For years, fighting game fans have been waiting for an arcade fighter such as Marvel vs Capcom. In the ‘90s, it was known for its screen-filling special effects as a variety of X-men and Marvel characters beat each other up. It was fun to both play and watch, as you crowded around the arcade machine.
For the longest time it seemed to be a pipe dream and the first reveal of Marvel Tōkon seemed too good to be true. Arc System Works not only brought in signature spectator spectacle aspects, but also made it a surprisingly accessible, technically proficient and challenging tag-based fighter that packs an enormous punch. Enough to punch up and beyond the already crowded market for fighting games.
The story is quite Mortal Kombat-esque, with that signature premise of fighters chosen to balance the fate of the universe. A mysterious entity known as The Champion moves world to world, seeking challengers to defend their planet from annihilation. With Earth as its next target, challengers have been chosen in the form of the Avengers, X-men, Guardians and even a team-up of our favourite villains under the banner of The Knights of Doom, led by Dr. Doom with Magneto, Green Goblin and others.
There is also a rogue team, featuring everyone’s favourites, Deadpool and Loki. With these teams assembled, they take on The Champion.
This is told in a cool sequence of comic panels, which are closer in aesthetic to manga given Tōkon’s deep Japanese influence that Arc System Works has brought to the table. The story itself was thoroughly enjoyable, mixing in a healthy amount of science mumbo-jumbo, infused with the combined powers of our heroes.
This results in quite a Marvel fan outing, providing an adequate excuse to team up and pummel the other team. Think of the story mode as your warm-up to find your favourite team-ups so you can take the fight online or on the couch with all your friends watching.
If you have seen Avengers, there are several points where the team works together. One is Thor and Hulk bringing down a leviathan together — the point where the crowd goes wild in theatres. That is the effect Tōkon tries to bring to this genre and succeeds.
Tōkon takes the usual one-on-one fighting game format, but adds in a four vs four tag mechanism. During the fight, you have a dedicated button to call in your other teammates for a co-move that you can execute together. As a result, some organic super moves positively fill the screen, and the best part is, the system is so fluid that it works all the time.
You not only have tag moves, but you can also call in your other teammates in the middle of the fight. While the game is easy to get into, to master the game, is to master your team selection. For instance, the slot characters are placed in matters because your directional inputs will call either a shooter like Iron Man with his Unibeam or a more vertical character like Spider-man to even out your opponents.
Your tag too, affects how you chain attack, allowing you to switch characters while you are performing a special attack onscreen, to ensure you are not left open. These push you to develop several strategies for your tags, to use chains, feints or saving that main character to bring out for certain situations.
All your favourites are here with some fan picks in a stacked roster, with more heroes coming in on DLCs. Every character has their own distinctive, expressive move sets, but Deadpool easily stands out with his kit, with fourth wall-breaking idle animations where he asks you to stop looking at your phone and other moves inspired by pop-culture homages.
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
Publisher: Arc System Works
Developer: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Price: ₹3,999 on Playstation 5, PC, Xbox
It is clear a lot of thought has gone into making each character feel like they belong, and not just tacked on. Even the special moves have a distinct character synergy that spikes oxytocin and blasts your retinas with ridiculous set-piece destroying moves, that will send you screaming in glee.
Graphically, the game looks incredible, and while it can get chaotic on screen, with earth-shattering special moves, there are certain clever anchors. First off all, the stages look alive, and being a battle of superheroes, you can smash each other through to other parts of the stage — this keeps things fresh.
Special moves are colour coded, and you can make out where each attack originates. Where things need a bit of time to adjust to are the flashing prompts that show up mid-chain to switch characters. Tōkon is best played with an audience, because when you pull off those massive “team up” special moves, it is definitely a crowd pleaser.
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is not only one of the best fighting games this year, it is quite high up on my list of what a great tag fighting game should be. If you are into fighting games and are a big fan of Marvel’s band of heroes, it does not get any better than this. Whether you are a beginner or a fighting games veteran, this game is easy to get into, but with a lot of headroom to master.
Published – August 19, 2026 10:48 am IST
