Insomniac Games garnered considerable hype when it announced that Marvel’s Spider-Man would be coming to PlayStation 4 this September. Spider-Man has been adapted into video game form many times, but only a few entries have really captured what it is to be the red and blue wall-crawler.

Despite strong material to pull inspiration from, some Spider-Man games are mediocre or outright bad. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, is a generic 3D beat-em-up in which Spider-Man fights alongside Green Goblin and Venom. While it’s a novel concept, the execution is similar to the Spider-Man 3 movie — disappointing. Meanwhile The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game is at the same level of quality as the movie it’s based on, which is plain awful.

Before booting up Marvel’s Spider-Man this Fall, here’s three games that all fans of the web-swinging hero should play.

The Father: Spider-Man (2000, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PC, MAC)

Developed by Neversoft Entertainment — known for the original run of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games — this was the first Spider-Man game to feature 3D graphics, which were still fairly new at the time. Sporting narration from the hero’s co-creator Stan Lee, Spider-Man attempts to clear his name of a crime he didn’t commit. He fights a rogues gallery of popular villains including Venom, Doctor Octopus and Rhino.

The 3D animated graphics are a relic of their time. There are a considerable number of blocky character models whose faces look pasted-on, but all the designs, characters and locations remain faithful to the comics on which they’re based. In spite of the technical limitations, every character, color and locale feels distinct and well-crafted.

But those limitations didn’t get in the way of making a fun platformer. Spider-Man runs, jumps, swings and crawls just like fans would imagine. Combat in the game boils down to one-dimensional button mashing, but Spidey’s web powers add a new dimension to the combat. Limited ammunition for web-shooters adds tension to the combat, forcing players to be stingy when they run low. Spider-Man is the only game on this list that includes this feature, and is a grossly under-explored facet of our hero’s other games.

Despite the many limitations of the late-nineties, Neversoft managed to craft an action-packed 3D platformer that was a hit with fans and critics alike. This game set the bar high for future Spider-Man games.

The Son: Spider-Man 2 (2004, Playstation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC)

Before Treyarch introduced Nazi Zombies to the Call of Duty franchise, it worked on all three of the movie tie-in games for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy. Released in 2004, Spider-Man 2 introduced an open New York City to explore and the ability to manually web-swing. These features, plus run-ins with classic villains such as Doctor Octopus and Mysterio made this the standard to hold all future Spider-Man games. Considering that this company would contribute to one of the most successful franchises in the history of gaming, it comes as no surprise that its work on these games was worthy of note.

What isn’t worthy of note is this game’s ugly graphics. Even for 2004, this game is tough to look at. Character’s faces look like they were pulled straight from Spider-Man (2000) and the character models — aside from Spider-Man and the major villains — look blocky and awkward. Granted, it must have been a challenge to render a massive city like New York and inhabit it with non-player characters, but for a time that boasts some beautiful games, this is subpar.

Where the graphics fail, the gameplay shines. For the first time in a Spider-Man game, players can swing around Manhattan’s buildings. No longer did Spider-Man’s web just randomly attach to somewhere in the sky — now there’s actual player skill involved in quickly getting to the next mission or chasing bad guys. Even if there isn’t much to do in the game, the freeform web swinging is more than enough to engage players for some high-velocity hours.

The Holy Ghost: Ultimate Spider-Man (2005, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC)

A year after Spider-Man 2, Treyarch returned with Ultimate Spider-Man. Based heavily on the comic series of the same name by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, the game follows the wall-crawler as he navigates his teenage and superhero lives. Venom and Trask Industries are the main villains, but Green Goblin, Shocker, Electro and others stop in. Ultimate Spider-Man tells a more personal story, exploring the history of Peter Parker’s parents and their mysterious deaths.

Easily the best looking of these three games, Ultimate Spider-Man takes on a cartoony aesthetic, sporting cell-shaded graphics similar to Borderlands. It’s a stylized take on Spider-Man. The bright colors pop and the darker shades — like Venom’s suit or New York’s night skyline — create a beautiful contrast to the brightness of Spider-Man or the Human Torch, who makes a cameo appearance.

The game functions similarly to Spider-Man 2, and Treyarch effectively revived its web-swinging system. Who can blame them? The usual beat-em-up elements and webbing enemies are all standard at this point. What really sets this game apart are the Venom levels, where players use his immense strength and tentacle-esque powers to fight his enemies. In addition, Venom has to consume his enemies in order to regain health, a terrifying and visually engaging mechanic.

The game’s only major issue is its loose controls. It’s a fast-paced game, and players  often sprints past turns by accident. It’s far too easy to lose control during crucial gameplay moments, like when chasing an enemy or racing the clock.

Read our review of ‘Super Mario Odyssey.’

Ultimate utilizes the best aspects of the two previous games: it has the color and lighthearted vibe of Spider-Man (2000) with the phenomenal web swinging and open world gameplay of Spider-Man 2. Unfortunately there hasn’t been a Spider-Man game since that captured the essence of feeling like the wall-crawler. The Amazing Spider-Man games came close with their own take on web-swinging, and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions introduced multiple versions of the character from different universes. But none of these games captured the fun spirit of Spider-Man and his abilities.

We can only hope that the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man will be able to bring together all of the core elements — tight controls, open-world web swinging and fun gameplay — needed to make a great Spider-Man game.

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