Maximum Carnage

Lore & Background

The game's story begins with Carnage already active and terrorizing New York City. Eddie Brock, having been in prison, is released after being proven innocent and vows not to use the Venom symbiote for evil. However, Carnage has already bonded with Cletus Kasady prior to the game's events. Spider-Man and Venom are forced to set aside their rivalry to stop Carnage and his growing criminal empire. Carnage recruits Shriek as his second-in-command, then later adds Demogoblin, Doppelganger, and Carrion to his team. After a series of battles, Spider-Man and Venom rally a group of heroes to confront Carnage and his forces. In the final showdown, Carnage is defeated and retreats into the sewers, while the Carnage symbiote escapes the scene.

In Their Own Story

The game begins with Eddie Brock leaving prison after being proven innocent, promising not to use the Venom symbiote for evil. As he departs, the symbiote bonds to his former cellmate, Cletus Kasady. Spider-Man later confronts Venom about his promise, but Brock hesitates, leading to a fight between them. Their battle is interrupted by Kasady, now transformed into Carnage. Brock tries to attack Carnage but they are evenly matched, and Carnage escapes into the city. Swearing to stop him despite their rivalry, Spider-Man and Venom pursue Carnage as he establishes a criminal empire in the sewers. Carnage recruits Shriek as his second-in-command, then rejects Hobgoblin, who transforms into Demogoblin and is hired. He also captures a six-armed Spider-Man clone called Doppelganger and finds the degrading clone Carrion, completing his team. Carnage attacks New York with his team, nearly killing Spider-Man and Venom in their first confrontation. The heroes retreat and form a 'resistance' from Spider-Man's allies, including Captain America, Black Cat, Iron Fist, Cloak and Dagger, Deathlok, Morbius, and Firestar. They finally confront Carnage and his team in an epic battle, defeating Carnage, who retreats into the sewers. Spider-Man thanks Venom and hopes to work with him again, but Venom retreats without replying. The Carnage symbiote escapes the scene.

Reader's Guide

Maximum Carnage is a single-player side-scrolling beat 'em up with a format similar to Double Dragon and Final Fight. 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. The two 16-bit versions (SNES and Genesis) are virtually identical. Other Marvel heroes can be summoned by collecting appropriate items hidden within certain levels. The locations of the power-ups necessary to summon aid are set. Depending on which character summoned them, the summoned heroes may help out in different ways, usually being more effective for whichever character (Spider-Man or Venom) they favor. The game is one of the first video games to be directly based on a comic book story, rather than simply using comics characters in a standard video game 'action/adventure' plot. Many of the game's cutscenes feature semi-animated versions of art taken directly from the comics. It was also the first Spider-Man video game to receive a teen rating (while the SNES re-release version had a rating of K-A, the Genesis version was rated MA-13). The game is notable for its red-colored cartridge, being the only official Sega Genesis game with a non-black cartridge and one of three SNES games with a non-grey cartridge, the others being Doom (which was also red) and Killer Instinct (which was black). The game's soundtrack was written and produced by American rock group Green Jellÿ. The title screen theme song appears as the first track on the band's 1994 album 333 as 'Carnage Rules'. Due to the limited storage capacity of SNES and Genesis cartridges, the soundtrack was not recorded music, but a computerized rendition of the songs. Additionally, an uncredited version of Black Sabbath's 'The Mob Rules' appears in the soundtrack, during the boss battles against the supervillains.

Did You Know?

• The game is notable for its red-colored cartridge, being the only official Sega Genesis game with a non-black cartridge and one of three SNES games with a non-grey cartridge.
• The game's soundtrack was written and produced by American rock group Green Jellÿ, and the title screen theme appears on their 1994 album 333 as 'Carnage Rules'.
• An uncredited version of Black Sabbath's 'The Mob Rules' appears in the soundtrack during boss battles against the supervillains.
• The game was one of the first video games to be directly based on a comic book story, rather than simply using comics characters in a standard video game plot.
• The game was followed by the sequel Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety in 1995.