New Marvel Cosmic Invasion Review 2025
Perhaps the beat-'em-up genre's best ever roster of playable characters, let down by an inconsistent campaign that wears out too fast.
PC Gamer's got your back
Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.
What is it? An old-fashioned side-scrolling beat 'em up starring a cast of iconic Marvel superheroes.Release date December 1, 2025Expect to pay $30 / £25Developer Tribute Games IncPublisher Dotemu, Gamirror GamesReviewed on Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, 32GB RAMSteam Deck PlayableLink Official site
That this beat 'em up has a roster of 15 different playable Marvel superheroes is immediately impressive. But what's really amazing is every single one of them feels completely distinct, fun to play, and truly super.
I just wish Marvel Cosmic Invasion offered more for them all to do.
In the vein of developer Tribute Games' last game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, this is an unabashedly old school side-scroller. Bad guys appear, you punch them until they're all gone, then you move a bit further right and more bad guys appear. Repeat until you reach a boss fight. Simple, nostalgic, satisfying.
But as in Shredder's Revenge, more modern ideas enhance the action. Blocks, parries, and dodges make it easier to stay on your feet than in the old classics, for example, and generous launchers and timing windows allow you to string together combos and juggle foes in the air without hours of practice. It's all the joy of the arcade without the frustration.
Layered onto that fun and accessible foundation are the characters themselves, who each boast their own simple but empowering arsenal of attacks and abilities. What makes them so exciting to play is how much Tribute Games leans into their superpowers, rather than trying to compress such larger-than-life characters down into simple beat-'em-up archetypes.
Of course Iron Man can fly at will and shoot lasers out of his hands—he's Iron Man! Just like Wolverine can leap across half the screen to rip a Sentinel to pieces, and Phoenix can grab and throttle enemies with her mind. Everyone gets to be as overpowered as they should be, and it's a blast.
And, importantly, that means they all have distinctly different playstyles. As Captain America, you're solid and stoic, controlling the flow of the fight by stunning enemies with shield throws and parrying their p
Source: PC Gamer
