The typical superhero-story also is present in this game. Some bad guy is terrorising town, in this game Dock Ock, and the hero of the day needs to save the city from doom. Of course that hero is Spider-Man.
The storyline - just like the console games - doesn't really follow the movie but the idea is quite the same. Some other known villains like Vulture have also been added here.

Since the DS isn't as powerful to simulate a big city, this title doesn't have the freedom we know from the console versions. Instead of a big 3D world you play in different levels which are quite big though, sometimes even so big that it's quite hard when you need to fight a couple of opponents and that one enemy is just in that corner you never check out.

Also the pure 3D action is exchanged for 2D with beautiful 3D graphics. The textures are sharp and the animations of our Spider-man are well done. You always have a very good depth-view and the image will sometimes turn (f.i. on a corner of the street) so that it doesn't get too boring by just walking from left to right. The idea of the missions is quite the same though, go to certain points (enemies, hostages, bombs, ...) and end the level as quick as possible.

The action is shown in the top screen and Spider-Man is controlled with the normal buttons. The four-point-pressbutton is of course needed to move while the ABXY buttons are meant for jumping, slinging and attack. On the touchscreen there are 8 unlockable special attacks which you select with your thumb and use with the R-button. This not only delivers quick and simple action but also a dirty touchscreen since you don't have the time to grab your stylus and need to touch it with your finger. Next to that, the touchscreen is also used in minigames with boss battles.

Quite annoying is the fact that Spider-Man tends to stick to the walls. When you are slinging through the city quite fast and accidentally touch a wall, you'll remain there. Next to that, the surrounding of Spider-Man where you can hit enemies is way too small which results in you having to stand almost right next to your opponent if you want to hit them.

Luckily the special attacks help with this although you won't be able to use them indefinitely since they drain your special meter. When Spider-Man's head starts to tingle, you can press the L-button to activate his spider sense. With this you can view the action in slow motion and the damage of your attacks increases.