Marvel Cosmic Invasion presents a problem for me. I’ve never been a Marvel fan, but I am a fan of retro brawlers. Especially when those brawlers are coming from Dotemu, the publishers of both Streets of Rage 4 and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, which are some of my favorite games of the last few years. So with that talent in place, could they potentially win me over to liking superheroes?
If you’ve played those Dotemu games, or indeed any brawler, you already know what’s happening here. If not, this is a side-scrolling brawler, where you take control of Marvel superheroes and walk through a 2D space (with some vertical movement) beating up an army of enemies that try and stop you. There are fifteen heroes to choose from, from popular names like Spider-Man and Captain America to obscure picks like Beta Ray Bill and Nova.
What makes Marvel Cosmic Invasion stand out from other games in the genre is the tag team feature the whole game is built around. Instead of picking one hero at the start of a stage, you pick two. In the stage, you can then switch between them at any time, including mid-combo, which can either trigger a team-up attack or allow for some satisfying juggling. It adds a lot of strategy to your combos, as timing it just right during one character’s finisher opens you up to let the incoming hero throw out theirs with little chance for enemies to respond.
The combat feels as good as Dotemu’s other games. There’s a lot of similarities between this and Shredder’s Revenge on a fundamental level, which is good news. This is right down to the best part: the ability to endlessly build your combo meter by juggling enemies, even if they’re already KOed, as long as they never touch the ground.
There’s some good variety between heroes too, with each one offering a unique moveset, weight and speed. Spidey has his webs and a swinging kick in the air. Wolverine has fast claw attacks. She-Hulk is a grappler. Captain America can throw his shield like a boomerang. Storm can fill the stage with lightning. You will almost certainly find at least one hero to suit your playstyle, with Wolverine, She-Hulk and Rocket Raccoon being some of my standouts. Especially the latter, who’s the only character whose basic attack is long range and can lay mines with his dash attack.
Where Marvel Cosmic Invasion falls down is in its strange balance. It has a leveling system, similar to other recent games in the genre, where characters hit harder and gain more HP as they level up. Stages are balanced around this system, with enemies getting more powerful as you progress. If you’re the kind of player who’s just going to pick your two favorites and play the whole game with them, you won’t notice much wrong as they’ll level up with the stages.
The problem is, the game doesn’t present this as the ideal experience. Instead, the game seemingly expects you to swap between the “intended” heroes for each stage. These heroes are highlighting on the character select screen at the start of a stage, in the story scenes before and after the action and mandated to complete the stage’s optional challenges. But if you swap around, each hero will eventually feel underleveled for the stage as enemies stomp you. It’s a strange choice to signpost this as the suggested way to play.
But the real question is, did Marvel Cosmic Invasion manage to win over someone with no interest in Marvel? Not really, as I found its story to be completely incomprehensible. The wider plot is that Annihilus is invading Earth with his bug enemies, but each stage features its own story focused on a different supervillain. It’s mainly an excuse to shove as many characters in as possible, but no one is properly introduced. as someone who doesn’t recognise anyone outside the MCU (which I’m mostly aware of against my will), the experience felt disjointed. Naturally, this is a me problem, and it’s possible that Marvel diehards will delight in the breadth of its villains, but it does limit its appeal.
Ultimately, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a solid brawler that continues Dotemu’s streak of great games. If you’re a hardcore Marvel fan, add a point to the score, since you’ll have a great time, but if you’re like me and have never found these heroes particularly compelling, this won’t change your mind.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a solid brawler that continues Dotemu’s streak of great games, but it’s one for hardcore Marvel fans only. PC version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.
Pros
- Full disclosure: I have no idea who Annihilus is, so the game’s lack of introduction to him wasn’t helpful.
- Tee Lopes feels wasted here, as the soundtrack is much more forgettable than his excellent Shredder’s Revenge or Sonic Mania tunes.
- It bothered me that there were fifteen characters in a game so centered on duos – why not add another one and make the number even?