Play Spider-Man 3 (G) Online

Swiping at the touchscreen to web-swing feels awkward at first, but once you get the hang of flinging yourself between buildings, it clicks—even if you occasionally faceplant into a fire escape. The thug fights get repetitive, but nailing a perfect combo against Venom makes up for it.

Developer: Activision

Genre: Action-Adventure

Released: 2007

File size: 34.29 MB

Game Overview

Spider-Man 3 on the Nintendo DS came out in 2007, published by Activision. It was one of those licensed movie tie-ins that tried to squeeze the console experience onto the handheld, and it had to get creative with the dual screens and touch controls. For its time, it was a pretty ambitious attempt to bring open city swinging to a portable system, even if it didn't always nail the execution.

You control Spider-Man, swinging through a scaled down New York City to stop various villains from the film, like Sandman and Venom. The main objective involves completing story missions, stopping random crimes, and collecting hidden tokens scattered across the city. Signature mechanics include using the touch screen to perform web swinging gestures and executing combat combos with the face buttons; the pacing is uneven, with some frustrating difficulty spikes during boss fights. It feels like a game that's constantly fighting its own hardware limitations, but there's a strange charm in making it work.