MARVEL Cosmic Invasion Review – To Me, My ’90s Nostalgia
Coming off the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Tribute Games is back with yet another nostalgia-filled beat’em up, this time centered around the Marvel universe.
With MARVEL Cosmic Invasion, Tribute Games not only delivers a fun experience but also proves that they are the king of beat-’em-up revivals.
Enter Annihilus
The story of MARVEL Cosmic Invasion begins much like any other MARVEL story. An emerging world-ending threat, or in this case, universe-ending, arrives, and it’s up to Earth’s mightiest heroes to put a stop to it. However, they may not be enough for this new coming threat, as despite facing off against villains such as Thanos, Galactus, and many other universal threats, this new one hails from the Negative Zone, and seeks to conquer all living beings, not just in our universe, but in every existing one. Although he has made some minor appearances in past video games, Cosmic Invasion puts the interdimensional insectoid conqueror, Annihilus, front and center as the game’s main antagonist.
Comic-book fans will no doubt already know just how menacing Annihilus truly is. But for those who are unfamiliar with the character, he makes for a rather big debut in Cosmic Invasion, as he not only brings death and destruction everywhere he goes, but has also managed to gain control over even the biggest MARVEL villains and heroes in history. So it’s up to heroes from all reaches of the universe to band together, if they have any hopes of taking down this threat.
On the story side of things, don’t expect a whole lot in terms of narrative. It’s comparable to the studios’ previous work, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, which features short cutscenes before and after each stage. But that’s okay, as anyone might tell you, the story probably isn’t the big draw here, even if it is still a pretty enjoyable and fun one to experience, especially since it has full voice acting that sees returning hero actors, such as Cal Dodd as Wolverine, who voiced him in the original X-Men animated series and X-Men ’97. You can expect plenty of other returning roles from different shows and media.
Instead, most players will be locked into the game’s robust and chaotic action. The story might set the stage, but it is the frantic feeling of unleashing superpowers against waves of insectoid drones that steals the show. Fans of the classic 1992 X-Men video game will no doubt get a strong sense of nostalgia from this one, which is no surprise given Tribute Game’s past titles, like the aforementioned TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, their work on the Mercenary Kings franchise, and soon, Scott Pilgrim EX. As their name would suggest, the studio has paid incredible tribute to past titles, specifically those from the ’90s era of gaming. Cosmic Invasion feels like one of those games you’d go to an arcade and spend all day on, or at least until all your quarters are out.
With 15 iconic MARVEL heroes to play from, all with their own unique set of moves and special abilities, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion offers quite a deep combat system. Supporting up to four players locally and online, as well as full crossplay support, each player can take with them two heroes, totalling up to eight usable heroes, with four on the stage at the same time. It can certainly get very hectic with all the action that’s going on screen, but it’s the kind of chaos that oozes in pure fun, as you each combo and chain attacks into one another. There’s a mechanic known as the Cosmic Swap tag-team system, which allows you to swap between the two selectable heroes. It’s pretty seamless, and in fact, functions more than just a way to swap characters, as you can perform tag attacks, assists, and even tag ultimate moves.
The combo system itself feels like a mix of old-school beat-’em-ups with something like Marvel vs. Capcom. In fact, we’re pretty sure we saw plenty of animations that paid homage to the popular fighting series, as well as from other games and media, such as comics, shows, and even live-action movies.
The gameplay is smooth and easy enough for anyone to pick up and enjoy without prior gaming experience. Some characters are a bit more difficult than others, especially those with unique parry attacks, such as Phvla-Vell.
As for difficulty, if you play through the game solo, it can be challenging at times, especially if you’re trying to complete challenges, which each stage has three of. There is a leveling system for all heroes, but they are all identical and mainly offer an increase in health points and some skills, as well as unlocking a new color palette for that specific character. Not the deepest of systems, but in all fairness, we weren’t looking for one, and it’s more of just a bonus if anything. It does give us a reason to keep playing, as do the stage challenges and collectibles, which can be used in the Cosmic Matrix. In this menu, you can spend cosmic cubes (the collectibles) to unlock unique rewards, ranging from new character colors, music tracks, and character bios.
Beyond the short campaign (which can be beaten in 2.5-4 hours), there’s also the classic arcade experience with arcade mode. In this mode, you’ll play through the story in a more linear format (where it continues to the next stage, rather than you selecting it) with limited lives, continues, and no save progression. It’s essentially the mode that games use to play like before saves and continues existed in gaming, offering the most challenging way to experience Cosmic Invasion for anyone up to the task.
One thing I do wish this game had was a boss rush mode, difficulty options (harder ones), and a survival mode to round out the package more, because once you’re done with it, which can be a short half day, there’s not much to really come back for. I’m sure we’ll get some DLC down the road, along with the introduction of more heroes, but it would have been nice to have something beyond the campaign and arcade modes. Leveling up and collecting all the items, though, should give you a few extra hours of playtime, more if you’re a completionist.
A Cosmic Hit
As if I had any doubts, Tribute Games has delivered on yet another instant classic that captures the heart and soul of the 90s era of gaming. While the experience is brief, and we would have loved to see additional modes and more content packed into it, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is, without a doubt, a must-play for all fans of Marvel and beat ’em up games. Its stunning presentation takes you back to a time when things were simpler, and the sheer joy of mashing buttons at an arcade, with your friends fighting alongside you, is a pure trip down a nostalgic lane. It’s undeniably fun and an easy recommendation to anyone looking for something new to play.
Pros
- Fast, chaotic, and satisfyingly combat that looks and feels amazing.
- Beautiful visuals, with great set pieces throughout the campaign.
- Awesome soundtrack.
- The return of iconic voice actors reprising their characters after so many years.
- Lots of tributes to past games, shows, movies, and comics.
- Full crossplay co-op, and local play
Cons
- It's on the short end in terms of campaign length.
- The game's final stage felt pretty lackluster, especially compared to the ones before it.
- Light on modes to keep you playing.
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
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