Spider-Man Unlimited [Free], makes me feel all complicated inside. Regular readers will know that I tend to prefer my running games to be simple and gimmick-free, and this game is anything but that. Of course, regular readers will also know that I can't resist a game based on superhero comics. I expected that to be my struggle with the game, but in a surprise twist, it's not. This is probably the most fun I've had with a gimmick-heavy runner this side of Iron Man 3 [Free]. It has a ton of gameplay variety, a great goal-based structure to accompany its endless running mode, exceptional fan service, and a few ridiculously compelling tricks borrowed from Puzzle & Dragons [Free]-style games. As a huge Spider-Man fan, playing this game is an absolute joy. Unfortunately, leveling up an assortment of collectible characters isn't the only way Spider-Man Unlimited borrowed from that popular genre, and therein lay the proverbial fly, or I suppose spider, in the soup.
Men using either the regular currency, vials, easily found during play, or the slightly more rare ISO-8 premium currency. Using vials will give you only a small chance of drawing a rare Spidey, while using ISO-8 guarantees one. Gameloft will be adding more Spider-Man variations to the game as they go, but even the starting lineup is awesome. Noir Spidey, Spider-Ben, both Scarlet Spiders, the Bombastic Bag-Man, and more await you. Oh, but if you want to have them all at the same time, there's a little catch, which will be quite familiar to fans of Gameloft's Iron Man 3. You see, you can only have so many Spider-Men at one time. If you want to expand that, you can, but it will cost you. Luckily, it's just the regular currency in this game, but the price escalates quickly, and hanging onto extra cards that you may want to use for fusion later also occupies slots. Still, that's not so bad. I also applaud Gameloft for being pretty generous with the premium currency. There are quite a few opportunities to earn it without having to pay.
That extends to the presentation, as well. The game is done up in a rich comic book style, with plenty of thick black lines and popping colors. Spidey and his foes animate nicely, and Gameloft has surprisingly put together a voice cast that sounds good instead of annoying. Spidey has a number of quips, and after a while, some of them do repeat a bit too much, but it's not nearly as irritating as you might expect. The writing in the cut-scenes between story segments is also good for a laugh or two. The music is doing the usual skirting around Danny Elfman's score from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies that we typically hear in Spidey games, but if it fits, it fits. I would absolutely swoon if Gameloft threw in the 60s theme somewhere, though.
I think Spidey fans and runner fans should definitely check out Spider-Man Unlimited simply because it does so much right. If you treat it like a King game, pulling it out here and there during your day, you'll probably really enjoy yourself and not rub against the stamina meter too badly. I like to imagine the alternate universe where I don't have to do that, though. Maybe I can catch a dimensional hole to Earth-8311. I heard they don't have stamina meters there. Until I can find out for sure which one leads there and not to the Marvel Zombies universe, though, I guess I'm stuck playing this cool game as often as it lets me.
