Review Round-Up - February 2026

A theme from this month of reviews is that heroic teams come in all shapes and sizes 
as seen with some of our reviewed games for February 2026.

A shorter month means a shorter list of reviews for our February 2026 Review Round-Up. That said, however, we had some delightful titles reviewed on SuperPhillip Central last month, and we wasted no time getting to them!

Let's begin with the Tribute Games' Marvel Cosmic Invasion, which offered an immense amount of heroes, moves, and abilities to brawl and battle baddies in. It rose to the challenge with a B. Following that was a retro-style, room-based 2D platformer, Lovish, which also got itself a B.

Our lowest grade of the month, a D+, was for a GameCube golf game that played and looked similar to PlayStation's Hot Shots Golf franchise: Swingerz Golf--though the quality was decidedly different and diminished due to its sometimes unfair difficulty. 

We marched towards March with three final reviews: the colorful and charming co-op-only game POPUCOM (B), a late look at a retro Star Wars game remastered with Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (C), and finally, the Star Fox-like, Rogue-lite FUR Squadron Phoenix (B-). 

With the Ides of March ready to rock and roll, so too is SuperPhillip Central for our next month of gaming action. In the meantime, be sure to check out the SPC Review Archive for all past and present reviews on the site. 

Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Multi) - B

From the impressive amount of unique moves and abilities each playable character possesses, to how great the actual "beating 'em up" feels between attacks having a right amount of "punch" to them, to the superb art style and presentation, Marvel Cosmic Invasion delights. Whether you're a Marvel fan or no, this beat-em-up will have you coming back for more time and again.

Lovish (Multi) - B

Overall, though, Lovish is a delight. Its humor and satire of genre and game conventions are most entertaining, its references and guest appearances are delightful, and the game itself plays well and is structurally sound, even if the Devil Lord's castle isn't always--looking at YOU, crumbling floors and breakable walls! Lovish succeeded at getting its hooks into me, and through the now and then frustrations of one-hit deaths, repeated attempts of levels and bosses, and tricky platforming perils, I merrily pushed forth with a smile on my face. Well, in between utterances of curse words on failed attempts, of course. Those looking for a challenge will get one with Lovish, as well as an enjoyable game that doesn't take itself at all seriously either.

Swingerz Golf (GCN) - D+ 

...after bashing my brains against trying to learn to play and try to enjoy myself despite the game doing everything in its power to ruin that for me, it's certainly and decidedly not for me. It's just a shame that the developer never got a mulligan, as there are some neat and nifty ideas here, but they don't form anything worthwhile enough to suffer for.

POPUCOM (PC, NSW) - B 

For those with the means to play POPUCOM--i.e. another player available either locally or online--you're going to get a wonderful cooperative game to enjoy. The levels constantly amaze and delight with new ideas that are iterated on in smart ways, the boss encounters are generally great, and the cooperation required to get through both types of challenges makes for truly fun and rewarding times. That's not to say you and your partner won't get flustered or annoyed with each other or the game every now and then, but overall, the experience will be a strongly positive one.

Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (Multi) - C

...Jedi Power Battles is a guilty pleasure of mine. I know it's not a great game mechanically, but the pieces fit together for an enjoyable enough romp. I love tossing a thermal detonator for an oh-so-satisfying small, contained explosion to send a group of foes flying. I enjoy hearing Yoda giggle upon picking up a power-up. And I liked extending my lightsaber to double its size in ridiculous fashion with a power-up as well. Frustrations from glitches to game crashes (especially in Coruscant, the longest level in the game, unfortunately) hampered my fun at times, but overall, I felt my time with the game was worthwhile and didn't feel my nostalgia was ill-founded.

FUR Squadron Phoenix (PC, NSW) - B- 

With eight missions, three that take place in the real-world where experience is not gained, and five in VR where experience is gained, FUR Squadron Phoenix won't last ace pilots too terribly long. The pool of available upgrades is rather limited as well, which makes for a short-lived experience all-around even when attempting to max everything out. That all notwithstanding, I definitely enjoyed my time in the cockpit with FUR Squadron, and would recommend FUR Squadron Phoenix to potential players, given they realize their time in the skies, in space, and even under the sea, won't last too terribly long.

It was also indeed a month of indies, and I couldn't have been happier for that pleasure!

Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Multi) Review

Let's hit the ground running--or in the case of some of our superheroes in this next game, let's hit the sky flying--with our first review of February. Marvel Cosmic Invasion launched on pretty much every current platform under the stars this past December. Now, we're going to take on villain Annihilus ourselves and the game proper with this, the SuperPhillip Central review!

The Marvel Universe calls for help. Will you pick up and answer?

What do you when a cosmic entity known as Annihilus launches an Annihilation Wave throughout the universe? You call up some of Marvel's finest superheroes (and some lesser known ones, too) to tackle the problem. And thus, Marvel Cosmic Invasion's action commences, set across a multitude of stages spanning myriad familiar locales in Marvel lore, featuring dozens upon dozens of Marvel legends and characters, and all this with a stunning pixelated art style that is smooth, colorful, crisp, and gorgeous to gawk at. Combined with voiced dialogue and a Tee Lopes-composed soundtrack fitting for the Marvel universe on the sound side of the presentation spectrum, and you have a seriously impressive package with this beat-em-up. 

Marvel Cosmic Invasion features 15 playable characters to choose from. There are your tried and true roster selections like Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, and Black Panther, but there also some deeper cuts as well, such as Beta Ray Bill, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and Phyla-Vell. No two heroes play alike--which for a game with that previously talked about roster of 15 characters, that's no small feat. Between their different methods and means they move to their abilities in combat, it makes it so there's seldom any semblance of sameness between characters on the roster. 

The first level, the infested streets and alleyways of New York City give you ample time to get into the swing of things with the game's unique systems.

Let's take Captain America and Beta Ray Ben, for instance. Both characters can throw a projectile outwards--Captain America's shield and Beta Ray Ben's hammer. While Captain America's shield gets thrown and then returns to him immediately, Ben's mighty hammer can spin stationary in the air for a limited amount of time while taking out enemies in the process, as Ben bashes baddies up close and personal in the meantime. Then, there are characters with different defensive capabilities. Whereas Spider-Man does nimble flips to avoid attacks, Phyla-Vell can block and even counter attacks instead. 

As characters are used, they level up in skills, power, and abilities--up to level 10 for each character. You might not be able to parry and counter attacks as the aforementioned Phyla-Vell right away, but as she gains levels, that ability eventually becomes available. Interestingly though, it seemed that levels mostly came less from time dedicated to a hero and how many enemies were defeated, and more from getting hit combos. The bigger your highest hit combo amount is at the end of a level, the more experience characters appear to get, which seems a tad counterintuitive.

Iron Man is here to bash down bugs and make one-liners, and he's all out of one-liners to make!

At any rate, aside from heroes having their own experience levels, each hero also possesses a special of sorts, which can be used when their focus gauge is fully charged. This is especially excellent for clearing screens of enemies or otherwise crowd control. Wolverine launches a series of furious slashes with his Adamantium claws, Storm unleashes lightning strikes all around her, Iron Man grabs a high-powered cannon and fires a huge energy beam at foes across from him, and Cosmic Ghost Rider speeds across the screen on his motorcycle, taking out any enemy in his path. That's just naming a handful of superhero specials. 

There's little in a beat-em-up more satisfying than clearing a screen full of enemies with one attack.

There are also tag-team moves a la Marvel vs. Capcom, that summon your hero's teammate to initiate a quick attack before hopping back out of the action. These combo attacks and especially the special strikes available add even more offensive and defensive variety into the equation. And while characters do possess distinct differences in movement and combat capabilities, it's not too difficult to hop between any character and readily begin beating up and bashing baddies. It certainly doesn't take the levels of mastery of, say, a fighting game. 

Teamwork powers.. activate!

No, this is pure beat-em-up goodness in Marvel Cosmic Invasion. You select two heroes to start a given mission, and you can switch between the two on the fly at pretty much any time--though if one loses all their health, then you're limited to just the one. Fortunately, beat-em-up staples like food found on the ground can not only heal the current character selected, but also bring back your knocked out other character. 

Levels mostly play out in a linear fashion. Occasionally you'll stumble upon a split on the stage selection screen where you can choose one of two levels to tackle first before going after the other. Levels themselves in Marvel Cosmic Invasion offer plenty of unique locales such as Spider-Man's swinging grounds of New York City, Thor's home of Asgard, and also the parallel dimension that is the Negative Zone. Some of these require modest amounts of platforming (or simply flying over, if your hero has that ability) to progress, but the main name of the game is emptying screens of enemies by beating them up to advance. Levels do a decent enough job of maintaining different hazards and threats to avoid, from stampeding dinosaurs to foreground assaults by Galactus who towers over the stage in the background. 

Levels present enough interesting hazards and challenges to take on and persevere against.

Much like Tribute Games's previous brawler (and a game I absolutely adored), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, each of the game's 16 levels contains three challenges to optionally take on for rewards. These range from defeating enemies with a specific character's ability, avoiding taking damage from certain stage hazards, and beating bosses as a given character. There are also hidden collectibles--one transparent cube of sorts in each stage--to keep your eyes on the lookout for. These add to the replay value of the game--much needed as most beat-em-ups lack a large level of longevity.

Speaking of bosses, Marvel Cosmic Invasion will have our heroes battling a wide range of familiar foes within Marvel's gallery of baddies. From Spider-Man villain Beetle in the opening Manhattan stage, to the green pterodactyl Sauron in the Savage Land, these fights aren't too taxing, but they do present unique mechanics here and there. Such as the Wakanda level, where dealing damage to the boss can only be done once he's in a vulnerable state. This is performed by hitting an electric field while the boss is in its vicinity.

The first boss of the game is a bug-possessed Beetle. Crime didn't pay, huh, Abner?

Whereas the boss variety and their attack abilities are varied, the enemy variety is somewhat the opposite. You face a fair number of different foes throughout the game, but Marvel Cosmic Invasion quickly repeats them enough across its various stages that a feeling of familiarity and repetition comes to fruition. This isn't a major problem by any means, as they're usually fodder for your heroes' fists and superpowers anyway. 

Like any worthwhile modern beat-em-up, Marvel Cosmic Invasion features co-operative play locally as well as online. Up to four players using two characters apiece can set their sights on saving the universe together. No doubt co-op is a fabulous way of extending one's enjoyment of the game, but it also makes for an easier more enjoyable go of things, as well. For online, you can make public or private lobbies, invite friends, jump in and out at your leisure, and join sessions in progress, too. It all works well enough, overall--though some issues with punches seemingly hitting enemies late was present in one online run. Nothing that spoiled the experience, however, between the lobby. And even with a full lobby of four players, sometimes containing up to eight heroes on screen at once, and a multitude of enemies, the action never slowed down or was too difficult to follow either.

Play co-operatively with two players or turn up the carnage (in a good way) with up to four!

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is standard fare in the length department for a beat-em-up, taking about an hour-thirty to two hours to run through initially. Throwing in leveling up all characters to max level, finding all Cosmic Cubes, and especially completing each stages' challenges will beef up the runtime, however, considerably. What is a two-hour game can easily multiply to a ten-hour one. Not bad for a beat-em-up! That's not even considering the multiplayer mayhem available, offering plenty of fun to be found.

As someone who has less fandom for Marvel than he does the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I didn't always know or appreciate what characters, locales, or references Cosmic Invasion was throwing at me. That said, I can assure that those hooked to Marvel Comics, the movies, and the lore throughout will have lots to love about this game. If you're a fan of beat-em-ups, then that's even a bigger plus! From the impressive amount of unique moves and abilities each playable character possesses, to how great the actual "beating 'em up" feels between attacks having a right amount of "punch" to them, to the superb art style and presentation, Marvel Cosmic Invasion delights. Whether you're a Marvel fan or no, this beat-em-up will have you coming back for more time and again. So, what are you waiting for--the universe won't stop Annihilus itself! 

[SPC Says: B]