When the Marvel MaXimum Collection was first announced, I was ecstatic. A new collection containing not only X-Men arcade with online gameplay, but also several other Marvel titles we had thought would go without modern re-releases? Sign me up! When I got the chance to play Marvel MaXimum Collection though, my reaction was very different to what I had expected it to be.
Marvel MaXimum Collection contains not only X-Men Arcade. but also Captain America and The Avengers for the Arcade, MEGADRIVE / GENESIS and NES, Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage for the SNES and MEGADRIVE, and its sequel for the same systems Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge for the SNES, MEGADRIVE, GAMEBOY AND GAMEGEAR, and Silver Surfer for the NES. This is quite the lineup, but those aware of the games, know that some of these are better than others. Some have asked why the GENESIS / MEGADRIVE X-Men Games or SEGA’s Spider-Man Arcade game were not included, and I assume this is due to SEGA needing to be involved, but it does feel like a missed opportunity.
Let’s rip the bandaid off and talk about the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. Silver Surfer is absolute garbage in terms of gameplay. This is a shmup where you die so easily that the only enjoyment to be had is from the soundtrack, which is admittedly amazing. The game has become legendary for how bad it is, and while I noted in my review of Jaws: Retro Edition that I hoped to see Silver Surfer get similar treatment, I realize that there is no saving this game. Limited Run Games did include cheats to make things easier but infinite health just means all you hear is the dying sound effect and infinite lives become meaningless. The rewind option is pointless here, and I can only guess that this was included for the soundtrack to be used in the music player. Avoid at all costs.
Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge is a game I grew up playing on the SNES and even broke out my copy to get ready before the collection was released. That was helpful as it made me realize that the Marvel MaXimum Collection actually has some serious emulation issues, including significant input lag and some mechanics not working right. I cannot speak for the GENESIS / MEGADRIVE version, as I did not play that version much before, but the SNES version felt off. Yes this is a notorious game that many have issues with, but in this case, I feel the game is not properly emulated. I will also note that the filters for the GAMEBOY version are off, but I will talk more on that later. The Game Gear and GAME BOY versions were interesting inclusions, but more as curiosities than anything else as they are not very good.
Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage for the SNES and its inferior counterpart on the MEGADRIVE / GENESIS is here and yes I am calling the SEGA version inferior. Almost everything people cite as superior in the SEGA version, such as visuals and music, are far weaker than the SNES version. I will concede the SEGA version had a richer colour palette and was faster, but faster did not mean better in this case and the visuals felt less detailed. I have spent plenty of time with both and will hear no arguments on this matter. Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage is a beat ’em up based on the 14 issue storyline that ran across various Spider-Man titles and is a great adaptation to be honest. Its comic book panel cutscenes tell the story perfectly even though there are some changes and it had amazing music, although some bordered on copyright infringement ( those familiar with the DIO era of Black Sabbath know what I mean).
But here again the Marvel MaXimum Collection has issues, as I noticed a lot of lag in Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage and some mechanics did not work correctly, preventing me from getting certain items. This was the case both on Switch and Steam where I played, and while I was able to play the game, I could not fully enjoy it due to these issues. It is still a good beat ’em up, but I am hoping this will be patched soon.
Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety was the sequel, and one I have actually only played the SEGA version of before. Unlike Maximum Carnage, we have a two player mode this time, whereas the prior game saw you play certain sections as Spider-Man or Venom. It was certainly a nice addition but the combat does not feel as satisfying and the great cutscenes are gone. This is actually an issue because Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety never makes clear who the new symbiotes are, so those unfamiliar with the comics will not have a great time. Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety feels like a massive step back from Maximum Carnage, and again I noticed some lag and input delay.
Captain America and The Avengers was Data East’s entry into Marvel brawlers and the arcade version made interesting decisions in how to depict the characters, which may seem off-putting to some, but was a smart move as it actually allowed for a lot more action on screen at the time. All the characters play the same and the roster is a bit unusual, but for the time it was rather comic book accurate. Data East made great use of the villains and setting to create a wide variety in terms of gameplay and I have to say that the more play, the more I am impressed. The SEGA version is included, which does a rather respectable job of being a home port and it is for the best that the SNES version was left out due to how notorious it was. The interesting addition here is the NES version which is actually a whole new game. This time it is a platformer starring Captain America and Hawkeye and turned out to be a very well made NES side-scroller. Not perfect by any means, but still enjoyable. I did not notice any emulation issues here, so that was a plus.
The crown jewel of the collection is of course X-Men arcade, which is playable with different screen configurations to accommodate different players, though you can use any that you like even in single player. This was based off of the Pryde of the X-Men pilot for an animated series prior to the well known adaptation ( the one with Australian Wolverine before Hugh Jackman), and the roster is taken from that pilot. Konami did an amazing job making use of the license, and the visuals were nothing short of spectacular and the voice acting was fun even with the nonsensical dialogue ( X-MEN WELCOME TO DIE). I want to say more good things, but Marvel MaXimum Collection rears its head again.
Despite promising rollback netcode, the online for X-Men in Marvel MaXimum Collection is atrocious, and I had so many dropped sessions that it became frustrating. I will also note that X-men is the only game with online play even though Captain America and The Avengers was multiplayer as was Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety. I also noted input lag and other emulation issues pop up from time to time in both online and single-player mode in X-Men arcade and I ended up just feeling disappointed.
I wanted to like Marvel MaXimum Collection but everything fell short of the promise. One thing I noticed was that while each game has borders, they are off by default and you need to set them for each one. The CRT filters are also rather poor in this collection, and the Game Boy filters for Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge are lacklustre as Marvel MaXimum Collection seemed to promise a black and white option but only left us with a pea green filter.
More egregious is that the options to save and load in each game do not always work. I saved a few times in Maximum Carnage and Arcade’s Revenge, only to come back and see that I was loading an earlier save instead of where I had just saved. The rewind option did work as was intended, but that is about it. There is a museum mode and music player in Marvel MaXimum Collection and to be honest, the music player is the only way to enjoy Silver Surfer as I said above.
I wanted so much for Marvel MaXimum Collection to be great, but Limited Run Games did not stick the landing here. Hopefully these issues can be patched, but as of now, I would hold off on getting Marvel MaXimum Collection.