It’s Steam Next Fest time once again, and this year we got a chance to check out the new Marvel beat-em-up from the Tribute and Dotemu teams.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion features sprite work that’s so damn clean you’ll feel like you’re using some modified deconstructed version of Marvel vs Capcom 2. But graphics aside is it any good? Find out in our preview!
I’m going to preface this by saying that I don’t know much at all about Marvel stuff, or cape shi stuff in general, but I know it does bring back some fond memories for me seeing Storm and Wolverine fighting side by side with Captain America and Spiderman.
Not only is this demo excellent, but I’m fairly convinced at this point that Tribute and Dotemu could make a fun side-scrolling beat-em-up of pretty much any IP and it would still be leaps and bounds better than any other products on the market. It’s a shame this team didn’t make the Power Rangers game.
For the purposes of this demo, I played through both of the playable levels with a team of Rocket Raccoon and Venom, and then played the second stage with Spiderman and Storm from the X-Men.
One immediately noticable upgrade was hearing quick voice clips from the characters, as well as hearing voiced lines to match the dialogue on screen from the boss characters. This adds a smidge of immersion and improved the overall experience getting to hear some of these characters in their element.
Rocket quips about not complaining about any kind of food, while Spiderman claims “Free Food?! SWEEEEEET!” when he picks up a food item.
Venom constantly reminds you that they are more than one person, while Storm makes lightning storm references. It’s silly and might get grating after a long period of time, but for a short burst it was endearing and helped liven the game up a little more.
Controls are super simple and anyone can pick them up and play. Basic attacks automatically turn into combos, while every character has a limited number of special moves that quickly recharge and an ultimate move that needs to be recharged.
For example: Rocket Raccoon shoots his blaster from range, but getting close allows him to do melee combos which also benefits his grenade special where he can drop a bomb on a group of enemies as he dashes in to attack. His ultimate sees him pulling out his seemingly endless arsenal and blasting like crazy for a few seconds.
Perhaps the coolest feature in this game is getting to pick two heroes that you can swap between on the fly. Tap the tag button to do an assist attack while holding the button for a quick second completes the tag in. This is the other feature that makes this game remnant of Marvel vs Capcom 2 and it’s super fun to play around with.
The Taskmaster fight at the end of the second stage was pretty comical (no pun intended) as you see a mini M.O.D.O.K. yelling about being restored to his full size right before the fight starts.
Once you thwart Taskmaster, the demo is officially over and you’re thanked for playing with a cool little screen that shows you all of the playable characters together as the small but mighty cast takes a bow.
From left to right, the playable characters are She-Hulk, Wolverine, Captain America, Phyla-Vell, Spiderman, Storm, Nova, Venom, and Rocket Raccoon.
If you’ve played Shredder’s Revenge, you know that this team are masters of their craft, so go check this demo out and keep your eyes peeled for the full release of Marvel Cosmic Invasion later this year!
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is in development for Windows PC (via Steam), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PS4, and PS5 with a release set for later in 2025.
