The Fantastic Four

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.