Marvel Cosmic Invasion comes off the heels of the excellent but ultimately short arcade romp that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, delivering a game that, although fun, suffers from some of the issues present in Tribute Games’ past release.
When it comes to Marvel, the brand has become a household name, even if you’ve never flipped through the pages of a comic book, which makes games like Marvel Cosmic Invasion destined to cast the widest net possible. What I mean by this is that Marvel Cosmic Invasion, although a solid beat-em-up, can feel a bit too easy at times, made worse when played with a few friends. From Wolverine’s cheap grab combo, trivializing many of the bosses, to being able to overwhelm the AI with a couple of friends, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a fun but somewhat mindless arcade experience.
Of course, if you’re not a core gamer or more of a fan of Marvel comics, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a perfectly fine game, one that pays homage to not only the beat-em-up genre but takes clear inspiration from seminal titles such as Marvel vs. Capcom 2. With an impressive roster of 15 playable heroes (or Antiheroes) spread across another 15 stages, Marvel Cosmic Invasion’s initial playthrough will keep players engaged for its 3-4 hour runtime.
From its representation of legacy MVC2 characters, such as Spider-Man, Storm, and Wolverine, feeling ripped straight out of the beloved Capcom fighting game, to its tag-team system, where each player has access to two characters per run, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a love letter to the golden years of the Arcade. On the topic of playable characters, Marvel Cosmic Invasion features a good mix of familiar and atypical picks, including characters like Ghost Rider, Silver Surfer, Phoenix and She-Hulk. All of which feel distinct, such as She-Hulk featuring a moveset reminiscent of a luchadora. At the same time, heroes like Phoenix and Silver Surfer are more agile, featuring AoE and range-based attacks, all of which feel true to the character.
The start of each level in Marvel Cosmic Invasion features a short bit of exposition, complete with beautifully drawn sprite work and voice acting. Unfortunately, the quality of the voice work feels a bit all over the place, with some heroes featuring familiar voices that feel wholly appropriate, while others just come off as phoned-in or off. Still, for a short beat-em-up, it could be worse, but with a name as big as Marvel, even minor issues tend to stick out in the grand scheme of things.
“Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a love letter to the golden years of the Arcade.”
In terms of the story, Marvel Cosmic Invasion features iconic Marvel characters teaming up to stop the rise of Annihilus, who has taken control of equally iconic heroes and villains, a plot point that masterfully lends itself to the character unlock progression system tied to the game.
The real draw of Marvel Cosmic Invasion becomes clear after a few levels, once players grow comfortable and settle on the characters they enjoy. Getting a feel for the game naturally leads to pulling off combos, including switching to a reserve character at the right moment to extend those combos further. You can also team up with friends to juggle enemies, which can be a great deal of fun.
“The real draw of Marvel Cosmic Invasion becomes clear after a few levels into the affair, when players become accustomed and find the characters they like.”
Even with its impressive roster of characters and lengthy campaign, after completing Marvel Cosmic Invasion for the first time, I found myself ultimately dissatisfied with the overall experience. Perhaps I have been spoiled by the continual narrative threads that appear after most major Marvel films, offering a setup or an extra hint of what comes next. A few additional levels, or possibly some secret characters or alternate costumes, could have gone a long way toward keeping players engaged. The game does include some extra content in the form of additional unlocks, but these are limited to character bios, music tracks, palette-swapped costumes and a few gameplay modifiers for Arcade mode.
Ultimately, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a fine game, but one that feels too by the numbers, giving fans a fun but forgettable experience that might only rekindle interest in prospect players down the line via the Thanos-level inevitability of downloadable content. There are far better beat-em-ups to play featuring endless replayability potential, regardless of brand or character recognition. Still, if you’re a Marvel true-believer, you will enjoy your brief time with Marvel Cosmic Invasion.
