Remastered collections of older video games have become more prevalent in recent years as greater importance is placed on the need to preserve the medium’s history. As someone who has been gaming for more than 30 years with a soft spot for where my own journey started, I appreciate such efforts. I especially appreciate it when said collections provide me a chance to play games I missed out on the first time around while remaining as close to the original versions as possible. The Marvel Maximum Collection is one such collection that achieves that in every way.
The Maximum Collection Revives Some Of Marvel’s Best Pre-MCU Era Video Games
Believe it or not, Marvel was a thing before the MCU, and even before Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies. There were other films, hit TV shows, and yes, even video games. Quite a few of them, in fact, and the Marvel Maximum Collection takes six of the best and bundles them together so that they can be played on modern platforms.
As big a Marvel fan as I am today, I didn’t pay much attention before the MCU got its hooks in me. That’s a real shame as, much like X-Men ‘97, this collection of classic Marvel games has shown me that I would have loved everything Marvel had to offer back in the day.
My personality is admittedly dominated by Marvel these days. I even have the Infinity Stones tattooed on my calf. Not something I’d typically broadcast to the world, but figure anyone reading this is the type of person who might appreciate that.
The beat ‘em ups included in this collection would have eaten up tens of hours of my childhood had I learned of their existence back then, as well as a ton of my pocket money in the arcades. Every version of each game is included in the collection as well. Revisit the Super Nintendo release of Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage, and then play through the Sega Genesis version to see how they compare. That’s part of the fun here.
I say ‘play through’, but most of these games are notoriously difficult. Especially Maximum Carnage, which has a reputation for being one of the hardest video games of its era. As much as I’d have loved these games as a kid, I probably wouldn’t have gotten very far.
Shout out to Abe’s Oddysee. I’ll come back and escape from that stockyard one day.
I Couldn’t Have Beaten Maximum Carnage Without A Rewind Feature
Decades later, I am now a proud member of an elite group of gamers who have beaten Maximum Carnage, and I did so in one sitting. I did the same for Silver Surfer and X-Men: The Arcade Game, too. Impressed?
Okay, fine. The only reason I beat them is because the collection adds a ton of quality-of-life features that helped get me through. There’s a rewind feature – an industry standard for old video game collections – and even cheats that can be applied for some of the games. If there’s a game in there that you never saw the end of, and all these years later you’re dying to see it, now you can. Just toggle on the infinite lives option and blast your way through like a true superhero. There’s also an ‘Insert Coin’ button for the arcade games. Tapping away on it and watching your credits go up in modern console ports of arcade games never gets old.
The Maximum Collection’s QoL features also let you fiddle with how certain games look, which is likely more important for those of you who are after a truly authentic experience. You can adjust the resolution and play the games in 16:9, or go for 4:3 and fill the gaps on each side with cool artwork. There is also a CRT filter to really make it feel like you’re playing these games in 1994 rather than 2026.
I Hope There Are Plans To Add More Games
I only have one major criticism of this collection, and that concerns the limited number of games present. Only six, and even though there are multiple versions, that’s still pretty limited.
I appreciate that the rights to some games released during that era are likely tied up in so much red tape that it’s almost impossible to figure out who you’d even need to ask for permission to revive them, but it would be great to see this collection added to by way of DLC in the future. If Limited Run is taking requests, there are some Punisher and Wolverine games I’d love to get acquainted with.
A small roster of games aside, the Marvel Maximum Collection is everything someone who wants to play these games in 2026 could want. Classic Marvel titles from three decades ago dusted off so they can join the growing list of old games being rescued from the past and made playable today. Throw in all the quality of life features that let you either play these games as they were intended, or with mod cons so that you can actually finish them, and this collection is a fantastic celebration.
- Released
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March 27, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco
- Developer(s)
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Limited Run Games
- Publisher(s)
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Limited Run Games
- QoL features let you play the games the way you want to play them.
- Every version of each of the collection?s games is included.
- Rescues some of Marvel?s best early games from the past.
- Game selection is somewhat limited.
- The rewind feature is very fast and doesn’t go back all that far.
