Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a simple pixel game that makes me hate Marvel Rivals even more

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is here and it’s probably the best Marvel-themed game we’ve had.

After getting rave reviews from game critics all over the internet, Marvel Cosmic Invasion has arrived on PC, Nintendo Switch 1 + 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The retro-style game features tag-team battling inspired by arcade games from decades past and surprisingly enthralling stories to follow.

It’s not breaking the gaming mold, but that’s actually what critics like. Wrote Console Creature: “It’s often hard to iterate and improve on a genre that’s been around for decades, but Marvel Cosmic Invasion makes the most of that opportunity.

“It might feel like you’ve done this song and dance before, but with a deep and otherworldly story, a great cast of characters, and excellent visuals and music, it’s an absolute blast to play.”

Marvel Cosmic Invasion shows Marvel Rivals how to properly use the IP

I think we’ve been giving Marvel Rivals a lot of leeway. FPS players just want something to “kill” Overwatch 2 to punish Blizzard for being a crap company that took away the promised story mode. And they love playing as Marvel heroes. That’s really it.

Marvel Rivals has pretty boring and repetitive gameplay and is weighed down by too many heroes and villains, thanks to its over-the-top release schedule. Many of the new characters not only have similar abilities and gameplay to existing characters, but also look almost identical at a glance.

To keep Marvel Rivals relevant, NetEase has pushed gooner advertisements to us all over Reddit and TikTok. Skins are getting more and more revealing to the point that insecure girlfriends are counting the game as cheating if their boyfriend dares enter a lobby. It’s giving try-hard. It’s giving desperate.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion may not be a groundbreaking game, but I think that’s what has made it so successful with critics and gamers alike. Marvel Cosmic Invasion doesn’t feel like it’s begging us to play. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying to entice us with buttcheeks. Instead, it’s bringing back an old-school kinda game that seems like the perfect home for Marvel heroes and villains. It feels natural.

With storylines inspired by the comics, recognizable areas from heroes’ worlds, an intense arcade mode, and challenging villains you’ll recognize, this seemingly silly and simple tag-team battle game is an escape, like comics used to offer us back when we actually read things.

I’m not saying Marvel Cosmic Invasion is perfect. I’m just saying that we should stop thinking games are good just because they feature recognizable characters we like. Marvel Rivals has no heart and no soul, but plenty of skimpy outfits. It almost feels like they blindly select superheroes from a spreadsheet and then add them sloppily into the game. There is no real love for the source material in Marvel Rivals; it’s just a lazy opportunity to make a mid hero shooter with a built-in fanbase.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion just shows us how empty it truly is.