MARVEL Cosmic Invasion Review - Earth's Mightiest Arcade Beat Em' Up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS1RdozYbnc

Marvel Brawling is Back!

MARVEL Cosmic Invasion

PC/PS/XBOX/SWITCH

12/1/25

Tribute Games Inc./Dotemu, Gamirror Games

Let me just start this review by saying I am loving the revival of the beat ’em up genre which has been taking place over the last few years. From the outstanding Shredder’s Revenge in 2022 to this year’s game-of-the-year contender Absolum, the genre is alive and well—not only rekindling magic with old-timers like me, but managing to bring in new audiences, much to even my own surprise! When I heard that we were getting a new MARVEL-themed brawler, my excitement went through the roof, as memories of the classic X-Men arcade game—a staple of any ’90s arcade—immediately flooded back. Damn, that sure was a huge cabinet! With their latest release, Tribute Games is once again teaming up with Dotemu to bring us a retro-fueled brawler that places a heavy emphasis on combos and air juggles. But is MARVEL Cosmic Invasion the Earth’s mightiest arcade beat ’em up? Or should we use the Infinity Gauntlet and snap it out of existence? Let’s find out in our full review!

In MARVEL Cosmic Invasion, 15 of our favorite comic book heroes and villains join forces to stop an evil wave of annihilation! Players will bash their way through a full campaign that can take anywhere between 3–5 hours to complete, while also enjoying an arcade mode, which offers a more classic gameplay experience with the option of different difficulties and modifiers such as freeplay. The campaign tells a fairly basic Marvel story through mostly static images and text reminiscent of the presentation of classic comic book-themed brawlers like Maximum Carnage, you know, the one where Green Jelly did the theme song? That was badass! Anyways, completing the campaign and unlocking everything in the game’s vault—including the previously mentioned modifiers, musical tracks, and character lore documents—should take around 20 hours of gameplay. This isn’t factoring in the potentially endless replayability of arcade mode.

Players won’t need to brawl their way through this one alone, as the game features support for both online and local multiplayer. Drop-in and drop-out is an option at any time, with full crossplay support also available for up to 4 players total. Adding even more chaos to the experience is the fact that MARVEL Cosmic Invasion utilizes a tag-team system, meaning that each player selects two characters and can swap between them at will throughout gameplay, similar to the classic Marvel vs. Capcom games’ tag feature.

Brawlers weren’t exactly known for their depth or intricate gameplay mechanics when I was growing up, but we’ve seen developers expand upon what was once simple punching and throwing to make the genre more appealing for modern audiences. That remains true with this release, which offers a fast, fluid, and enjoyable combat engine that is accessible to just about anyone of any skill level. The basic gameplay involves sprinting across the screen, using the attack button to beat down baddies—with successful attacks slowly recovering your health—double-tapping jump to fly if your hero or villain is capable, and using your hero’s unique superpower with its own dedicated button.

Where things start to get more interesting is with the swap mechanic, which also has a dedicated button of its own. Swapping can be performed at any time, used to break free from enemies or chain together epic combinations. This same button can also be held down to bring in your partner for an assist attack without swapping out your character entirely. It’s a very fun system that doesn’t take all that long to get used to, but gives MARVEL Cosmic Invasion a unique identity of its own. Each character also comes with a super move that will wipe out most enemies in your path, at the cost of consuming focus that will need to be recharged through battering foes. Outside of that, pressing both the swap and special buttons together can do a glorious team attack that is even more badass than a super move. The only other mechanic to be concerned with is blocking and parrying, which I didn’t do much of myself, but is an option and adds just a little more to an already well-crafted combat engine.

It won’t be long before you are juggling enemies and bosses into oblivion, but which character you want to lay the smack down with is entirely up to you. Players are able to swap out characters between levels during the campaign, with each fighter leveling up individually upon completion of a zone. Leveling up isn’t just for vanity either, as new perks are earned, such as increased HP. Don’t expect deep RPG progression by any means, but it's nice that the game includes some reward for your efforts. It’s also nice that each Marvel combatant feels different from the last, with unique moves and attacks of their own. Sure, most of the button combinations are the same, but She-Hulk, as one example, is more grapple-heavy, Storm works best when flying, and the Black Panther is speedy, with various slashes and spins. It’s fun to experiment with everyone in the game and ultimately decide on a favorite, but in all honesty, I enjoyed playing the entire roster, with some characters needing to be unlocked via the campaign. And by the way, why is The Punisher a Ghost Rider character now? Did I miss something? It’s been a long time since I've read comics, folks. 

But at the end of the day, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is still a brawler, and if you weren’t a fan of the genre before, or at least open-minded to it, your mind won’t be changed here. This is ultimately a somewhat mindless experience at times, with bright flashing lights, bodies flying everywhere, and for some, repetition will set in quite quickly. Personally, I love that this genre allows me to socialize with friends, not think too much, and just have a good time, but I can also recognize that many players seek deeper gameplay experiences, and not every game is for everyone. So yes, while this game does its damndest to supply a compelling combat system, it will still be a mind-numbing experience if you never found much joy out of the genre to begin with. Now granted, odds are that you love these games if you are watching this review, but I did want to point out that those who have a distaste for these games to start with shall not be swayed.

The visuals of this title, as I touched on earlier, are bright, colorful, flashy, and tap into the classic ’90s look of arcade brawlers that many of you know and love. While the game might be a bit busy for some, and it can be easy to lose track of characters through the chaos, the gorgeous pixel art and animations are incredible in motion. Backgrounds are fairly well varied, and the game sounds great too, with an energetic soundtrack accompanied by all the thumps and thuds you would expect out of a ’90s arcade beat ’em up. A bit disappointed that the game didn’t seem to have a 5.1 mix—unless my settings were off—but overall, this is a very authentic-looking and sounding arcade experience. It ran without a hitch too, for the most part, with just a touch of slowdown in spots, which was maybe intentional? On Steam Deck, you will also get a perfectly playable experience, though obviously it means playing a pretty chaotic game on a smaller screen.

With its dynamic roster of characters, including fan favorites and some deeper cuts, an entertaining campaign, assortment of multiplayer options, arcade mode, and unlockable extras, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is an absolute winner. Its tag feature is a blast, and while things may get a bit too chaotic for some players, most will have a fine time even if they button mash their way towards victory. The developers have done a nice job of adding depth to the brawler genre, and while it might not quite live up to the lofty heights of Shredder’s Revenge, it's a great game in its own right that fans of the genre won’t want to miss out on.

GREAT