Summary
Developer – Tribute Games
Publisher – Dotemu
Platforms – PC (Reviewed), Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2
Review copy given by Publisher
Tribute Games and Dotemu have returned with another beat ’em up title with Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The studio is coming off its successful run with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and looks to meet the expectations with its recent release.
What makes Marvel Cosmic Invasion stand out the most is its tag team feature. When making your character selection, you will have to choose any duo you’d like. However, you may not just be able to pick any duo you want because each level has its dedicated challenges and almost forces you to play as certain heroes.
The levels that have character-specific challenges often have a cutscene relating to those superheroes. During any level or fight, you can call in your other fighter any time you want, and at some point, you can have a super move with both of them at the same time. My favorite combo was using Wolverine and Spider-Man; that’s what I felt was the most successful duo at times.
The gameplay is as fun as you’d expect if you’ve played the developers’ previous games. I was curious at first to see how I’d like the gameplay with Marvel superheroes involved. It turns out to be fantastic, actually, and I am not your biggest Marvel fan. Landing combos never felt better when trying to get the maximum combo by punching dead enemies in the air.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is not too difficult. If you have played games of this style before, you will have no issues with the mini-boss fights and regular boss fights.
Playing Marvel Cosmic Invasion in co-op makes the experience even better, and the better part is that it supports cross-play across all platforms. Levels may get slightly more chaotic in multiplayer, but the one sad part is that they feel too short for our liking. It’s not to say they are bad levels, but having more content to play is always a plus.
Something else I’d comment on throughout the gameplay is the lack of variety in enemies. They, for the most part, become uninteresting and repetitive as you go further
The leveling system for each fighter is a fun grind as you unlock more rewards, and my favorite part is the grind to unlock every character the game has to offer. Playing the single-player story can get dull, and multiplayer is where this game shines the most. There’s definitely a lot of great replayability in this game for completionists with the different challenges to unlock.
Who doesn’t appreciate the art style in this game? The nostalgic pixelated artwork is one of my favorites, and Cosmic Invasion executes it beautifully. The character designs are excellent and showcased in an impressive way for this style of game.
Tribute Games doesn’t get enough credit for the effort to get the quality of voice actors in Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Brian Bloom voiced Captain America and Silver Surfer, Alison Sealy-Smith voiced Storm, Cal Dodd voiced Wolverine, Steve Blum voiced Venom and Beta Ray Bill, and there are many more talented individuals they brought into work on this title.
The dialogue between the characters and the narration throughout the story is excellent in this game. The music also deserves attention, as it is consistently good during gameplay.
Cutscenes in this game are not very detailed or long, but they get straight to the point. It’s definitely a nostalgic experience for all comic fans.
Verdict
Marvel Cosmic Invasion demonstrates that Tribute Games excels at creating beat ’em up games, matching the quality of their previous titles. While we wish the enemies could have been improved and the stages were longer, the game truly shines in its variety of characters, the tag-team gameplay aspect, and co-op multiplayer. Overall, it’s one of the best Marvel arcade games
