Marvel Universe Invasion Review – IGN
Blog Andrew Joseph 01 Dec , 2025 0
Depending on who you talk to, beat 'em ups are either repetitive, button-mashing coin-munching games or deceptively simple absolute tools of combat mastery. I? I fall into the latter camp. But how do I get people who are not as sick as me interested? How do you entice them to take that first step along Sicko Road? this year's absolute Try to combine a mechanically great beat 'em up action game with a middling roguelite. Marvel Cosmic Invasion developer Tribute Games, the cats behind Shredder's Revenge, the best TMNT game since Turtles in Time, took a different approach. It takes cues from old Marvel and Capcom fighting games and asks one of the boldest questions I've ever seen in New York Minute: What if this was a tag game where you controlled multiple heroes? It turns out there's a pattern to the answer, even if Invasion's actual execution doesn't quite live up to the concept.
I'll be honest with you; I'm not a Marvel guy. My dad loves comics, and he got me into comics, but DC has always been his thing (he owns every Wonder Woman comic ever published, no, that's not an exaggeration), so I'm essentially a DC kid with a soft spot for indie comics. But I love the weirder parts of Marvel, especially the millions of conflicting X-Men timelines and cosmic things. It's not the most popular thing Marvel has published (Spider-Man will always be Spider-Man, although X-Men is no slouch), but it's the funniest. Tell me about the MCU any day.
If the title didn't give it away, that's what Marvel Universe Invasion is about. The story here is so simple that it almost looks like it was ripped straight from the pages of a multi-issue event series. Big bad Annihilus' wave of annihilation (listen, this is a comic book, okay?) is sweeping across the galaxy! All lives hang in the balance! Therefore, only a ragtag group of Marvel heroes, both Earthly and cosmic, can take him down. That's all you need to know. Did you know? it works.
This is largely thanks to the team of 15 heroes assembled by Tribute Games. Yes, you've got the idols, those regulars who absolutely, positively accept that they're irreplaceable have to be there. You know the ones: Storm, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Captain America. There are also cats who were already B-list before being elevated to celebrity status by movies: Black Panther, Iron Man, Rocket Raccoon, She-Hulk, Nova, Phoenix, Venom. There are also some weird and wacky inclusions. Thor isn't here; instead, you get Beta Ray Bill. Real people know. What do you think of Cosmic Ghost Rider? And then there is my daughter Phila-Wil. Oh, and because this is Marvel Universe, the Silver Surfer is here too, and he's Clumping. To the fallen Silver Surfer in the game: I see you and I appreciate you.
But the reality is, everyone here looks stunning, as the pixel art sprite work is absolutely gorgeous. Whether it's Phila-Vell's hair blowing gently in the wind, Wolverine always looking like a coiled spring, or Eddie Brock sometimes exhibiting subtle changes under the Venom symbiote, Invasion captures the essence of these characters, right down to their voices. Keep watching the videos on this page and tell me this doesn't sound exactly like Wolverine, Storm, or Iron Man in your head. True believers, the atmosphere is perfect.
Structurally, Space Invasion is a pretty standard beat 'em up action game. Not counting the tutorial, there are 15 levels in total, including old Marvel standbys like New York City, Wakanda, Savage Land, and Genosha, as well as more exotic environments like Galactus Citadel, each with a fun little description (Heavy Metal for Genosha; Rumble in the Jungle for Savage Land). Stage selection is mostly a straight line, but occasionally the paths will diverge before rejoining, and you'll have to complete both branches before continuing.
The levels themselves are decent, but fall flat in a beat 'em up game, with the occasional environmental hazard present. Each stage has a collectible to liven things up, and three challenges – two are hero-specific, like defeating a certain number of enemies with a character's special attack, while the last one is tied to the stage itself. All of this is fine: the challenges encourage you to take on new characters and learn the intricacies of each arena, and the stages are well-designed, lively (each stage takes about 10-15 minutes), and visually distinct in cool ways – you'll never mistake Savage Lands for Klyntar or Genosha – but there's nothing here that will redefine your expectations of beat 'em up games.
What makes Invasion special is its characters. Up to four people can play Cosmic Invasion simultaneously, each controlling two characters, each of whom are impressively different, even if they may not feel that way at first. Take Nova and Iron Man for example; sure, their two unique attacks are long-range energy blasts, but Nova's attack can go through and hit multiple targets at once. Not so with Iron Man. Nova's special attack is an energy field that only hits enemies at close range, while Iron Man's giant Marvel vs. Capcom 2-style laser can hit anyone standing anywhere on the screen, but it does require you to line up enemies and aim well.
Rocket, meanwhile, is a ranged powerhouse but deals massive damage with his charged slams, while Fela-Vail is more melee-focused and can stun – and no one has anything like her sword, which she can throw and teleport there to initiate combos, then send them across the screen. Beta Ray Bill and Cap can also throw weapons, but Cap's shield will automatically return to him; Bill will spin in place, potentially fooling anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with it until you manually summon it back. Even She-Hulk and Wolverine, two close combatants, have different ways of playing. Logan is faster and specializes in stringing together long stab combos, while Jen is a powerhouse who focuses on short combos, launching her victims into the air for potential follow-ups. They both have contention, but they operate in completely different ways.
Some characters can dodge, while others can block and parry at the right time, allowing for more defensive options. Flying characters can deal with winged enemies more easily than flightless characters, and can more easily avoid stampedes. everyone is one small It’s different, and that can have a huge impact on how they play.
What's really cool, though, is the tag team element. You can only actively control one character at a time, and you can summon your tag partner for various assists to continue damaging enemies, opening up cool new offensive possibilities – this could be a launcher, a standard combo, their unique abilities, their meter “I want these guys dead“Special attacks, etc. It's a lot of fun figuring out the best combos and how the moveset interacts with each other, especially since you don't have everyone unlocked at the beginning. It's possible to lose a mid-level character (they have separate health bars), but even then, all is not lost. You carry on with your remaining heroes, and if you stumble across some floor food, it's a time-honored clear-cut tradition that they'll come back with a bit of health.
Characters also level up as you use them, gaining more health, passive abilities, and more, encouraging you to experiment, especially in co-op. My wife and I played the entire game together (a single run of the entire campaign takes three hours), and while I think Cosmic Invasion is a great solo time, like basically all beat 'em up games, it's even better with friends.
If there's a black eye for this beat 'em up game, it's the lack of enemy variety. You'll see the same core cast of bad guys a lot of While this isn't a huge issue in Space Invasion (which happens with most beat 'em up games), it can feel a bit dated. This is also evident when you fight a boss who will later become a playable character, as it Feel It's like you're fighting someone that you can play later. This can lead to some really fun moments, like when we were fighting the Silver Surfer on an elevator and kept knocking him into the abyss. Eventually, he would float back to us, wanting more, only to be knocked down again. It's not bad, but just as silly as Rob Liefeld's drawing of feet or bags.
If you tire of defeating Annihilus' minions, you can head to Sanctuary, where you can see each hero's progress in the Hero Lab, learn about their history and that of their enemies in the Nova Corps archives, and listen to some of Cosmic Invasion's great tracks. You can also spend the Cosmic Cubes you earn to unlock nodes in the Cosmic Matrix to gain access to more color palettes, hero bios, tunes, and Nova Corps files. It's a cool little system that can even serve as a neat way to create art if you unlock the right nodes in a pattern-forming way. I made a cute little bug and I'm going to miss him when I fill it all out and he's gone.