Game review: Marvel MaXimum Collection (Xbox Series X)

Not many people know this about me, but my Dad used to own a bookstore in the '90s and '00s, and one of the best things about the shop was his collection of old-school comic books. I have fond memories of browsing his old store and reading the classic Spider-Man comics from the '90s. 

The only reason I'm bringing this up is that those Spider-Man comics used to advertise Spider-Man video games for the SNES and Mega Drive. The games that predominantly appeared in those advertisements were Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage and Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety. 

Sadly, I was never able to afford either a Super Nintendo or a Sega Mega Drive, so I never got a chance to play those games. Well, 30 years later, my dream has come true because both games have been re-released for modern platforms in the new Marvel MaXimum Collection!

The Marvel MaXimum Collection pretty much includes tons of 2D beat-em-up games from the '90s that feature many of your favourite Marvel characters. The six games included in this awesome collection are Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, X-Men: The Arcade Game, Captain America and The Avengers, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge, and Silver Surfer. 

Despite being a huge Spider-Man fan, the first game I actually wanted to play was the NES version of Silver Surfer. This is because 'The Angry Video Game Nerd' reviewed this game years ago on YouTube, and the game looked super difficult.

I played Silver Surfer, and it's as hard as it looks. Silver Surfer flies on his surfboard while shooting projectiles at his enemies. The hard part is avoiding all of the enemy's firepower because one hit means you have to start the level all over again!

Thankfully, the Marvel MaXimum Collection adds some newer features to make these games slightly easier than before. You are free to save the game at any time, plus there's a rewind option. If it weren't for the rewind option, I would not have finished Silver Surfer at all!

Some of the other games include even more aids for newbies, such as infinite lives or infinite continues. 2D games in the '90s were notoriously hard, so it's great to see some accessibility features have been added to help any gamers struggling to complete these games. 

Speaking of new features, you can also change the screen size to its native resolution, 4:3, or stretch the image out to 16:9. You can also add a CRT visual filter for pure nostalgia purposes. For me, though, I opted to play the whole collection in its native resolution because stretching the game to a widescreen presentation made the games look too pixelated for my liking. 

As for Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage and Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, these games look awesome for something that was made back in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Spider-Man and Venom are playable, with Carnage being the main villain in both games. 

I will say Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage is the better game because it has bigger sprites and cooler comic book-like cutscenes. Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety doesn't have cool cutscenes, and the character sprites are much smaller, too. 

Not to mention, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety felt more repetitive because the same enemy types kept popping up in each of the levels. However, I will say the boss fights in Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety are better because the bosses in Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage have larger health bars. 

The game in the collection that has the most different versions is Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge. You can play this game on the Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, Game Gear, and even the original Game Boy. Venom isn't playable in this game, but you can play as several members of the X-Men. 

Captain America and The Avengers is one of the best games in this collection. This game allows you to play as Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, and Hawkeye. Red Skull is the main bad guy, and the game isn't as repetitive as Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety. 

The last game in the collection is Konami's classic X-Men: The Arcade Game. It's the only game in the entire collection that features online co-op as an option. Co-op is the best option because the game has six playable characters. The game includes Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler. 

Visually, X-Men: The Arcade Game has the best graphics and audio design. However, I was disappointed that you cannot use each character's mutant power very often in this game. This is due to the fact that your mutant power uses up your health bar, which I think is one of the most annoying game mechanics of the early '90s!

Once you have finished playing all of the games in this collection, you can head on over to the main menu to listen to the music player. Alternatively, you can visit the archives to view the box art, manuals, advertisements, and other artwork from these six classic video games. 

While the gameplay can be repetitive in some games, I still enjoyed playing the Marvel MaXimum Collection. It's a great collection to own if you missed out on playing these games back in the early '90s. 

Verdict: 8.0/10