Assemble your heroes and beat the brakes off intergalactic baddies in the retro-style Marvel Cosmic Invasion ($29.99, reviewed on PC, but also available on PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox). This homage to old-school arcade beat 'em ups, such as Capcom's The Punisher and Konami's X-Men, is more than just nostalgia bait. It takes Tribute Games' delightful, pick-up-and-play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge formula and injects it with a dose of Marvel fighting game flair. Despite some frustrating aerial enemies, Marvel Cosmic Invasion shines as a fantastic, modern spin on golden age brawlers, earning it an Editors' Choice award.

Story: A Deep Space Battle Featuring Marvel's Heroes

In Marvel Cosmic Invasion, the evil alien Annihilus has launched an intergalactic war, so Marvel's iconic superheroes unite to stop him, battling his forces from New York City's streets to the outskirts of the Negative Zone. The game is divided into multiple missions, bookended by cool, comic-book-style story scenes that advance the plot.

(Credit: Tribute Games/PCMag)

Before heading into an alien-bruising mission, you (and up to three other players) select a duo of heroes from the 11-character base roster. You'll find a mix of capes, including familiar Marvel top dogs (such as Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine) and lesser-known selections (Cosmic Ghost Rider and Phyla-Vell).

Marvel Cosmic Invasion doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to beat-'em-up progression. You move from left to right, fighting through waves of enemies until you encounter a boss (though the game occasionally shakes things up by making you move left for a bit). After you beat the boss, you select a hero pair and proceed to the next mission. The brawler doles out a new character every few missions (you unlock four as you battle), so you have a fresh hero to play with fairly frequently. On paper, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is par for the genre course—until you explore its unique hook.

Offensive Gameplay: Combos, Assists, and Character Swaps

Character-swapping is Marvel Cosmic Invasion's outstanding gameplay feature, and what separates it from recent beat 'em ups like Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. Developer Tribute Games takes inspiration from the Marvel vs. Capcom series by incorporating tag mechanics into the fast-paced combat. You control one fighter at a time, but you can switch to your secondary character with a button press (or hold that button and hit an attack to perform an eye-catching, fighting game-style assist move). Each character has their own respective health bar, so it's in your best interest to frequently swap characters to keep your two-hero team alive.

(Credit: Tribute Games/PCMag)

Combat is quick and flashy. Each character has a bread-and-butter basic combo, a charge attack, a heavy attack, and a special move. As a result, casuals can simply mash out cool-looking combos while die-hards can attack with purpose to dominate the field.

This is facilitated by the heroes' unique move set that highlights their superpowers. Storm fights with blasts of air and lightning, Wolverine shreds and maims enemies with various claw attacks, and She-Hulk delivers meaty punches, kicks, and grabs that let her mix it up with enemies like a pro wrestler. There's enough character and mechanical nuance that you'll find a favorite that matches your preferred playstyle.

(Credit: Tribute Games/PCMag)

Unlike the fighters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, only specific Marvel Cosmic Invasion characters, such as She-Hulk and Venom, have a grapple attack. This restriction makes those particular heroes more distinct, but grabbing and tossing enemies like rag dolls is a major offensive genre tool that should be available to all. Its omission is disappointing.

Defensive Gameplay: Blocks and Dodges

The biggest differentiator between characters, aside from their individual move sets, is their defensive abilities. The roster falls into two categories: heroes who block, and heroes who dodge.

For example, Captain America can block incoming blows, but heavy attacks and certain projectiles can punch through his guard. However, a well-timed block triggers an awesome, fighting game-style parry that opens your assailant for a counterattack. This makes blocking characters a bit more technical than Spider-Man and other dodging fighters, who simply slip incoming attacks with an invulnerable evasion. Again, Marvel Cosmic Invasion caters to both hard-core and casual players.

Another character differentiator is the distinction between flying and grounded characters. This, however, feels a little undercooked. Iron Man and Nova can fly, giving them access to aerial combos that make them vastly more efficient against in-air foes. Yes, grounded heroes like Venom or Wolverine can attack those enemies, but landing blows is difficult. You're forced to hop around while attacking, praying that you connect. I appreciate the flight ability, but I wish aerial attacks were more accurate for grounded units.

Extras: Easter Eggs and Unlockables

The attention to detail is impressive. Marvel Cosmic Invasion's story isn't particularly notable, as it simply serves as a vehicle for the gameplay. However, the story is packed with characters from across the Marvel universe, which colors the playable roster, boss fights, and the comic-book-style cutscenes. Expect cameos from Charles Xavier, Lady Hellbender, Lockjaw, and Thanos, to name a few.

This impeccable detail also extends to the sprites and backgrounds, which are superb examples of modern-day pixel art. I love that you can see Eddie Brock's exposed skin under the symbiote suit when performing certain moves, or S.H.I.E.L.D. agents going to war with aliens in the background.

(Credit: Tribute Games/PCMag)

There are also collectables and hidden challenges you can perform to earn cubes, which you use to unlock color palettes for the cast, extra music, or gameplay modifiers (like infinite continues).

Marvel Cosmic Invasion supports up to four-player, co-op multiplayer, with each person swapping between two characters. Four on-screen superheroes popping special moves leads to the occasional chaotic session. However, in testing, the moment-to-moment action isn't quite as visually cluttered as the crazed, multiplayer gameplay in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.

Specs: Minimum and Recommended System Requirements

Marvel Cosmic Invasion features 1990s-inspired pixel art, so it has low system requirements. To run the game at minimum settings, your PC needs an Athlon 64 X2 6400+ or Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 CPU; an AMD Radeon HD 6570, Intel HD Graphics, or Nvidia GeForce GT 320 GPU; 4GB of RAM; and 1GB of storage. The recommended specs slightly ups the components, requiring an AMD Phenom II X2 550 or Intel Core i3-540 CPU; an AMD Radeon R7 240, Intel HD Graphics, or Nvidia GeForce GT 730 GPU; and 8GB of RAM.

My test PC, equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU, and 16GB of RAM, let me run the game at 1440p/60fps without hitches, stutters, or slowdown. Marvel Cosmic Invasion is also a superb Steam Deck title, running at a crisp 60fps with no setting tweaks required.

On PC, Marvel Cosmic Invasion has both gamepad and keyboard controls, with the latter option supporting keybind mapping.