As someone who grew up on Marvel fighting games like Captain America and the Avengers AND Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum CarnageI immediately fell in love with Tribute Games’ latest title when I first saw it in previews and in action.
Marvel’s space invasion it evokes the same nostalgic joy of those titles with their retro style and fun roster of playable characters, but I just wish the thrills lasted longer and had a little more to do in its package.
Gather
Biggest draw for Marvel’s space invasion this is its IP address. Like Tribute Games, it fueled nostalgia for retro arcades Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revengethe star of the game is the established characters and world.
The side-scroller features a fun group of Marvel mainstays (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Storm) and some lesser-known heroes (Nova, Phyla-Vell, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Beta Ray Bill) who team up to fight Annihilus and his army of bugs, while the cosmic villain takes center stage as the antagonist.
In each stage, you choose two heroes to play as, and then you can combine them and their abilities, using basic attacks, special attacks, and fighting game-style assists to clear the screen of enemies. Performing powerful combos and taking down the various Marvel goons sent your way is fun, plain and rewarding.
Each of the characters has their own distinct character and abilities, and each of them is invigorating in its own way. Storm uses wind and lightning to blast enemies, Spider-Man can kick crowds with his web, Silver Surfer soars on his surfboard, and Wolverine dashes and cuts through enemy waves.
In addition to characters having specific moves, the main separator is that several characters in the party can fly, which makes them better at fighting certain types of enemies. Champions like Storm, Nova, Phyla-Vell, and Iron Man can dominate the top half of the screen because of this, and I find them more fun to play in most cases.
The game can be played co-operatively with up to four players, which means eight Marvel heroes can be on screen at once if they all call in their assist or super at the same time, making it a crazy sight and fun for a group of friends. The exploit of different combinations of characters is invigorating and representative of the IP it is based on, enhanced by a good soundtrack and some well-known iconic voice actors such as Steve Blum and Josh Keaton.
In addition to the heroes, the Story Mode features familiar locations and several iconic Marvel villains to fight (or team up with), including Thanos, Galactus, Venom, and Hela, making this a journey worth exploring for fans of the comics, movies, and games Marvel has amassed over the past few decades. There are even a few Easter eggs, including characters and locations that eagle-eyed fans will be able to spot and search for in each scene.
But not for long
Marvel’s space invasion It’s fun to play, but it’s a disappointingly compact game. The main story can be completed in 3-4 hours, and then the replayability of the gameplay focuses on leveling up and playing different characters to achieve mission-specific goals. Completists will likely accomplish everything in less than 20 hours.
These goals are basic, such as using a specific hero to defeat a mission boss in a lore-wise manner, or using a hero’s special attack to defeat a certain number of enemies. Completing them unlocks minor additions like hero palette swaps, arcade mode modifiers, and music tracks, so there’s not much to do outside of achievements/trophies.
Arcade mode is a classic style that can be found in the almost extinct setting of several arcade machines lined up and waiting to fill your quarters, and the above-mentioned modifiers can add or remove challenges depending on how you want to play. It’s worth playing through the story multiple times to fully level up each hero and complete its challenges, but beyond that there isn’t much content to delve into.
Several events and minor mentions throughout the story appear to be setting up future DLC, which is consistent with Tribute Games adding post-launch content TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. I wish the first pack was more extensive, but the game is fun enough that I can’t wait to see what comes next.
I love the concept Marvel’s space invasion. I’m a long-time Marvel fan and I love this style of gameplay, but I wish there was more to the game than what it currently has.
