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The evil Mysterio is holding Spidey's wife, Mary-Jane, hostage in the Rockwell Film Studios. Your friendly neighbourhood web-slinger immediately goes to the rescue. But the route to Mysterio's lair is filled with traps and plenty of energy-draining nasties. Spidey can temporarily freeze these by firing webs which he can also swing from and climb up. Most times though, he simply walks up the wall!

Apart from various creatures, the main obstacle to Spidey's progress are the barriers and doors which can only be opened by finding the relevant switches. However, some traps - like electrified floors and spikes - are also activated by switches. Additional hazards include slippery and magnetic surfaces, as well as holographic illusions.

After Empire's last Marvel game - the appalling Dr. Doom's Revenge (48%/26% Issue 60) - Spider-man is an improvement, but not much.

The webbed wonder is made to look ridiculous, a tiny sprite who crawls over furniture rather than walk past it and regularly falls head-first onto the floor - if it wasn't so hilarious it'd break any Marvel fan's heart!

Gameplay-wise, it's simply a matter of exploring, switching switches and webbing the odd creature. Not awful, but hardly marvellous.

Presentation 44% Nice 'Spidey Quiz' security system, good loading screen, control options, single load after options selected.

Graphics 38% Tiny sprites, most of them poorly animated, on spartan backgrounds.

Sound 44% Okay title tune, sparse in-game FX.

Hookability 38% Uninspiring and sluggish start...

Lastability 44% ...but if switch-puzzles are your kind of thing, there's a big game here for you.

Overall 42% A sluggish puzzle game fails to capture Spidey's charm.

Presentation 58% Cartoon strip intro. Save game.

Graphics 38% The addition of dull backgrounds doesn't really give a 16-bit feel.

Sound 47% Good title tune, okay in-game FX.

Hookability 38% Same as C64.

Lastability 40% Same as C64.

Overall 40% Uhm, a dull C64 game really.