The Fantastic Four

If you’ve seen the movie, “The Fantastic Four,” you will love the game. Slight changes have been made to the classic storyline to bring the game up-to-date for modern audiences, but basically, the story is the same.

Four scientists go into outer space and find themselves in the midst of a radiation storm. When they return to Earth, they find that they have super hero power. They find themselves the center of attention, which is what they want least.

Reed Richards becomes Mr. Fantastic. He can stretch his body into all types of shapes and fight villains from afar. Sue Storm is the Invisible Woman. Not only can she become invisible and help her team mates by going places they can’t, but she can also create force fields to thwart attacks. Her brother, Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, can turn himself into a fireball and fly. He likes being the center of attention and often causes the team to be in the limelight when they’d like to keep their actions secret. Ben Grimm becomes The Thing, as monster that is made out of rock. He has incredible strength that allows him to overpower the team’s enemy, Doctor Doom.

The game, The Fantastic Four, follows the movie very closely, but does include a guest appearance by secret agent, Nick Fury, that wasn’t included in the film. Moleman, Diablo and other characters from the comic version also appear in the game.

Basically, the game is a tour of destruction. Each level consists of fighting villains that you meet and destroying all that obstructs your path. Each member of “The Fantastic Four,” have jump, block, grapple attack and a couple of punches. To unleash the character’s super powers, you hold down the trigger on the right and press one of the four buttons on your game controller. Some attack combinations allow you to restore lost energy and power-up. When you reach maximum energy, you unleash a super-mega mode that gives you ultra attack and defense powers for a few seconds. No enemy is safe from this attack and the animations are awesome.

Most all of the objects in the game can be destroyed by either throwing or smashing them. The incredible powers of The Thing make him the only member of “The Fantastic Four” who is able to use weapons. It’s fun to be able to pick up a car or other large object and pound the villains into submission. The Thing is able to hold the bad guys while the other members of “The Fantastic Four” pulverize them.

As you find hidden objects, complete levels and defeat your foes, you collect points that can be used in various ways. You are able to customize the heroes and also the team. If you like being one of particular character, you can give that character the majority of the points that you earn, or you can give equal points to each member of the team. Use the points to unlock a character’s biography, concept art, interviews with the cast of the movie, or the cool comic book covers.

Playing “The Fantastic Four” with multiple players is a lot of fun. Play with up to three friends and fight the forces of evil together. This is a great challenge, as things can get a bit chaotic at times. Players are also able to fight each other in one of the numerous arenas. These can be unlocked by finding hidden “4” symbols.

The graphics in the game are colorful. Characters look like the ones in the movie, but aren’t incredible. However, they don’t need to be.

If you are looking for a few hours of entertaining fun smashing things and fighting the forces of evil, “The Fantastic Four” will satisfy all of your gaming needs. It’s a great game for kids of all ages.