Ultimate Spider-Man terminally mundane 'Ultimate' the best 'Spidey' game Not quite 'Ultimate,' but pretty close A true hero among handheld games

When it comes to comic books, I am old school through and through. That's why I am not a big fan of the 'Ultimate' series from Marvel Comics. For me, Doctor Doom is a megalomaniac in a metal suit of armour and the Green Goblin died when got pole-axed by his own glider and nothing is gonna change that no matter how much the Marvel mythos are tweaked or altered.

I may not be thrilled with the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book series but the game? Man, that's a whole other story, bub.

Visually, it is unlike any other title I have ever seen or played. It is truly unique. As someone who puts Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and John Byrne on the same level as Picasso or Rembrandt, I was thrilled to finally be able to play a game that looked like an actual comic book.

Titles like the 'Freedom Force' series are incomparable but the environment doesn't have that comic book feel. 'Ultimate Spider-Man' does. Screenshots do not do the game justice or give the slightest sense of what it is like to operate in those surroundings. Everything from the buildings themselves to the cars driving on the bustling Manhattan streets appear to be torn from the pages of a comic. It's hard to explain in words but needless to say, the artwork in 'Ultimate Spider-Man' is nothing short of magnificent and that includes the dazzling cut-scenes too. When you see R.H.I.N.O. sock Spidey through several comic book panels that disintegrate on impact, you realize how much thought, imagination and artistry went into this release. The one knock on the environment I would have is that none of it is destructible. You cannot hurl parked cars, rip lampposts out of the ground or bring buildings tumbling down as Spider-Man. You also cannot harass any of the civilians. That sure ruins part of the fun for sadistic gamers like myself.

In the game you can choose between story mode or do some mindless free roaming. The story, which focuses on Peter Parker's strained relationship with his pal Eddie Brock, takes a drastic turn though when you are introduced to Venom's playable part of the plot. As the merciless symbiote, you cause mass destruction and chaos while trying to escape those who created the suit in the first place and want to use Eddie as their guinea pig. As is to be expected, Venom isn't exactly the poster child for godliness. He battles guest-starring heroes like Wolverine (Sweet!) and drains everyday citizens of their energy to replenish his health. The "Ultimate" version of Venom doesn't have many of Spider-Man's attributes either. He fires out lethal tentacles instead of webs and leaps from building to building like The Hulk instead of web swinging. He's definitely not the Venom I know and love.

CHARACTER TRAILERS: The Beetle (8.46 Megs). Electro (6.93 Megs). Green Goblin (8.76 Megs). Rhino (8.46 Megs). Shocker (7.79 Megs). Silver Sable (7.55 Megs). Wolverine (8.10 Megs).

One of the drawbacks of 'Ultimate Spider-Man' is that like many of the other Activision Spider-Man titles, it incorporates many of those exasperating chase missions again where you must keep up with a particular character or fail. In the first half of the game there are two such deals: one against The Fantastic Four's Human Torch and one against Electro. I understand the desire of the producers to mix things up so that every level isn't a knock down, drag out brawl but these missions must be loaded into a rocket and fired off to Asteroid M. All they ever manage to do is bring the game to a grinding halt. Even scrubbing the corns on Aunt May's feet would be more desirable than ever encountering another chase mission.

What also should be known about 'Ultimate Spider-Man' is that even though you switch between Venom and Spidey during the story mode, you cannot do so when you are free-roaming. You are stuck with Spider-Man until you complete the entire game and then are awarded the option of swapping Spidey for Venom or vice-versa.

The game sure looks fantastic but is it fun to play? Without a doubt, although it could do with some fine-tuning here and there. Being able to choose between exploring the city around you or advancing the main story sure does radically increase the game's re-playability factor. The cool thing is that while you are swinging along random events will occur. There are people to be rescued, robberies to stop and police officers to assist. That's one of the better qualities 'Ultimate Spider-Man' has that sets it apart from other games. It is apparent that the producers strongly believe that being a superhero just doesn't mean using your exceptional powers to pound villains into hamburger. As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility and that includes making the world a better place by helping those in need. I can't argue with that stance no matter how enjoyable it might be to cause a 32-car pile-up outside The Daily Bugle.