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The web-head arrives on N-Gage. With Spider-Man 2, Activision is making a point to get it on as many different platforms as possible. We have already reviewed the excellent console versions, but in addition to those three, Activision developed a wholly different 3D version for the PC as well as two different 2D sidescrollers, one of the N-Gage which is being reviewed here, and the other for the Gameboy Advance, which will be reviewed tomorrow. In addition to these six versions, there will be Sony PSP and Nintendo DS versions coming out sometime in the future.
Spider-Man 2 sort-of follows the movie’s plot. You’ll still have to battle Doc. Ock due to the failure of his creation, but you’ll also have to fight other enemies to flesh out the story. The story itself is effectively told through 3D rendered stills.
Spider-Man 2 on N-Gage is largely a 2D side-scroller, 75% of its twenty levels are based on this formula. For the most part, these levels involve you moving forward while web-swinging, handled by the 3 key, and attacking the numerous enemies that appear with the sole action button, the 7 key. Thankfully, combat isn’t boring since the action key has a number of different punches and kicks at its disposal. Furthermore, you can tie enemies in a web by pressing the 1 key. This quickly became my favorite move, by the way.
The reason for all this running around is to save New York City from chaos, so you’ll frequently be rescuing hostages, as well as, disarming explosives and breaking toxic waste barrels. Every once in a while, you’ll fight a boss including favorites: Shocker, Rhino, Mysterio and Lizard. You’ll also fight Doc. Ock from the motion picture. All in all, there are fifteen of these types of missions.
The other five missions are timed 3D missions. You’ll have to get somewhere as soon as possible, so you swing through a linear 3D level to get there. The controls in these levels are a bit strange, since you are never in full control of the swinging like you were in the console versions. Nonetheless, they aren’t too bad and these levels remain reasonably fun.
Spider-Man 2 supports the N-Gage Arena, Nokia’s online gaming service. Though you can’t play online or download ghosts, you can post and view high scores and completion times for the game’s 3D racing levels.
The game’s visuals are pretty awesome for a portable. Spider-Man and the numerous enemies are pre-rendered in 3D and look quite excellent. The animation is exceptional, and the various levels feature highly detailed backgrounds, making the game one of the N-Gage’s best lookers. The 3D levels really push polygons, and here you can see Spider-Man really strut his stuff in terms of animation. Unfortunately, the clunky controls mentioned above ruin them a bit. Lastly, the stills used to tell the story are excellent. The only problem with the visuals are the occasional frame rare problems that pop-up every once in a while. The narrow screen isn't a problem in this game since you'll always be able to see enough of the location.
The soundtrack is decent, with enough variation to keep you interested. Besides the score, the sound effects are decisively average.
Spider-Man 2 on N-Gage is a fun little game to play while you’re on the road. The only problem with the game is that it is rather short and the dedicated gamer can get through it in a sitting or two. I was surprised by how different the game was to the Gameboy Advance version. It is refreshing to see publishers make original games for N-Gage as opposed to simply porting over PlayStation or Gameboy Advance games. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Aug 11, 2004
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