MARVEL MaXimum Collection (Xbox Series X) – Review

For the past 87 years, Marvel has been a media giant in not only comics but also action figures, various animated and live-action series, and the film industry. They have also played a big part in video game history through various publishers and developers, especially throughout the 90s, with their fair share of highs and lows. Just over a month ago, it was announced that six of those games are being brought to modern consoles by Limited Run Games as Marvel MaXimum Collection, now web swinging, optic blasting, and surfing their way onto Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

The six games included are X-Men: The Arcade Game, Captain America and The Avengers, Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge and Silver Surfer. The games came from various publishers and developers, including Konami, Data East, Acclaim Entertainment, LJN, Software Creations, Flying Edge, Unexpected Development and Arcadia Systems. There are technically more than six games, as different versions of each were included, bringing the total to 13. 

Starting with 1992’s X-Men: The Arcade Game, an arcade beat-’em-up based on the 1989 pilot, X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, which came before the highly successful animated series. It allowed up to 6 players, which was a big deal at the time, when most beat-’em-up games had a maximum of 4 players. The original arcade cabinet was unique for having two screens inside to create a widescreen view that featured all six characters, enemies, and the chaotic action on screen. There were also 2-player and 4-player versions for smaller cabinets, and all six versions are included, along with the American, European, and Japanese versions, each with some differences. 

The 6-player version is, of course, the best if you have five friends to play with locally or online. The playable characters are Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler and Dazzler. They feel mostly the same to play as, but each has their own unique abilities. The plot is about rescuing Professor X and Kitty Pryde, who were kidnapped by Magneto, but to reach him, they must battle through various locations and take on familiar enemies and supervillains before the final showdown with the Master of Magnetism. It was a highly sought-after and must-play game at any arcade that had it, which was ported to console and mobile devices in 2010 before being delisted, and now it’s available again to keep forever. Fans will be happy to know that Magneto’s awkward but iconic voice line, “X-Men, welcome to die!” is kept in. 

1991’s Captain America and The Avengers featured Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Vision as playable characters, who must take down an army of supervillains and other henchmen recruited by the Red Skull in a plot to take over the world. It was a simple and fun arcade beat-’em-up that also featured flying and shooting sequences, adding variety to the gameplay. The original arcade version is easily the best, but the SEGA Mega Drive port holds up quite well as well. There were also ports for SNES, Game Boy and Game Gear that weren’t included in this collection, which, even though they weren’t great, would still have been fun to try out.

The NES version, despite having the same title and being placed in the same category in this collection, is a completely different game: a side-scrolling platformer rather than a beat-’em-up. Only Captain America and Hawkeye are playable in this version, and their mission is to rescue Iron Man and Vision from the Mandarin, then take down the Red Skull. It was a fun game back in the 8-bit era that still holds up well today, especially for retro gamers, and, along with its arcade beat-’em-up counterpart, is now available on modern consoles. 

1994’s Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage was a single-player beat-’em-up based on the comic book story arc titled Maximum Carnage. Both the SNES and Mega Drive versions are included, with the former being the better choice for picture, sound, and performance quality. It received mixed reception for its punishing gameplay and lack of difficulty settings, but was still highly regarded by diehard Spider-Man fans. 

The game starts off with Spider-Man, and Venom becomes available later to take on common thugs, various arch-nemeses, and, of course, Carnage himself. The game was also well known for its banging soundtrack, which is still as catchy as ever today, written and produced by American rock band Green Jellÿ. An uncredited version of Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules” was included, and surprisingly, it wasn’t removed from this collection and somehow hasn’t gotten anyone in trouble, so it’s great to hear that song again during boss battles.

A year later, the sequel, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, was released, and although it was titled after the comic series Venom: Separation Anxiety, the story is more closely based on the events of Venom: Lethal Protector. The gameplay is inferior to its predecessor, feeling more repetitive than before, and lacks climbing segments despite both characters being able to climb walls. The music is ok, but it’s a massive downgrade compared to what we got in the previous game. Being able to play this beat-’em-up with a friend makes up for its faults, which the previous game was criticised for being single-player only. The SNES and Mega Drive versions are included, with the former again being the better of the two. 

1992’s Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge was a side-scrolling platformer released on SNES, Mega Drive, Game Gear and Game Boy, and each version is included in this collection. The story is about Spider-Man rescuing Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and Gambit of the X-Men from the supervillain, Arcade, and teaming up to take him down. Each of the five characters had two missions to complete before the final mission against Arcade. The SNES version is the best, the Mega Drive is a close second, and the Game Boy and Game Gear versions were as good as they could be. The game has some fun moments, but overall, it was lacklustre, no matter which version. The music was catchy, however, and Spider-Man and X-Men fans appreciated seeing familiar heroes and villains from both franchises.

The 1990’s Silver Surfer was a shoot-’em-up that blended side-scrolling and vertical scrolling gameplay across different levels and was released exclusively for the NES. The story is about the cosmic hero being tasked by his master, Galactus, to recover pieces of a Cosmic Device from various villains to stop an interdimensional threat from the Magik Domain. The game was notorious for its brutally hard gameplay, where touching almost anything led to death, and even though players had a set number of lives before seeing the Game Over screen, they burned through them quickly. It was described as a Bullet Hell, a common term for games where the only way to beat them was to memorise the patterns, something only hardcore gamers could do. Despite its unfair difficulty, it was still a good-looking game with a catchy 8-bit soundtrack. 

Every game featured and all their versions play just as good (or as bad) as they did back in the day. To make all the games easier, especially the rage-quit-worthy ones, Marvel MaXimum Collection has provided optional cheats. Depending on the selected game, players can enable infinite lives or infinite health, so players can finally beat any of the games, even Silver Surfer. 

Online play has been added to X-Men: The Arcade Game with crossplay, allowing players to link up across all relevant platforms. It also has Rollback Netcode, but in my personal experience, the online sessions I’ve had haven’t been as smooth as they should be. The gameplay occasionally stutters, sometimes more frequently. It’s manageable for the most part, and playing with others is tons of fun. Most of the games in this collection are multiplayer, and sadly, online play hasn’t been included, which is a missed opportunity. Hopefully, in a future update, we can get smoother online play and have it added for the other games. 

On top of the games, Marvel MaXimum Collection features tons of extra content to enjoy. In Archives, instruction manuals, box arts, advertisements and some official artwork can be seen in their original form, though they all hide anything representing Nintendo, which makes sense since they’re still a competitor in the console market, and SEGA, which is odd because they’re no longer in the console business. Design documents for Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage can also be viewed in 14-page form, offering some insight into the game’s development. The Music Player includes every song from every game, along with all their versions, so you can enjoy them on your own. The title, main menu, and game select screens feature highly detailed original art by Oliver Barrett, representing each game, and Marvel fans would love to have them as posters on their walls. 

There are many other Marvel games we hope to see ported to modern consoles, but the six classic games we have now, whether good or bad, make this collection a worthy purchase and at a great price, ranging between $30 and $40 AUD digitally. Playing these games again will bring back childhood memories for longtime fans and allow newcomers to experience a bit of nostalgia. Marvel MaXimum Collection is the opportunity for True Believers to own some pieces of Marvel gaming history. In the words of the late great Stan Lee, “Excelsior”!