Joystiq

The animated style is a little bit closer to a cartoon version of Spidey, would you say the game is aimed more at children?

With Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, we wanted to do something really unique with the brand – something that had a very accessible feel and appealed to a younger audience. We chose an art style that we felt matched the style of combat – light and playful – and it translated well to all of the console and handheld platforms.

There are so many different abilities Spider-Man has had over the years, how did you settle on a move set for the game?

We wanted the focus in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe to be on combat and the fun things Spider-Man can do with his webs. So, we looked at his various web abilities and what he's done over the years and started from there. The team listed out the various types of moves and web attacks we would want to do. Then we narrowed it down by what would be the most fun for this type of gameplay, what would look the coolest and match our art style and what would work well with another character fighting along side Spidey.

This is the first time a lot of these characters have been playable in a game, were any of them easier or more difficult to fit into a video game than others?

Most definitely! There is a long list of characters that have appeared in the Spider-Man universe over the years and narrowing it down to the ones that would be the most fun and interesting to play was tough. When the team was deciding, we all had our personal favorites and there were several that were no-brainers to include. We looked at the dozens of known and more obscure characters and narrowed the list by who had the most interesting powers to work with. We also wanted to throw in a few characters that hadn't been seen in games before, let alone played. After a lot of back and forth and searching through comics and websites, we ended up with the final Spider-Man: Friend or Foe lineup.

The game seems to have a similar feel to some of the Spider-Man comics of the 60s. Were those an inspiration?

Both the old comics, as well as the various cartoons, were huge influences when we were creating Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. The art team really wanted to blend the old school look with the more modern art styles and I think we found a style that does that well – the game gives a little nostalgia for the older fans, yet still has the current "Saturday morning" feel.

Is the plan to continue Friend or Foe as a separate franchise?

You'll have to stay tuned...I'm not at liberty to say!