Hollywood is seemingly increasing its influence in the gaming industry, as almost every major blockbuster release that borrows the story, elements or characters from pop culture gets a video-game treatment in order to further reach into the mainstream audience.

The same was with Spider-Man 2, the second movie in the trilogy of flicks based on the famous character from the Marvel Comics universe. The movie also enjoyed a video-game adaptation, courtesy of Activision, which made a lot of its studios, like Treyarch, Vicarious Visions or Digital Eclipse, work on versions of it for almost every platform that was, at that time, on the market, from the Nintendo GameCube or DS to the Xbox, PC, PlayStation 2, Mac OS X or PlayStation Portable.

The game was released for the Nintendo DS handheld console on November 16, 2004, and reached European shores on March 11, 2005. It was one of the very first titles made for the DS, as the portable console was launched in that same time period.

“There is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for the Nintendo DS and we are excited to be among the launch titles for this innovative new platform,” Kathy Vrabeck, president of Activision Publishing, said. “Spider-Man 2 takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's processing power by delivering amazing graphics and sound, and gameplay that fully realizes the potential of the dual screen.”

The game, of course, places players into the super-hero outfit of Spider-Man, as they can re-live the movie experience through new missions, which have unique enemies, objectives and puzzles that need to be dealt with. The touch-screen of the Nintendo handheld is also used for solving some of those problems, and the standard controls are employed for moving Spidey around and doing maneuvers in the air.

HINTS

Chapter 7: Special move upgrade
When you start the chapter, move to the left and get to the top of the building that is farthest to the left. Super jump, then web sling to the right at the top of your jump. Avoid the helicopter and collect the upgrade.

Chapter 9: Special move upgrade
The upgrade is located very high above the movie theater. To reach it, super jump from a high ledge and swing around until you see it.

Here's a video of this game: