LGR - Tongue of the Fatman - DOS PC Game Review

Fight to the death against Mondu the Fat and a selection of other completely bizarre creatures and humanoids! Also known as Mondu's Fight Palace, Slaughter Sport, and simply Fatman, this is one of the strangest and more innovative pre-Street Fighter II fighting games sold at retail.

[@Mailman692]

I really miss the bizarre atmosphere a lot of pc games had back in the day

[@SuperCrippledGamer]

Me too. Like Earthworm Jim for example. =)

[@garchamp9844]

4 years later, normies still ruin everything.

[@brienmaybe.4415]

Mainstream or bust.

[@jcasetnl]

Games back then had small dev teams. The vision - for better or worse - could be carried through to the final product. You still see many games like this but today they're in the indie scene. Check out The Cat Lady if you want a game with bizarre story and atmosphere that would never get approved by a "designed by committee" AAA dev/distributor partnership.

[@waisinet]

I highly recommend jazzpunk then. 😊

[@LGR]

Yeah, the tongue barely shows up in the game at all. It's just one move of the Fatman. It'd be like calling Mortal Kombat "Wrath Hammer of Shao Khan"... Actually, that's pretty awesome-sounding.

[@StefanSochinsky]

That should be the name of a metal band

[@childofcascadia]

With that box art and that intro, was not expecting a crappy fighting game. I thought it was gonna be some weird adventure game.

[@Linkonpark100]

Even if it were an adventure game, it would still be crappy.

[@DOSRetroGamer]

I thought it was a casual or puzzle game where you steer an infinite tongue through a serious of obstacles.

[@LGR]

Thank you truly for the kind words. Always great to hear stuff like that :)

[@StraytheSkies]

The front cover looks like a Primus album

[@greenbean9600]

It really does

[@hazardeur]

spot on

[@Redh3adTheRedFox]

I’d buy it

[@melvinjansen2338]

Yep totally

[@ryanwinklevoss]

I like how the red block looking dude's EKG is a sine wave.

[@pauljones3017]

Came here to say that.

[@fuzzydunlop1753]

Haha yeah that's a nice touch.

[@SheepUndefined]

Oh wow, that cube guy has a sine wave heartbeat. That's...actually really clever.

[@destinyhero4795]

Why?

[@SpaceMissile]

@@destinyhero4795 because it's a robot and it wouldn't make sense to have a heart-beat without a heart. ...though I feel a square wave would make more sense. 😜

[@SpaceMissile]

@@DrLoverLover idunno, I just like square waves. I feel like the robot would be DC power, too.

[@lorigulfnoldor2162]

@@SpaceMissile the square wave requires a lot of sine waves added together to emulate, though. That's unless you're using digital electronics. But then, digital is not very biological, and the lore seems to suggest that all fighters are some lifeforms that evolved somewhere.

[@01Zipang]

wait, the japanese version was called fatman? oh dear.

[@joshuakorynta3385]

Holy shit

[@kamulecPL12]

Real bruh moment

[@sketcharmslong6289]

Fuck me..

[@PunakiviAddikti]

That's a bit of an oof.

[@kurros1270]

They should've called it "American"

[@fuzzydunlop1753]

The damage scaling feature was actually kinda ahead of its time, that's still used in games like guilty gear today.

[@TheRealGaucelm]

Mondu and his fight palace are basically a more human Jabba the Hutt and his alien servants. The green alien here is basically a transposition of Salacious Crumb.

[@Zacharyp8]

Believe it or not my friend's dad voice acted that bit in the beginning

[@FroztiProductions]

sweet

[@SamEvansCOM]

Cool

[@niallreid7664]

Awesome.

[@HomelessPank]

good for you

[@BigDickCheney]

Very cool.

[@SpaceMissile]

2:54 Humanoid Flaws: "Require 6-8 hours downtime per planet rotation, self evaluation often exceeds potential." _me-IRL_

[@simplyjustjoni]

"Make Me Wiggle" WTF?

[@chrisrobinson82]

They should remake this as these characters are hilarious and it's incredibly odd and funny. Of course they would have to make it playable which this one sadly appears not to be!!

[@ChadBishopSr]

I don't much like game reviewers these days, but I have to say you made this very interesting. I spent more time watching this video than I did playing the game. Thanks.

[@monsterfurby]

"21st century East German formula..:" So that's how quickly a 1989 game can become a relic of its time.

[@jamison85]

I bought this as a kid. Got ripped off by a merchant at a games market in the 90s - originally I'd bought Xwing vs Tie Fighter and specifically asked if it ran on DOS since I did not have a Win95 PC, to which he said yes. When I checked the box later, and it was obvious that it would not, I didn't get my money back. He just said that I could choose another game on the table for the same value...which ended up being this game.

[@hazardeur]

sounds like the good old times

[@joe--cool]

Haha, you got screwed pretty badly there. XvT is actually a great game for LAN parties.

[@noxiusobvious4239]

@@joe--cool But you can't have evenings of 'Fatman and smash then' with XvT, so WHO got screwd?

[@BRboi777]

LGR, I know you have a life and with so comes times when you don't do videos for all of us: But i wanna take the time to thank you for doing these videos. I don't know why or how but you have made me addicted to your videos. Honestly: your charm, witty sarcasm, games, knowledge of games, history, your personality and likeness (Duke Nukem for example) and more just makes me want to watch a 15 minute video twice or thrice. Thank you man, you are an amazing kind man. Jake

[@QualityJeverage]

That box art is going to haunt my nightmares.

[@K3VAnK0lTAi]

subscribed. good content with a good explanation of the game and no annoying voice on top of it. Your a ten in my books buddy.

[@darknessml6145]

Poble your'e

[@planescaped]

@@darknessml6145 Ye'Ore

[@intervalkid]

I had this game when it came out. I loved it! I thought it was awesome fun and played hours daily until I won it and then played some more. A modern version of it would be lots of fun. The ability to buy power ups and weapons beforehand made it very interesting and fun to play. The different combinations of weapons you can use with the combos made for a lot of different possibilities.

[@LGR]

By that time double density 5.25" floppies were crazy cheap, but 3.5" floppies were still around two to three times the cost. And since many popular computers, like the Tandy 1000 series, only had 3.5" floppy drives, to save money and support those customers they included the cut-down game on a single 3.5" floppy. At least, that's the story I've read.

[@LGR]

The Firaxis one, yeah. I'm not a huge X-COM fan or anything, but I do enjoy it from time to time.

[@crispyjeb]

Just ran into this game on the Internet archive. If only it had decent controls, it could have been a fun game.

[@fc-pl9kr]

This was the very first game I ever bought. That shark guy was the best.

[@swiftymagee]

I remember playing this over a cousin's house on his sega genesis when I was a kid. Wasn't going to play it at first but the title interested me. I couldn't get past the first guy because of the horrible controls, so after a few tries I just quit and played Desert Strike instead. The creepy image of Mondu stuck with me, though, and I honestly think the premise of an intergalactic blood sport game is appealing.

[@pouringblood]

The premise is good, yes. Also, Desert Strike/Jungle Strike were great games.

[@spiderjerusalem100]

It's like a lesson in how not to make a fighting game.

[@die9132]

I'm actually really glad you're doing these videos. I'm only thirteen and as such, getting my hands on older consoles and older copies of games is really hard considering for the most part I have to pay via a credit card online and my town has no gamers, so no chance of bartering with them. Besides the point though, these reviews allow me to see some of gaming's past and, as Luktom did bring up, pit-falls, and it's really quite interesting. Keep up the good work.

[@michaeldougherty6036]

I played the crap out of this as a kid. The trick was to play Rubic and just trip your opponent with the tripping item. Then just jump up and down on them. His animation hits multiple times and can kill them in seconds, even with the loss of damage. And jesus christ why does my brain retain this instead of useful things?

[@healsyeah]

OMG even your furniture is retro, i remember that sofa design back in the early 90s!! bravo!

[@StJimmy-le4gj]

This is the funniest game review I have ever seen! Great work!

[@ZyloxDragon1]

Wow. I played this only a few times when it first came out. Ran too slow on my PC, so the controls were even worse. I do remember the music being slightly different though, possibly because I played it through the PC Speaker. "Mondu welcomes you to the fight palace", is a line that has ALWAYS been stuck in my head though.

[@sgtmoose1942]

I remember playing that game. My friend had it on his CGA monitor. Yes, Tongue of the Fatman in glorious 4 colors!

[@damionwilliams9262]

I built a computer just to play this when I was 10. Thanks for the memories.

[@MattyLite_USAF]

I just came across this game randomly, and thought "Man LGR should review this." Then I searched it ... and you did. Time to revisit!

[@LGR]

The DOS version is not as bad the MD version, with its extra features and such. But it's still not a very good game, if you ask me. The awful controls and crap hit detection completely break what potential it had.

[@MrLbw2112]

Haha, Liked the review. Great job. You were saying a lot of things we were thinking back then. Brought back memories. I actually bought this game when it came out and spent many hours drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and playing this. I finished the game, beating the Fatman himself. Thought it was a lot of fun, even though I didn't like these types of games much, The betting and buying power ups were the best part of it, and each character had special moves. Thanks for the video.

[@Jraptor1959]

This needs to be on GOG

[@AstreaZero]

lol yeah

[@Hardts]

Yay, eighties stuff. Good review my friend, and have an awesome weekend! That game was frickin' weird.. Dreary rain here, gonna contemplate my evening...

[@coffee115]

I love games like this with voices, I can just imagine near the end of development: “Hey, who wants to be Mondu?”

[@JasonValentineFL]

lol. I actually grew up playing this. Loved it at the time. But after SF2 came out, I could never go back. Earning money, buying upgrades and the oddness of the game are all still great things.

[@totallynotabot151]

I also really enjoyed it when it came out. Street Fighter on the other hand never did it for me.

[@Ripplin]

I never forgot the ad for this in an old video game magazine under the Mondu's Fight Palace name.

[@tiamat_023]

dude, i didnt think anyone else on the planet knew about this game! god bless the internet, little hint, always bet on pixel boy... he's a total ass kicker.

[@tsm688]

0:30 I can tell you that tiny me was fascinated and afraid of that box art but the parents were wise enough to know trash when they saw it

[@masterofall4elements]

love the artstyle!

[@unitedchainsofamerica]

That 3d box man is awsome! He acually holds up.

[@JarcoArt]

Remember this fondly, for its weirdness 😅 **Can't remember the controls stuff, was fun for a kid back in the days.

[@thedesucomplex4365]

That cover art is actually pretty neat. I like it.

[@GameHorder]

looks like my grandma's couch

[@AllanSavolainen]

Haa, I remember playing this and now I can try it again :)

[@Ugleseth]

I first played this game 20 years ago, and have fond memories of it, but seeing the game now, and remembering the controls, I'm starting to question 10 year old me's judgement!

[@Drinkabeerandplayagameofficial]

We reviewed the Sega port (Slaughter Sport) ages ago. It was a game with a lot of really unique ideas for the time...but the control....oh dear god no Very cool to see the PC port, though I'm surprised the Genesis had more player types (though the amount of pallet swapping seems strong as ever). Visuals are much better on the PC. Great Review!

[@Powerhouse1]

I feel like this game could've been good if the controls were much better.

[@CherryPixelBun]

So many bad foghting games could be decent with better controls.

[@fivebyfive525]

W. Durrsly and so many KZbin comments would be better with good spelling and grammar.

[@dawnoftruth1]

Would be an amazing project some day. Revamp the controls in terrible games to see how fun they can be.

[@harryradley]

The Megadrive/Genesis version was actually pretty damn good, it seems like it fixed a bunch of the issues LGR mentions here. It starts off very fun anyway but unfortunately the difficulty is still pretty ridiculous, after the first handful of fights the opponents just spam overpowered moves and it feels very unfair.

[@miha91yt]

Thanks LGR, for this video. I had a russian version when I was a kid, and there were much more characters to play as.

[@roboticd]

It helps to have played this in a pre-street fighter 2 world.

[@Ultracity6060]

Holy crap, I never played this, but just watching it reminded me of *Battle Beast*! I forgot that existed!

[@BirdFluJapan]

nice review... did you ever do a review on Traders? You know, the DOS game where you micromanage, build your robot, then battle? ;> That was a great game to play with your friends... IMO

[@christophercollins3632]

My Review: “What do you get with Tongue of the Fatman? Unpleasant Way of the Fist action.

[@desauce77]

I loved this game. I wish I still had something that could play it

[@Icaras]

Wow, this was really interesting for me, as back in the late 90s, I had this game on a budget games CD compilation (Hits for Six), and it seems the guys who put that CD together (Prisim Leisure Copr) put the 3 1/2 floppy version of the game on, as I nevr knew the game had voices or more than 1 stage. I recall I even found files that had text referring to being a defending champion and boss of the fight pitt, but even beating the game didn't access this. Now I know why, I had a cut down version!

[@TremiRodomi]

Laughed so hard when he described the title screen XD

[@planescaped]

Wow... I actually played this as a kid. Don't know when, don't know how. But I remember that yellow shop guy.

[@tavern2468]

It's Iike a terrible dream

[@ArtKingjr]

Just found my old disk laying in box somewhere. Made me look you up. I used to love this crappy game.

[@MrVenom1974]

Thanks for this review. Never heard of this DOS classics. ;-) Maybe I'll give this thing a try. But the controls look really really really stiff.

[@thatfriggingbathroom2656]

I so wanted this game as a kid after seeing it in a magazine but just couldn't find it in 1990 Germany. I know I probably would have been disappointed but now I still kind of want to give it a go to put all that to rest.

[@-taz-]

LOL, I totally remember seeing this game at computer stores when I was a kid and not being interested enough to even pick up the box.

[@MrNamegame]

I remember having something like this for the Sega Genesis...I beat the first level once and then the game crashed. Well played. Well played.

[@DoctorBabby]

I've heard of this game before, from another KZbinr who reviewed the Genesis version. It's interesting actually, before your review I didn't know this was originally a computer game, instead of a Genesis title... Also, from the other review, the Genesis version appeared way more broken, and with less features.

[@serginietor]

this game would have potential as a flash minigame, it'd be really cool to play a "fixed" version

[@mieszkogulinski168]

This game seems to be seriously hilarious

[@THEONLYGORE]

man that game was so awesome and pulled from so many stores lool

[@wallyhackenslacker]

So bold of Activision to make a game where Bobby Kotick is both in the cover art and the final boss!

[@compyislife]

I've played the Sega Genesis version. It was really bad, but this DOS one looks much better. Nice review, again!

[@red_doggo7219]

Somebody please get this to ReviewTechUSA.

[@EffectPlaceboThe]

This game was the best

[@AerialMac]

8:42 ROFL what was going on there?

[@rosscampk]

GEEEENIUS!!

[@DragonNexus]

Dude reminds me a lot of Marvel's Mojo. Heck, a lot of the game reminds me of his schtick.

[@skywatcher7]

X-Com is great. I am just in the middle of my first play through of it after years of hearing about it. Almost nearing the end game. And am looking forward to the remake coming out next month.

[@user-xn3kt6bn5r]

fuck me this comments old

[@LeaElfArt]

Preach it!! Don't listen to Luktom100 he's got nothing in that big head of his. i'm a BIG fan of your reviews!!! My favourites are The sims 3 reviews! Continue on!!! :)

[@queenofroastedflesh6781]

I've actually played this as a child, I had a lot of fun with it if only because of how bizarre it was.

[@wintermute3658]

I played the Genesis version and i absolutley love it, its so bad its good

[@Dradeeus]

This looks worth it for the fever dream artwork.

[@q306005]

I would love to see this remade now and made into more of a modern fighter. Considering how obscure and... not good... this is makes that very unlikely.

[@XxSombreroguyxX]

I just want the box art to reappear on a modern game

[@DynamixWarePro]

I remember playing something quite similar to this on the Amstrad 6128+ although I don't quite remember what it was as I don't think there was a version of this on the Amstrad.

[@MegaErong]

the title.... caught my attention...

[@YourComputerExpert]

I couldn't agree more.

[@Edgewalker001]

"Laugh... And grow FAT!" XD

[@NortelGeek]

Awkwardly Arousing Aeriola Action... says it all...

[@ArokhaSieyes]

"Wrath Hammer of Shao Khan: Shaolin Monks" or "Wrath Hammer of Shao Khan vs. DC Universe" ... these are games I would play.

[@treepuncher17]

Just looking back there and seeing big box copies of classics like Rise of the Tria, Arena, Tomb Raider and X-Com makes me super jealous that my PC collection is only Duke 3D and Sim City 3000.

[@sweetiesgetmoney]

3:56 "21st century East German formula..." That line aged like fine milk. I guess, technically, there is still time for another East-West split within the century?

[@KT-cz7rm]

Greatness

[@whylekat]

Video is labeled "no mature content" *shows box coverart*

[@Jolis_Parsec]

I’m more concerned about the C64’s boxart showing the fighting alien chick in a skimpy top and thong tbh.

[@grckllr]

0:55 lol I have that keyboard in my basement

[@Baoran]

I actually liked playing this game back then. I probably would not play it now though.

[@judsongaiden9878]

2:36 They couldn't even say his name right! It's "Mondu," not "Mondo." 4:09 "KAR-uh-TEE-kuh." The Taekwondo version is taekwondoga ("TIE-kwon-DOE-guh").

[@pd3331]

The money is called Nip Chips

[@claytonwohl7092]

I *loved* this game when I was a kid and just googled it. This game was just loaded with dark humor, dialog, and cool sadistic moves to find. However, games from that era simply aren't playable with today's sensibilities. For example, I *loved* the Sierra adventure games and have tons of great memories and nostalgia, but today I simply don't enjoy that style of game at all.