In September 2001, about six months after Castlevania: Circle of the Moon first hit shelves in Japan, Spider-Man: Mysterio's made its way to North American stores. While the entire game isn't resemblant of Castlevania in the way that Shaman King: Master of Spirits 1 & 2 are (missed the article? read it here, the final stage dives into that gothic hell of a world we CV fans call home.

Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace is like Shaman King: Master of Spirits 1 & 2 and the earlier Castlevanias as well as Order of Ecclesia in that one selects levels from a map, the stages being various parts of New York City, but relates more to the earlier Castlevanias in its use of passwords rather than a save function. Mysterio's Menace is a 2D sidescroller like any other self-respecting platform game, though ahead of its time in that enemies have to attack Spidey to hurt you instead of merely by making physical contact (we all know the dangers of the pacing left-and-right character sprite!).

Now one starts with three stages to choose from, unlocking more to get seven in all. It's the last stage that we're interested in. It begins in a carnival setting with clowns walking about and impeding our blue-and-red protagonist from reaching the next section, when one is presented with what looks to be a haunted house and enters from the front.

The walls, floors and ceilings have a rocky texture to them that brings Circle of the Moon's catacombs to mind. One meets skeletons of white- and red-colored bone makeup, passing coffins and corridors lit by dim candlelight, avoiding classic traps like spikes, fire, buzzsaws, and areas where the bottom isn't in immediate sight and one must guess where to fall (one area has you guess where to drop, then making your web-swingin' way through a spikey corridor full of twists and turns where one wrong move means instant death, but by beating one acquires the Symbiote Suit).

Don't let this be perceived as a completely classical experience (they didn't have buzzsaws when Simon Belmont made his legendary pose behind
the dusty gates, but then, they didn't really have Frankenstein yet either, did they?) - things like soda machines and still more clowns remind you this is the 21st century.

All in all, a fun little romp for admirers of the dark mood present in Drac's castle. And after this? The final battle with Mysterio. We should be honored they'd choose to pump one up for the game's great finale with a Castlevania-inspired stage. But then we may also have to abuse the system and sue the designers for money to fund one of these projects.

The Game in Action

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