Spider-Man 2

"Spidey's web ran-out in this side-scrolling button mashing adventure"

When I first picked up this game, I thought it would be like the console version of spider-man 2. swinging around the city freely and doing whatever you want. Webbing criminals and doing missions. But soon I found out it was nothing but a worthless side-scrolling button masher that can't even draw the characters the way they look in the movie. Although lets get with the review shall we.

Graphics 8/10

This is the games strongest point. The intros graphics are amazing. Although in-game graphics are just ok. The little animated cut-scenes were pretty good. One thing I hated though and brought the graphics down a bit were the little still pictures between levels. Those were terrible. Peter Parker looks just as scary as Nemesis, and Mary Jane was a blond even though she was red-haired in the movie.

Controls 7/10

The controls were very average. Some different placement would have been preferred. Although it's nothing to worry about.

Use of touch screen 6/10

I'm being generous here. The touch screen usage was just selecting new moves every once and a while. There were also mini games for disarming bombs and defeating bosses. The mini games were repetitive and not very challenging. You'll be wondering why they even stuck them in. It is good though they are trying to encourage use of the touch screen.

Game-play 4/10

The game-play of this game is terrible. You can go all the way through the level about to beat it when you find yourself crawling up a building only to be shot by the criminal on top, fall down. Then go back up just to fall down again. Even the simplest enemies can defeat you just because they can get to you first, knock you sown. Then hit you when you get back up. It's pitiful how many cheap deaths come from the horrible game. There is no freedom. All you do is rather save the hostages or kill the bad guys in a certain amount of time without dieing. It's pretty pathetic. Boss fights were too easy.

Story 6/10

A bad attempt at following the movies story-line. That's all that can be said except for the randomly implemented classic villains.

Sound 2/10

Ouch! Stop hurting my ears! Just turn the volume off. They're no decent sounds or pieces of music in this game. Thank goodness you have the option of turning the sound off. The sounds are generic and the music sounds like screaming. The voice-acting isn't that bad though.

Replay value 6/10

There's unlock-ables to unlock and extras. But it's not worth playing the game again.

Buy or Rent

If you must at least try this game you should borrow or rent it. Do not buy without trying it as I did!

Conclusion

This game is a sub-par button masher that does not uses the Ds's capabilities well. It has no freedom and does not live up to it's license.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/21/05