REVIEW – There is a comic book series from Image Comics, an animated adaptation on Amazon Prime, and now, based on that version, Quarter Up has turned the material into a fighting game. This source material can work very well in this genre, and the developers have pulled it off with surprising ease while also carrying over the tone of the animated adaptation properly.

This is not a straightforward fighting game, because the characters fight in 3v3 matchups. That alone already separates Invincible VS from something like Tekken 8, if we need to bring up a more recognizable franchise for comparison.

Strong Fundamentals, Thin Content

The game launched with 18 characters, and they come with a fairly varied set of moves. Some are mixed-style fighters, some are built for rushdown, some prefer to keep their distance, and some are wrestlers. Several characters require a proper learning curve, which may remind players of 2013’s Killer Instinct, and that is no accident, since a large part of Quarter Up previously worked on that game. The gameplay is clearly built around combos, as your partner can also be called in with L1 or L2 to perform an assist move, while holding the button lets them enter during a combo and continue it.

As a result, landing 50-hit combos can become fairly common, and the ceiling can go even higher than that. Using a combo breaker costs two bars, but that same resource also has to be managed for special moves, which can either extend combos or serve as combo starters. At least the counter tag can be used without a fixed limit, and here again the Killer Instinct influence is obvious: it requires precise timing when the opponent’s partner is entering the fight. Mortal Kombat is also easy to recognize, because the finishing moves clearly bring back the Fatality feel when special finishers are involved.

Heads and bodies explode, so there is no shortage of blood or violence. The stages come from the comic and the animated series, and they also break apart nicely during fights. Once we get past that, the sound design stands out as well, and in a good way. The punches and kicks have a suitably crunchy impact, while the soundtrack behind them also delivers a pleasant experience, so no part of the audio package feels forgettable or exhausting.

The problem is that several characters look far too similar to one another. In several cases, special moves and combos also feel like clones of each other. Modern players get one-button combos and easy special moves, while veterans can switch to the old-school classic control scheme, which is recommended, even if it does feel somewhat like an afterthought from the developers. Despite all this, the team also managed to include a story mode. It takes place around the third season of the series: Atom Eve, Invincible, and Bulletproof fight Omni-Man, and from there the game adaptation veers into a kind of alternate timeline. The idea itself is a good one.

When The Story Moves Into Its Own Territory

Invincible VS simply would not work as a 1v1 fighting game, and this becomes especially clear because of the story mode. In those moments, it becomes obvious how limited our options are when we cannot rely on the rest of the team, so if the opponent starts stringing combos together, we do not have many ways out. Beyond that, the story mode has good animations, although the voice cast feels somewhat incomplete. Not everyone from the series made the jump, but the presentation itself recreates the show’s elements very directly.

That works well enough, but then the story ends quickly, and the way it ends is simply ridiculous: a cliffhanger. Even if we are not playing particularly well, it can still be finished in about an hour and a half. Also, if the franchise is not familiar at all, the story mode is barely worth touching, because the game expects players to know the IP. Without knowing the allies, enemies, and storylines, the experience falls apart completely. It is like starting Friends from a completely random episode.

So we can try arcade mode instead, which again imitates Mortal Kombat: there are four ladders, quick, standard, guardian, and invincible, with 5, 7, 10, and 12 fights respectively, and the difficulty level can be adjusted in each of them. The endings are quite dull, as everyone gets roughly one clichéd line. There are no combo challenges, and beyond these modes, the game offers a tutorial, training, and online play. As we play with the characters, they level up in a battle pass-style structure, unlocking new colors, images, badges, and art items, while alternative costumes are very limited. Online matches include casual and ranked play, the usual two options, while lobbies offer private and public matches.

Only For Those Who Already Know The Franchise…?

The biggest problem with Invincible VS is that it does not open itself up to newcomers. Players who already know the franchise will appreciate its connection to the source material, but those who do not will struggle to become immersed in it. At launch, the game mostly pushes the audience toward online play, but overall, it feels minimalist in terms of content. Anyone looking for meaningful single-player material should look elsewhere.

-V-

Developer: Quarter Up
Publisher: Sunbound Games
Genre: Fighting
Release Date: April 30, 2026