Fantastic Four

GameZone

Accessible, with a great cast of villains, Fantastic Four is an entertaining ride into a comic book. The levels are a little short, and the game does have a few clipping problems that color an otherwise fun experience.

GamingTrend

Its easy to pick up and control and the bosses are varied and challenging.

PGNx Media

Fantastic 4 offers four characters, a repertoire of moves, and compelling level design that culminate in an engaging game. The production values are good, thanks in no small part to the authentic voice acting.

Thunderbolt

It’s an old-fashioned beat ‘em up done right. The co-op play is excellent and even going solo can make for an entertaining time.

DarkStation

Activision makes full use of the Marvel licence with a heavy dose of superhero action, nifty combos and plenty of unlockable goodies.

Gaming Illustrated

A pretty decent game that isn't anything spectacular, but for fans of the movie and people that enjoy bash-em shoot-em type of games involving multiple players will definitely enjoy the game.

Game Informer

In what seems like a profoundly misguided step, four players can't play as the Fantastic Four. [Sept 2005, p.101]

Detroit Free Press

A heavy hitter in the button-mashing genre and is well worth the purchase for young adults and children. A more advanced gamer would still get a belly full of enjoyment out of a rental.

GameCritics

Fantastic Four didn't rock my world, but it easily avoided auto-sucking and turned out to be a pretty decent day's work.

Inside Gamer Online

It's not polished enough to join its high-quality brethren in the superhero game hall of fame-- but even amidst a plague of poor design blunders and bland production values, it succeeds at offering some mindless controller wrangling in spite of itself.

Cheat Code Central

If you're truly a fan, you'll want this in your collection. Others might find a rental would surely suffice to get their clobberin' time fix.

GameSpy

The game's presentation is easily worth the attention of even the most hardcore comic fans. The graphics are all fairly well defined, though the PS2 version doesn't look quite as sharp as either the Xbox or GameCube versions.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Fantastic 4 is short. Most players will finish it in less than six hours--and judging by the fact that finishing levels within certain time limits is among the mission bonuses, Activision doesn't expect anyone to take too long to play it.

3DAvenue

It does feature beat em’ up mechanics and quite a bit of depth but can get repetitive and doesn't really do anything unique and new to put it above the pack meaning the reliance on the movie license is just a bit too much.

PSM Magazine

Sure, it's still playable; it's just not fantastic. [Sept 2005, p.78]

Pelit (Finland)

Makes both comic book and film fans happy. There are no problems with presentation, but after a million fights you are willing to give peace a chance. [Sept. 05]

IC-Games

Fantastic four is certainly not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, but simply a case of style over substance, and that’s another cliché all by itself.

BonusStage

I can’t say the game is all bad, as the teamwork aspect does offer up some unique gameplay, but with senseless enemy AI and a small amount of non-repetitive action, this game isn’t something I could really recommend without getting a cramp in my stomach.

Gaming Target

Its action, its story telling, its graphical and audible structure: these things don't match up to any good.

Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)

A flawed tie-in that breaks no new ground, provides little entertainment and feels like a hollow companion to the film. Your standard rushed out film licence. [PSM2]

Play Magazine

The models up close are unsightly, the cinemas grainy and the music has all the luster of a Tide commercial, but the game on the whole is entertaining by game standards. [Aug 2005, p.50]

Deeko

Bad camera angles and a feeling of unfinished gameplay, makes four fantastic characters changed by one spectacular accident seem like one mediocre game.

Game Chronicles

Using objects in the environment to give enemies a beating is always kick-ass, and each character has their own abilities that are, at the very least, solid and enjoyable.

IGN

A passable action game with some interesting ideas.

Stuff

It’s decent, mindless fun…until you realize how little freedom your four heroes actually have.

Jolt Online Gaming UK

It’s really the co-op mode that saves the game from utter mediocrity. Nevertheless, the abject blandness of pretty much every other facet of the game holds it back from being decent enough to purchase.

G4 TV

Co-op also makes the bad camera even worse. It's better included than not, but if you want great multiplayer, play the deeper and more fulfilling X-Men Legends or one of the Baldur's Gate games.

WHAM! Gaming

It's very amusing playing it together as a team.

Next Level Gaming

Frustrating controls and fighting engine, and really lackluster fun-factor keep this game on the store shelf.

Sydney Morning Herald

The action can get intense, highlighting one of the game's main issues: the unwieldy camera angle that requires constant attention.

Eurogamer

But more importantly, you do get to 'be' the Fantastic 4 and experiment with some really rather excellent superpowers, and the game isn't so bad that a serious fan couldn't overlook its flaws.

GameSpot

Unfortunately, the game suffers from imprecise controls, a lackluster presentation, a few bugs, and other issues that make it difficult to recommend.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

But it's mostly mediocre. Fantastic 4 desperately tries to break up the button mashing with lame minigames, like hacking a door by doing preschool puzzles, which just made the game feel like a fantastic chore.

Gamer's Hell

There was a lot of potential here for an in-depth game filled with an assortment of lethal superpowers, but sadly the gameplay is repetitive and unexciting, making Fantastic 4 worth nothing more than a rent.

TotalGames.net

Seven Studios has tried its best to offer a mix of gameplay elements with rescue operations and mini-games included but these aren't enough to break up the monotony of the copious smash and saunter sections.

AceGamez

The co-op mode is a welcome addition, even if it isn't online enabled (and only supports two players), but you'd be much better off playing "X-Men Legends" co-op mode than this one.

TotalPlayStation

Utterly mediorce in every way, this is a game that does absolutely nothing to debunk the claim that licensed games are rushed, shallow pieces of crap.

Pelaaja (Finland)

Despite its many promising ideas, Fantastic 4 is not successful as a whole. The biggest problem lies in the mediocre execution. Bland graphics and bad animations diminish the gaming experience. The game uses its licence relatively well, but doesn’t in any way rise above other mediocre movie licence games. [August 2005, p.67]

PSX Extreme

Anyone thinking of picking up the game with hopes that it’s simply a good game is going to want to look elsewhere – there’s just nothing new here and it doesn’t do anything particularly well.

GameShark

It is sad that such great superheroes as the Fantastic 4 should catch the double whammy of average movie and game.

Game Revolution

Even though kicking enemy butt can be satisfying and there are a lot of big, menacing monsters to face, Fantastic Four is merchandising at its finest, a hollow game that's beatable in eight hours and isn't replayable at all. We don’t expect you to enjoy it.

netjak

The music...oh please, don't get me started on that. It's like someone is playing a muted tape deck in the background.