Game Reviews

The Amazing Spider-Man

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The Amazing Spider-Man

It's no real surprise that The Amazing Spider-Man mobile game is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up.

It's the safe option, and the one that lets Gameloft translate the visceral thrill of being super-powered in the quickest way possible.

Essentially, Spider-Man is way more powerful than some ordinary thugs, so the game gives you a bunch of ordinary thugs to pound into the ground.

What might come as more of a surprise is the fact that the game is actually pretty good.

Punch, kick, swing

Eschewing the plot of the film, the game takes you on a whistlestop tour of a variety of nondescript New York locations. There you have to beat up a stream of goons before tackling a tougher super-villain foe.

There are damsels in distress to rescue as well, and the occasional bout of rooftop swinging, but the core of the game is all about hammering out combos in the direction of anyone who looks a bit shady.

While the combat isn't of the highest standard, it's entertaining enough that the lack of finesse isn't really a problem. Spider-Man is well animated, and his moves all have a weight that's often missing from mobile games.

Plenty of famous faces from the comics make an appearance, and you get to punch and kick them, using a single button, until they run away.

Pretty amazing

There's the odd judder here and there, but most of the time the game runs smoothly, and while violence is the major preoccupation there's still just about enough variation that you won't get bored.

It might not capture the web swinging thrill of the film in the same way that its iOS cousin does, but there's still a lot to like about The Amazing Spider-Man. Its action is fast, its one liners witty, and its look decidedly arcadey.

There's no depth to proceedings, but that's not really what you want from a mobile game tie-in to a blockbuster superhero movie. You want punching, kicking, and a barrel load of fun.

The Amazing Spider-Man

A solid side-scrolling brawler, The Amazing Spider-Man might not quite have the blockbuster trappings of its inspiration, but it is an awful lot of fun
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Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.