8 AGGRESSIVE NPCs Who Wouldn't Leave You ALONE

To be clear, we're not talking about Insomniac's recent Spider-Man 2, but rather the 2004 game based on Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire's second Spider-Man movie released that very same year.

Throughout the game, you'll be able to solve "random crimes" - infinitely respawning side quests which include stopping a purse snatcher, beating up gangs, and... fetching a lost balloon.

Indeed, Spidey can have his time thoroughly wasted by a litany of kids scattered throughout New York City who have let go of their balloons, causing them to soar into the sky.

Get in the proximity of any of these children and they'll start wailing loudly, "Ohhh noooo! My balloon!," as if by being as annoying as possible you might actually be encouraged to nab the balloon from the heavens and return it to them - which, honestly, you might.

And to rub salt in the wound, the ingrate kid doesn't even thank you for your efforts - they simply grab hold of the balloon and skip off with their parent.

As a direct riposte to how thoroughly this annoyed players, though, 2005's Ultimate Spider-Man game allowed you to take control of Venom and straight-up eat the kids asking for help retrieving their balloons. This almost makes their inclusion in Spider-Man 2 totally worth it.

Almost.