Venom - Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety

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Venom - Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Developer: Software Creations, The Black Team
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT), Roadshow New Media (AU), Tec Toy (BR), Consumer Electronics (ZA)
Licensor: Marvel Entertainment Group
Sound driver: Sound Images v1.2
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1995-11 $69.9569.95 T-81596 EU 1995 T-81596-50 PT 1995 MDJAK0104 UK 1995 T-81596-50 AU 199x BR 199x 047180 ZA 199x
Non-Sega versions Super NES Windows PC

Venom - Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, or simply Separation Anxiety is a beat-'em-up game based on the Spider-Man universe. It was released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1995. It is a sequel to Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage.

A Sega 32X version was planned, but failed to materialise.

Story

The mysterious Life Foundation has captured Venom and removed five symbiote spawn from him. Venom manages to escape their clutches and seeks to again forge an uneasy alliance with his rival Spider-Man in order to stop the symbiote threat.

Though the game is titled after the comic book series Venom: Separation Anxiety, the story more closely follows the events of Venom's first limited series, Venom: Lethal Protector.

Gameplay

The game is a belt-scrolling beat-'em-up that plays mostly identically to its predecessor but with the addition of simultaneous two-player gameplay. The player can choose to play as either Spider-Man or Venom. A second player can join (as the other character) at any point during gameplay by pressing  START . The characters control identically, but Spider-Man is faster while Venom is stronger. The characters walk with or and run with or . They move in and out of the plane with and . They jump with . The characters can grab walls in the background with +, which can then be climbed using the D-Pad.

The characters attack by punching and kicking with . Pressing the button repeatedly performs a combo. The characters can perform a jumping kick by pressing while jumping. They can shoulder ram enemies by pressing while running. Pressing back and performs a back-flip attack, attacking the enemy in front of the character. They can perform a desperation attack with +, which attacks in all directions, useful when surrounded, but also costing a small amount of health. If the player performs a series of accurate attacks, the character's health bar starts to blink. Hitting or grabbing and attacking an enemy while the health bar is flashing launches a "Power Hit," causing immense damage.

The characters automatically grab enemies when they walk into them. While grabbing, they can perform a combo attack by repeatedly pressing . While doing the grab combo, pressing the opposite direction that the character is facing throws the enemy behind him. The characters can lift the enemy above their heads with .

The characters can fire a web shot with . This holds the enemy in place for a few seconds, though only one enemy can be stunned this way at a time. The characters can create a web shield by holding that protects the player while standing still. They can fire a web line with + or + that pulls enemies towards them to grab them from distance. If there are two enemies on each side of the character, firing a web line pulls both enemies and damages them with a Double Smash. The characters can shoot a web line into the air for swinging with + (or with a Six Button Control Pad), which can be used to cross over gaps.

Spider-Man and Venom are assisted on their journey by their superhero allies. They gain the ability to summon an ally by finding that ally's special icon in the stages. The player can select which ally to use by tapping  START  (or ) to cycle through them. They can be called into battle with ++ (or ).

The characters have health bars that empty as they take damage from foes. They are defeated when they run out of health but revive if the player has extra lives remaining. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. There are no continues, but there is a password system for continuing.

Items

	Small Heart
	Recovers a quarter of the character's health.
	Large Heart
	Fully recovers the character's health.
	Extra Life
	Gives the player an extra life.
	Captain America Icon
	Allows the player to summon Captain America an additional 2 times.
	Ghost Rider Icon
	Allows the player to summon Ghost Rider an additional 2 times.
	Hawkeye Icon
	Allows the player to summon Hawkeye an additional 2 times.
	Daredevil Icon
	Allows the player to summon Daredevil an additional 2 times.

Stages

	City Streets
	The Bridge
	The Woods
	Trap Room 1
	Enter the Foundation
	Underground City
	Trap Room 2
	Mall
	Vents
	Trap Room 3
	Internal Life Foundation
	Security Zone 1
	Trap Room 4
	Hi-Tech Green House
	Warehouse
	Trap Room 5
	Security Zone 2
	Carnage Resting Place

Production credits

Acclaim Development by The Black Team

• Producer: Tyrone Miller
• Associate Producers: Mike Archer, Doug Yellin, PAx
• Analysts: Simon Gouldstone, J.J. Mazz
• Special Thanks to: Linda Spelman, Kristen Muzer, Dana Moreshead, Lisa Leathermen, Bill Dickson

Quality Assurance

• Senior Manager: Michael Weiner
• Lead Tester: Mike Hong
• Game Analyst: Chris Moy
• Technical Specialist: John Gonzales
• Technical Support Supervisor: Harry Reimer
• Testers: Jackie A. Williams, Jerry Tjan, Jeff Zentil, Paul Lindsay, David Sanchez
• Supervisors: Carol Caracciolo, Adam Ingberman, Esq.

Software Creations Spidey Team

• Programming: Paul Murray
• Main Artist: Jimbo.Doc
• Game Logic: Danny Curley, Chrono
• Artists: Christian Simcock, Dave Price, Martin Holland, Haydn Dalton, Anthony Anderson, John Gyarmati, Ian Rickard, Robert Ager
• Animators: Ste Thomas, Alan Moult, Clinton J. Priest, Scott Pleydell-Pearce, Andy Wilson
• Musician: Suddi Raval
• Additional Code: Kevin Edwards, Stephen Ruddy
• Technical Support: Pablo
• Game Testers: Paul Essue, Chris Brooks, Craig Dobson, Adrian Copsey, Davelee Thornton
• Associate Producers: Richard Kay, Mike Webb
• Music Director: Paul Tonge
• Animation Directors: Steven Thomas, David MacLachlan
• Art Director: Ste Pickford
• Producer: Marc Dawson
• Thanks to: Champa Mistry, Allison Clarke

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Venom - Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in VideoGames (US) #82: "November 1995" (1995-10-24)

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #77: "December 1995" (1995-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 Cool Gamer (RU) 50 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 48 Freak (IL) 81 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 60 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 70 Hobby Consolas (ES) PAL 85 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 55 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 25 Sega Magazin (DE) PAL 39 Todo Sega (ES) 75 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 75 Video Games (DE) PAL 39 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 60

	58
Based on 14 reviews

Venom - Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, PT (White Box Printed)
Cover
Cart Manual US Manual

Mega Drive, PT (White Box Sticker)
Cover
Cart Manual EU Manual

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover

Mega Drive, ZA
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Venom - Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety/Technical information.