Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a nostalgia-packed superhero celebration that features hard-hitting action, a wealth of comic book flavor, and a thrilling tag mechanic that sets the brawler apart from its genre contemporaries.
Assemble your heroes and beat the brakes off intergalactic baddies in the retro-style Marvel Cosmic Invasion ($29.99, reviewed on PC, but also available on PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox). This homage to old-school arcade beat ’em ups, such as Capcom’s The Punisher and Konami’s X-Men, is more than just nostalgia bait. It takes Tribute Games’ delightful, pick-up-and-play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge formula and injects it with a dose of Marvel fighting game flair. Despite some frustrating aerial enemies, Marvel Cosmic Invasion shines as a fantastic, modern spin on golden age brawlers, earning it an Editors’ Choice award.Story: A Deep Space Battle Featuring Marvel’s Heroes
In Marvel Cosmic Invasion, the evil alien Annihilus has launched an intergalactic war, so Marvel’s iconic superheroes unite to stop him, battling his forces from New York City’s streets to the outskirts of the Negative Zone. The game is divided into multiple missions, bookended by cool, comic-book-style story scenes that advance the plot.
Before heading into an alien-bruising mission, you (and up to three other players) select a duo of heroes from the 11-character base roster. You’ll find a mix of capes, including familiar Marvel top dogs (such as Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine) and lesser-known selections (Cosmic Ghost Rider and Phyla-Vell).
Marvel Cosmic Invasion doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to beat-’em-up progression. You move from left to right, fighting through waves of enemies until you encounter a boss (though the game occasionally shakes things up by making you move left for a bit). After you beat the boss, you select a hero pair and proceed to the next mission. The brawler doles out a new character every few missions (you unlock four as you battle), so you have a fresh hero to play with fairly frequently. On paper, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is par for the genre course—until you explore its unique hook.Offensive Gameplay: Combos, Assists, and Character Swaps
Character-swapping is Marvel Cosmic Invasion’s outstanding gameplay feature, and what separates it from recent beat ’em ups like Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. Developer Tribute Games takes inspiration from the Marvel vs.
