Developer: Tribute Games Inc.
Publisher: Dotemu
Year: 2025
Genre: Beat ’em Up
System: Windows

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a beat ’em up where up to four players select Marvel super heroes and go through levels beating bad guys up until they get to Annihilus, who they also beat up. I played through this one with my kids and it was surprisingly good? Not that I had low expectations for it, but it’s probably one of the best ones I’ve played in a long time, partially because I haven’t played Streets of Rage 4 yet. I don’t think there’s a whole lot to say about these. It’s a pretty straightforward game where each player picks two characters they can switch between on the fly, walk through levels, and punch guys. But it all feels really good and never felt unfair to me like some of the early games in the genre. Really nice pixel art and animations too.

It’s a game I would have lost my mind over if I was a kid. I grew up as a big Marvel fan and fell off about 15 years ago, which means some of the stuff in the game was wild. Did you know that at some point (maybe currently?) The Punisher is the current version of Ghost Rider and he’s now in space? Was this done because every police officer chud uses a Punisher skull logo? They did a good job putting some oddballs into the game.

Anyway, good stuff. It’s the best Marvel beat ’em up that’s been made so far, and yes, I’m including the X-Men arcade game in this.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is available for Linux, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S