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Vicarious Visions has definitely made a name for themselves in the portable market the past few years, offering up quality projects at every turn. On the GBA, they broke out the outstanding Tony Hawk 2 at launch, the DS got the partially flawed, pseudo-3D Spider-Man 2, and now VV is back with a great showcase title for the PSP with Spider-Man 2: a brand new adventure following the same general storyline as the movie, but with 100% brand new content.

Brand new content means this is a new game, inside and out. Nothing is recycled, here. In the long list, we have new levels, models, CG videos, voice-overs, etc. The game is built from the ground up to offer the PSP gamer a new experience, albeit with very familiar subject matter.

After a million different versions of Spider-Man 2, the whole story has been beaten pretty much to death. The game uses major plot points from the Spider-Man 2 movie, but uses some creative liberties by adding in more villains, etc. to make the experience long enough to run a whole game. The games story isn’t as lengthy or deep as the console version of the game, but it still does enough to keep things fairly interesting from beginning ‘til end, even if that is a pretty short trip.

Spider-Man 2 for the PSP is a pretty short ride all in all, offering only a few hours of play from opening scene to the credits. If you had the time in your day, you could beat the game in one battery charge. All in all, it’s about a 3 hour fare, but while it lasts, the game is great.

The PSP game plays a lot like Spider-Man: The Movie release a couple years ago as the tie-in for the first Spider-Man movie. In saying that, I mean that the controls are pretty similar; you play mostly through indoor environments, have a similar move set, etc. You’ll find yourself crawling through vents, saving hostages, beating up thugs on rooftops… you know, the usual for a super human dressed in spandex.

You’ll have access to a nice combo system that lets you tie together punches and kicks to make some awesome looking attacks. The combo system also ties directly into your style bonus system, which will award you points at the end of the level for using various combos and otherwise being stylish as you deal with the baddies of the city. The combat isn’t as deep as the console game, but it’s definitely got enough to keep you happy through the whole game, and a lot of the combos are just cool.

Through the whole game, you’ll find yourself up against numerous types of objectives. Whereas a lot of the previous games in the series often had you doing the same thing in a different area each level, the goals in the PSP game are as varied as they are numerous. One level will have you saving hostages from a reactor that’s about to explode, one will see you navigating a historical museum gone to hell thanks to one of the villains, one will have you playing a Simon Says-style game with timed explosives on building roofs, etc. The variance in goals for the levels is a real life saver, since it helps spice up the gameplay significantly, and helps you from getting bored of the same old thing through the whole game.

Also of note, is the length of each mission. None of the missions hit too far past the 5 minute mark, most lasting between 3-4. Some may turn their nose up at the short run of each level, but it helps the game appeal to the handheld market by allowing you to pick the game up on a bus trip, beat a level or two, and throw it back in your pocket and be on your way. It’s a great way to avoid having to quit a game mid-level because the levels are too long.

Spider-Man 2 requires you to use the analog nub on the PSP to control Spidey, and it works really well. I found myself immediately comfortable with moving Spider-Man around using the nub, and it feels very responsive. The D-Pad is used for camera manipulation, and while I can understand how this became a necessary evil when using the nub to control the character, it still feels somewhat clunky. However, the rest of the game controls great, from responsive button presses to smooth control over your character. So the camera detail is a noticeable problem, but not so much that it would ruin your experience.

As I said before, this is possibly the definitive showcase title for the PSP right now, simply because it looks amazing on the PSPs screen. Spider-Man is excellently detailed, looking about as good as he does on consoles, while boss characters also share the same attention to detail and modeled excellence. Your average thug, however, doesn’t look quite as good, but since there’s often upwards of 5 or 6 of them on-screen at once, it’s not really something you worry too much about. The games levels are all detailed phenomenally, especially the outdoor stages (which is, in my opinion, the best visual experience the PSP has so far) where city buildings stretch to the skies, and lights gleam in the distance. While all this is going on, the game retains a smooth framerate, and (in my time with the title) never dips to the point that you can notice any difference. Brand new CG sequences also help bring the game to life between levels, and really show off what the PSP is capable of.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Audio quality is also top-tier, with brand new voice over work by Toby Maguire and some others from the movie. For reasons unknown, we aren’t privy to a portable Bruce Campbell, however, which is disappointing. Who is that guy during the training stages, anyway? Does he think he’s funny? Oh well… The sound effects thump out of the speakers with great clarity, and the soundtrack is great, supping up the experience by adding to the atmosphere with Davis-like tracks.

There isn’t much of a reason to go back to Spider-Man 2 for the PSP after you beat it, unless you’re a big fan of the game. I really enjoyed it, I’ll admit, but for some reason, it’s harder to find the drive to play through the second time than it was the first. There’s a few unlockable goodies to be had, but nothing that’s really too worthwhile. The part that really hurts the games score is it’s length. This would easily be near Editor’s Choice material if it weren’t for the fact that it was over way too soon. Regardless, Spider-Man 2 for the PSP is a great game to play while it lasts, and an even better game to show off to all your friends.