Marvel Cosmic Invasion brings together a wide range of iconic Marvel heroes in a side scrolling beat ’em up that leans heavily into classic arcade roots. Drawing inspiration from 90s brawlers, the game aims to recreate that familiar comic book chaos, mixing larger than life characters, colorful stages, and over the top action designed for online and couch co-op play. It is very much a celebration of Marvel’s universe, wrapped in a retro style package.
Story Mode
The story mode takes a straightforward, comic book style approach that fits the genre well. Players are thrown into a cosmic scale conflict that pulls heroes from across the Marvel universe into a single escalating threat. The narrative serves mainly as a vehicle to move players from one location to the next, visiting familiar Marvel themed environments and facing recognizable villains along the way.
Cutscenes and dialogue are kept relatively light, focusing more on tone and spectacle than deep storytelling. While it does a good job of setting the stage and giving context to the action, the story itself is not particularly deep or memorable. It works well enough to keep the momentum going, but it is unlikely to be the main reason players stick around.
Presentation
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a great looking beat ’em up that immediately impresses with its comic book style visuals. Character sprites are detailed, animations are smooth, and the overall presentation feels polished and vibrant. From a visual standpoint, it delivers exactly what fans of the genre would hope for.
Gameplay
The core gameplay is solid and responsive, sticking closely to the classic arcade brawler formula. Combat feels good, but it rarely does anything unexpected or particularly memorable. While it is enjoyable while you are playing, very little truly stands out once a session is over.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer is clearly a major focus, and the inclusion of cross platform play works very well in practice. Online matches are smooth and easy to get into, making it simple to team up with friends across different systems. That said, with multiple players on screen, things can still become crowded, making it difficult at times to follow the action or clearly see enemy attacks. The feature itself is well implemented, even if the on screen chaos can occasionally work against the experience.
Overall Impression
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is not a bad game by any means. It is well made, visually appealing, and fun in short bursts, but it ends up feeling somewhat forgettable. Compared to Dotemu’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, which felt tighter and more memorable, Cosmic Invasion falls a little short. Fans of beat ’em ups will still find plenty to enjoy, but it does not quite reach top tier status in the genre.
Score: 7/10
I really like this one.
Had my first playthrough yesterday together with one other player and it was marvelous 😉
Although I died at very end and the other player had to do the final hits haha.
Unlocked all the characters, so now I have more to do and collect.
Storywise…it suffices but isn’t super elaborate indeed. Still a cool short story I guess. One cool hint is that the characters that are in the story before the character selection are the ones that are optimised most for that part of the game.
This definitely is aimed at playing with at least one other player, but that could get crowdy fast I guess.
Maybe 3 players would be the max before too much is happening on screen???
I think I’m giving this atleast a 8, especially due to the cross-platform multiplayer part and infinite juggles.