Maximum Carnage is a solid Beat Em Up!

Beat em ups were everywhere in the 90s. The genre hit peak popularity in the 16-bit era, as home ports finally began measuring up to the arcade originals. One of the more impressive games in the genre is Maximum Carnage, a wholly original console title. Released on the SNES and Genesis in 1994, it adapted the popular Spiderman comic arc of the same name. Violent and edgy in that uniquely 90s way, the comic doesn’t hold up. Thankfully, the same can’t be said for the video game.

Tight controls mean you’ll never struggle with pulling off a move when you intend to. I screwed up a move plenty of times, but never faulted the game. When attacks do land, they feel great. Stringing attacks into combos is easy, but requires deliberate action. Button mashing works for a while, but it won’t get you far.

You have a standard control layout of attack, jump and block; but what kind of Spiderman game would limit itself to run of the mill actions. Pressing the X button sends Spiderman swinging across the screen. You can also jump onto backgrounds for some wall crawling action. Exploring backgrounds reveals secret areas with bonus lives and items. It’s a smart use of a trademark spiderman power that isn’t combat focused.

There are a few extra moves as well. Spiderman, and later Venom, can bring enemies closer with a web shot. This helps with managing the number of enemies attacking you at a time. When surrounded, attack+jump will execute a spin move that pushes enemies off screen. This one comes in handy a lot, as enemies will surround you a lot more frequently after the first two levels. This also when enemy variety increases.

The sound each hit makes is quick and deep. The combos have an especially satisfying thud to them. Play for an hour and you’ll hear the sound effects hundreds of times, but they never get old. In a great comic touch, special blows have an added text box for the sound effects. Maximum Carnage isn’t the first game to use the technique, but it is a nice touch.

You start by fighting simple street thugs. As you defeat bosses, they’ll reappear as standard enemies. Its smart game design, requiring you to use boss skills throughout the game. For example, the first boss fight is against two women who attack with a hair flip. The hair strike is highly effective. Its range is slightly longer than every other attack in the game, so you really have to pay attention to positioning. Learning this in the boss battle, where it’s isolated, helps you know how to react in later levels.

Learning patterns and levels is essential to getting through Maximum Carnage. The game gets very difficult. I’ll admit, I’ve never beat the game despite dozens of attempts. Embarrassingly, two old men carrying umbrellas are my undoing. These bosses constantly destroy me. Sigh, I can defeat Shriek and Doppleganger, but not umbrella wielding old men.

I’d feel a lot worse about being terrible at Maximum Carnage, but the game does have a reputation of being difficult. Speedrunners talk about the difficulty, and learn to skip over large sections of the game to make it easier. I’m not dedicated enough to bother with that. I play the game, do my best and enjoy the heck out of it.

There is plenty to enjoy in this classic beat em up. The graphics are about average for a 16-bit title from a technical perspective. The sprites are large, but never more than a handful on screen at a time.  What makes Maximum Carnage stand out is the visual design. Spiderman and Venom’s sprites replicate the comic design perfectly. Even more impressive are the pixel art recreations of comic panels. They come directly from the pages of the series to tell the game’s story. Combined the visual elements of the game easily make it stand out in the beat em up genre.

Backing up the visuals is a killer sound track by Green Jelly. If you don’t remember them, check out their Three Little Pigs video here. The music is pulse-pounding rock that drives the action forward. You won’t be humming the tunes days later, but in the moment, they fit the game perfectly.

What doesn’t fit the game is the lack of two-player co-op. Maximum Carnage is a single player beat em up, which is bloody ridiculous. The genre is at its best when played cooperatively. Replay value increases when you share the experience. However, co-op alone can’t save a beat em up. Maximum Carnage’s terrible sequel, Separation Anxiety, proved that. It brought in co-op fighting, but made everything else worse. Still, it would have been a good feature to include.

Audio and visuals are great, with a strong comic styling. Gameplay is solid beat em up fun that’s easy to pick up and difficult to master. There’s plenty of hidden areas and items so replays don’t become too repetitive as you explore. If you want a solid beat em up and love comics, Maximum Carnage is the perfect retro-game for you.