Todd McFarlane’s Spawn: The Video Game was developed by Ukiyotei Company, Ltd and published by Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. and Sony Electronics Publishing Company in 1995 for the North American and European Market. It is based on the comic book series Spawn by Todd McFarlane and published by Todd McFarlane Productions, inc.
Game description
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn: The Video Game was released for the Super NES in 1995. It is a platforming game with beat ‘em up element based on the comics.
The colorful manual, featuring undrawn graphic, introduce Spawn as well as the plot the game is based on. It also features other characters from the comic who appear in the game such as Angela and the Violator.
The Mad one kidnapped 13 children, and took their soul and put them in an Orb of Purity. With this in mind, the Mad One wants to use that power against Malebolgia, the ruler of the dark world and also Spawn’s superior. During the whole game, Spawn will try to prevent the death of the 13 children by reaching the Mad one in the dark world.
The in-game introduction also introduces the plot as a breaking news appearing in a newspaper. As nobody should be aware of the dark world in New York City, the reason of the kidnapping remains unclear.
Spawn starts in New York city, fighting thugs and street fighter and their leader, Overt-kill. He continues his journey through the rainy area until he finds the children in the warehouse. However, he is stopped by the Redmeer who wishes a revenge, not caring for the children at all. This confrontation ended with Spawn as a victor. Angela appears and forms an unexpected alliance with Spawn for the sake of the children. He then goes to a quest to find Billy Kindcaid, a murderer who needs to be killed to allow Spawn to enter the Dark World. He then ventures through it, fighting many hellish creatures until he reaches the Mad One.
Todd McFarlanes Spawn : The Video Game is a mix of platforming and beat ’em up. Most of the level feature a linear path. Inside each of them, several sections are flat area while other are more akin to a traditional platform. All boss battles, except one, is done on a flat surface. In all those areas, however, Spawn’s gameplay remains the same, being able to use his fighting technique as well as to carefully jump and glide around the obstacles to not get hit. Some boss battle and secrete area award the Spawn Symbol, which restores some of the psi.
Spawn has a great quantity of move. He has two strengths of punch and kick, each having their own property. He also has crouching and aerial move based on the button pressed. While in the air, he can perform additional move if the forward button is pressed at the same time as an offensive button. While running, he can also perform two powerful moves. With his cape, he can block move, reducing damage.
Beside the regular move, Spawn has many special moves that he can use, draining his psi energy in the process. He has projectiles moves, the super punch and the fiery uppercut technique. He can also use teleportation, which can be handy to skip part of level or reach secrets. Theses moves are very powerful, defeating any regular enemy in one hit and removing big chuck of a boss enemy’s health bar.
Physically speaking, Spawn is quite durable. Most regular enemy and obstacle will remove a small chunk of his health bar, but the bosses can remove a quarter with some of their move.
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn: The Video Game playthrough
The playthrough use the USA version of the game. The goal is to beat the game without taking damage and find the three secret areas. The optional boss battle was also done. Since spawn is invulnerable during the animation of a special move, these techniques were often used in a specific time to avoid taking damage.
TAS tools were used in this playthrough.