The best Spider-Man games are guaranteed to deliver big action, a lot of laughs, and a little heartbreak. That's the price you pay when you take on the role of Peter Parker throughout the multiverse.
While there's naturally a lot of focus these days on the trio of Spidey games from Insomniac, the character does have a rich history in the video game industry. That's no surprise since if you're familiar with any of the best Spider-Man comics or the Marvel timeline, then you know this hero's abilities were made to star in adventure and action games alike.
What you'll find below is our ranking of the best Spider-Man games, including the ranking of Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Whether you're after something new for PS5 or for a little retro throwback, many of these titles should be considered among the best Marvel games and best superhero games out there. So keep on reading to find our pick of the 10 best Spider-Man games of all time!
10. Spider-Man: The Movie
Release Date: 2002
Platform(s): GameCube, PS2, Xbox
If licensed video games had a bad reputation in the '00s, don't even get us started on movie-tie-ins! And yet, despite all of this, Spider-Man: The Movie was a surprisingly good time. You get Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe reprising their roles as Spider-Man and Green Goblin, you get a little Bruce Campbell – who narrates the tutorial in phenomenal fashion – and you get some solid combat and boss battles.
It's telling that the success of this game would push Treyarch to become the lead developer on Activision's Spider-Man games for six years, before ultimately getting a shot at the Call of Duty franchise with 2008's World at War. It also helps that the film it was based on is still one of the best Spider-Man movies as well.
9. The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin
Release Date: 1990
Platform(s): Mega CD
One of the great shames of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras is that developers didn't really know what to do with Spider-Man. Atari, Paragon, and Rare put in solid efforts, but Sega proved it had the best handle on the character. Released for the Sega CD, The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin wasn't a brainless brawler but a pretty ahead-of-its-time adventure game.
Spidey was able to wall-crawl, web-sling, and even spend a little time on a more open-ended level – all fairly revolutionary for the time. It also looked fantastic, had a great soundscape, and some pretty enjoyable combat mechanics. It's a fun throwback, even today.
8. Spider-Man: The Video Game
Release Date: 1991
Platform(s): Arcade
This is one of those quintessential arcade games. The sort that burrowed into the brain, leaving a generation of kids believing that this was the pinnacle of not only Spider-Man games – but superhero games in general. 16 different stages, a story that had you battling everybody from the Sinister Six through to Fantastic Four's Doctor Doom, and a four-player co-op that featured Black Cat, Hawkeye, and Sub-Mariner.
Spider-Man games have come a long way since 1991, but Spider-Man: The Video Game is such a pure, joyful expression of the character and the broader Marvel universe he inhabits. Oh, and it looks utterly gorgeous as well; such is the power of the Sega System 32 board.
7. Spider-Man
Release Date: 2000
Platform(s): PS1
Between the development of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, developer Neversoft snuck out a truly ahead-of-its-time Spider-Man game. Okay, so it seems primitive by today's standards, but Spider-Man was the genesis of the way the character is seen in video games today.
It convincingly brought Spidey into a 3D space, and the extra space afforded by the PlayStation CDs meant that we got a properly wise-cracking Peter Parker. It's full of personality and solid combat and really showed the potential for the character outside of the simplistic side-scrolling brawlers he had been relegated to headlining in prior years.
6. Ultimate Spider-Man
Release Date: 2005
Platform(s): PC, GameCube, PS2, Xbox
The cel-shaded suits that appeared in Marvel's Spider-Man from Insomniac are extremely cool, but did you know you could play a whole game like that? Often forgotten, owing to its release date falling in the year the Xbox 360 launched and fewer than 12 months after Spider-Man 2 blew everybody's socks off, but it's truly one of the best Spider-Man games of all time.
Treyarch did a fantastic job bringing a younger Peter Parker to life and an even better job delivering such a phenomenal-looking cel-shaded world. The boss battles held it back from true greatness, but Ultimate Spider-Man did a fantastic job of capturing the vibe and style of the comic books it was drawn from.
5. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Release Date: 2010
Platform(s): PC, PS2, Xbox 360
If you're a fan of Into the Spiderverse, you might want to check out Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Released in 2010, developer Beenox made the controversial decision to make a more linear adventure – ditching the open world and, subsequently, the web swinging. This meant Shattered Dimensions was able to step out from the long shadow cast by Spider-Man 2 and take a more focused approach, giving you control over four different Spider-Men voiced by four incredible actors.
There is Amazing Spider-Man (Neil Patrick Harris), Spider-Man Noir (Christopher Daniel Barnes), Spider-Man 2099 (Dan Gilvezan), and Ultimate Spider-Man (Josh Keaton). The pacing and style of play shifted to better emphasize each hero's particular strengths; it was just a really good time.
4. Spider-Man 2
Release Date: 2004
Platform(s): PS2, GameCube, Xbox
It may seem a little outdated by today's standards, but Spider-Man 2 was once the pinnacle of licensed games. This 2004 classic nailed the web-swinging across what was, at the time, a pretty revolutionary open world. If you go back to it now, there's still a lot to love.
There's a charm to its presentation and structure, its boss battles are excellent, and real joy to be had in the feeling of movement and momentum it conveys. Spider-Man 2 was so damned good that it would take over a decade before another video game developer was able to clear the high benchmark set out by Treyarch here.
3. Marvel's Spider-Man
Release Date: 2018
Platform(s): PS5, PS4
When Insomniac set out to make a modern Spider-Man game, it had the weight of Spider-Man 2 on its shoulders. The 2004 release was the best of an old era of licensed games, and few believed that the Ratchet & Clank studio would be able to topple it… and then we played it, and realized we hadn't seen anything yet. Swinging around this digital recreation of New York City is exhilarating, enthralling, and utterly enchanting.
It's the version of Spider-Man you grew up reading in the pages of comic books that the movies kinda-sorta brought to life, only now you're in full control of the misadventures of Peter Parker. Marvel's Spider-Man is pure joy. In fact, it's long been counted among our pick of the best PS4 games, and with good reason.
RELATED: Marvel's Spider-Man review: "About as good as superhero gaming gets"
2. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Release Date: 2020
Platform(s): PS5, PS4
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is as close to a perfect Spider-Man game as there is right now. Insomniac Games took everything that worked with its 2019 effort and refined it, improving on the core set of combat, stealth, and web-slinging systems, all while cutting the chaff.
The result is an excellent adventure that excels in building forward momentum – reflected in the way you're able to soar through the snowy streets of New York or the way you are pushed through a heartfelt story from the perspective of Spidey protégé Miles Morales.
RELATED: Spider-Man: Miles Morales review: "A great demonstration of what the PS5 can do"
1. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Release date: 2023
Platform(s): PS5
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 isn't just the best Spider-Man game of all-time, it's also one of the best PS5 games out there right now. Following on from its success with 2018's Spider-Man and its web-swinging expansion, Insomniac worked smartly to build on solid foundations.
The result is a faster, slicker, and more explosive sequel which has you grapple with the colliding worlds of Peter Parker and Miles Morales over an expanded New York City. This cinematic action game is the ultimate Spider-Man roleplay experience, and should not be ignored be any web-heads out there.
RELATED: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 review: "Quite simply the best superhero game yet"
Looking for more? Be sure to check out our list of all the upcoming Marvel games on the near horizon.
