Well, I went ahead and restarted, this time with the difficulty of the combat set low. I found WoS to be the perfect challenge, but without the experience system, I just can't get into the combat as much. I'm enjoying myself more now. The combat is still fun, but it doesn't feel as dragged out. I think I see what they were going for, though, by removing the experience system. Now, it's more of a straight-on Metroid clone. Problem is, the enemy placement and pacing make it too easy to bypass most enemies, and again, there's often little reason to engage them. It's still a fun game, but WoS was absolutely better. I did end up finding the dodge-roll ability, so that's cool. To me, that really ties the combat together perfectly. I have to say, I absolutely freaking loathe the mini-game you have to play when changing dimensions. Talk about garbage! It's a frustrating waste of game space. The story, too, is absolute fodder. Spidey gets some decent lines, but the Madam Spider chick is terrible.
Verdict: I still kinda love the game. It's got the main elements of WoS I loved, so it gets a pass. But it's still disappointing. It feels more like the Wolverine game than WoS, which was also decent but not great.