It’s Mahvel Baybee
Who among us doesn’t love a beat-em up game? Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, Bad Dudes, Scott Pilgrim just to name a few have all been staples in my gaming career. There is something just simplistic and fun about just beating up bad guys with stylish combos, jazzy music and killer graphics. Dotemu has given us a beat-em up that is just perfect, like the combo of peanut butter and chocolate; Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a 2D, beat-em up packed with goodness, but as good as it is, it isn’t all sunny skies over here in in Mahval land.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion throws the heroes in a fight against Annihilus who is of course trying to take over the universe. Players will be able to choose between 15 varied heroes; mainstays like Captain America, Black Panther and Iron Man are included but lesser-known heroes like the Kree, Phyla-Vel, Nova from the Nova Corps, and Cosmic Ghost Rider who is Frank Castle, yes, the Punisher. (It’s a whole thing and honestly is cool to see how he becomes CGR in the comics) Each character of course is able to throw hands with melee combos but they also have an active ability to use. Captain America hurls his mighty shield; Iron Man fires his repulsor blast and Storm can pummel foes with tornados. After players have beat up some baddies, they will full their ultimate gauge which allows each character to pull off a screen filling move that will mow down a swath of enemies.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
As big of a Marvel fan as I am, I don’t know a whole lot about Annihilus; I know he resides in the Negative zone and is primarily a foe of the Fantastic Four. In the game his bug army swarm our heroes and they are able to take control of people with larva. One of the first boss fights sees Beetle, a lesser-known villain robbing a bank when the Annihilation Wave (Annihilus’ invading force) begins and he is forced to eat a larva and fights under Annihilus control until the heroes beat some sense into him. On of the things I loved with Cosmic Invasion is the variety of villains that players will face; Hela, Thanos and Knull just to name a few of the heavy hitters, and while I enjoyed the variety of bosses; the variety of the ‘rank and file’ enemies is sorely lacking though.
Which that variety in enemies is one of the issues I had with the game. Players will fight three different color swaps of bugs, some symbiote type slugs and a few other things that all equate to just palette swaps. Look, call me kooky but if you are working with a partner who is known as the ‘House of Ideas’, I dunno maybe we can think up something better than some color swaps. But that also leads into the unlockables in Cosmic Invasion, guess what; MORE PALETTE SWAPS. Each of the characters has alternate colors some of which are classic costumes or variants of the heroes. She-Hulk has a Red hulk version, Black Panther has a white suit (look it up), Wolverine has his X-Force, black and grey suit and of course his 90’s blue and yellow. Again, I was just hoping for more with the alternate looks; other unlockable include music tracks from the various levels, S.H.I.E.L.D. files which equate to just background info on the main characters in the game and arcade mode modifiers.
In addition to the main campaign Marvel: Cosmic Invasion offers an arcade mode that allows players to know how we old ass gamers suffered when playing these types of games in our youth. That is to say that it has limited lives and continues and has to be completed in one go as there is no save. Ah, the good ole days; amirite? While I like the inclusion of this mode, I haven’t done anything with it yet other than play a few missions. Its not bad and some of the modifiers that players can unlock can make it easier, in fact one of them is literally a difficulty modifier which will allow players to play on easy.
In the literal sea of fantastic games that have come out in 2025, Marvel Cosmic Invasion shouldn’t be missed. Now, truthfully speaking mileage may vary on how much fun you have depending on how you feel about the brand. As a huge comic fan, I loved this game and can’t wait to play with friends when the online multiplayer goes live. But some folks may be turned off by the lack of enemy variety and the shorter length of the campaign which can be finished in about 3-5 hours; completionist will get about 20 hours to see everything. With its inclusion in Game Pass Ultimate (a shame we have to differentiate) it’s definitely worth checking out.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
