Marvel may have their next big game after Marvel Rivals.
Debuting in yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a new beat-em-up from Tribute Games. Tribute made their name with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. Published by DotEmu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was a throwback to the 1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beat-em-ups made by Konami, with a satisfying amount of fanservice and even new characters and lore to take in.
So this is the easiest pitch for another throwback sprite graphics game that’s bound to make the fans happy.
As reported by Gematsu, they gave this story overview:
““The cosmos must fall, so that I might live!!”
So swears Annihilus, the living death that walks!
After an unprecedented attack is launched across the galaxy, all life hangs in the balance.
Nova, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Phyla-Vell, Captain America and many more heroes, both earth-born and cosmic, will join forces in a star-spanning brawling adventure against the deadly Annihilation Wave.
From New York City to the depths of the Negative Zone, the future of the Universe will be fought for across the stars in MARVEL Cosmic Invasion!”
The game will have fifteen playable characters, and a Cosmic Swap Tag-Team System, which allows you to switch between two on-screen characters at any time. Aside from Annihilus, the Living Death that Walks, we see from the onset that you’ll get to play Captain America, Spider-Man, Venom, Wolverine, Storm, Nova, and Phyla-Vell.
And Phyla-Vell’s appearance in the game, wearing the Quantum Bands that makes her Quasar, that drops hints for what Tribute Games used for inspiration. Because these characters may be using their famous 1990s costumes, but Phyla-Vell took on the mantle of Quasar in the fallout of the 2006 event Annihilation. This may not necessarily be the same story, but it certainly hints that we might be seeing some familiar things play out.
But of course, it also evokes nostalgia from those fans who played Marvel beat-em-ups of yore. Between Data East’s Captain America and the Avengers, LJN’s Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, and Konami’s X-Men, Tribute certainly made some interesting choices on who you can play. And yes, we also noticed a little bit of Capcom in their moves as well.
On the side, the characters in this game’s rogues gallery are more than just the insectoid forces of the Annihilus Wave. The trailer shows the team fighting AIM agents, and there are also hints that the Sentinels and Taskmaster will be squaring off with you at some point. That’s the level of fan service that Tribute Games and DotEmu has promised, and that’s why this game can’t be missed.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is releasing in 2025, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC via Steam. One certainly wonders if it could also get a version on the Switch 2, but we’ll find out later. In the meantime, you can watch the announcement trailer below.
