MARVEL MaXimum Collection Review: A Marvelous Flashback to the 1990s

3 hours ago 3

Published Mar 31, 2026, 5:34 PM EDT

Maddie Fisher is a writer, journalist and game developer. She was born and raised on the east coast, having started working in games journalism over fifteen years ago. She tends to enjoy musical theater, hockey and tennis.

It was hard to find a bigger fan of comic books than me back in the 1990s, as I was gifted the love of superheroes by my father. Like so many kids of the era, I gravitated to the bright colors and stories of heroism that were set within the confines of a sci-fi soap opera of sorts. To that end, video games based on comic books became a key part of my fandom back then, and nobody was doing it quite like Marvel back in the day.

Marvel's video game dominance in the '80s and '90s was really something to behold, and if you have a catalog of games from a bygone era, chances are high these days that a compilation title is in your future. Enter the newest contender, which is known as MARVEL MaXimum Collection.

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Bringing together some of the company's most outstanding 8 and 16-bit generation games, MARVEL MaXimum Collection feels like a shot of nostalgia that hits a very particular part of my soul. These games were crucial to forming a part of my childhood and adolescence, as well as being some of the most expressive, genuine examinations of Marvel's fascinating evolution in the 1990s.

The Marvel Way

MARVEL MaXimum Collection compiles six games from this truly outstanding era of comic book gaming. In all, you get X-Men: The Arcade Game, Captain America and The Avengers, Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge, and Silver Surfer. If you played any of these games as a kid, seeing them brought back on modern hardware is an absolute treat.

The memories that I created playing Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety with my father are seared into my skull. All these games are absolute gems, and getting the chance to play them once again has been wonderful. Each game is also lovingly taken care of, as they include multiple versions of each game, along with cheats and basic rewind features. If you're a hardcore enthusiast, that may sound blasphemous, but having the option is always good.

It's also nice to get a decent port of the timeless X-Men: The Arcade game for modern hardware. It hasn't been available on home platforms since 2013, when it was de-listed from the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN. It continues to be one of the best arcade beat 'em ups of all time, and replaying it in this collection showcases just how fantastic it really is.

There's also a few I never got the chance to play as a kid, including the Silver Surfer game. It's less of a beat 'em up than the others, playing more like a side-scrolling shooter akin to something like Gradius. It's probably the weakest game in the collection, but still worth checking out. It does have some nice music and sprite work, as well.

All these games are absolute gems, and getting the chance to play them once again has been wonderful.

So much of each game's visual language feels memorable. You can almost feel exactly where you were when you played these games, and experience the same emotional hook from back in the day. Conversely, if you haven't played them, and you consider yourself a Marvel fan, there's just so much here to enjoy.

In total, the games feel like a microcosm of a very particular era for Marvel. There was no MCU, no grand empire of film and television. It was just a bunch of weird comic books and a few offshoot movies. The characters spoke for themselves, and the aesthetic of each game feels like the 1990s in a time capsule.

My only caveat is that, while I do think the game selection is outstanding, I would have loved to see some more niche games like Spider-Man: Web of Fire and The Incredible Hulk. It's not that big of a deal, and there's always room for more collections down the line, but it would have been cool to see something that isn't as well known.

Pump Up the Volume

In addition to the main attraction of the games, MARVEL MaXimum Collection also features numerous extras and goodies. The games are the star of the show, and it's wonderful that each one also has multiple versions, but MMC is also packed with a ton of bonus content.

My favorite has been the music player, which allows you to listen to the complete soundtrack from each game. This era of video game music was so fun and experimental, as well as being technically impressive when you consider what composers and designers were doing with the still fairly limited sound chips inside consoles.

Not only is the music present and accounted for, you can also change which version of the soundtrack you're listening to at any time. I always appreciate it when a compilation title lets me see the games at all angles, and MMC certainly does just that.

MARVEL MaXimum Collection doesn't stop there, as it also offers up artwork, design documents, and box art. The scans are incredibly high quality, and if you grew up with these characters and this time period, it's a lovely bit of nostalgia to look through these. Game preservation is important, but I think game design preservation is equally important.

The games are the star of the show, and it's wonderful that each one also has multiple versions, but MMC is also packed with a ton of bonus content.

A lot goes into making a video game, and when developers have their work remembered, that's always a good thing. Compilation titles are always a great place to do that, as you can use these types of experiences to really showcase what made these games special. MARVEL MaXimum Collection is committed to that. You can really sense how much the team here really respects and appreciates the work of the developers who made these games.

Mutants, Mayhem, and Co-Op

The games in MARVEL MaXimum Collection all run at a brisk pace. There are little to no frame drops of any kind, and each game is remarkably smooth. I experienced zero issues when it came to performance, and while that may seem like a low bar for 2D side-scrollers in 2026, we've all seen the disastrous state that some retro game collections have shipped in.

Swapping between games and menus is rather snappy as well. The UI and menu design is quite good, with flashy, bright colors and quick, responsive transitions. I always appreciate when these compilation titles handle this well, and it's nice to see MMC follow suit.

MMC also has some cool frames and wallpaper, so just in case you don't like the pitch black background, you can mitigate that. It's also worth noting that the MARVEL MaXimum Collection is a rare instance where a CRT filter actually looks pretty good, and while I had it turned off for most of my experience, having one that looks nice is a pretty decent surprise.

While each game in MARVEL MaXimum Collection can be played solo, X-Men: The Arcade Game is also playable online. This sounds incredible except for the fact that online is seemingly busted, with little to no activity to speak of. It's a shame, as it would have been fantastic to team up with people online and slash some Sentinels.

MARVEL MaXimum Collection brings together some heavy hitters from the 1990s in terms of comic book video games. Featuring six titles across thirteen total versions, this superheroic collection is a wave of nostalgia that is well worth the price of admission if you've ever been a fan of Marvel Comics. The games are a blast, and it also features some excellent bonus content. Online appears to be rather dead, unfortunately, so keep that in mind before you jump in.

Released March 27, 2026

ESRB Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco

Pros & Cons

Six total games from the golden era of Marvel, including multiple versions of each one
Performance on each game is spectacular
CRT filter is actually decent
Lots of bonus content, including design documents and artwork, as well as a nifty music player