The game's story follows Spider-Man as he attempts to clear his name after being framed by a doppelgänger and becoming a wanted criminal, while also having to foil a symbiote invasion orchestrated by Doctor Octopus and Carnage.

The player must retry the current level if Spider-Man runs out of health, falls off a building or fails to complete certain objectives such as rescuing a hostage.

Spider-Man is able to utilize his spider powers to traverse the environments, being able to crawl on walls and ceilings, swing short distances and instantly zip between certain points.

For example, the Spider-Man 2099 costume features enhanced strength, while the civilian Peter Parker suit limits the available number of web cartridges to two.

A supposedly reformed Dr. Otto Octavius is holding a scientific demonstration at the Science Expo 2000, but is interrupted when an impostor Spider-Man attacks the crew and steals his equipment.

Meanwhile, the real Spider-Man, who witnessed the incident as Peter Parker, is held responsible for the theft and the police ensue a manhunt for him.

Elsewhere, two unseen figures release dense amounts of mysterious fog from their hidden base into the city which quickly covers the streets.

After meeting with Black Cat and foiling a bank robbery by the Jade Syndicate, Spider-Man is forced to save J. Jonah Jameson from Scorpion at the Daily Bugle.

Spider-Man discovers an entrance to a massive undersea base inside the warehouse and proceeds to investigate, quickly coming across a symbiote manufacturing operation and an imprisoned Black Cat.

After disrupting the operation and rescuing Black Cat, Spider-Man finally confronts her kidnappers and the masterminds behind the Symbiote invasion: Dr. Octavius and Carnage.

Unable to perform an effective battle, Spider-Man is chased by the monstrosity out of the self-destructing base until it is caught in one of the explosions which removes the symbiote from Doctor Octopus's body.

As the Carnage symbiote slithers back into the burning base, Spider-Man carries the unconscious Doctor Octopus to the surface where they are salvaged by Captain America, Black Cat, and Venom in an aircraft.

According to lead designer Chad Findley, the Lizard was meant to be a boss in the final sewer level, and Spider-Man would have fought Venom (who had kidnapped his wife Mary Jane) atop the Brooklyn Bridge.

17", which featured various changes such as a different opening sequence, placeholder voice performances, an unused model for Scorpion, an entirely different Rhino boss stage, as well as a sewer level not found in the final game.

It features a variety of tracks mostly arranged in individual samples, influenced by popular music genres of the time such as industrial rock and nu metal.

The game's title screen and credits roll use the theme song of the 1960s Spider-Man animated series, remixed by English electronic band Apollo 440.

[45] Scott Steinberg reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for Next Generation, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "a fun but slightly flawed superhero action adventure that'll have you bouncing off the walls.

In a November 2019 interview, former Neversoft employee and lead designer of Spider-Man Chad Findley expressed interest in developing a remaster of the game, but admitted that it would be unlikely due to "the nightmarish licensing and approval processes that are around these days".