper left corner (there will be a capacitor sitting right
in front of it). In the original version of the game, you should just
see the corner of the second building; in the commonly-available
version, there will be a very obvious bridge connecting the former Twin
Towers. (On Kid Mode, the capacitors have already been rendered
useless, so you can skip the first part and go right to the other
tower).
Cross the bridge, or swing over the gap, and head for the antenna
(there's also a couple of regenerating health power-ups at the
antenna's base; come back over and grab them whenever you're injured).
Zip-line and climb onto the top balcony to take out the generators;
there are four, one on each corner of the balcony.
COMIC ALERT (Kid Mode): Comic number 11, Spider-Man #38, is right out
in the open between two of the generators.
Once the generators have gone, you've dealt a significant blow to
Hyper-Electro--he'll only be able to heal himself once. Return to the
other tower and lure Hyper-Electro into zapping one of the capacitors
(being very careful of the lights on the ground; those are electric
mines and do significant damage). The easiest way to lure him into
zapping one is to run around to the opposite side of the capacitor.
Whenever he changes position, just run (again) to the side opposite to
his. Eventually, he'll stop throwing his huge lightning fields around
(stay away from them; they can hit you twice for big damage) and try to
zap you. If you're on the other side of the capacitor, he'll almost
always hit it instead and become vulnerable.
On Kid Mode, Easy, or Normal, it's safe to punch (or kick) Hyper-
Electro at this point; on Hard, you can't even get close to him without
being shocked and subsequently stunned, so you'll have to get around
the capacitor and quickly hit him with an impact web before he recovers
(if you don't have Enhanced Strength, this takes forever, so I suggest
you use that power).
Repeat this process. Once he's lost half or more of his health, he'll
zip on over to the tower and heal himself; he'll have slightly more
than half his health back, but the antenna will also collapse.
COMIC ALERT (Hard): This is without question the hardest comic to get
in the entire game. Once the antenna has collapsed, return to that
tower, get onto the antenna, and run down to the edge to find comic
number 29, Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2, #2. Even if Hyper-Electro
was stunned when you came over, he'll recover in time to attack you
while you're on the antenna, and he'll follow you around. And if he
doesn't knock you off, one slip will take care of that for him.
Just keep repeating the process outlined above and Hyper-Electro will
finally be defeated (and shamefully fast on Kid Mode and Easy, I might
add). Spider-Man will celebrate his victory by paraphrasing one of Mel
Brooks' less successful movies, "Spaceballs." There's no accounting
for taste, I suppose, though it's amusing the first time. Now come the
credits (which are full of in-jokes that are frankly incomprehensible
to anyone except the people that wrote them and which bores me stiff--I
usually skip them).
BUGLE HEADLINE ALERT: Die here to get "Spider-Man and Electro."
WHAT IF MODE: Watch for a "surprise" when you defeat Hyper-Electro.
Without a doubt, Spider-Man 2 is front-loaded with a ton of extra
goodies. In fact, you have to play the game at least five times to
unlock everything (once on Kid Mode and Easy, two consecutive times on
either Normal or Hard, plus remembering to unlock the Prodigy costume).
Also, do remember that there's one Bugle Headline ("Spider-Ambush")
that cannot be unlocked without the help of a cheat code--once you've
honestly unlocked everything else in the Gallery (all the comics and
Portfolio pictures, plus all the other headlines), use the cheat
password to unlock that final headline, which can be saved to the
memory card.
A) Special
a) Cheat codes
These codes are all taken from Gamewinners.com and are copyright 2001
Al Amaloo. Enter them in the "cheats" menu (I hope that was obvious!)
and if you entered the cheat correctly, Stan Lee will yell "Excelsior!"
and the game will give you a message at the top of the screen telling
you what you unlocked. There are significantly fewer passwords this
time around.
Debug mode: "DRILHERE"
Whee! Bored? Tired of the same old display? Now you can bring up a
bunch of numbers to watch while playing the game. I'm not sure if this
actually does anything else at all. Cannot be saved to the memory
card.
Level select: "NONJYMNT" (hah!)
Want to skip ahead and see levels you haven't gotten to yet? Use this
password. You can only save the levels up to whatever the last save
point you've passed was via this method, and if you quit out before you
get to a save point, choosing to continue at the main menu will only
take you to Enter The Web-head. You cannot save all the levels to the
memory card with this password.
Programmer's High Scores: "VVHISCRS"
Want to see how quickly the programmers cleared the Challenge Sessions?
Use this password and find out. Compare your best scores to theirs.
Strangely, the same set of scores is recorded for both Kid Mode and
Normal.
Big Head Mode: "ALIEN"
Tired of looking at a normally proportioned Spider-Man? Use this
password and Spider-Man will have a head larger than most of the rest
of his body.
Big Feet Mode: "STACEYD"
Similar to Big Head Mode. If you enter the above password first, you
can use both passwords at once and have a Spider-Man that would
probably scare small children if he came up to them in the street.
What If Mode: "VVISIONS"
Are you really bored? Have you beaten the game four thousand times
already and need something to do? Do you like bananas and light bulbs?
Input this code and observe the disappointment that is What If Mode for
yourself. For this to work you have to either continue from "Enter The
Web-head" or start a new game from the beginning and play all the way
through the game--it cannot be saved to the memory card and will even
cancel itself out if you quit the game but leave it running.
Unlock All Training Levels: "CEREBRA"
In case the training levels are too hard for you or something, you can
use this to unlock all of them. Only for the very, very lazy. This
can be saved to the memory card.
Unlock All Costumes: "WASHMCHN"
Don't want to go to the effort to unlock all those costumes? Use this
code. This can be saved to the memory card. (What will you have for a
goal now, though?) This also automatically unlocks the "Create-A-
Spider" powers (for obvious reasons--if you've got all the suits,
you've got all the powers).
Unlock All Gallery Entries: "DRKROOM"
This is actually necessary if you're trying to unlock everything (see
above or read Section 6Ba for details). This can be saved to the
memory card.
Unlock Everything: "AUNTMAY"
This can also be saved to the memory card.
Swear Filter: This isn't strictly a cheat, and it also works at the
name entry screen, but this is as good a place to put it as any. Enter
any random bit of profanity and Spidey will pop up and change it to a
random non-sequitur like "TOFFEE," "CAKE," "ELEPHANT," etc.
The following fake passwords do nothing: "SUPERGOD" and "SPIDRHIST."
b) Costumes and Create-A-Spider powers
All costumes have the normal game powers. If no other power is listed,
that costume unlocks nothing. The powers each costume unlocks in
Create-A-Spider mode is listed after the costume name.
Spider-Man (power: normal game powers)
Unlock: Load the game.
Spider-Phoenix (powers: Invulnerability, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced
Web-Swing)
Unlock: Beat the game once on Hard.
Prodigy (powers: Enhanced Strength, Double Jump Height, Enhanced Web-
Swing)
Unlock: Beat at least 75 thugs in Attack Challenge Session (either
mode).
Dusk (power: Stealth)
Unlock: Collect all 32 comic books.
Insulated Suit (power: Enhanced Strength; power unique to suit: half
damage from lightning and electricity)
Unlock: Defeat the Lizard on any difficulty (including Kid Mode) using
only serum shots (see section 4R, Spidey Vs. Lizard, for more details)
Alex Ross--Red (power: Double Jump Height)
Unlock: Beat the Sandman (Spidey Vs. Sandman Again) on Hard.
Alex Ross--White (power: Enhanced Web Swing)
Unlock: Beat the game once on Kid Mode.
Venom 2--Earth X (power: Unlimited Webbing)
Unlock: Beat the game once on Normal.
Negative Zone (power: normal game powers only)
Unlock: On Smoke Screen (Normal), collect all four keys on one go and
insert them into the bomb before the original timer runs out.
Symbiote Spider-Man (power: Unlimited Webbing)
Unlock: Beat the game once on Easy.
Spider-Man 2099 (power: Enhanced Strength)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard (thanks
to eds for this info, which he found in the official book; I tested it
and it does work--previously I had thought it only worked on Hard).
Captain Universe (powers: Invulnerability, Enhanced Strength,
Unlimited Webbing)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard.
Spidey Unlimited (power: Stealth)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard.
Amazing Bag Man (power: Can Only Hold 2 Web Cartridges)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard.
Scarlet Spider (power: normal game powers)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard.
Ben Reilly (power: normal game powers)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard.
Quick Change Spidey (power: Can Only Hold 2 Web Cartridges)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard.
Peter Parker (power: Can Only Hold 2 Web Cartridges)
Unlock: Beat the game two consecutive times on Normal or Hard.
Battle Damaged (power: normal game powers)
Unlock: Beat Electro for the first time. (If Spidey is wearing his
original costume, it will automatically change to this one after Spidey
Vs. Electro.)
c) Level Select
Beat a level to unlock it in Level Select. Even though you can save
this to the memory card, it resets when you switch difficulties and you
have to beat every level all over again to keep them saved to the
memory card. Hey, I didn't program this thing.
B) Gallery:
a) Bugle Headlines:
"Captain America Foils Plot"
Unlock: Automatically appears before Enter The Web-head
"Warehouse Theft A Bust"
Unlock: Die on Spidey Vs. Shocker or let the fire reach the barrels
"Rolling Blackouts"
Unlock: Automatically appears after Spidey Vs. Shocker
"Spider-Man Apprehended"
Unlock: Die or let the plane be destroyed on Wind Tunnel
"Spider-Ambush"
Unlock: The only way to unlock this headline is with a cheat device or
the password "DRKROOM"--if you're unlocking everything honestly, make
sure to have all the other Gallery items first; it can be saved to the
memory card
"Spider-Man Unmasked"
Unlock: Die or miss the train on Catch That Train
"Blackouts Continue"
Unlock: Automatically appears after Catch That Train
"Ball Ruined 1"
Unlock: die on Spidey Vs. Hammerhead
"Ball Ruined 2"
Unlock: Appears automatically after Spidey Vs. Hammerhead
"Zeus Tear 1"
Unlock: die on Spidey Vs. Lizard, _not_ Spidey Vs. Sandman Again
"Zeus Tear 2"
Unlock: Automatically appears after Spidey Vs. Sandman Again
"Spider-Man And Electro" (my favorite of the headlines)
Unlock: Die on The Best Laid Plans
"Thor Saves The City"
Unlock: Automatically appears after The Best Laid Plans
b) Comic Collection:
In an effort to organize this quick reference guide a little, I've gone
by number, rather than level, followed by a brief description of how to
get the comic and the level and difficulty on which it appears.
1. Amazing Spider-Man #9: On top of the giant model of the Earth
(Spidey Vs. Electro, Normal).
2. Amazing Spider-Man #4: Stun Sandman with water, then climb the
building under construction and get on top of the crane (Spidey Vs.
Sandman Again, any difficulty).
3. Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (white cover): On the rooftop near the end
with four crates, web-yank the three on the left. They MUST be web-
yanked; simply breaking the crates won't work (Enter The Web-head, any
difficulty).
4. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2, #13: On the rooftop to the left of the
last building (Burglary Interrupted, Normal).
5. Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2, #16: Underneath the Porta-Potty
next to the construction trailers (Spidey Vs. Sandman Again, Easy).
6. Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2, #22: Hit all seven of the
switches in the level. Once back inside the roundhouse, check behind
the train sitting in front of the No. 3 door (Heart Of Darkness,
Normal).
7. Amazing Spider-Man #21: Underneath the photocopier near the
beginning of the second floor (Gangland, any difficulty).
8. Spider-Man #25: Find a way to get underneath the very first
walkway, then use L1 Targeting to find the pinkish alcove down below in
the central shaft and swing to it. (Mission: Spidey, Hard)
9. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2, #29: Destroy all three of the machine
guns in the second half of the level, then return to the nearest end of
the suspension bridge. (Rooftops By Night, Hard)
10. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2, #30: After you've finished the boiler
puzzle, climb up the ramp and check the catwalk. (Spidey In The
Machine, Easy)
11. Spider-Man #38: On the top balcony of the antenna, between two of
the generators. (The Best Laid Plans, Kid Mode)
12. Amazing Spider-Man #44: Do the serum puzzle. Do NOT pick up the
first serum cartridge. Instead, run to the third room. (Spidey Vs.
Lizard, Hard)
13. Amazing Spider-Man #46: Inside the flames behind the Shocker at
the start of the fight. (Spidey Vs. Shocker, Hard)
14. Spectacular Spider-Man #66: On one of the ledges at the back of
the very first building. (The Gauntlet, Hard)
15. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #85: At the very start of the level,
pick up the barrel to your left. (Warehouse 66, Easy)
16. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #90: Once you've webbed one of the
plane's engines, return to the very first area and look under the
netting. (Wind Tunnel, Normal)
17. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #92: Pick up the crate sitting by the
rear fence on the left side of the hangar. (Hangar 18, Kid Mode)
18. Web Of Spider-Man #100: In the courtyard, pick up the trashcan
that sits kitty-corner to a brick apartment building, across from the
white office building. (Burglary Interrupted, Kid Mode)
19. Amazing Spider-Man #114: Head into the area from which Hammerhead
emerges. Jump onto the bar and pick up each of the signs. (Spidey Vs.
Hammerhead, Hard)
20. Spectacular Spider-Man #157: Sitting right out on the walkway to
Area 2. (In Darkest Night, Easy)
21. Amazing Spider-Man #185: Follow the lower ledge around the back
of the third building. (To Catch A Thief, any difficulty)
22. Spectacular Spider-Man #197: On top of the crane that is hoisting
the girder. (Enter The Web-head, Easy)
23. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 2001 Annual: Behind the golden Buddha
statue in the side-room on the opposite side of the level from the
entrance. (Konichi-wa, Spider-san, Easy)
24. Amazing Spider-Man #217: On the back of the very last laser
detector tower (The Gauntlet, Easy)
25. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21: After finishing all the puzzles,
return to the air duct and go back to where the health was (in front of
the fan). (Spidey In The Machine, Kid Mode)
26. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (alternate cover): After finishing
all the puzzles, return to the very first walkway. (Mission: Spidey,
Normal)
27. Spectacular Spider-Man #220: After saving the hostage in the
elevator, return to the entrance of the level. (Gangland, Hard)
28. Spectacular Spider-Man #258: At the beginning of the Ice Age
area, look for an alcove showing a wooly mammoth skeleton. (Rock Of
Ages, Normal)
29. Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2, #2: Once Hyper-Electro has
collapsed the antenna, climb onto it and run to the tip. (The Best
Laid Plans, Hard)
30. Amazing Spider-Man #422: On the hood of the car sticking out of
the wall, near the top of the level. (Rock Of Ages, Easy)
31. Amazing Spider-Man #425: On the back of the central tower guarded
by four laser turrets. (The Gauntlet, Normal)
32. Amazing Spider-Man #341: Reach the third area and climb to the
top without hitting either switch. Look for a ledge with a grating
behind it, just below the top platform. (The Corkscrew, Normal)
c) Character Viewer list
All of the characters in the character viewer list appear automatically
during the course of the game. Finishing the game will pretty much
automatically give you all the character profiles. Here's a list of
all of them, along with the point where the appear in the viewer:
Character Appears
--------- -------
1. Spider-Man start
2. Henchman Enter The Web-head
3. Hired Goon Rooftops By Night
4. Shocker Spidey Vs. Shocker
5. Mercenary Smoke Screen
6. Train Yard Guard In Darkest Night
7. Sandman Catch That Train
8. Gangster Gangland
9. Hammerhead Spidey Vs. Hammerhead
10. Flying Drone Spidey In The Machine
11. Rolling Drone Mission: Spidey
12. Scout Drone Spidey In The Machine
13. The Lizard Spidey Vs. Lizard
14. Animatronic Samurai Konichi-wa, Spider-san
15. Electro Spidey Vs. Electro
16. Hyper-Electro The Best Laid Plans
17. Dr. Watts FMV: "The Needle"
18. Rogue start
19. Professor Xavier start
20. Beast start
d) Movies and storyboards
Unlike the first game, where you couldn't unlock the storyboards until
you'd beaten the game for the first time, in this game you unlock each
storyboard after you've seen the appropriate movie (so, when you see
the "Manners" FMV, the storyboard will also appear in its viewer).
There are 25 movies and 23 storyboards (there are no storyboards for
"Vicarious Visions Intro" or "Previously On Spider-Man"). Here's a
complete list of movies, along with info on where they appear in the
game. (This list can also be used for the Storyboards.)
Movies Appears
------ -------
1. Vicarious Visions Intro start
2. Previously On Spider-Man start
3. Prologue before Enter The Web-head
4. The City before Burglary Interrupted
5. Warehouse 66 before Warehouse 66
6. Manners before Spidey Vs. Shocker
7. Shockers Defeat after Spidey Vs. Shocker
8. City Rooftops before Smoke Screen
9. Police Ambush before Hangar 18
10. Hangar 18 before Wind Tunnel
11. Daring Rescue after Wind Tunnel
12. Darkness Falls before Catch That Train
13. A Hero No Longer after Catch That Train
14. Interlude before Gangland
15. The Needle before Spidey Vs. Hammerhead
16. The Plot Thickens after Spidey Vs. Hammerhead
17. Sneaking In before Spidey In The Machine
18. Mad Reptile before Spidey Vs. Lizard
19. Repentance after Spidey Vs. Lizard
20. Spidey To The Rescue before Spidey Vs. Sandman Again
21. Down The Drain after Spidey Vs. Sandman Again
22. Boss... Look! after Spidey Vs. Sandman Again
23. Spidey Monogatori before Konichi-wa, Spider-san
24. Ascension before The Best Laid Plans
25. Epilogue after The Best Laid Plans
e) Parker's Portfolio
Every time you beat a boss level on a difficulty for the first time,
you unlock a Parker's Portfolio picture. (The levels are, for the
record, Spidey Vs. Shocker, Spidey Vs. Hammerhead, Spidey Vs. Lizard,
Spidey Vs. Sandman Again, Spidey Vs. Electro, and The Best Laid Plans.)
Beating Kid Mode and Easy will earn you 12 pictures by Kaare Andrews;
beating Normal will earn 6 pictures by Mark Bagley; and, best of all,
beating Hard will earn 6 beautiful black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings
by John Romita, Sr., one of the all-time great Spidey artists.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
7: Bugs And Gaffes (and a trick!)
Here's a brief collection of Spider-Man 2 "fun fact" garbage.
Actually, it's more like a compendium of embarrassing mistakes on the
behalf of the programmers, whose only previous efforts were on the Game
Boy Color--cut them some slack, OK?
--On rare occasions, Spider-Man will fall through the floor of the
level and the level will reset itself. This has happened to me twice,
on Spidey Vs. Lizard and Konichi-wa, Spider-san.
--In What If Mode, on the Spidey In The Machine level, the CPU paddle
in the "Paddle Battle" game sometimes stops dead for no apparent reason
(pausing the game restarts it). (Note: According to Al Amaloo's note
at Gamewinners.com, you can also play the game outside of What If mode
by crawling through the laser grid and disabling the fans without
disabling the laser grid first, then going back out and heading to the
computer that normally disables the laser grid--and where you would
play the paddle game in What If mode. I cannot get this to work and
I'm inclined to think that it's a bunch of hooey. I don't believe that
you can get past the laser grid this way.)
--The "Spider-Ambush" headline cannot be legitimately unlocked without
the use of a cheat device or password. This may or may not be related
to the overhaul the game underwent after Sept. 11th, because it
apparently can't be unlocked in the original version, either. I now
have a theory about this (don't I always). The other headlines (with
the exception of the first one and the Zeus Tear headlines, which are
gotten on two different levels) are always paired on a level--dying
gives you one headline, winning gives you another. The EXCEPTION to
this is "Spider-Man Apprehended"--no headline comes up after you finish
Wind Tunnel/Crash Flight. I believe that "Spider-Ambush" was
originally intended to come up here and, for whatever reason, this was
not implemented in the final code.
--Occasionally, while crawling on a perfectly flat surface and without
the camera changing direction, the controls will reverse themselves;
letting go of the pad or stick usually solves the problem.
--In the storyboard for the "Repentance" FMV, Curt Connors has both his
arms (this was fixed in the movie). (And, why does Bio-Tech's layout
in the "Prologue" FMV match the layout in The Gauntlet even though it
doesn't match the ground-level layout of Burglary Interrupted?)
--Not only is there no character profile for the Beetle, he completely
disappears from the game after the "Interlude" FMV, where he is shown
among Hammerhead's gang.
--And of course here's the most frustrating bug of all--in many,
perhaps even most copies of the game, the method to unlock the
Insulated Suit will not work on the first try, requiring you to restart
the level. In fact, further testing and fooling around has shown me
that you STILL won't get it on the second try if you never threw any
serum shots at the Lizard on the first--you have to try once, fail,
then restart. I don't get it.
--Ishaan Sahdev says that he got a form of Impact webbing by pressing
kick + web at the same time. This does work... but in Neversoft's
original Spider-Man (or at least the Dreamcast version, which is the
one I happen to own), NOT Spider-Man 2. You sent your tip to the wrong
FAQ author, my friend! I was moved in this direction by eds, who kind
of danced around the matter before admitting that he was wrong. (A big
kick in the pants for you, my friend.) This is why I could only get ye
olde overhead web-swing (albeit a wonked-out version) to work with this
trick. I'm leaving this in solely so no one else bothers me about it.
--A bug that won't contribute to high blood pressure problems was sent
in by John Q. Jones: His son Andrew discovered that, on Spidey Vs.
Sandman Again, if you use the web shield near the girders of the
collapsing building (if I remember this right--I lost the e-mail,
unfortunately), a remainder of it will follow Spidey around for the
rest of the fight! (This is similar to a bug I saw while playing a
rented version of the N64 Spider-Man on the "Subway" level.) I got
this to work several weeks ago and it's a lot of fun to watch, if a bit
bizarre.
--Surprise! Here's a trick for anyone who has bothered to read all the
way through this FAQ: In the Character Viewer, highlight Spider-Man
and press all four shoulder buttons (L1 + L2 + R1 + R2). You'll see
Spidey's textures fade, and he'll become a wire-frame model. Press the
same buttons again to turn him back to normal. It won't work with any
other character, but it will work in the Costume and Create-A-Spider
menus. Just a little "surprise" for readers of this unofficial
maintenance update. (This was contributed to Gamewinners.com by
Danial86.)
--A worthless bit of trivia: Both Rino Romano and Jennifer Hale were
also featured as voice actors in the short-lived "Spider-Man Unlimited"
cartoon series, and Hale also did the voice of the Black Cat in the
superior 1990s "Spider-Man: The Animated Series." Romano, of course,
was the voice of Spidey.
--Probably almost all of you have noticed this, but when you select Kid
Mode, you'll hear a random voice clip from one of the voice actors,
including Stan Lee--and when you select Hard, you'll hear Stan Lee
exclaim, "'Nuff said!"
--CJayC, the second hardest-working man in show business (after Soul
Brother Number One), for running the GameFAQs site in the face of a
crippling workload and almost certain Carpal Tunnel syndrome
--the nice people at psxcodez.com and cheatcc.com, who now also host
this FAQ...
--and Chris at Cheat Happens (www.cheathappens.com), for making it a
"pick of the day"
--Beno Jange, for contributing the very cool ASCII logo that now sits
proudly atop this file
--Lapin Kulta's Comic Book FAQ, without which I would probably have
never found those last 9 stupid comics
--whitespy 12, for the post which finally helped me figure out how to
get that Insulated Suit--
--and Anthony K. Ariano, who reminded me that I hadn't mentioned that
the Lizard won't lose health from his energy bar in the process
--Ishaan Sahdev, for discovering that funky webbing trick--for the
wrong game, unfortunately
--John and Andrew, for the Spidey Vs. Sandman Again trick
--F-Rott, for getting the Insulated Suit on Easy--and getting me to
realize that it would be possible to earn it on other difficulties
--Gamewinners.com, from which I took the cheat passwords, including the
ones that do absolutely nothing
--eds, for moral support and various other kicks in the pants
--the many readers who took the time and trouble to send in their
comments to me; you all know who you are, and your input was
appreciated
--my brother, Mark, for lending me the game and not complaining when I
held onto it for weeks on end to write this FAQ (I've got my own now,
see?!)
--and you, for reading this FAQ, unless you didn't like it, in which
case I won't thank you, so nyah.
