Stern’s Spider-Man, released in 2007, is one of the most beloved and best-selling machines of the modern era — a fast, friendly, endlessly re-playable superhero brawl from Steve Ritchie, the Master of Flow. Built around the Marvel films, it pits you against four classic villains, each with its own mechanical hook: Doc Ock’s playfield magnet that snares the ball in a “fusion malfunction,” the Green Goblin hovering on his glider above the Pumpkin Bomb targets, Venom’s ramp that whips the ball back to the left flipper, and Sandman’s motorized whirlwind of targets.
The ruleset is a clinic in approachable depth. Completing the white spiders and shooting an outer loop starts one of four villain modes, and clearing a mode triples your next major shot for the rest of the ball — a satisfying, repeatable reward. Doc Ock Multiball, started at his magnet, is the perfect moment to risk the dangerous “Light Lock” target to set up Black Suit multiball, and stacking the white-spider doubler onto multiball sends jackpots soaring.
The long game is a heroic ladder: defeat all four villains once to light an extra ball, twice to light the Battle Royale multiball, and three times as a prerequisite for the Super Hero wizard mode. Smooth as silk and tuned to perfection, Spider-Man is Ritchie at his most accessible — a machine that hooks newcomers instantly while giving tournament players combos and multipliers to chase for years.