Dotemu’s CEO wants to bring back classic games the right way

I grew up with arcade beat-em-ups like Konami’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time and X-Men. It was a genre I loved, so I was sad to see it diminish in relevance. Thankfully, beat-em-ups have had a revival, thanks in part to publishers like Dotemu and developers like Tribute Games.

The two teamed up for 2022’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, a worthy successor to Turtles in Time. Now, they’re working on Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Like Shredder’s Revenge, it’s a classic beat-em-up with beautiful pixel art. It features a cast of classic Marvel characters and lets players tag and swap between two heroes.

I had a chance to play Marvel Cosmic Invasion during the recent Summer Game Fest Play Days in Los Angeles. I enjoyed its emphasis on tag-team hero action and was happy to see each hero have a unique play-style ...