There’s no question that it’s a good time to be a fan of beat-em-ups, as this last generation has had some pretty stellar examples of not just where the genre has been, but where it can still go as well. The thing is, while the best titles out there are all within the same general genre, what’s interesting is to see how different they are when it comes to some key fundamentals. On the one hand you have the amazing Streets of Rage 4, boasting incredible looks, tight play, and a level of challenge that is well-balanced and allows you to really go the distance on your “one quarter” if you have the skills. Then there’s the newcomer Absolum, improving on longevity and variety by adding roguelike elements to the mix, all on top of being mechanically quite impressive. Marvel Cosmic Invasion sort of represents the most honest version of the old arcade experience though, feeling much more like a classic quarter pumper, for better and worse.

Starting with the things you’ll absolutely want to know as a genre or a Marvel fan, there’s no doubt that Tribute has done their homework on all fronts. This isn’t a surprise on the gameplay front as they also handled Shredder’s Revenge, which was an amazing homage to the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games of old. Now, with Cosmic Invasion it feels like they’ve managed to channel the best of the classic X-Men game, but have gone the extra mile to mash as many wild and varied Marvel characters as possible into the mix, ranging from the well-known to the more obscure. What’s interesting is that in many ways the move sets for each of the characters, aside from being quite diverse and including some who can fly or swing, creating a load of different opportunities, plays out almost more like a fighting game at times. The ability to swap between characters, or simply summon your partner to either help save you or deliver some extra damage, absolutely creates a multitude of different potential tactics and ways to enjoy the game.

One issue I have is that the game design sometimes feels at odds with itself when it comes to the Campaign in particular. The reason I’d say this plays like an old-school quarter pumper is that it generally doesn’t feel like it was designed for you to have the ability to play through in one run. A few missions in, the boss battles in particular ramp up the challenge, and depending on your pair of heroes and how you’ve done getting there these battles can be really rough the first few times. The thing is, if you stick with the same pair, or very limited roster of heroes, you’ll likely fare better, and that’s because your heroes will gain experience and boosted stats the more you play with them. What strikes me as odd is that this works against the obvious desire of the developers for people to experiment with different heroes and combinations of them. If your progress was tied to you playing, and not to the heroes themselves, the meta game would reward you no matter who you chose for any given mission, maximizing the odds you’ll continue to change things up. Instead, it pretty well forces you to commit to at least one character being consistent, simply in the interests of making the challenge more manageable.

Make no mistake, as both a fan of Marvel and the genre, this is a terrific bit of fun. The sprite work, animations, smooth play, multiplayer madness, stellar voice work, and loads of Marvel heroes and villains alike included are second to none. That said, the overly forced character grind I found to be a little disappointing, since changing up characters in the campaign automatically puts you behind the difficulty curve, which can be both aggravating and limiting. None of this will stop the game from being fun by any means, it’s just hard not to want it to be even better.