MARVEL MaXimum Collection Review — The Retro Marvel Beat‑'Em‑Up Vault
A loving, sometimes messy anthology of 8‑,16‑bit and arcade Marvel classics with great extras — hampered at launch by flaky online and a few bugs.
I dove into MARVEL MaXimum Collection like someone raiding an attic full of comic back issues — excited, a little dusty, and hopeful for surprises. Limited Run Games assembled an impressive lineup: X‑Men Arcade, Maximum Carnage, Captain America and the Avengers, Silver Surfer and more, spanning arcade cabinets to handhelds. For fans of 90s beat‑'em‑ups and pixelated superhero glory, this is a dream on paper with modern conveniences like save states, a music player, and scanned manuals. Sadly, the dream is somewhat marred at launch by patchable but frustrating online and emulation bugs.
Co‑op Chaos and Quarter‑Crunching Classics
The heart of this collection is pure arcade nostalgia: you walk, punch, pick up health, and watch health bars evaporate in classic beat‑'em‑up rhythm. X‑Men: The Arcade Game plays like the cabinet remembered — six‑player mayhem, enemy waves and that satisfying crowd control feel — when it’s working. Spider‑Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety bring the 16‑bit side‑scrolling rock energy with distinct level routes and enemy patterns that still punish sloppy play. Captain America and The Avengers toggles between the cinematic arcade brawling and the quirky platforming of the 8‑bit variants, which is a neat historical contrast. Silver Surfer remains a reputation‑destroyer of an 8‑bit shooter, ruthless but rewarding once you learn its loops and rhythms. I spend most of my time toggling between games, because pacing and difficulty vary wildly — sometimes that variety is charming, sometimes it’s unfair.
The Vault: Extras That Actually Matter
This collection doesn’t just dump ROMs in a folder; the Archives are a proper treat with high‑res box art, manuals, and ads that feed the nostalgia meter. The music player is excellent — cue up chip tunes from different versions and feel instantly transported to Saturday mornings and dingy arcades. Rewind and save states are lifesavers, especially for Silver Surfer’s infamous walls of bullets and for grabbing optional items in the Genesis Maximum Carnage — though some users report version‑specific bugs that can block certain pickups. Online for X‑Men is advertised with rollback netcode and crossplay, which is a headline feature, but real‑world performance has been inconsistent at launch with lag, freezes and disconnects in larger lobbies. Local play is solid and feels faithful, but missing online modes for other multiplayer titles like Captain America is an odd omission that reduces long‑term co‑op value.
Pixels, Music and Performance Under the Hood
Visually you can choose clean pixels or CRT/scanline filters to get that authentic living‑room TV vibe, and the included new cover art looks lovely in the menus. Performance on Windows is generally smooth in single‑player, running up to 60FPS with crisp scaling up to 2K as promised in the blurb. Audio is a highlight — the soundtracks hold up and the music player is a genuine reason to hang around the menus. That said, I ran into input‑lag quirks in some sessions and online audio glitches were reported by multiple players, so your experience will vary by session and server load. Controller bindings are serviceable but the lack of robust rebinding and clearer in‑game manuals for move lists is a sore spot, especially for newcomers trying to learn shield throws or special inputs. Overall, as a playable archive the collection nails presentation and extras, but the online ambition needs steadying and a few quality‑of‑life patches.
MARVEL MaXimum Collection is a heartfelt archive with genuine fan service: great extras, authentic ports and a beautiful presentation. If you want to relive 90s Marvel arcades solo, it’s an easy recommendation; if your main goal is stable six‑player online brawls, hold off until netcode fixes and quality‑of‑life patches arrive. Keep an eye on updates — this can become essential vintage preservation with a few fixes.
Pros
- Excellent lineup of classic Marvel titles and versions
- Rich Archives and music player with scanned manuals and artwork
- Save states, rewind and visual filters make classics playable
- Local multiplayer feels authentic to the originals
Cons
- X‑Men online is unstable at launch — lag, freezes, disconnects
- Other multiplayer titles lack online support and controller rebinding is weak
- Some version‑specific bugs (e.g., web swing missing) and achievement glitches
Player Opinion
Players are split between joy and frustration. The majority praise the curated lineup, music player, and archival extras — people love seeing manuals and box art again and many enjoy the rewind/save quality‑of‑life features. However, a big recurring complaint is X‑Men’s online performance: multiple users report rollback netcode not behaving as advertised, with lag, freezes and disconnects especially in six‑player lobbies. Others lament the lack of online for Captain America and The Avengers, missing controller rebinding, and some game‑specific bugs like web‑swing limitations in the Genesis Maximum Carnage. Price perception is mixed: many feel $25 is fair for nostalgia and single‑player, while others call it pricey for a barebones package at launch. If you grew up on these games, expect warm nostalgia and a few headaches until patches land.