Marvel Cosmic Invasion was a bit of a dream game for me; I loved the X-Men arcade game in the '90s, so when Tribute Games released the excellent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge in 2022, I immediately hoped they'd revitalize other licensed brawler franchises released by Konami in the late '80s and early '90s. While we still haven't heard any word of a new brawler starring The Simpsons, Tribute did follow up its Turtle triumph with Marvel Cosmic Invasion , another throwback side-scrolling beat 'em up, this time starring Marvel's mightiest.

I played through Marvel Cosmic Invasion multiple times and had a blast, but I moved on quickly, as I didn't feel the need to collect different palette-swaps of the many heroes on offer. Even after Cyclops and The Thing joined the roster as DLC in May, I still saw Cosmic Invasion as a game in the rearview.…