Game Review: MARVEL Cosmic Invasion

It’s been a minute since I last played Tribute Games’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge. From what I remember playing it though, it was one hell of a game. The way it was able to so accurately capture the essence of the old arcade-style beat em’ ups of our youth in a new, fresh format was something which really captured my attention at the time.  Well fast forward to present day and it’s fair to say the Canadian-based team have done it once again with their latest beat em’ up video game; MARVEL Cosmic Invasion.

Developed by Tribute Games and published once again by Dotemu, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is the developers latest beat em’ up video game to hit the market. Released across Linux, Nintendo 1 and 2, PlayStation 4 and 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S on December 1^st 2025; the beat em’ up game follows the exploits of a large group of MARVEL superheroes in their attempt to thwart Annihilus from invading the cosmos. Upon release the game garnered a solid 81 aggregate score from critical reviews on OpenCritic. On the sales front it’s still early days to note any official sales record, though from my research the game seems to be performing quite well on Steam if the public stats are anything to go by.

The narrative of MARVEL Cosmic Invasion follows a plethora of Marvel super heroes who are forced to band together on a universe-spanning mission to stop the evil alien Annihilus from conquering the known universe with his insectoid army known as the Annihilation Wave. With a universe-level threat, Annihilus’ invasion is enacted across many a familiar locale including Earth, Asgard, Klyntar, Sanctuary II, Fort Galactus, and the Arthros Citadel. It’s up to our heroes to trek through these iconic locations while attempting to disrupt Annihilus’ army and their generals in an effort to push the invasion back and stop Annihilus before its too late.

As far as beat em’ up plots go, I found myself really enjoying the course of this game’s plotline.  It was noted that the plot is adapted from the 2006 storyline from the MARVEL comics known as Annihilation.  I haven’t personally read that comic myself, but from what I’ve read up online it seems like a pretty good adaption.  The game does a good job framing the threat on a universal level to justify its constant variation of levels, enemies and bosses.  Each level has an accompanying intro and outro sequence to help progress the narrative too which is well-appreciated.  Beat em’ ups have never been regarded for their ability to tell a rich and insightful story, but it’s worth recognizing Tribute Games do their best to outline the narrative not just within it’s opening cinematic or accompanying slideshows, but the level design and animations themselves help to showcase the progression of the plot as you fight your way through its levels.

The gameplay end of the experience also has a lot to appreciate. The official roster of the game consists of 15 playable characters, that includes, Beta Ray Bill, Black Panther, Captain America, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Iron Man, Nova, Rocket Raccoon, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Storm and Wolverine, Phyla-Vell, Phoenix, Silver Surfer and Venom. This is a notable step up from the character roster from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and while I was worried the number of characters would diminish the variety of combat, Tribute Games really went out of their way to make each and every character feel distinct in their own way.  Combat in this game is simple to adapt to, but it’s given enough fun, frenetic energy to leave a memorable impression. Picking two characters, you’ll be able to deploy combo attacks as well as crowd-control moves to help disperse your enemies and switch out on the fly.  I love how much definition is given to make each character look and feel different to one another.  There’s less mechanical distinction but if that’s at the expense of a larger character roster, I think what differences are present here are enough to offset that issue somewhat.

It helps that the game features a plethora of gameplay scenarios to play around in too.  The main campaign consists of 16 missions, playable either solo or up to 4 player local and online co-op. Each level is well designed to emulate the standard formula of a side-scrolling beat em’ up level.  The early missions will consist of standard enemy types whereas the further you progress the trickier and more difficult the enemy range becomes.  This gradual progression of difficulty helps keep the game from feeling too easy and offers players a lot of variety when it comes to enemy combat and environmental obstacles.  Mix that responsive combat system with an accompanying leveling mechanic which allows you to gradually level up your characters to gain better health and different skins to wear, it’s a genuinely well-rounded gameplay approach which offers an easily accessible system which can be fine tuned to your liking.

It helps that the game’s design approach emulates that 32-bit, arcade style so well. This game looks and feels like a game you’d find in the arcade back in the 80’s but with a lot of modern touch ups to make it visually pleasing for modern gaming.  There’s an excellent level of detail within the animations both on characters and in the environment that helps inject a great sense of energy into the game.  It’s use of colour and compressed sounds also goes a long way to balancing that mix between new and old styles wonderfully. Tee Lopes returned to help score this game like he did for Tribute’s prior game and he clearly proves to have been the right candidate.  His musical score does a lot of work reflecting the retro arcade style but it’s notably distinct from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with its tracks being more fast-paced and action-orientated.

MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is another incredible notch on Tribute Games record so far.  As a developer with only two games under their belt at this juncture, it’s clear to see this developer has a keen sense of style and functionality if MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is anything to go by. This game perfectly delivers that fast paced, arcade-style beat em’ up gameplay while delivering its own unique approach to a MARVEL crossover storyline.  While it’s length may be short for some, there’s enough here to get more than enough value on your investment in my opinion.