RANKING ALL MAIN BOSSES IN SPIDER-MAN 2 FROM WORST TO BEST: Feature

Written by: Nikola Hristov

!SPOILERS FOR THE STORY OF SPIDER-MAN 2!

Spider-Man 2 expands on the first two games in many ways – traversal with the web wings, combat with the new abilities and a bigger city to swing around in. However, by far the biggest change comes with the boss fights. In previous titles, bosses were one of two things – dodge and attack back, or find the gimmick to beating the boss. Sometimes a combination of the two, in the case of Doc Ock. But in Spider-Man 2 Boss fights are a whole another story – most of them have difficult to learn patterns, attacks that can't be dodged and force you to parry, and attacks that can't be parried and need to be dodged. It also helps that the game is quite difficult on Ultimate and you die in 3-4 hits at most, which means you need to learn how to beat every fight flawlessly. In this ranking, I'll be listing all of the MAIN boss fights in the game from worst to best. I'll be considering the mechanics of the fight and the emotional stakes of it (since most of the fights are personal), as well as the difficulty. 

PETER

10. WRAITH

Available through the side quest chain about the mysterious figure called "The Flame", Wraith is a boss fight for Peter once he prevents Yuri Watanabe from killing the one and only Cletus Kasady. This of course launches her into a rage mode, screaming about how Peter doesn't know about the horrors Kasady has done to others, or should I say, the CARNAGE he's wreaked. Still, killing is a big no-no for Peter even with the Black suit, so he decides to stop her resulting in a two-phase boss fight. Wraith has some interesting lunges towards Peter and lots of opportunities for parrying. She's also got a smoke attack where you need to dodge her abilities and web her up to escape. However, there isn't really much reason or consequence for this fight to be happening. It feels like it was just put here as an excuse to fight her, because fans wanted to. In the end, Pete stops his ex-cop friend, and they agree to team-up again to stop the now escaped Flame. 

9. MYSTERIO

Usually an opportunity for some crazy visual spectacle, this Mysterio boss fight, just like all others in previous games is a visual spectacle. After you complete all of his Mysterium challenges around the city he calls you back to Coney island, where you enter the main building and the boss fight begins. However, outside of the impressive VFX which are to be expected, Mysterio is just fighting against a group of normal floating human-sized Mysterios. Most of the fight takes place mid-air as well, so you can defeat them pretty quickly because of the increased damage. My main gripe with this fight is that you never get to fight against the gigantic Mysterio, like you could in Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man 2000. It serves its purpose as a decent ending to a questline, but nothing to write home about.

8. LIZARD

Lizard acts as a boss fight to showcase the abilities of the Black suit, since every special attack interrupts him and does decent damage. You fight him once, chase him around the city, then fight him again. He's the first boss to feature some difficult patterns that are especially hard on Ultimate, because he switches his attacks around constantly between the tail you have to parry and the blue attack that you have to dodge. He also loves to run on walls. But as long as you use your webs and the vents placed around the arena to stun him, you won't have that hard of a time with this boss fight.

7. SANDMAN

Insomniac made sure the opening boss fight is even better than the previous two games and created the biggest spectacle fight I've ever seen, What could be more impressive than fighting a gigantic sand monster around half of the New York City map? Being the tutorial boss (and also a giant enemy) Sandman is more of a gimmicky fight than actually something challenging. However, he does teach the player everything there is to know about the essentials of the game – the web-swinging, the new web wings and gliding with them, the new combat abilities and the fact that he's weak against water and electricity, which helps you down the line with his quest chain. Honestly, this will go down as one of my favorite opening bosses, along with Poseidon from God of War 3. It's no wonder they're quite similar in terms of concept.

6. MISTER NEGATIVE

A fight that is rooted deep in emotions, Miles vs Mister negative was a given the moment Li was revealed in the story trailer during the summer. After the death of his father at the hand of the more demonic side of Martin, Miles hadn't really given up his anger and lust for vengeance against him. That is a core theme of his character arc in this game and a part of it culminates in this fight, where Kraven pits the two against one another. Li is a great boss fight, which forces player to dodge, parry and even jump to evade damage. He's also weak to Miles' Evolved venom attacks and some stages of the fight require you to use blue electric attacks against him. He also has an inner demonic mode with a giant demon, just like he did in 2018. Overall, the fight is familiar but improved to the one where Peter fights him in the first game, but this time it's much more personal. It also features a major character moment of development for Miles at the end, where he seemingly decides to do what Spider-Man does – let go of his rage and give his biggest enemy a second chance.

5. PETER VS KRAVEN

After nearly being killed by a stab wound but being healed by the Symbiote, Peter had officially piqued Kraven's interest. Of course, he didn't understand that he wasn't actually hunting the Spider, but the alien on top of him. This boss fight is meant to showcase that. Kraven is a very difficult boss, who uses every possible tactic in the game to beat you – forcing you to parry, jump around, and throw his explosive spears back at him. He's so smart he even uses a giant bell to stun the Symbiote, which is quite annoying from a gameplay perspective but makes complete sense. This fight was incredible, but it's a bit overshadowed by the one that directly follows it.

4. SCREAM

By far the most unexpected boss fight in the game, Venom manages to get ahold of Mary Jane and infuses her with the yellow symbiote Scream. This is a boss fight of both physical and psychological difficulty for Peter, as he is forced to fight against the woman he loves in order to save her, while also listening to her darkest side coming out. Scream is a harder and more agile version of Lizard, with the literal same blue screaming attack and a bunch of other abilities that can be dodged or parried. I think what really won me over though is how surprising it was – it came out of nowhere, and MJ being Scream until Peter saves her is surprisingly a very cool concept. What also elevates this fight is that you don't have the Symbiote or Anti-Venom during it – it's just Peter vs his worst fear, a corrupted MJ. In the end though, her love for him prevails and the symbiote is defeated, bonding the two lovers even more than ever before.

3. PETER (SYMBIOTE SUIT)

The fight which takes place right after Kraven, Miles has to stop Peter who is already corrupted from the black suit from killing Sergei. This of course enrages Venom and you get to fight your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in order to save him from the darkness within him. I think most people expected that a fight like this would be in the game – people were speculating about it the moment we saw the black suit. From a narrative perspective, it doesn't disappoint – this is a very emotional battle for both of the Spider-Men, as Miles rises up to the greatest challenge of his life in order to save his mentor, and Peter finally gets rid of his evil corruption. From a mechanics perspective the fight could be better – as you can easily abuse the bell to defeat Pete and his AI isn't smart enough to both fight you and web up the bell, which leaves him open to attacks or crowd control in either case. Still, this is undoubtedly an unforgettable fight that will be regarded as one of the best in the series.

2. VENOM

The final boss fight of the game is great, but it could've been better. Let's start of with the good things. Firstly, the settings during the fight are very symbolic – Midtown High where you fight as Peter and the Emily May Foundation where you fight as Miles. Venom is mechanically a tough, but satisfying boss battle. He looks badass, fight like a monster and really forces you to use your whole arsenal of abilities, gadgets and the parry skills you've obtained through the game. The fight also has some really iconic cinematic moments – such as Venom's grab attacks against Peter, him ripping out wings that were inspired by the Donnie Cage comics, and the flying through the air button mashing sequence right before his inevitable defeat. The emotional battle of Peter vs Harry also adds the same level of tragedy you experienced vs Otto during 2018's final mission. Because of how unique he is, Venom will remain one of the most popular boss fights in the Spider-Man games. That being said, the fight isn't perfect. I dislike the fact that you fight him Peter first, Miles last. It should've been the other way around, where the real final fight is the two best friends against one another. I'm also not a fan of the forced suits during the battle. The Anti-Venom suit is cool and all, just like Anti-Ock was, but Miles' suit is atrocious. However, that can be fixed with NG+. Even with these problems, I still believe this to be one of the best boss fights in the game. 

1. VENOM VS KRAVEN

However, the title of best can only really go to this boss fight. It was very surprising to get to play as Venom even if it's just for a single mission where you escape from Oscorp Tower, but that ending is amazing. The fight against Kraven in Times Square is probably the coolest in the series. Sergei has finally found the predator that he's looking for, a creature that can best him in a life or death battle. Ironically, this creature isn't even from Earth. Anyways, the fight is far from being the hardest, because Insomniac made sure Venom is an absolute BEAST to play as and you truly feel his monstrous side while playing as him. The fight culminates in one of the most satisfying conclusion for both characters – Kraven dying at the hand of Venom and finally getting his wish fulfilled, and Harry officially losing it and becoming Spider-Man's strongest enemy. The whole sequence where you play as Venom is already up there for best level in the series, but this boss fight basically solidifies it that position.

Remember that this ranking is based on my own personal opinions and you're free to disagree! Let me know what you think, if you agree or disagree, and which your favorite suit is in the game!

Written by: Nikola Hristov