Marvel MaXimum Collection Game Review – It’s Clobberin’ Time!

It’s tough reviewing retro games in 2026, because there’s always the question: do these titles capture the same magic now that they did when you were a kid? In the case of Marvel MaXimum Collection, it’s a yes – for the most part at least.

Marvel MaXimum Collection contains X-Men: The Arcade Game, Captain America and the Avengers, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge, Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, and Silver Surfer. Those of us who grew up in the ’90s will recognize these Marvel games that were released for the arcade, Sega Genesis, Super NES, Game Gear, and NES. Limited Run Games doesn’t skimp on variety here, as this collection features the major iterations of these games.

Without question, the two standout titles here are the arcade versions of X-Men: The Arcade Game and Captain America and the Avengers. To this day, each of them holds up as a colorful and entertaining beat-’em-up, even though I gravitate toward Professor Xavier’s mutants since there’s more gameplay variety and the characters aren’t as sluggish as the Avengers. None of these games take too long to complete, especially since you have unlimited coins at the tap of a button, but the replayability is off the charts as you can come back time and time again as different characters – or as co-op.

On the console side, I still have nightmares about playing Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge in the ’90s. Is it that bad? No. But if you played X-Men or X-Men 2: Clone Wars, you might turn up your nose at this release, since the levels are frustrating and the game never makes full use of the characters’ extraordinary powers.

Another personal favorite included here is Maximum Carnage. The gameplay doesn’t have much depth as you walk around and beat the snot out of thugs named David and Steve, but it’s one of the first games that made some decent use of Spidey and Venom’s abilities, as well as the ability to call on a roster of Marvel characters for assistance. Also, the Green Jellÿ soundtrack slaps like nobody’s business. I should add here that this collection also boasts a section where you can play the various soundtracks, read the booklets, admire the box art, check out the ads, and access some design documents. For a nerd like me, who pored over stuff like this in the pages of GamePro, this is a walk down memory lane that I wholeheartedly welcome.

In terms of the weakest games, it’s obviously Separation Anxiety and Silver Surfer. The former is just a poorly regurgitated version of Maximum Carnage without any of the charm – or banging soundtrack – while the latter is a reminder of how NES games could make anyone rage-quit with the annoying concept of one-hit deaths. I still don’t know how I die in this game. The only saving grace is that by playing the Marvel MaXimum Collection on PlayStation 5, I’m able to save or rewind the games. Something I couldn’t do back in the day.

While Marvel MaXimum Collection might not feature some of the ’90s Marvel games that fans may have wanted, this remains a decent collection and an insight into what the genre looked like during the decade. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, and it’s even better with friends. So, invite everybody over and get clobberin’ those buttons!