While Spider-Man's story line (told via a slide show of comic book panels) is linear, there's great freedom of movement within the game's 3-D indoor and outdoor environments. True to comic book form, you can climb walls and travel about webswinging, although the former can be disorientating in terms of point-of-view, and the latter is often a leap of faith, as the game's shoddy graphics (even with the optional Expansion Pak) create a restricted field of vision. In addition to being able to do all sorts of nifty things with your webspinners, Spidey's superstrength, superagility, and spider-sense (for which you'll want a Rumble Pak to feel the patented tingle) are also accounted for. As for his superhuman reflexes, well, that one's really up to you. --Joe Hon

Pros:

• Gameplay that actually does Spider-Man justice
• Simple in-game display; solid controls
• Lots of secrets unlock in records and gallery modes
• Kid mode simplifies controls and gameplay for younger players

• Shoddy graphics can cause Spidey to go splat
• Point-of-view can be disorienting at times
• PlayStation version features much-improved graphics and sound