Tribute Games clearly believes in the power of nostalgia. Its last project, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, brought the heroes in a half shell back to their 2D side-scrolling roots, to critical acclaim, while the rest of the company's portfolio is marked with games steeped in a retro look and feel. Now, Tribute is trying it again with Marvel Cosmic Invasion, a beat-'em-up featuring Marvel superheroes, and the results are similarly great, as Cosmic Invasion earns its place alongside the top retro brawlers of the modern era, thanks to both a solid roster of playable heroes and a few influences from other parts of Marvel's gaming history.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion drops its all-star cast of heroes into a galactic battle against Annihilus, who is using an army of parasitic bugs to take over the universe. Campaign mode plays out across over a dozen locations in the Marvel multiverse, including the Savage Land, Genosha, Wakanda, and more, with a rogues' gallery of villains leading up to the final battle with Annihilus. The campaign unfolds across 16 stages, each of them ending with a unique boss. Meanwhile, the Arcade mode streamlines the same story to 12 stages, with a few allowing you to choose between two locations.
A full run only took me about three hours to complete on Normal difficulty. Stages are mostly side-scrolling, and while a few curveballs with vertical sequences or unique stage hazards appear once in a while, the stage design doesn't stray far from a classic side-scroller. As such, eventually the sight of the same locations and enemies begins to wear thin, rendering the entire experience a bit shallow. There are unique collectibles to find and challenges to complete in each stage, as well as modifiers in Arcade mode--like increased health and speed for enemies, or super attacks costing health instead of focus--to add a bit of flair to each run, but each stage's fundamental structure, from visual designs to voice-acting cues, stays the same every time.
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