Spider-Man, Wolverine, and several more iconic superhero team-ups in Marvel Rivals, which is a more competitive multiplayer-style game. But this new title by Dotemu and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge developer Tribute Games may be the game that scratches the old-school brawler itch for Marvel fans who just want to hop in alone or with a friend and save the world from evil.

The announcement trailer from Dotemu shows Captain America, Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine, and several others banding together in tag-team action to fight Annihilus and his army across the galaxy to prevent the deadly Annihilation Wave. The game's beautiful comic book-style and '90s-feel presentation is a nostalgia tour de force. The retro-style adventure MARVEL Cosmic Invasion releases on PC and consoles sometime in 2025.

An Retro-Style Brawler For Modern Platforms

A Mix Of Modern Convenience And Classic Gameplay

MARVEL Cosmic Invasion will feature 15 playable characters, drop-in/drop-out co-op (both online and local), and a tag system called the Cosmic Swap. The system lets players choose two heroes for each level and switch between them instantly and create unique combos and powerful special attacks. Confirmed playable characters include Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Storm, Venom, Nova, and Phyla-Vell.

At first glance, players might think this is a game from the big arcade era, similar to the Double Dragon and Streets of Rage games from the late '80s and early '90s. The retro style paired with modern amenities, like online co-op, seems to create a perfect match for anyone craving simple brawler action with their favorite superheroes. While this is a new game, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion seems to be following a modern trend of bringing back older (or retro-inspired) titles with modern sensibilities, like the recent Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, which saw a classic game adapted to a more modern audience while keeping itself rooted in its classic gameplay.

Our Take: Old-School Co-Op Fun Is A Good Thing

There's A Place For Retro-Inspired Games

In an age when remasters, remakes, ports, and half-remaster-half-remake titles are virtually everywhere nowadays, it's clear that there is a big demand for games of the past, whether that's for a nostalgia itch-scratch or because a lot of fan-favorite games are from older generations. Getting a new game with a retro-style art design, coupled with arcade beat 'em up-style gameplay might be the combination that appeases older and younger fans alike. Couch co-op games were also getting rarer and rarer, but games like the widely acclaimed Split Fiction are seeing a lot of interest, so MARVEL Cosmic Invasion may be coming at the perfect time.

This new pixel art game seems to be aiming for simple co-op fun with popular superheroes and bringing the gameplay of the past to the modern era, and we won't have to wait too much longer to team up with Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the rest of the roster when MARVEL Cosmic Invasion releases later this year.

Source: Dotemu/YouTube