It was pretty clear to me even as a kid that this show was never a match for Bruce Timm's Batman or Superman animated series. The animation, the storytelling, the voice acting, the action scenes, and even the music were all noticeably inferior. I think what kept me watching the show (aside from the fact that I was a huge Spidey fan at the time) was its emphasis on long story arcs. While there are no arcs here that come close to matching those in the DCAU, namely the Darkseid saga in the last several episodes of Superman: TAS or Project Cadmus or the Legion of Doom/return of Darkseid in Justice League Unlimited, I still appreciated the emphasis on continuity.
But the show's flaws were apparent from the start. From the mediocre voice acting to the simplistic dialogue, the show limited its appeal with its kid-oriented approach. Each individual episode had the tendency to move at a far too frantic pace, and this coupled with the long story arcs, ensured that missing even one or two episodes could mean taking quite a bit of time to catch up with the plot. I also had mixed feelings about the use of Peter's inner monologue. While it's an interesting approach to gathering his thoughts, too often these thoughts of his just dumb things down, especially when he's either stating the obvious or talking about things we could have figured out for ourselves.
Each individual episode had the tendency to move at a far too frantic pace, and this coupled with the lengthy story arcs, ensured that missing even one or two episodes could mean taking quite a bit of time to catch up with the plot. I also had mixed feelings about the use of Peter's inner monologue. While it's an interesting approach to gathering his thoughts, too often these thoughts of his just dumb things down, especially when he's either stating the obvious or talking about things we could have figured out for ourselves.
Another major sore point in the show was the use of the enigmatic (and that's putting it kindly) Madame Webb. I'm totally unfamiliar with this character and have no idea if she was even in the Spider-Man comics, but her presence is absolutely grating, sort of like the Oracle in The Matrix movies only ten times worse because she tends to pop out at random and has a voice that's akin to fingernails on a chalkboard.
Even worse were the attempts at depicting violence, with cops carrying silly-looking laser guns and Spider-Man never throwing a punch towards his opponents. Consequently, the action scenes seemed watered down, faring all the worse compared to the more violent and visceral battle scenes in the DCAU (where characters would actually bleed from severe cuts and punches). It may seem silly to think this stronger emphasis on violence would help a show, but watch Superman's Legacy or Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and tell me the sight of two opponents bloodied after an exhausting battle doesn't make the sequence all the more powerful and intense. This was something missing in ALL of Marvel's animated shows.
Taken in perspective, I suppose the animation was pretty decent (I remember Carnage looked awesome), superior to most other Marvel animated efforts, but lacking the energetic fluidity of its DC competitors at the time, namely Superman: TAS, Batman: TAS, and The New Batman Adventures. In fact, the animation in Spider-Man had the tendency to move in a choppy manner during the action scenes, which was pretty distracting.
From what I've heard, the series ended with a cliffhanger that was never resolved, much to the dismay of fans. A few more Spider-Man shows have since cropped up in the last few years, including one from MTV. Didn't much care for that one, either, but I admit its action scenes and voice acting were at least superior to this 90s rendition.
But the show's flaws were apparent from the start. From the mediocre voice acting to the simplistic dialogue, the show limited its appeal with its kid-oriented approach. Each individual episode had the tendency to move at a far too frantic pace, and this coupled with the long story arcs, ensured that missing even one or two episodes could mean taking quite a bit of time to catch up with the plot. I also had mixed feelings about the use of Peter's inner monologue. While it's an interesting approach to gathering his thoughts, too often these thoughts of his just dumb things down, especially when he's either stating the obvious or talking about things we could have figured out for ourselves.
Each individual episode had the tendency to move at a far too frantic pace, and this coupled with the lengthy story arcs, ensured that missing even one or two episodes could mean taking quite a bit of time to catch up with the plot. I also had mixed feelings about the use of Peter's inner monologue. While it's an interesting approach to gathering his thoughts, too often these thoughts of his just dumb things down, especially when he's either stating the obvious or talking about things we could have figured out for ourselves.
Another major sore point in the show was the use of the enigmatic (and that's putting it kindly) Madame Webb. I'm totally unfamiliar with this character and have no idea if she was even in the Spider-Man comics, but her presence is absolutely grating, sort of like the Oracle in The Matrix movies only ten times worse because she tends to pop out at random and has a voice that's akin to fingernails on a chalkboard.
Even worse were the attempts at depicting violence, with cops carrying silly-looking laser guns and Spider-Man never throwing a punch towards his opponents. Consequently, the action scenes seemed watered down, faring all the worse compared to the more violent and visceral battle scenes in the DCAU (where characters would actually bleed from severe cuts and punches). It may seem silly to think this stronger emphasis on violence would help a show, but watch Superman's Legacy or Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and tell me the sight of two opponents bloodied after an exhausting battle doesn't make the sequence all the more powerful and intense. This was something missing in ALL of Marvel's animated shows.
Taken in perspective, I suppose the animation was pretty decent (I remember Carnage looked awesome), superior to most other Marvel animated efforts, but lacking the energetic fluidity of its DC competitors at the time, namely Superman: TAS, Batman: TAS, and The New Batman Adventures. In fact, the animation in Spider-Man had the tendency to move in a choppy manner during the action scenes, which was pretty distracting.
From what I've heard, the series ended with a cliffhanger that was never resolved, much to the dismay of fans. A few more Spider-Man shows have since cropped up in the last few years, including one from MTV. Didn't much care for that one, either, but I admit its action scenes and voice acting were at least superior to this 90s rendition.