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Though the movie won’t be released until July 8th, you can catch Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, Invisible Woman, and The Human Torch on a GBA near you. Fantastic 4 is the latest film-to-game adaptation courtesy of Activision. For the GBA, Activision has teamed up with Torus Games to provide a compelling top-down action game.
Fantastic 4 the videogame, much like the film and comic book, stars the four characters I mentioned in the introduction. Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, Invisible Woman, and The Human Torch all have special abilities and can be controlled in the game. Mr. Fantastic has the ability to stretch himself, The Thing is incredibly strong, Invisible Woman has the ability to (duh) turn invisible, and The Human Torch can turn into a moving fireball. These abilities come into play during the game. For instance, Mr. Fantastic is able to reach enemies from a distance and Invisible Woman is able to freeze enemies. The Human Torch can set fire to enemies, and The Thing has brute force at his disposal.
In the GBA version, each character boasts five moves: two typical attacks, a special move and two cosmic moves. The comic moves, though quite strong, require energy. Thankfully there are cosmic power pick-ups that refill the meter. There are also a number of context-sensitive moves. The game doesn’t make it particularly difficult for you to realize when one is needed either as hot spots indicate when one can be used. Each character has their own hot spot color.
Fantastic 4 is largely a beat-em-up. As such, you’ll spend most of your time going through the levels wiping out the enemies and items (in hopes of refilling your energy) and continuing along the way. Most of the time you won’t have access to all four characters are they are elsewhere according to the plot, so you’ll be playing with one or two characters. The AI controls the other character(s), though you can easily switch between them with a button press. The actual combat is enjoyable though slightly repetitive since creativity isn’t really favored.
The game’s visuals are suitable. The different characters look great and animate fluidly. The different moves look realistic and varied, which is impressive for a GBA game. The environments are all impressive and accurate display what they aim for whether that is Brooklyn or a museum. Likewise, the audio does fine. The soundtrack isn’t amazing but it gets the job done. The sound effects share the same fate – they lack that “wow” factor but are certainly good enough.
Fantastic 4 offers four characters, a repertoire of moves, and compelling level design that culminate in an engaging game. Though a bit simplistic, the game does make for good portable gameplay. -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Jul 1, 2005
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