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Spider-Man swings to the Nintendo DS one more time. Spider-Man: Battle for New York, like Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man before it, is a 2D action game with many 3D elements tossed in. Like Ultimate Spider-Man, Battle for New York lets you play both as Spider-Man and a villain—The Green Goblin—and makes for some exciting portable webslinging and fireball-throwing action.
Battle for New York tells the story of the Green Goblin trying to take over New York City by poisoning its citizens and Spider-Man’s attempts to thwart his plans. The game takes place in the Ultimate universe, so you’ll notice that Spider-Man is a teenager and the Green Goblin is a mutated being and not just a person in a really expensive suit. The story isn’t particularly in depth but it is good enough to keep things compelling enough to keep playing. A highlight is that the game tells both sides of the story, so you’ll often switch characters after a level to get the other side of the story.
The gameplay in Battle for New York should be familiar to fans of Spider-Man 2 or Ultimate Spider-Man 2. Instead of the free-roaming gameplay found in the console versions, the Nintendo DS version once again stays true to 2D platforming roots, albeit with a stylish 3D presentation thrown in. Spider-Man can web swing, web swing (pull himself somewhere), web shot (a projectile to hit enemies), and web pull (pull enemies towards you), aside from the expected repertoire of punching, kicking and dodging. The Green Goblin, meanwhile, has the standard punches and grabs, but also has access to a number of projectile fireballs. In addition to these moves, both characters have acess to a number of special moves like adrenaline for Spider-Man and inferno for Green Goblin.
One of the biggest changes in Battle for New York is that you can choose when to upgrade both characters’ skills (damage, maximum web fluid/ammo) and statistics like maximum health. Battle for New York still makes (gimmicky) use of the Nintendo DS touchscreen. Most of the time you’ll be stroking the screen to get something done, although there are two other minigames that do appear from time to time. The touch screen is put to somewhat better use because you can use it to execute the special moves I mentioned above.
The game’s visuals are pretty good, if strangely familiar to the previous two games on the Nintendo DS. The toon-shaded 3D engine certainly shows off the Nintendo DS’s 3D strengths. The character models are accurate and well animated. The environments are pretty diverse, with plenty going on at any given time. The framerate remains at 60 FPS most of the time and provides fluid action. The story presentation is where the game really excels. The story is told through comic panels that come in from both screens, demonstrating an innovative and effective use for the dual screen nature of the DS.
The audio is equally impressive. The background music is effective and fits the action of the game well. The voice-acting is apt and there is a surprising amount of it found in the game. The dialogue is pretty good, too.
Spider-Man: Battle for New York boasts fun 2D gameplay mixed with an impressive 3D presentation. The game’s biggest fault is that it hasn’t made any significant strides since last year, but it remains one of the most fun 2D action games on the Nintendo DS. It won’t win over any new fans, but it should retain its existing ones. -- Jake Wilson, PGNx Media
---- Nov 20, 2006
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