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One of the later entries into the Genesis foray-not the best

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: January 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Maximum Carnage (released in late 1994) is a shallow kicky-punchy game akin to Streets of Rage, but much more dismal. As you might have expected, it features Spider Man in a variety of situations battling Carnage (the evil half-human half-alien symbiont). Spiderman is assisted by his arch-nemesis Venom and an array of Marvel Superheroes who make cameo appearances as one-time use special items ( for example, when you activate a Firestar item, she descends from the top of the screen and fires at the enemies during her flyby). Although the game's characters have a limited series of moves, they all look too laughable to be described as "useful". Likewise, the only items available are health, lives, and continues. If worked properly, this can lead to a hard, but enjoyable game (X-Men, on Genesis), but in this case EVERYTHING IS SIMILARLY GENERIC! You battle 8 varieties of enemies in innumerable but unfailingly similar stages, frequently dying due to the unbalanced gameplay and horrid controls. Each time you face the bosses, you face the exactly same villains (Shriek, Carnage, Doppleganger and Hobgoblin, to be specific - all of them at once). Unless all you can enjoy is mindless games like this, avoid Maximum Carnage at all costs.

If you think that this is a good game then you seriously need your head examined

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: February 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you think that this is a good game then you seriously need your head examined

I can honestly say I've yet to play a good Spider-Man game. For all the hype, good reviews and people willing to pay the big bucks over this one, I thought it was sure to be the best. How disappointed I was to discover it's one of the blandest and boring beat-em-ups ever.

You begin playing as Spidey (but can later change to Venom if you wish) and you go about tiresome duties beating up generic thugs on the streets of Manhattan. Every thug looks the same and you'll end up punching to death the same guy a billion times (more so for those infuriating end of level bosses). The crap music is the same on every level. Apparently the game has 'additional music' by some band called Green Jelly, who I have never heard of. I assume they must be some none-hit wonder grunge band from Seattle back when all that was new. And quite what exactly they contributed to the game is a mystery as there are only 2 tracks in total (level music and boss music).

There is some plot going on but I couldn't follow it. The comic-book cut -scenes look terrible and the writing is too small to read. Plus the are very slow and add too much time between the boring levels.

The controls and gameplay are dire. There's no fluent movement or grace in the fighting. It's all just an annoying mess and terribly programmed. If you can bear to stay with the game until level 2 you'll know what I mean. It was so rage-inducing I almost gritted my teeth into dust and chucked the controls into the TV.

Stay well away from this horrible game. As a beat-em-up it stinks. As a Spidey game it stinks. It just plain reeks overall.

Graphics C
Sound D
Gameplay D
Lasting Appeal F

Maximum Carnage

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

BAsically this game is just a sidescroller. But it's the best damn sidescroller you're gonna play. Starring Spider-Man, and allowing you to be Venom, you can absolutely destroy all opposition and swing from webs. (Tres Cool) The only downside is it's a looong game and without a save feature or passwords you have to sit down in one marathon session to ever beat the game. Very rewarding though. I gotta say this is my favourite game of all time.

Maximum fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

In this game, you must play as Spider-man and/or Venom and defeat the psychotic Carnage and his band of super villains. Along the way, you get help from characters such as Captain America and Firestar. The graphics are great and the moving comic strips pull the story along in a flowing manner. A must have for any Spider-man or Marvel fan.

Arguably the best Spider-Man game of the sixteen-bit era

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage.

INTRODUCTION:
In recent years, the Spider-Man franchise has gotten a huge revival, due in no small part to the recent theatrical films. Hard to believe that the character Stan Lee created circa 1962 that everyone thought would be a total flop has become one of the most popular superheroes of all time! With this resurgenge in Spidey's popularity, I thought it might be a good idea to go back and check out his video game adventures. One of the games I decided to re-explore was Maximum Carnage. This game was actually the first exposure to Spider-Man I ever got, and accordingly, what ultimately got be into the franchise. I was looking forward to re-exploring it. So, does it stand the test of time? Read on for my review!

OVERVIEW:
This game was released in the mid nineties. The storyline involves, as the title implies, the villain Carnage. Carnage is the union of murderer Cletus Cassidy with the offspring of the alien symboite that initally became Venom. Spider-Man must join forces with his foe Venom, so that the two of them can put a stop to this greater threat. Maximum Carnage a one-player side-scrolling beat-em-up game, with no saves or passwords.

REVIEW:
After the mediocre piece of junk called Arcade's Revenge, Spider-Man finally got a game worthy of his name. Maximum Carnage is quite possibly the best of all the sixteen-bit Spidey adventures. The game is a side-scrolling beat-em-up fighter, reminiscent of Capcom's classic Final Fight series. Although you can only play as Spidey at first, later the game gives you a choice of Spider-Man or Venom, with Venom being slower and more powerful and Spidey being less powerful and faster. The heroes have the powers you've come to know and love them for, too, establishing this as more than just a cheap cash-in with the Spider-Man name attached. My only complaints are that the game is only one player, the game play is a bit repetitive at times, and that there are no saves or passwords. Other than that, this is one of the best Spider-Man games out there. If you've got a system this game is available on, BUY THIS GAME. Even if you're not a Spider-Man fan, the game may draw you in - It's THIS GAME that got me into Spider-Man in the first place!

EDITION NOTES:
As an older game, this one is long out of print. Fortunately, in this day and age, there are a lot of used game shops out there with an abundance of used games for older systems. Accordingly, if you want to get this game, chances are one of those stores will have it for a decent price.

OVERALL:
Let me sum everything up. If you want a good Spider-Man adventure from the sixteen-bit era, look no further than Maximum Carnage. THIS is the way a Spider-Man game should be - fun, challenging, and uniquely Spidey. Do you have a system that this game is available for? If you answered yes to that question, there's no reason not to own this game.

A great game but too many of these kinds of games exist

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 30, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is a good game which I still find fun to play. The only problem with it is that too many of these "beat people up while you are walking down the street" games exist. I think this is one of the best games in it's class. It just came out so late that people had already played too many games like it already.

One of the better comic licensed games of the 16 bit era

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: April 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When you look at the painstakingly long list of comic licensed games that were released for the 16-bit systems of years ago, most were basically just walk from left to right while beating up countless generic villians in a game which lacks any kind of spirit or feel of the comic it is based from and is pretty much Streets of Rage with a comic license attached to it (notably most of which were published by Acclaim or one of their other publishing divisions). Maximum Carnage is based on the mid-nineties massive event that took place in the Spider-Man comics in which Spidey had to team up with Venom to take on Carnage in a ravaged New York. In the game, you can play as Spidey or Venom, and you pretty much do all as I described above, and thats about it. Almost none of these games had any kind of save feature, and Maximum Carnage is one of these games, and it is a painstakingly long game to finish and does offer some high difficulty. Maximum Carnage's few saving graces are the game's music provided by Green Jelly (although it sounds a bit generic at times considering the Genesis didn't have the best soundchip imaginable) and the fluid and colorful graphics. There are a few guest appearances from other heroes (Firestar, Captain America) and you've got some tough villians in Carnage, Shreik, Doppleganger, and Demogoblin, but other than that Maximum Carnage is only a bit better than the heap of comic licensed 16-bit beat 'em ups.

OK game..!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: July 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I gave this game 5 stars. Why? I'm partial to the guy in the spider suit! I find meaningless dribble that just take up time, such as side scrolling bash'n'beat games (The Punisher, Streets of Rage, ect) fun at times. This game teams you up with Spiderman and Venom. Both characters have the same talents, but it's fun to play a bad guy for once! It's a good waste of time. Really.

Maximum Carnage Rules

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: December 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage is a very fun game to play. I love this game i am a huge spidey fan. I was looking for the super nintendo version of this game thats because thats what i have. But these guys don't have it on thier list so i'm accualy reviewing the super nintendo version of the game and it rules. i have not played the sega one yet but i will. Have fun playing both versions of the game.

If you liked this game check out all the cool spidey stuff out there.

Carnage Rules!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got this game at early Augest and all I can say is... SWEEEETTTTT!!!!
I don't care if the Super Nintendo version has better sound and graphes this game blows the Super Nintendo version out the water!! And when your done with this game play the sequel Separation Anxiety but thats a different story. Buy this game!!

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