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The Fantastic Four

Moby ID: 10300
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Description

In this beat-em up side scroller, you have a choice between five characters from the popular Marvel comics series: the Human Torch, Thing, Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and She-Hulk. Each player has four special moves, one of which can only be executed when you collect enough force energy.

One aspect of the game is that you can change between characters at any time. If you can't get past a boss with Mr. Fantastic's stretchy moves, you can switch to the Human Torch and set them on fire.

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Credits (PlayStation version)

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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 54% (based on 14 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 11 ratings with 4 reviews)

Mr. Fantastic versus Iceman

The Good
Fantastic Four for the PlayStation 1 gets a bum wrap, and I think that part of the negatively is misplaced.

This game was never going to be an vast open world concept, ala Skyrim. The technology and development budget didn't exist.

This is a game designed during the early days of the PlayStation 1. As such, this game was always going to be a side-scrolling, beat 'em up, with familiar superheroes and super villains.

The Fantastic Four is actually a pretty good game, as a basic beat 'em up platformer. Multiple players (up to 4) can play at once, a rarity in gaming, and each character looks like their comic book counterpart.

Comic Book fans will recognize many of the game's levels, because they are based on past issues of the Fantastic Four, such as the destruction of Skull home world by Galactus.

The game also has some nice little details that often get overlooked; you can change which character you play as, a narrator announces the superheroes as they are beamed into a level and sometimes the bosses will trade witty, comic book barbs with our heroes.

The Bad
The biggest complaint with the Fantastic Four is the control mechanics.

Compared to another game in the same genre, i.e. Streets Of Rage 2, our "fantastic" heroes often struggle to quickly and consistently pull off their offensive and defensive moves.

It really hurts the enjoyment of the game and is a flaw that could have easily been prevented with a bit more fine tuning, even looking at how game play mechanics worked in other games of the genre.

Not only are the special "superhero" moves tough to consistently pull off, they deplete a energy bar, which you must collect icons in order to replenish.

The result, for many players, is to stick to basic punching and kicking attacks. When this happens, the game becomes repetitive because you are doing very simple attacks on the same sort of minions, until you make it to the boss.

Again, all of these game play problem that could have been prevented with better game play mechanics. It is not rocket science.

The available moves themselves are OK, although I find it annoying that playing as the Human Torch doesn't mean regular use of fire balls.

Some aspects of the game are not good or bad, but rather weird.

The storyline has Doctor Doom kidnapping our heroes and forcing them to relive past battles. It is not the most creative storyline, for a comic book game. It is also not terrible easy to follow. The game really could have benefited from more work on telling the story, beyond a series of text.

I personally did not dislike the funky, jazz sound track. However, the music is seeking to create a much more lighter, if not campier, tone then is common for a side-scrolling beat 'em up.

If you manage to make it to the "bonus rounds", you will see one of the more infamous aspects of this video game.

These bonus rounds come after you defeat a boss, without losing a life, and feature a member of the Fantastic Four doing battle with likes of say, Dragon Man.

These battles are setup to be similar to a "versus" battle in a fighting game. Although, the problems with the game play mechanics remain.

The game never explains that this is a bonus level, and one of the battles involves a member of the Fantastic Four battling with another super hero, Ice Man?!

Why are the Fantastic Four battling Ice Man? Ice Man is a member of the Uncanny X-Men, and generally not working for the likes of Doctor Doom. Comic book fans will have a hard time trying to think of a scenario where such a battle would make sense.

The Bottom Line
Fantastic Four for the PlayStation 1 is a solid, side-scrolling, beat 'em up with some game play mechanics that will take time getting used to. It is one of the few games of the genre that allow for four players, which makes it a great retro game to bring out at a party.

PlayStation · by carolflynt (3) · 2018

An Average Beat 'em Up, With Superheroes

The Good
The Fantastic Four lets you (and up to four players) take control of, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, Human Torch or She-Hulk through several, side-scrolling, beat 'em up levels. Each level is based on a past Fantastic Four comic book adventure, and features a familiar super villain boss at the end of each level.

The Bad
The Fantastic Four feature average graphics, with some backgrounds that only occasionally impress.

In an effect seen in fighting games, each playable character becomes larger or smaller, depending on how close they are to the foreground of the game. It is one of the many aspects of the game that are weird.

You have the option of playing a racing game, while the Fantastic Four loads between levels. Sometimes, the game will take you to semi-fighting game-style battles with the likes of Dragon Man and, yes, the super hero Iceman; from the Uncanny Xmen.

And by "take you", I mean you character gets beamed up from one level to the next, or one battle to the next. Anyone you switch characters, they beam down to the battle, with a zany announce telling you the name of the superhero.

These aspects of the game are weird, partly because the game offers very little in the way of a coherent storyline to follow.

From what I gather, Doctor Doom is beaming you to these locations, which appear to be based on past comic book adventures. So, is it a time machine? Well, it also seems to beam you to different locations in space and time, so maybe Doctor Doom has kidnapped Doctor Who.

The game could have done a much better job with the storyline, instead of the onscreen text. Some decent CGI animation is seen at the beginning and end of the game, why not use it to tell the game's story throughout the game itself?

The sound effects are slightly above average, mainly because of some things such as the narrator and occasional bits of super villain dialogue. The music is a weird, funky, jazzy soundtrack. Another thing to file under, "Weird".

The biggest complaint with the game is the game play mechanics themselves. I found it difficult to consistently pull off the characters offensive and defensive moves in the game. This is especially the case with the superpowers each character has in the comics and should have in the game.

It adds to the frustration of the game, when playing as the Human Torch (for example) means that you almost never shoot fireballs at enemies, but get to punch and kick an awfully lot.

This means that you will probably avoid the superhero abilities and stick with basic punching and kicking. In doing so, the game can become repetitive quickly.

The Bottom Line
The Fantastic Four lets you (and up to four players) take control of, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, Human Torch or She-Hulk through several, side-scrolling, beat 'em up levels. Some aspects of the game are weird, while other aspects of the game are frustrating. Yet, not many beat 'em ups allow four players to play a once. Give this one a try, if you are able to beam some friends along for the ride.

PlayStation · by Edward TJ Brown (118) · 2018

A Confusing Disappointment

The Good
Prior to the box office films, The Fantastic Four had made few video game starring appearances, and I was certainly excited at the prospect of control the famous Marvel Comics superheroes.

The characters and storyline provide plenty of great material and the first Marvel Comics superhero to make it to the Playstation 1, Iron Man, had turned out very nicely.

The basic game play is not creative, but it works. You get to control any of the Fantastic Four, plus the Incredible She Hulk, through several side scrolling levels with the levels and super villain bosses taken from the pages of Marvel Comics.

Each character has their own offensive and defensive fighting moves along with their famous special powers. The game has the characters grow larger or smaller depending on how close they are to the screen and the retro music is pretty cool to. Heck, you can even pick up items (even minor thugs) to toss at enemies or objects in the background.

The Bad
While the game treats you to some nice CGI animated sequences at the beginning (without the She Hulk) the actual storyline is incredible incomplete.

Somehow Doctor Doom has created a device that transports the Fantastic…er…um Five to various locations. Later on it is described as some sort of time machine, but it does not appear to be one, and it feels incredible weak and confusing for a Fantastic Four storyline.

The controls are generally responsive, but most of the complicated fighting moves are too difficult to pull off. The super powers use up a separate energy bar and are also difficult to pull off. Basically you spend most of long and (to their credit) cool looking levels punching, kicking and tossing stuff into the background.

Yet, if you use the same attack or defensive move often, a useless little icon appears on-screen to tell you that you are being cheesy. Hmm. This coming from people who managed to take a cool comic book franchise and produce this confusing mess?

The programmers gave us a strange race car mini-game to play while the game loads the levels and (I kid you not) totally bizarre battles with the likes of Dragon Man and (yes) Iceman.

I suspect that Iceman was originally supposed to be the Silver Surfer, but these battle sequences between levels are just strange.

Eventually you travel to Doom’s tiny kingdom for a final battle. If you manage to beat Doom you are treated to a horribly short ending.


The Bottom Line
I loved the Iron-Man/XO game and had high hopes for the Fantastic Four.

So many of the mistakes are just so obvious, that you have to wonder if this game was somehow rushed or drastically edited, because it just seems like a giant, confusing mess.

On the plus side, it is one of the few Playstation 1 side-scrolling games that allow you to play with a friend. If you love the comic book series, you may want to get a hold of the game and play it over a weekend with a friend. Yet, be prepared for confusion and disappointment.

PlayStation · by ETJB (428) · 2010

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • 1998 Buyer's Guide - Worst Use of a Good License

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  • MobyGames ID: 10300
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Charles Lippert.

Additional contributors: Alaka.

Game added September 9, 2003. Last modified March 27, 2024.