Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game

Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game
Developer(s)	Ukiyotei
Publisher(s)	Sony Electronic Publishing Acclaim Entertainment
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Released	NA: October 1995 EU: November 1995

Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game is a video game developed by Ukiyotei for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995, based on Todd McFarlane's Spawn.

Story

A renegade crusader named the Mad One has kidnapped thirteen innocent children, including Spawn's stepdaughter Cyan Fitzgerald, and locked their souls in a magical orb called Orb of Purity. The Mad One's long-term goal is to make use of the Orb of Purity to destroy Malebolgia once and for all, and he has already entered the area where Malebolgia resides. Spawn must now stop the Mad One in order to save his stepdaughter, the other children and himself.

Characters

• Spawn — Murdered by a fellow government agent, he was given unlimited powers of limited supply by Malebolgia, the Lord Of Darkness. When Spawn’s powers are used up, he will become the servant of Malebolgia for all eternity.
• Malebolgia — The Lord Of Darkness who controls evil on earth and in the universe. Once every 400 years, Malebolgia creates a Spawn to do his bidding on Earth, entertains his whims, and ultimately join his army of the damned.
• Overtkill — A Mafia-created cyborg designed to kill Spawn. The Mafia thinks that Spawn is Terry Fitzgerald, who is in fact a close friend of Al Simmons. Fitzgerald married Simmons’ wife after Simmons was killed.
• Angela — A Crusader of Light, one of many angels who hunt down Malebolgia’s Spawns as part of their eternal battle to eliminate all evil. Angela did, in fact, destroy Medieval Spawn centuries ago; to this day, she wears his emblems on her headgear.
• Redeemer — One of the "Warriors of Light", sent to Earth to eliminate Spawn. Drawing from the Elemental Fire, Redeemer has the ability to change his body into any shape or size of weapon and emit a powerful beam of light when can penetrate any object.
• New Breed — A neural parasite created by Malebolgia which attaches to the spirits of children. Unlike the Violator, which feeds on people’s guilt, a New Breed feeds on innocence.
• Violator — Another of Malebolgia’s creations, a creature who sometimes appears as a human clown, and other times as a demonic horror of ghastly proportions. Violator feeds on fear, and delights in toying with humans to satisfy his infernal hunger.
• The Mad One — A renegade Crusader against evil who has taken it upon himself to destroy Malebolgia. In order to do this, he has enslaved the innocence of 13 children within an Orb Of Purity, and hopes to use that innocence to obliterate Malebolgia’s evil.
• The Butcher — Also known by the name Billy Kincaid. He was placed in the Hiram Bedding Institute For The Criminally Insane for committing unspeakably brutal and murderously horrific acts against dozens of children.
• Cyan Fitzgerald

Gameplay

Spawn: The Video Game is a tractional side-scrolling beat 'em up with some platforming elements. The player controls the Al Simmons Hellspawn in his K7-Leetha, who can walk, run, duck and jump throughout the seventeen levels of the game. In combat, Simmons can punch and kick in order to attack enemies. In addition to the melee attacks available, the main character has access to an arsenal of special powers that requires the input of a special button combination on the controller. Using a special power will drain his life force meter, and different special powers use different amounts of energy. Several of Simmons' special powers will fire projectiles, but the main character can also teleport as well as use a special power that completely refills his life force meter. Also, the main character's health can be replenished by collecting a special item dropped by one of the "end-of-level bosses" when defeated. The game is over when the life meter is fully depleted, or the in-game timer runs out.

An unlimited continues system allows the player to keep playing the same level even if all lives are lost. Also, a password feature allows the player to stop playing a level and continue later. However, the amount of life left in the life force meter will not replenish by the use of a password.

Development

For the full list of credits, see: Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game/Credits.

Ukiyotei developed the game on behalf of Sony, who published the game in the United States and Europe. Mike Giam elaborated the story and concept of the game. Together with Kenshi Narushe, the pair designed the core elements of the game. Comic book-style cutscenes were designed by C. Bradford Gorby and displayed between levels in order to move the story forward. The music in the game was composed by Harumi Fujita.

Gallery

Videos

SNES - Todd McFarlane's Spawn the Video Game from Acclaim (1995)