This game isn't an original product based on the general Spider-Man comic-book universe as most super-hero games usually are, instead it is based on a specific mini-series of the Marvel universe called Maximum Carnage. Much like the game, the series begins with Spider-Man's enemy Carnage escaping jail, who after gathering some equally psychotic 'pals', goes out on a killing spree all over New York. This time not even Spider-Man alone can stop him, so an uneasy alliance of superheroes spearheaded by Spider-Man and his nemesis Venom is formed to try and stop the madness. Spanning over 14 issues and encompassing all Spider-Man titles at the time, Maximum Carnage was a massive development by Marvel with lots of guest appearances and remains to this day one of Spidey's most ambitious and certainly most violent (a fact sadly toned-down for the game) sagas ever.
The musical score for the game was composed by the comedy rock band Green Jelly.
Musical cues that announce the appearance of other heroes in the game were sampled from the soundtracks of iconic feature films and television series. The most notable examples include Deathlok (the Terminator theme), Cloak (King Kong 1977), Iron Fist (Enter the Dragon), and Morbius (Forever Knight).
Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage was published in: The Amazing Spider-Man #378, 379, 380; The Spectacular Spider-Man #201, 202, 203; Spider-Man #35, 36, 37; Spider-Man Unlimited #1, 2; and Web of Spider-Man# 101, 102, 103