Gaming collections of vintage classics are a funny breed in 2026.

On the one hand, there’s often those one or two games you have strong, fond memories of that you want to get back to because it’s been years and you loved them once upon a time and you’re desperate to rekindle some of that nostalgia and remind yourself of why you cared.

Also, for the sake of maintaining classics that could be lost to time, these collections do the lord’s work by making sure they still have a rightful home on a modern platform and will be sticking around for at least another decade.

But then sometimes, games do creep through and you ask yourself … why are we reintroducing this back into the world when there’s a hundred other alternative games not getting the same treatment that should be.

The MARVEL MaXimum Collection falls somewhere in the middle of that, quite honestly. It’s no secret that the draw of this one is the absolutely brilliant X-Men Arcade. Though for me it was also Maximum Carnage, but the X-Men Arcade is certainly the game that will get all the headlines.

To be fair, rightfully so. This one broke ground at the time by letting you fight as six characters simultaneously. Other similar fighters were mostly stuck with four due to resource and brand, so to see that come back is pretty damn extraordinary.

Not just that, but now you can also try that out in full online or locally, which makes it even easier for you to get that full group together and really test its limits.

And to be fair, this is a great game. Like, actually a lot better than people may remember. Sure, the lines and the narrative are paper-thin. Some of the word choices are just outright bizarre – and hilarious – but the moment to moment action, the visuals, the arcade-like sound effects and the crystal clear audio that comes through, as well as how seamless everything is just make this so irresistable and infinitely more enjoyable.

There’s a good range of bosses, each character feels and plays a little differently. The enemy variety could be better and you will get a bit sick of looking at sentinels after a while, but for the most part this just leads you down a memorable, enjoyable path.

Similarly is the case with Maximum Carnage, a game I absolutely played to death on my Mega Drive. Goodness me, this brought back memories I forgot I had, first with that tinny, grungy music, but then with the really well crafted art design.

This was essentially Marvel’s take on a side-scrolling beat-em-up and so it shares a lot of DNA with games I loved at the time, like Streets of Rage and Final Fight. But it does it in a way that feels authentically web-crawler as you’re swinging across the screen, climbing up walls and jumping down on your enemies.

You’re pulling off all sorts of wild acrobatics by flipping your enemies on their heads and putting them through the floor before they’ve even had a chance to catch their breath. Plus the fighting sections end up getting split up by some more frustrating sequences, like a laser that blasts you off the walls.

You’ll got the THWACKs and POPs as you throw punches, and then you’ll be treated to comic strip sequences that tell the story as Spider-Man fights through one brand of mobs after the other. The environment and enemy repetition does set in and things get maliciously hard as time goes on, so it’s a little bit of a product of the times, but it certainly remains one of the best parts of this collection.

The same for Seperation Anxiety, which is a direct followup but this time actually lets you play as Venom in co-op. Co-op being a new addition for this game, which immediately adds an exciting new dimension to it, and with the aim, this time, is that Spidey and Venom can work together with the aim of taking down Carnage once and for all.

Both games also have their SNES counterpart versions and are near enough identical save for some changes in the resolution and pixel count. And the principle is essentially the same ala Streets of Rage where you punch, kick, flail and climb your way through the comic book sessions. Personally, I jived with Seperation Anxiety a little more, purely because I enjoyed playing as Venom, but as the more complete experience – the original probably edges it out.

Unlike Silver Surfer which is definitely a choice to include. And not a good one. Talk about product of its time, this game is just downright hurtful and doesn’t let up for one single second. This is a game where a single touch is death and you can literally be in and out of a game in less than five seconds. It’s madness, but also the exact kind of game you’d be playing back in the 80s.

Without save states or cheat codes of some sort, this one is for the extremist gamer to complete for bragging rights. Or for that hit of nostalgia if you need a reminder of how far games have come.

Then you have the good/bad rendition of Captain America and the Avengers which was also an Arcade Game that you may never have seen – but is a fairly enjoyable romp. Even if some of it feels quite dated, specifically the perspective and the writing. Which definitely suffers from some translation issues.

But unlike the bigger budget – and definitely more visually appealing – X-Men Arcade, the Avengers Arcade Game is a more side-scrolling by nature – again, similar to Maximum Carnage – but the characters are a lot smaller, less defined and it’s played from a slightly off-centered angle.

It’s a pretty well put together arcade game, simple but there’s some nice alternative missions to dive into, including using the Avengers Jet to fight off a Sentinel that’s threatening to destroy the city. And you can also choose between different Avengers for slightly different playstyle.

There’s even a unique NES game which is a blast. It’s not even similar really as you play more like classic Metal Gear style platforming, playing as one Avenger a time and trying to unlock the rest. It’s pretty ahead of its time too, unlike Silver Surfer which feels deeply rooted in the past.

Finally, there’s another Spider-Man game as he crosses over with the X-Men. This is a good old LJN game which, might immediately give you some ideas of what it’s about, but it’s definitely one of the more interesting platformers in this collection.

Beat Spidey’s first level – which, in of itself, can be a bit of a headache as you rush around trying to deactivate minature alarms and sensors – and you can get to play as one of the X-Men in their own distinct stages. Each increasingly odd and weird.

Like Storm being stuck underwater and Cyclops being on minecart rides. Even Gambit being in this psuedo board game world where you fight chess pieces, floating boxing gloves and…being chased by a giant ball ala Indiana Jones. It’s weird.

Weird describes the game all told, frankly, but it’s a piece of Marvel history and it’s certainly one of the better platformers assocaited with the brand. At least, in its early days.

And this particular game has a whopping four versions – which is probably a little unnecessary – but it at least ensures these games are maintained and you can see a gradual evolution across all four.

As a collection, though, this one is a mixed bag. There’s definitely some good, some bad, and some just…ok, and it is also missing quite a chunk of other interesting Marvel titles of the era which would have been nice to include like Wolverine. And even other Spidey games like the Sinister Six.

But it’s great to have these games at all and be able to replay them, particularly X-Men. And this is a great bundle and package to preserve them all in.

Verdict

MARVEL MaXimum Collection is a really interesting selection of games that all offer something a little different. With a mix of genres, formats and even quality, this collection certainly shows off the best – and some of the worst – of Marvel in the early days, but throughout it remains a fantastic gateway to the past. And the respect and treatment of each of these games, presented in the quality of package that they have been, is the true reason to come and celebrate these titles. Even if you’ll only play some of them once and realise they weren’t really for you.

Pros

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MARVEL MaXimum Collection is out now on PC, PS, Switch, and Xbox,

Reviewed on PC

Code Kindly Provided by Limited Run for review purposes