GENRE
	Action
	DEVELOPER
	Torus Games
	PUBLISHER
	Activision
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	No
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	No
	MICROPHONE
	No
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Licensed games are keeping GBA afloat these days. The 600,000+ people who bought the system in November had to buy something to go with it. But unlike GBA, DS is in its prime, and the monthly cartoon and TV-show cash-in titles are usually overshadowed by franchises and sequels. These shelf-fillers are still easy to spot: simply look for recognizable characters and fads will reveal the seedy underbelly of the handheld gaming world. No doubt most of these games based on Disney Channel TV deserve the disgusted leers they get on a daily basis, but at least some licenses might actually merit a decent video game. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, for instance, has recently found his way into a few different titles with Ultimate Spider-Man and the more recent Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Even more recent is his latest turn on DS in Spider-Man: Battle for New York.

visuals

Those who played 2005's Ultimate Spider-Man for DS should find Battle for NY familiar. Indeed, they are both played on a sort of 2.5D plane; while the action is strictly left-to-right, the environment sometimes rotates to accommodate the player. It's a bit disorienting at first, but easy enough to get the swing of things. Aiding to this are the fully-polgonal graphics with a dash of cel-shading to give it a comic book feel. The result is very pleasing to the eye, and it really helps to justify the quasi-3D level structure.

Adding to the presentation are the cut-scenes. While the seemingly hand-drawn images remain static, they're put together in a way that does a great job of mimicking the actual comic book structure. The art is on par with today's Spidey books. At times, it even utilizes the two screens to become extremely close to real innovation for the storytelling format. Unfortunately, the actual story is relegated to standard save-the-city fodder.

audio

The voice acting for the cut-scenes is above and beyond the DS norm. Not only does it actually exist, but it's actually quite plentiful. For the most part, the voice actors do an admirable job of properly conveying their characters. Spidey represents the high point with his dead-on trademark quips and comic timing. The low here would be the voice of Kingpin, who sounds like a thirteen year old trying to feign a full trip through puberty. Yet, it's suprising to have quality voice-acting on a DS cart, so it's hard to complain. The rest of the audio department fares decently, though the mundane music doesn't seem as effective when it is replaced with the simple sounds of the city. Somehow, web-slinging from building to building just feels more complete with the car horns and bird chirps of an urban area.

gameplay

Like the graphics, the gameplay is strikingly similar to Ultimate Spider-Man. Using Spidey, players beat up generic bad guys and save unfortunate civilians. Endless three-hit combos are broken up by various Spidey powers. Ol' Webhead can stick and crawl on almost every surface in the game, and it will be necessary to navigate some of the more labyrinthine areas. A variety of webbing-based powers are also available, including the expected web-slinging and rope to tie up enemies. While anything less would be unacceptable for a Spider-Man game, it's decently executed, and it never really feels like Spidey is an interchangeable character.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for Battle for New York's other playable character, the Green Goblin. This is not the spindly, hovercraft-prone character that many are familiar with from the films or the Saturday morning cartoon. No, this is the version from the Ultimate line of comics, which has reduced the Goblin to the Incredible Hulk with horns and a human vocabulary. His levels are composed of beating up bad guys, moving to the next room, destroying some equipment, beating some more bad guys, wash, rinse, mediocre. These primitive exercises do break up the action, but it could have been done with a more interesting character, like the last game's Venom.

All this is not to say that Spider-Man's obstacle courses are incredibly inspired. In fact, they're downright average. Nothing here wouldn't be out of place in a SNES game, especially the braindead, pattern-obsessed bosses. It looks as if some sort attempt at depth was made with upgradeable stats for health and special powers; but the grand total of four opportunities end up seeming like more of an afterthought than a real way to customize play styles. It probably doesn't matter, because the pre-teens this game is aimed at probably haven't played the dozens of games that have done most of this already.

Worth mentioning, however, is the terrible excuse for stylus support. In the day and age of New Super Mario Bros., developers should learn that the touch screen isn't required for a DS game. In this case, players will be tapping buttons on the screen, scraping different directions to save pedestrians and playing connect-the-dots to make a web. Not only are these minigames cumbersome, but they're made all the more frustrating by being placed right in the middle of the action. It might have been intended to make for a more intense experience, but it ends up being an annoyance. Spidey fans know this kind of thing isn't necessary; action is reward enough.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

At heart, Battle for New York is really another run-of-the-mill beat-em-up of yesteryear. But the top notch presentation makes this one worth a look for Spider-Man fans or their parents, who would be well-advised to put down that copy of Hannah Montana DS, step away from the Cars tie-in and give Spidey a chance. Many, many better games are out there, but not a whole lot for those looking for a DS superhero fix. In that respect, at least, look out for Spider-Man.

7.0/10