Spider-Man: Battle for New York hands-on

Spider-Man: Battle for New York looks like your basic side scrolling action game, with Spidey taking on waves of thugs in a good ol' fashioned slugfest - much like last year's Ultimate Spider-Man. The controls centered on using the DS' face buttons to punch, jump and websling, but developers from Torus Games say the final version will incorporate the touch screen, offering a bit more variety in the way of acrobatic attacks.

The obligatory warehouse level previewed a bit of the stealth elements in the game, with Spidey sneaking around and climbing walls to avoid security cameras positioned throughout the area. By evading or destroying these cameras, the player can avoid triggering most of the enemies in the level. There is also a light puzzle element to some parts of the game, where you disable other security measures by completing minigames at control consoles conveniently scattered around the stage.

Visually, Battle for New York sticks to its comic book roots, using thick lines and contrasting colors to make the characters pop off the screen. One unusual and sometimes distracting aspect, though, is the game's use of 3D backgrounds - they rotate around while Spider-Man stays centered on the screen. Occasionally, this makes even basic movement a pain. There were also times the enemies disappeared from the screen entirely, even though we never actually hit them. The game's not due until October, so there's still a chance the disorienting effects and glitchy enemies will be fixed.