Excelsior! Sort of.
Spiderman: Battle for New York for the Nintendo DS works. You put it in your DS and turn it on, and sure enough, the title screen comes up. You press start, see a little storyline, and are on your way. It works, but that's about it. While it is a fairly mediocre game, it does accomplish some good things, so it is unfair to call it just mediocre. It deserves a mediocre plus.

Not having played any of the previous Spiderman titles for the DS, I was happy to find the controls for the webslinger pretty tight. He moves how he should in a side-scrolling adventure, has a variety of moves, and is considerably fast. The game features a dual-storyline that allows (forces) you to play as both the Green Goblin and Spidey. I thought it was a little strange to start the game playing as the Goblin and not Spiderman, especially playing as the villain felt clunky.

Not Quite Tobey Maguire, but…
The story is told in reasonably crude comic book style cut scenes. The art for these scenes is composed of still hand-drawn shots with voice-overs on top. The art looks like a bad knock-off of early 90's Image Comics, but for as slapped-together as the art seems, the voice acting is actually decent. Peter Parker really sounds how he should—his delivery of corny puns and other Spiderman-like exclamations are true to form.

The game is surprisingly challenging, but not always in a good way. I haven't cursed at a videogame like I did at Spiderman: BfNY since the 16-bit days. This is not necessarily bad—most games these days are too easy. However, yelling at a portable game system and claiming that the "computer is cheating" is embarrassing while playing near significant others or train commuters. Often times you will be damaged (the second boss, a big human/gorilla, is mind-numbingly annoying) even though you think you are clearly out of danger. Hit detection is poor at times, and there are certain times when enemies are invincible as they recover from damage. This is part of a general lack of polish that is evident with the game.

Touching the Screen Makes Me Feel Just Like Spiderman!
Because it is on the DS the developers felt the need to tack on crude touch-screen elements. As New Super Mario Bros. showed us, not every single game needs to make use of the lower screen. In Spiderman: BfNY, you'll find yourself lifting cars by stroking upwards on the screen, or sealing off doors that enemies are coming through by connecting the dots on a spider web in mid-game. It's not really fun and does not add to the experience.

The gameplay eventually wears thin and becomes repetitive. There is not much variety to the levels, but the ones that are in the game are not poorly designed. They provide enough excitement for a week, but this is not one you will be coming back to again and again. Any hardcore Spidey fans will be pleased with the control the DS allows the hero, and the game also works well for younger gamers. Gaming elite, however, will find nothing new in this title, but may appreciate it for the few things it does right; but overall, Spiderman: Battle for New York does not take full advantage of the power that the little DS has.

-Big Punch