Play Spider-Man 2 Online

Summary

The Nintendo DS iteration of Spider-Man 2 adapts the film’s open‑world swinging and crime‑fighting into a handheld format, swapping the console‑scale visuals for dual‑screen puzzles and touch‑based web controls.

Vicarious Visions built it for Activision, and the cartridge hit North America on November 17, 2004—just four days ahead of the DS’s own launch—while serving as a day‑one title in Australia (Feb 24) and Europe (Mar 11).

Critics were split: Metacritic aggregated a middling 61/100, IGN gave a comparatively generous 7.5/10, but outlets like GameSpot and Game Informer hovered around the 6‑out‑of‑10 mark and Game Revolution issued a D+. The mixed feedback focused on clunky controls and trimmed environments compared to the console version.

Despite the polarizing scores, the game landed as the 47th best‑selling handheld title across GBA, DS, and PSP between 2000 and 2006, indicating a solid fan base for superhero gaming on the portable platform.

Storyline

Spider-Man 2 on the Nintendo DS follows the movie’s storyline while adding brand‑new moments and characters. The game is set roughly two years after the events of the first film, and Peter Parker is still trying to juggle school, his job and his secret life as a hero. When his mentor, scientist Otto Octavius, suffers a lab accident he transforms into the villain Doctor Octopus. Peter must race against time to stop Octavius from restarting a volatile fusion‑power experiment.

The voice cast mirrors the movie, with Tobey Maguire, Alfred Molina and Kirsten Dunst reprising their roles as Spider‑Man, Doctor Octopus and Mary Jane Watson. Bruce Campbell, who appeared briefly in the film, provides narration throughout the handheld adventure. These additions give the DS version a fresh feel even for fans familiar with the cinema version. The expanded scenes keep the experience feeling larger than the original screenplay.