YMMV / Ultimate Spider-Man (2005)

• Awesome Music:
  • This game had Kevin Manthei, one of the people who did the music for Invader Zim, as the composer of the game; as a direct result, the whole soundtrack could quality as absolute gold.
  • Venom's Leitmotif. The first rendition is dark and primal, while the other version is downright epic and intense, to the point where it can be considered a Boss Remix of it.
  • The music when Venom fights Silver Sable's mercs is almost as dark and intense, incorporating techno and orchestra even better than other tracks, managing to be dramatically catchy.
  • The track that plays during Spider-Man and Venom's first and final battles in the game is probably the best in the whole soundtrack, and perhaps one of the best tracks in a Spider-Man game. It just starts up to eleven, goes even higher from there, and just. Never. Stops.
• Broken Base: Whether this game or Spider-Man 2 is superior. Spider-Man 2 is considered to be one of the best superhero games ever made and was really innovative back in the day, which nobody denies, but its graphics^note They look ok for PS2 open world standards, but depending on who you ask, they haven't necessarily aged well; Character textures are noticeably mirrored from the middle, and non-cutscene NPCs don't move their mouths when talking, for example and the fact that only the console versions avoid The Problem with Licensed Games are points of contention. Whether or not the better graphics, larger map, Venom, the original story, the slight gameplay changes, and the PC release make Ultimate an Even Better Sequel is up on the air. Pretty much nobody considers it a Contested Sequel, however, and both games are still loved by many.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The Marvel Database (that is, the Marvel Wiki) is usually pretty damn reliable, so you can take the fact that the Ultimate Marvel Universe and its version from the video game aren't the same universe as borderline Word of God (which got confirmed anyway, as the Ultimate Spider-Man video game fell into Canon Discontinuity). Flash-forward to the latest events and to Peter's death. Once you think about it, you realize that thanks to the video game version of the Ultimate Spider-Man we still have an alive-and-well Ultimate Peter Parker - and an active and uncaptured Ultimate Eddie Brock.
  • Doubles as Heartwarming in Hindsight. Not just for Spidey, but for the Fantastic 4 and most of the X-Men, since there's a chance Ultimatum didn't happen.
  • Venom's wanted level you unlock post-game is clearly inspired by Grand Theft Auto's. However, unlike GTA, Venom's wanted level only has 5 stages to it rather than 6. And then Grand Theft Auto V did the exact same thing, with only five wanted levels.
• Just Here for Godzilla: While the game on the whole is well-liked, many players cite the Venom segments as the most memorable part of the experience and the main reason to play the game, not only because of the inherent cool factor but also because he plays very differently from Spider-Man, in a way that completely sells the brutality and power of the character, with him being able to leap several feet into the air and replenishing his health by eating people.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Venom's voice is an awesomely terrifying guttural sound courtesy of Arthur Burghardt, even if he does not have a great amount of dialogue throughout the game.
  KILL...you...KILLLL! YOUUUU!
• Narm:
  • Spidey's game over screen is pretty melodramatic, with the web-slinger exaggeratedly falling to his knees as the ashamed faces of his loved ones look on in the background. It becomes even more hilarious if you failed something as simple as catching up to the Rhino after you exposed his weak spot, making it seem as though Peter had absolutely failed everyone by not being able to stay close enough despite the villain only traveling to a parking lot not far from where they started.
  • Venom's game over screen (apart from the chaotic music which can serve as a Jump Scare) could also count for the same reasons - he looks like he's throwing a complete temper tantrum. Justified, since this Venom is feral up until the end, but one could easily interpret him as a sore loser instead, completely losing his mind over failing to catch Electro who would probably goad him to come back anyway.
• No Problem with Licensed Games: Was well-liked by critics and fans at release and is still remembered fondly to this day, thanks to its charming cel-shaded visuals, offering a completely different and very fun gameplay experience as Venom, and being a good representation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. It helps that the game developers got the writer and artist behind the comic, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley respectively, involved from the beginning to help ensure its faithfulness to the source material.
• Take That, Scrappy!: In the video game, Venom's tutorial presents you with your first task of absorbing people so that you don't lose health, your first target? A child holding a balloon. In Spider-Man 2, everyone hated the missions of helping kids who constantly lose their balloons.
• That One Boss: The Second fight with Beetle. The problem is you're playing as Venom who slowly loses health unless he feeds on civilians and you fight Beetle in a warehouse with no one but him and Venom inside. He constantly flies around, dropping bombs which makes it harder to hit him by jumping high and trying to control the camera and he also shoots homing shoots when he stops. The second phase has the same problem, but Beetle activates a force field and opens electric pits that can drain your health and when he stops he fires a laser that is admittedly easy to dodge if you know what you're doing, but once again, there are no civilians to eat to heal yourself and overall the whole battle becomes a test of endurance and patience.

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