Take your favorite Marvel heroes into battle in this retro-inspired beat-em-up with many modern flourishes.
What Is It? Marvel Cosmic Invasion (MCI) is the latest retro-inspired beat-em-up from Tribute Games, the company behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder’s Revenge which was a notably awesome retro-inspired beat-em-up from a beloved IP.
MCI follows closely in Shedder’s Revenge’s footsteps with a series of 5-15 minute long linear levels of 2D side-scrolling beat-em-up action. Players will use a basic attack, jump, special attack, ultimate move, and dodge or block to blast through hordes of enemies before reaching the boss in a given stage. It is very standard fare for the genre, one that will feel familiar from the ‘80s arcade games as well as the more recent revival of the genre.
The game features 15 playable characters, some of them being unlocked along the way in Campaign Mode. Each character has their own unique combo of moves. Not every portion of all 15 characters are unique; about half of them block and parry while the other half dodge, a few have a grab-and-throw as their special attack, many can fly, some are slow, etc… However, given how many different options there are for the basics, each character ends up with a unique set of moves. Even if Silver Surfer and Spider-Man have an area of effect attack as their signature, Surfer can fly and block while Spider-Man swings and dodges.
Special attacks consume a refillable resource as you use them, with ten being the max a hero can hold at a given time. Beat up more bad guys to replenish the supply and fire off those specials again. The ultimate attacks recharge with a meter below the hero’s health, also being replenished through combat or a pickup which instantly refills them.
When starting a level, you choose two heroes to control. You are free to tag between them as you please with the press of a button, sometimes this will even help you escape an enemy’s hold. Much like the Marvel fighting games, this is a very fun concept that allows you to mix-and-match playstyles to have your bases covered. I often ended up with a brute like She-Hulk to deal heavy damage and block/parry as needed along with a lighter, more nimble character like Storm as my choices so I could properly fight anything I came across.
That campaign can be completed in under three hours and is co-op with up to four players. There are many familiar villains to fight along the way, with Annihilus taking the lead role in the game. Matching the heroes, there are quite a few lesser known villains here, and by that I mean ones that haven’t hit the MCU yet.
Each level has a set of challenges to achieve, there are also hidden objects throughout levels to find with these extras feeding into additional cosmetic items, music, and arcade mode modifier unlocks.
Speaking of Arcade Mode, that is the other gameplay option. This gives you a classic experience of not having continues and increasing difficulty. As you unlock more customizations for this mode, you can tailor your experience to make it as tough as you’d like. There are some wild options for those who want the toughest test, but them being locked behind completing in-game challenges is an interesting choice.
The Best Part: The variety among the heroes. I genuinely had a great time playing as every hero on the roster. They are all similar enough that it never takes long to adjust when switching between them, but they also each have enough unique aspects to make them all fun. Simply having different heroes who can block versus dodge is a big change, but their unique special and ultimate attacks, along with strength and speed/mobility also play a big role in making the 15 heroes feel different. All of the above adds up to an elevated combat experience from Shredder’s Revenge, which I considered my favorite beat-em-up combat ever until now.
The Worst Part: The game isn’t very deep. The Arcade mode and the customizations you can unlock, along with the challenges you need to complete to do so, are nice to allow you to add new difficulty layers, but this is still a two hour game. This is, of course, firmly in the vein of the 16-bit arcade games that this game is inspired by. It’s also worth noting that this is not a full priced game. Given how many times I’ve returned to Shedder’s Revenge, I know I will continue playing MCI enough that the depth isn’t a major issue, but it is definitely something worth pointing out anyway.
The Verdict: Shedder’s Revenge, which I cannot stop referencing in this review of a completely different game, was the first beat-em-up I truly loved. It combined the best bits of my early Double Dragon and Turtles in Time memories with modern flourishes like save points and tighter controls. I have played through that game many times in the few years since it was released.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is, in my opinion, simply a better version of Shedder’s Revenge. The roster and their uniqueness, combined with the dodge/block option (which replaces the “jump back” move in Shedder’s Revenge), and playing as two heroes each level are all :chef’s kiss: additions to the basic formula.
The modern pixel artwork shines the entire time. Many of the ultimate moves, in particular, look amazing but some of the small things like web-slinging or Venom’s running attack are so incredibly detailed, there is always something interesting going on to catch your eye.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a joy to play. Solo or co-op (local or online), the game is a blast the entire time. Fans of beat-em-ups, Marvel, or simply ridiculously well made video games should check this out.
How to Play: PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series*, Switch
*console played on for this review
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