Maximum Carnage

Spider-Man and Venom must set aside their rivalry to stop Carnage and his team of supervillains from taking over New York City.

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage is a 1994 beat 'em up video game developed by Software Creations and published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. The game, based on the comic book story arc of the same name, features numerous heroes, including Spider-Man, Venom, and their allies from the Marvel Comics fictional universe like Captain America, Black Cat, Iron Fist, Cloak and Dagger, Morbius and Firestar, all teaming up to battle an onslaught of villains led by Carnage, including Shriek, Doppelganger, Demogoblin and Carrion. The game received mixed reviews upon its release, but in later years, reviews have been more positive and it is regarded as one of the better Spider-Man games in the 16-bit era.

Quick Facts

Central antagonist: Carnage (Cletus Kasady)
Main setting: New York City

Lore & Background

The game's story begins with Carnage already active and terrorizing New York City. Eddie Brock, having been in prison, is released after being proven innocent and vows not to use the Venom symbiote for evil. However, Carnage has already bonded with Cletus Kasady prior to the game's events. Spider-Man and Venom are forced to set aside their rivalry to stop Carnage and his growing criminal empire. Carnage recruits Shriek as his second-in-command, then later adds Demogoblin, Doppelganger, and Carrion to his team. After a series of battles, Spider-Man and Venom rally a group of heroes to confront Carnage and his forces. In the final showdown, Carnage is defeated and retreats into the sewers, while the Carnage symbiote escapes the scene.

Reader's Guide

Maximum Carnage is a single-player side-scrolling beat 'em up with a format similar to Double Dragon and Final Fight. The player controls Spider-Man and Venom through various levels to stop the supervillain Carnage and his team, as well as hundreds of criminals they inspire. The two 16-bit versions (SNES and Genesis) are virtually identical. Other Marvel heroes can be summoned by collecting appropriate items hidden within certain levels.

The locations of the power-ups necessary to summon aid are set. Depending on which character summoned them, the summoned heroes may help out in different ways, usually being more effective for whichever character (Spider-Man or Venom) they favor. The game is one of the first video games to be directly based on a comic book story, rather than simply using comics characters in a standard video game 'action/adventure' plot. Many of the game's cutscenes feature semi-animated versions of art taken directly from the comics.

It was also the first Spider-Man video game to receive a teen rating (while the SNES re-release version had a rating of K-A, the Genesis version was rated MA-13). The game is notable for its red-colored cartridge, being the only official Sega Genesis game with a non-black cartridge and one of three SNES games with a non-grey cartridge, the others being Doom (which was also red) and Killer Instinct (which was black). The game's soundtrack was written and produced by American rock group Green Jellÿ.

The title screen theme song appears as the first track on the band's 1994 album 333 as 'Carnage Rules'. Due to the limited storage capacity of SNES and Genesis cartridges, the soundtrack was not recorded music, but a computerized rendition of the songs. Additionally, an uncredited version of Black Sabbath's 'The Mob Rules' appears in the soundtrack, during the boss battles against the supervillains.