Canadian-made Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a beat ’em up masterpiece

In 2022 Montreal-based developer Tribute Games conquered the gaming world with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's RevengeA great arcade-style beat 'em up game. Heavily borrowed from the 80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series and games featuring the same actors as in the previous ones, Shredder's Revenge quickly became Top rated Turtles game.

Now Tribute has brought that same love and care to the Marvel Universe. Enter Marvel Space Invasionanother battle in retro style. But although it has the same high quality seal, Marvel Space Invasion also introduces a few of his own tricks. The end result is yet another fantastic game from the Canadian developer that is a must play.

I'm going to take you for a ride

IN Marvel Space InvasionA ragtag group of heroes must band together to travel across the galaxy to stop the villainous Annihilus. It's not a deep story by any means, but it immediately feels like a Saturday morning cartoon in the best way. That's because Tribute has assembled an eclectic cast of 15 playable heroes from across the Marvel Universe. This means you can have heavy hitters like Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, and Iron Man, combined with deeper versions like former Captain Marvel Mar-Vell's daughter Phyla-Vell, intergalactic police officer Nova, an alien warrior associated with Thor, Beta Ray Bill, and an alternate reality Punisher known as Cosmic Ghost Rider.

Part of the appeal of comic book stories is that we get to see such quirky teams. Space Invasion uses them to great effect. Structurally, the game's cutscenes focus on two characters in each mission, although you can use anyone. The result is some surprisingly interesting pairings, like Spider-Man and She-Hulk battling it out on monster hunter Lady Hellbender's bug-infested spaceship. Destromundo, with a fourth awesome green lawyer praising cameos like Jeff the Land Shark while simultaneously bemoaning their captivity. Completing this mission will unlock Venom, who will later partner with Black Panther, to travel into the depths of Hell to battle the symbiote leader Knull, with T'Challa lecturing the villain about the true kingdom along the way. These are just a few of the many interesting interactions offered in Space invasion.

In addition to the delightful comic book feel, it's absolutely fabulous visual effects. Like Shredder's RevengeThe latest Tribute game features loving, full-color, retro-style pixel graphics that feel like they were ripped straight out of an arcade machine. In addition to this, there are vibrant character animations and an amazing soundtrack from Shredder's Revenge composer Ty Lopez.

Best, Space Invasion boasts a huge cast of returning Marvel voice actors such as Spectacular Spider-ManJosh Keaton (both Spider-Man and Iron Man), Edmonton native Guardians of the Galaxy Series star Trevor Devall (Rocket Raccoon) and Canadian X-Men '97 stars Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Alison Seeley-Smith (Storm) and Jennifer Hale (Phoenix). As someone who spent countless childhood hours playing classic arcade games like Marvel vs Capcom And The Simpsons and devouring episodes of animated hits such as Spider-Man: The Animated Series And X-Men: The Animated Series, Space InvasionThe nostalgic performance constantly brought a smile to my face.

Gameplay is out of this world

All this helps to do Marvel Space Invasion look authentic, but of course, what's even more important is that it's also feels authentic. Luckily, the veterans at Tribute are more than up to the task, delivering a truly sensational battle 'em up experience. As Tribute creative director Fred Jemus told me earlier this year.Beat-'em-ups typically feature four to eight characters, with the studio itself Shredder's Revenge There are seven sports in total. It is therefore noteworthy that Space Invasion has more than double that, with 15 characters.

Even more impressive is the diversity of the lineup. Spider-Man is a well-rounded fighter who can pummel enemies with quick punches and kicks, as well as web-swing and dodge around the arena to avoid attacks. On the other hand, Captain America makes up for his comparatively less agility by being able to throw his shield for multiple hits, as well as use it to block and, with a well-timed strike, even parry. Meanwhile, characters like Storm and the Silver Surfer can hover in place, which proves invaluable both for fighting aerial enemies and for preventing certain stage hazards, such as hordes of NPCs rushing across the stage.

Not to mention characters like She-Hulk or Phoenix offer unique spins within the grappler. The former's fighting style involves a grapple that slams an enemy to the ground and then spins and throws them into the air to hit enemies in both upward and downward trajectories, while the latter can telekinetically yank an enemy for close-up damage before launching them forward into the group like a bowling ball smashing against pins.

But this roster diversity really comes to life thanks to the Cosmic Swap mechanic. Similar to: Marvel vs Capcomyou can switch between the two characters, and by doing so at the right moment you can create inventive combos. This could mean using Phil-Vell's wide sword swings to send an enemy flying, ricocheting them off a wall, and then switching Spider-Man to continue juggling them in the air. Or maybe you use Wolverine's claws to launch an enemy into the sky while She-Hulk leaps, grabs, and slams the enemy into a heap.

Naturally, the combo system becomes even more dynamic and flexible with the optional plug-in/drop-out multiplayer mode, which supports up to four players in both couch co-op and online play. With up to eight heroes commanding the screen at any given time, you can cause all sorts of glorious mayhem. This team-based tag system is new in the world of Beat 'em Up, and it makes Space Invasion even more outstanding, while maintaining the sense of excitement and wonder of a classic superhero crossover.

If that weren't enough, each character has a variety of quirks that add small strategic elements. For example, Storm's lightning attacks deal extra damage to machines like Guardians, so you can include her in stages involving robot enemies. Meanwhile, Beta Ray Bill's special ability allows him to throw his Stormbreaker Ax so it stays in place to fend off enemies while draining projectile energy charges, so the key to success is knowing when to bring it back to replenish some juice and hit enemies on the rebound. And as befits his exuberant mood, Rocket Raccoon's kit is playfully chaotic, thanks to a dodge attack that leaves behind a mine and a special grenade that can sometimes trigger a miniature nuclear bomb.

My only real complaint is Space Invasion is that it's not always easy to experiment with different commands. On one hand, it's great to have an RPG-style leveling system where your characters gain experience and gain perks like bonus HP and improved focus to enhance your super move. But on the other hand, this means that replacing one of the new characters later in the campaign means that they are not as effective as the ones you used earlier. Some of the later bosses proved to be a bit challenging, so I sometimes resorted to my Spider/Iron Man combo instead of using new characters.

Compounding this problem is the unfortunate lack of a proper exercise routine. The very first mission of the campaign serves as a tutorial for Marvel vs CapcomDigital Arena style, but it only allows you to use Nova without the ability to switch to anyone else. Considering that one of Space InvasionThe game's greatest strength lies in the synergy between the many possible character duos. It's a frankly weird oversight to not give the player the ability to freely test characters on inactive CPUs.

If nothing else Space Invasion at least makes up for this omission to some extent by including other content. Besides the main campaign and its secondary objectives (defeating bosses with a certain hero or avoiding certain dangers in a stage), there is an arcade mode variant of it that increases the difficulty. And in Cosmic Matrix, you can spend cubes earned in missions to unlock hidden tiles on the grid and unlock alternate character appearances (like Spidey's black symbiote-themed suit or Wolverine's classic yellow and blue suit), villain dossiers, and even arcade mode modifiers like double enemy health. To get everything, you'll need between 15 and 20 hours of game time, which is a good way to extend the length of the base campaign from three to five hours.

Amazing, spectacular and incredible

Tribute Games has done it again. Relying on the foundation Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, Marvel Space Invasion reverently uses decades of Marvel history to create a great beat 'em up experience. From the incredible visuals and retro sound to the amazingly deep and diverse cast. Space Invasion it's the complete package. Face to Face, True Believers is one of the most fun events all year.

Marvel Space Invasion now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam). It's also included in Xbox Game Pass from day one.

Image credit: Dotemu