THE FANTASTIC FOUR
Sony Playstation FAQ
Version 1.5
By Greg Ochaba (mightygregatron at hotmail dot com)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Who are the Fantastic Four? The Heroes of this game
II. Bring on the Bad Guys! The Villains
III. Moves
IV. Level Guide
V. Cheats!
VI. Thanks
Version 1.0 - 7/28/04
Version 1.1 - 8/26/04 - Added more on playing as 2 of the same character
Version 1.2 - 12/3/04 - Added name of one of Mole Man's monsters (Megataur)
Version 1.3 - 3/15/05 - Tweaked bios for Galactus, She-Hulk, Skrulls
Added a little bit on getting to hidden powerups
Version 1.4 - 3/16/05 - Added info on piece of cheese
Version 1.5 - 6/14/05 - Added She-Hulk's big move and how to toss cars
I. Who are the Fantastic Four? The Heroes of this game
For all you newcomers, the Fantastic Four is considered to be the First
Family of the Marvel Universe. Fantastic Four #1 was published way
back in 1961, and it was Marvel/Timely Comics' first foray back into
the superhero genre after Captain America disappeared in the 1950's.
The plot involved a brilliant scientist named Reed Richards, who was
so determined to beat the Soviets into outer space that he sneaked
onto a rocket base along with his best friend Benjamin J. Grimm, his
girlfriend Susan Storm, and Susan's younger brother Johnny. The four
of them got on board an experimental space shuttle and made it into
outer space, only to find that the ship was not properly shielded against
cosmic rays. The ship was bombarded with the radiation, and upon
making it back to earth, the four of them found that they had strange
new abilities beyond those of normal humans. They pledged to use
their powers for the good of all humanity and thus became known as the
Fantastic Four.
The Human Torch - Johnny Storm was a hot-headed teenager with a love
for adventure which compelled him to accompany his sister on Reed
Richards' space mission. The cosmic rays that bathed the ship gave
him the ability to ignite his body on fire, as well as the ability to
project intense blasts of flame. He called himself the Human Torch,
taking his name from the android superhero of the 1940's which had
similar abilities. Johnny's powers have increased with his age,
but his habit of playing pranks on the Thing has not gone away.
Invisible Woman - Aspiring actress Susan Storm insisted upon
accompanying her boyfriend on his space mission, perhaps against
her better judgement. When they landed, she found that she was able to
turn invisible at will. Her powers also increased with time, and she
gained the ability to make other objects invisible, as well as to project
nearly-unbreakable invisible force fields of nearly any shape or size.
It is largely because of this latter ability that she is thought by many
to be the most powerful member of the team.
Mr. Fantastic - Reed Richards is generally considered to be the
greatest scientific mind in the Marvel Universe. Even without the
impressive elasticity he gained from his cosmic ray exposure, he
would still be a hero to be reckoned with. He has invented
countless amazing devices and seems to be able to figure out a
scientific solution to any problem. He and Sue have a young son,
Franklin, who is an enormously powerful mutant with the ability to
manipulate reality itself. They also have an infant daughter named
Valeria, who has yet to display any powers.
The She-Hulk - Jennifer Walters was a meek attorney and the first
cousin of Bruce Banner, AKA the Hulk. When she was shot by the mob,
her life depended on a blood transfusion from her cousin. Once
she received it, she became a tremendously strong, seven-foot-tall, green
beauty. Unlike her uncontrollable cousin, she maintains her mental
faculties in this form, and she generally does not change back to
normal size, as being big has given her the confidence she lacked before.
She-Hulk joined the team in the 1980's when the Thing departed for
several years, and she stepped down when he returned.
The Thing - Benjamin J. Grimm grew up poor in New York City's
Yancy Street neighborhood. He led a rough life and became leader of
the Yancy Street Gang, just as his brother Dan had before his untimely
death. After the deaths of his parents, he was taken in by his uncle
Jake and aunt Petunia, who managed to turn his life around. He won
a football scholarship to Empire State University, where he met Reed
Richards, and the two became close friends despite their obvious differences.
Later, he joined the Air Force and was a highly decorated pilot.
He jokingly offered to fly any shuttles Reed might build. Little did he
know that his friend would take him up on his offer and that it would
change him into the ever-lovin' Blue-eyed Thing. He became a hulking,
orange-skinned monster with both tremendous strength and an indomitable
fighting spirit. His skin would soon harden into rock, and it has
remained that way for the most part ever since. Unlike the other members
of the team, Ben can never lead a normal life, and Reed has tried many
times to cure him. Despite this, Ben has a relatively good attitude
about life, and he even found love in the form of Alicia Masters, a
blind sculptress and the stepdaughter of the villainous Puppet Master.
II. Bring On The Bad Guys! The Villains
The Fantastic Four's rogues' gallery is a colorful one, and the roster
contained in this game was chosen well for the most part.
Attuma - Attuma is an Atlantean barbarian who has attempted to conquer the
underwater kingdom by means of brute force. His strength is close to Prince
Namor's, however, he has never been able to defeat the Sub-Mariner in battle.
Consequently, few of his attempts at conquest have been successful.
Dr. Doom - Victor Von Doom was born in Latveria, a small country in eastern
Europe. He was the son of Werner, a scientist, and Cynthia, a sorceress
who was burned alive for witchcraft when Victor was only a child. He took
up studying science just as his father did, but always maintained an
interest in the occult, and he became both brilliant and arrogant. His
studies brought him to Empire State University, where he met and became
rivals with Reed Richards. Victor began unauthorized work on a machine
which would be used to contact the dead, but when Richards found a flaw in
his design, Victor became enraged and disregarded the mistake, refusing to
believe that he could be wrong. When he attempted to use the machine, it
exploded, scarring his face, and he was unceremoniously kicked out of the
university. He soon traveled to Tibet, where a group of monks crafted a suit
of armor for him which included a mask to hide his scarred face. He would
return to Latveria and conquer it with his combination of science and magic,
all the while planning revenge on Reed Richards, who he blamed for the
mistake which left him scarred. He is by far the most formidable foe not
just of the Fantastic Four but of the entire Marvel Universe, and he is
constantly looking for ways to increase his own power at any expense.
Dragon Man - Dragon Man was an automaton created in a lab and brought to life
by the evil alchemist known as Diablo. He is a nearly mindless,
indestructible brute with fiery breath and enough strength to give the FF
trouble all by himself. Having the intelligence of an animal, he has often
been manipulated by various criminals into doing their bidding.
Iceman - While not a villain by any means, he does appear in the game's
bonus stages, and this is probably the only place to put him. Bobby Drake
was born a mutant with the ability to use moisture in the atmosphere to form
constructs out of snow and ice. He can also change his body into solid ice.
He is a founding member of the X-Men, and he was also prominently featured
in the 1980's cartoon series Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. But why is
he here? I'm not sure. He never had much to do with the FF. However,
in this game, he has a smooth, almost chrome appearance as opposed to his
usual angular, icy physique. In fact, he looks more like the Silver Surfer
than Iceman. His animations are also very similar to what the Surfer's
would be, and he's way stronger than Iceman normally is! The Surfer would
have been a much more logical choice for the game, but presumably Acclaim
wasn't able to get the rights to use him, so they took away his board
and changed him into Iceman at the last minute. That's just my guess.
The Incredible Hulk - Dr. Robert Bruce Banner was a brilliant, if emotionally
detached, scientist assigned to work on the experimental gamma bomb project.
While attempting to chase a teenager named Rick Jones from the testing
range, he was hit with the full force of the detonating gamma bomb.
Instead of killing him, the massive dose of gamma radiation transformed
him into the physical manifestation of his repressed anger - a massive being
known as the Hulk. The Hulk is not truly evil by any means, as he
possesses a childlike mind and usually just wants to be left alone.
However, his temper is ferocious, and if he feels threatened, he can cause
a great deal of damage. He has battled many threats to humanity, including
the Leader, the Abomination, and the Absorbing Man, but he has also crossed
paths with the FF on several occasions, particularly the Thing. Ben resents
the Hulk for being the only human who has consistently defeated him. The
Hulk becomes stronger as he becomes angrier, while Ben fatigues just like
a normal man, so the Hulk almost always defeats Ben one-on-one.
Galactus - while he doesn't actually appear in the game, he is mentioned, so
I felt I should do a bio on him. Galactus is a near-omnipotent cosmic
being who survives by draining the life energy from entire planets, hence
his nickname "The Devourer of Worlds." He has the ability to give great
power to beings of his choice, and he has done so on many occasions. He
has employed these beings, his heralds, to find new worlds for him to feed on.
These have included the Silver Surfer, Firelord, Terrax, Nova (aka Frankie
Raye, Johnny Storm's one-time girlfriend), Morg, the Asgardian Destroyer,
and even Johnny Storm himself! Galactus has crossed paths with the Fantastic
Four on many occasions, and Reed Richards is among the few mere mortals
to earn his respect. This is no small feat, considering that Galactus is as
much a force of nature as a living being, and he seldom gives any thought
to the lives extinguished when he feeds.
The Mole Man - Ruler of the underground kingdom of Subterranea, the Mole Man
was an outcast from society because of his unusual appearance. Tired of
being mocked by other people, he chose to set off on his own and explore the
globe. He would discover Monster Island, which was hidden in the Bermuda
Triangle. Once there, he fell underground and ended up in Subterranea,
where the darkness caused him to lose much of his eyesight. However, he
developed a radar sense similar to that of the hero Daredevil and learned to
command the bizarre creatures that lived there, including the Moloids, which
he trained as his servants. He also carries a staff equipped with various
weapons. The Mole Man is not truly evil, but he has sought revenge on the
surface dwellers several times.
Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner - Namor is one of the oldest Marvel superheroes.
He is the son of Princess Fen of Atlantis and a human, Captain Leonard
McKenzie. Hence, he can breathe both water and air, and he is also able to
fly. He grew up underwater and became a powerful and noble ruler, although
his arrogance has occasionally led him to attack humanity. Underwater, his
strength is comparable to the Thing's, but the longer he stays out of the
water, the weaker he becomes. He has been both an enemy and a friend to
the Fantastic Four, and he has shown a romantic interest in Sue Richards.
Psycho-Man - Psycho-Man was the chief scientist of the microscopic world
of Subatomica. He set out to conquer other worlds, his chief weapon being
his Emotion Control Box, which can cause its victims to feel fear, doubt,
or hate. He has used this weapon to great effect, particularly on Sue
Richards, who he temporarily transformed into a villain called Malice.
The SKrulls - The Skrulls are a warlike race of shape-shifting aliens.
They have come to Earth on several occasions and caused problems, but they
have always been defeated. They even used their technology to endow one
of their warriors with all the powers of the Fantastic Four, dubbing him
the Super Skrull. Another Skrull, a female named Lyja, impersonated Alicia
Masters for a time, and while doing so, she fell in love with and married
the Human Torch! Ben Grimm was none too pleased with this turn of events,
but once the truth was revealed and Alicia returned, Lyja joined the team!
III. Moves
The basic controls for this game aren't too hard to master. If you have
the instruction booklet, you may even already know them. However, if
you're like me and bought the game used without one, then here they are:
D-Pad - Move around - tap a direction twice to make your character run.
(Note: if you let your character stand still, he or she will do something.
Sue will toss her hair back, Reed stretches his neck, Ben cracks his
knuckles, and so on.)
X - Jump (you can do flying attacks by jumping and pressing an attack button)
Triangle - Attack 1
Square - Attack 2
Circle - Block (blocking attacks will also drain your power gauge)
L1 - throw an object or small enemy down
L2 - throw an object or small enemy back
R1 - throw a small enemy over the back of your head
R2 - held down while doing special moves with the D-Pad or throwing objects;
for example, to fling a car or other object(anyone can do it), tap up, down
Start - Pause (while paused, press Select to either quit or switch heroes)
In addition to the basic one-button attacks, every character has 4 special
moves. One will use up 50% of your power gauge (that little bar next to your
health pie chart), but the other three do not cost anything. Don't
be afraid to use the ones that have a cost, as you can easily find powerups
to replenish your power or get them by juggling an enemy in mid-air a la
Mortal Kombat, causing them to fall out of the unfortunate baddie.
Hold R2 and press these combinations on the D-Pad to do these moves:
Human Torch
Rain Fire: Up, Up (uses 50% power)
Fire Ball: Up, Toward, Down
Aura: Down, Down
Fire Arc: Down, Away, Toward, Up
Thing
Earthquake: Down, Towards, Up (uses 50% power)
Throw Rock from Ground: Up, Away, Down
Sunday Punch: Up, Up
Charge: Towards, Towards
She-Hulk
Leaping stomp: Down, Up (uses 50% power)
Big Kick: Towards, towards
Quake Stomp: Up, Towards, Down
Uppercut: Up, Up
Mr. Fantastic
Ground Smash: Up, Up (uses 50% power)
Mace Swing: Towards, Towards
Laser: Up, Towards, Down
Grenade: Down, Away, Up, Towards
Invisible Woman
Turn invisible: Away, Away (uses 50% power)
Barrier wave: Down, Down
Homing bubble: Down, towards
Multiple bubbles: Up, towards
IV. Level Guide
Again, I'm pretending that you're like me and don't have the instructions.
Before I start, I should mention a few things about the options screen that
aren't readily obvious. Turning Drones on will allow you to choose up to 4
computer players to assist you during the game. Changing the play mode to
Cooperative means that the drones won't be able to harm you, and you won't be
able to harm them. Versus means just the opposite. Turning Training on will
put you in the Bonus stage scene, where you can spar against drone opponents
or another player, almost like a fighting game. This isn't much good if you
have it set to Cooperative, though!
You'll notice pretty early on that if you clear any given stage of a level
without dying, then you'll both earn another life and be treated to a bonus
battle against either Dragon Man, the Hulk, or Iceman (who as I said looks
an awful lot like the Silver Surfer). They all tend to fight dirty, but
as long as you don't try anything too fancy, you can take 'em. You could
always just use Sue and turn invisible, then pummel him; however, you can't
switch characters in this scene. Hopefully you'll win, or else you'll lose
that life you earned!
Occasionally during gameplay, what looks like a piece of cheese will appear
on the screen by your energy gauges. This apparently happens when you
constantly hit the same attack button and are thus playing in a cheesy
manner. I'm frequently guilty of this.
Level 1 - Attack of the Molemen!
Stage 1 is in the City,
2 is the City and your battle with Mole Man's monster,
3 is underground,
4 is Monster Island where you meet a huge devil-like beast,
5 is an underground Mine with 4 scenes (avoid the carts, which explode),
and 6 is Moley himself.
(Note: the stage select for this level is pretty messed up. Selecting 2
takes you to stage 3, 3 takes you to 4, 4 takes you to 5, 5 takes you to 6,
6 takes you to a hidden level full of extra lives which comes out halfway
through stage 4, and 7 takes you to 2.)
Despite what the title says, there's only one Mole Man. But anyway...
Plucked from their headquarters by a mysterious beam, the FF are plunged into
a city filled with chaos! Or so the title says. You'll spend this level
wandering around, beating up Moloids and other uglies. Early on, you'll walk
past a building with some powerups in it; toss a Moloid through the doorway
to break it open and get the goodies. You may need 'em! You encounter the
Mole Man's monster on stage 2, which you may remember from the cover of
Fantastic Four #1. He'll keep slamming his fist on the ground, and if you
don't want to get hurt, you should jump when he does to avoid the tremor.
He'll knock boulders onto the ground in front of you, which you can throw
back at him by pressing L2. This is the only way to hurt the big critter.
After beating him, you'll progress through a few more stages, one of which
has a gigantic, devil-like monster on it. This thing is known as the
Megataur. You can't hurt it, so avoid its fists and eye beams and move on.
On the last stage, you'll face off against the Mole Man. You'll need to use
the same technique you did on the green monster to defeat him, except
you'll be throwing Moloids at his little red air chariot until it explodes.
When it does, he'll battle you hand-to-hand. Just clobber the little
runt (your super moves will devastate him), and he'll start crying about
how you ruined his plans. Then it's on to...
Level 2 - Subatomic Nightmare
Stage 1 is outside the caves,
2 is inside them(beware of pits which draw you in!),
3 is inside Psycho-Man's lair,
and 4 is Psycho-Man himself.
No sooner have the heroes defeated Mole Man than they are transported to
the microscopic world of Subatomica! What is going on?
I wish I knew, invisible narrator, I wish I knew. The game designers
did a really weak job of connecting the plot together. Anyways, this
level has a few more jumps you have to make, plus pits full of green
lava which will drain your life if you stand in it. There are also some
really annoying werewolf-type men which jump all over you, in addition to
some bigger lizards which can shake the ground. At least you can throw the
wolfmen into the lava and watch them die! On stage 3, you'll have to fight
an ugly, yellowish, octopus-type monster. Just toss wolfmen at him, and he
won't be that tough. Battle your way through and you'll get to Psycho-Man.
Just keep beating on him, and try to avoid that big lizard he'll have
with him. He'll use his device to shrink you and make his lizard grow,
but just ignore this and keep pounding him, and he'll fall.
Level 3 - The Last Days of Skrull World
Stage 1 is on the bridges,
2 is a battle with Super Skrull,
and 3 is again on the bridges.
The Fantastic Four's strange journey continues as they are beamed to
the Skrull homeworld, just as the mighty Galactus is devouring it!
Too bad you don't actually see him or anything. Maybe Acclaim wasn't
allowed to use him either. These Skrulls fight really cheap, almost as
annoying as those wolfmen in Subatomica. You'll have to jump up to knock
the flying ones out of the sky. Oh, and avoid the falling debris!
Climb onto the elevator platform at the end of stage 1, and you'll be
taken to fight the Super Skrull. Just pound him like you would anyone
else. His henchmen are actually more annoying than he is. Then on level
3, you'll be making your way out of the place. This gets annoying because
the scenery sometimes obstructs your vision. But just keep pounding,
and you'll get through.
Level 4 - Atlantean Attack?
(Note: on the Stage Select, what is marked as level 6 is actually level 4,
and what is marked as level 4 is presumably the inaccessible bonus scene)
Stage 1 is the Harbor,
2 is onboard a boat and the battle with Namor,
and 3 is Attuma.
Next stop: New York Harbor, where an aquatic attack appears to be the work
of Namor, Prince of the Seas - can the Fantastic Four get to the bottom of
this? (I hope so, it's kind of their job.)
This level has some difficult villains on it. Big, black, walking octopi,
even bigger, pink whales with arms and sonic screams, and Atlantean troops
with nasty guns. But by now, you should be pretty used to pounding them
with your special moves, so go to it. But be careful not to fall into the
water, since apparently none of the team can swim at all. Namor falls into
the same category as Super Skrull in that his lackeys will bother you more
than he will. Beat him up, and he'll proclaim his innocence and direct you
towards Attuma. Take him down, and you're off to Latveria to meet Dr. Doom.
Level 5 - Is the World Doomed?
Level 1 - Doomstadt, Level 2 - Castle Doom, Level 3 - Doom
Using electrical components assembled throughout his travels, Mr. Fantastic
has created a time machine that leads him to the root of their problems -
Doomstadt, where they must stop Dr. Doom and foil his plans.
Time machine? Wha? You don't need one of those to get to Latveria! Why
didn't they just go there in the first place? I know Doom's got a time
machine in his castle somewhere, but it would've been nice if they told us
earlier that Doom's been zapping us all around the entire time and causing
all these problems by putting us against these other villains. That'd make
for an okay story, but it's not so good when you have to figure it out for
yourself! Anyway, just pound your way through the village and through
Doom's castle like you would anywhere else. His Doombots are tougher than
most other enemies, but you can take 'em. The only really tricky part about
the castle is when you're on the conveyor belt. Then you'll have to toss
a Doombot through the portrait of Doom to get out of the room, or else the
huge piledriver at the end of the belt will squish you. When you take on
Doom himself, you'll only experience the full effect if you have Reed,
Johnny, Sue, and Ben there together. Then you'll get to hear their full
conversation with Doom before the fight starts. Doom is a tough cookie,
as he should be. He'll block most of your attacks, but if you can get a
few good shots in, he'll fall like anyone else. Then you'll see a brief
ending with the Fantasticar flying out of Doom's castle and the team saying
some corny stuff. Sue is horribly mischaracterized here, just as Reed was
before the fight with Doom. Still, it's nice to see some more full-motion
video. Don't get me wrong, I liked this game, but it could've been a real
classic if they'd put about six months' more effort into it.
V. Cheats!
This game can be a tad frustrating without 'em, so I thought I'd add these.
The only one you should need is this first one:
Cheat Menu
From the Menu screen (with the Thing's face), choose Options. Scroll down
to the very last option, Training, and press L1, L2, R1, and R2 together.
This unlocks these 4 new options, which should make things much easier:
-Invincibility (you can still die is by falling off a cliff or into a pit)
-Level Skip, which you can activate during gameplay by again pressing L1, L2,
R1, and R2 simultaneously. Being that this game doesn't have a save option,
you'll need this! But beware - pressing select here resets the game!
-Big Boy, which can be set to 1, 2, or 3. 1 will make your characters tiny,
2 will keep them normal-sized, and 3 will make them large. Be warned that
choosing 3 will make it difficult to cross bridges and throw rocks, although
it does show off the game's graphic detail nicely.
-Free Play, which gives you unlimited continues. But if you choose this,
you won't see the FMV Game Over scene with Dr. Doom gloating over how he beat
the Fantastic Four.
Both players play as the same Character
This is a neat little glitch in the game for you to exploit. While playing
a two-player game, press start to pause, then press select, choose another
character, then press X to pick him or her. When one player is teleporting
in the blue ray, have the other player press start, then select, and choose
that same character. If you're quick enough, both players will have him or
her. Needless to say, this can make things confusing!
100 Lives
At the title screen, press Up, Up, Down, Left, Right, Down. This should give
you 100 lives. However, I haven't gotten it to work, and with the much more
versatile cheat menu, you shouldn't need this one.
VI. Thanks
If not for my sister, I probably wouldn't have written this FAQ, so if it was
any assistance to ya, you've got her to thank. Being the big FF fan that
I am, I felt that this game needed an FAQ, and if nobody else was gonna write
one, I might as well do it, if only to show that this game is not as bad as
some reviewers might suggest.
For more on the characters, visit www.classicmarvel.com or any comic store!
