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Fantastic Four PS1 is the STRANGEST Marvel Game | Retrospective Review | Casual Retro

Always Nerdy

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Fantastic Four (1997) is a side scrolling beat 'em up for the PSX that features a fully playable team of F4 members, including She Hulk! It sounds like it'd be awesome, but it's one of the oddest games I've ever played. With strange looking enemy types, incoherent story, and cheesy voiceover all set to a jazz soundtrack, it's certainly a wild experience.

Useful Links:

Patreon:
https://patreon.com/always_nerdy?utm_...

Next Generation Magazine Interview with Greg Fischbach:
https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Gene...

IGN Review:
https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/08/...

Official US Playstation Magazine Review:
https://archive.org/details/official_... U.S. PlayStation Magazine Volume 1 Issue 03 %28December 1997%29/page/n116/mode/1up?view=theater

EGM Buyers Guide Reviews:
https://archive.org/details/egms-1998...

Other various archived reviews:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/10300/...

00:00 - Game Introduction
05:21 - Story Premise
09:01 - Gameplay Details
16:26 - Mole Man Level 1
20:17 - PyschoMan Level 2
22:51 - Galactus Level 3
25:28 - Namor Level 4
29:23 - Doom Level 5
34:10 - Review Wrap-up
36:50 - Reviews from 1997
39:17 - Acclaims Reputation & Final Thoughts
43:15 - Conclusion & Future Projects

20 Comments

@connor2912 1 year ago

That opening has strong "SNL announcer vibes" with that music and the call out of a name lol

@scarletpanther19 1 year ago

"like he was stung by bees and had no bendryl around"

@capeworldcomics 1 year ago

I love how this game is like a highlight reel of early Stan and Jack issues just with She-Hulk and everyone wearing the Byrne uniforms. It's probably the truest comic book representation of the Fantastic Four comic in any video game.

@khrashingphantom9632 1 year ago

“Goofy” game LEGIT soundtrack. This games stayed in the rotation when I was a kid and played it a ton especially on the PS3 with my brother and cousins since getting four controllers together on there was way easier. Thanks for posting. I fell like not enough people know about this game.

@speedboom9392 1 year ago

As time goes on you will slowly cover every Marvel game in existence meaning one day, Lego Marvel Super Heroes will finally have its chance to shine one day.

@TheCreature42069 1 year ago

44min 44seconds. Excellent work.

@justcallmeJon 1 year ago

No way!! This game has just unlocked so many hidden childhood memories, thanks for this!!

@canadianturtle 1 year ago

I never played this as a kid, but I can imagine this is a game I would've LOVED during childhood. I was fortunate enough to grow up with Spiderman on the PS1, so this game would've been a nice addition. It's like i felt nostalgia for a game I never played

@JustKeepnitReal 1 year ago

The graphics and character designs scared the living shit outta me as a kid especially the Thing he just looked like a giant peanut butter cookie

@electrix_panadal00 1 year ago

Fun fact: if you put the game disc in a cd player and listen to the soundtrack, it actually includes ALL cut voice lines in the game. It also has lines for the FF, the mini-bosses, the weird boss fights w/the Hulk, EVERYTHING. Best guess is that they recorded all the lines halfway thru dev, but when put in the game were bugged (as seen with Namor + Doom) so instead of fixing the issue, they cut them outright due to time constraints.

@JB_Voiceover 1 year ago

1:38 "Gonna take you for a ride"

@DrawingOnFaith 1 year ago (edited)

Humble beginnings when you use to cover Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Now you are rocking your very own intro and a 100k. (So proud).

@DementedDistraction 1 year ago

This is the video game equivalent of the 1994 Fantastic Four movie.
I like how Hulk walks like he just threw his back out, and the only painkiller available was a suppository.

@slinkbradshaw8674 1 year ago

What's crazy is that even in this "shorter" type of video, you still managed to provide a ton of info. I'm all for this new Casual Retros idea

@majinnazir9983 1 year ago

3:34 "I don't have friends" I can relate

@azozazoz2000s 1 year ago

This was one of my first PS1 games I played, it's so bizarre, but i love the soundtracks in this game.

@ChimeraMK 1 year ago

So in the Philippines, almost all my PS1 games were illegal copies burnt onto regular CDs (the read side wasn't black). And all of them had no manuals. So when I got this game, I straight away got stuck on that giant miniboss because I had no idea how to hurt him. I walked around spamming every button until I gave up and never played it again. Thanks for showing me what child me was stuck at after all these years.

@markerikson7423 1 year ago

When the reviews started comparing it to Batman & Robin, I completely lost it.

@Draydon_Longfellow 1 year ago

I love the effort that they put into this, and the comic accuracy.

@studi0651 1 year ago

No joke the plot synopsis at 6:19 is actually a very loose adaptation of Doom’s first ever appearance in FF #5, where Doom kidnaps Sue and transports Reed, Ben, and Johnny back in time to steal Blackbeard’s treasure for him. But they needed to stretch out the game’s runtime somehow so this is the end result.