Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game for the Super NES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, developed by Software Creations and published by LJN (a subsidiary of Acclaim) in 1994. The game, based on a sprawling comic book story arc of the same name, featured numerous heroes, including Spider-Man, Venom, and their allies from the Marvel Comics fictional universe like Captain America, Black Cat, Iron Fist, Cloak and Dagger, Deathlok, Morbius and Firestar, all teaming up to battle an onslaught of villains led by Carnage, including Shriek, Doppelganger, Demogoblin and Carrion.
The game featured a colored cartridge. Both the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo versions were red. They were later released in the normal cartridge colors (black for Genesis, gray for SNES).
The game was followed up by a sequel called Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety.
In this single-player side-scrolling beat 'em up (with a format similar to Final Fight and Streets of Rage), the player controls Spider-Man and Venom through various levels to stop the supervillain Carnage and his team, as well as hundreds of criminals they inspire in their wake, from taking over the city. The two 16-bit versions are virtually identical.
Other Marvel heroes can be summoned by collecting appropriate items hidden within certain levels. Their effects vary greatly, and some of them have different effects depending on who the player is. Of note is the rarity and set locations of the power-ups necessary to summon aid, and that each character has a unique set of music to accompany their appearance. In order of appearance: Cloak, Black Cat, Dagger, Firestar, Spider-Man/Venom (depending on the player character), Morbius, Deathlok, Iron Fist and Captain America.
