Review: Invincible Vs Sticks To The Basics
The 1v1 fighting game space is tricky to break into. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Tekken are the heavy hitters, but there are plenty of other games for players who just can't get enough. BlazBlue, SoulCalibur, Dragon Ball, Guilty Gear, and even Power Rangers are more than enough to keep players occupied. Is there room for another newcomer in the field?
With a story mode, online seasons, a roster of 18 characters, and voice talent from the show, does Invincible Vs do enough to win over fighting game enthusiasts, or is this one only for the die-hard fans of the hit Prime Video series?
Allow me to cut to the chase. At its core, Invincible Vs nails the basic fundamentals of the 2D 1v1 fighting game genre, while remaining accessible to players who just want to jump in and bust some skulls. The combo system is clever and rewarding, allowing for deep strategy that's easy to pick up for newcomers, a trait that's often lacking from this type of fighter.
Put simply, square on PS5 is a light attack, triangle is medium, and circle is heavy, with cross reserved for a special 'unique finishing blow' type of move. Combos aren't unique button combinations to be memorized, but more-or-less identical across characters. You start with square and then work your way up to medium, heavy, and special. The inputs are the same, but the results are specific to each character. You can also just mash the square button for an auto-combo that lets even the newest of newbies to do some damage and feel cool. Basically, if you learn the basics of one character, you can transition at least some of your ability to the rest of the roster, making it easier to experiment and find out who you like most. I'm a Rex Splode main, myself.
Invincible Vs is a three-on-three tag fighter, allowing players to choose a team of three characters to take into battle. Tap the L1 button to have them jump in for an attack, but hold it down to have them swap places with the active fighter. Once you get the hang of your combos, you can extend them to MLG lengths without having to go to a Fighting Game Academy. Of course, if you don't know the ins-and-outs of pokes, mixups, combo breakers, and all the other intricacies of the genre that are present here, you'll get wrecked once you hop online. I learned as much when I tried my hand at taking on Ranked Mode online. After winning the first two of my qualifying matches, I got demolished by a slightly higher level player. I still managed to squeeze in a handful of solid hits and even a full-length tag-switching combo, but it wasn't enough to avoid getting absolutely destroyed. At least my online connection felt strong and I didn't encounter any lag or choppiness, and my internet connection is only decent, not great.
For those who've never played this kind of fighter, there's a tutorial that goes over the basics. It's not overwhelmingly comprehensive, but it tells you what all of the buttons do and teaches some advanced techniques. Still, it's up to you to figure out how to string them all together to get maximum value from these tools. There's also a straightforward practice mode to help get you on your feet.
As a fighting game based on an established property, Invincible Vs is expected to have single player offerings for those who want to do more than just get their bells rung online. In that regard, alas, Invincible Vs is sadly lacking. Outside of training, there's arcade ladders and a story mode. The arcade ladders are typical, offering multiple difficulty modes and even a quick, five-match ladder for those who just want to see the character endings and check out the "Overkill" mechanic, Invincible Vs' version of Mortal Kombat's Brutalities, wherein using certain moves to deliver the killing blow ends up tipping the opponent to pieces. Unfortunately, said endings are pretty underwhelming, offering little more than a couple of photo mode-style images and about 30 seconds of narration. It's bog standard for the genre, and it can't help but feel underwhelming for such a lore-heavy story as Invincible.
On the other hand, the Story Mode is kind of a bummer. While the in-engine cutscenes are neat and do a great job of translating the visual style of the show, the story itself is, in a word, weak. A bunch of aliens kidnap the heroes and villains and give them mind control chips to make them fight endlessly in an attempt to harness their kinetic energy. My whole playthrough of the mode on normal difficulty took barely an hour and a half, and that was with multiple deaths and retries. At least there's some strong voice acting from the cast of the show, but even that has a huge caveat: they got some of the show's cast, but not all. They got J.K. Simmons as Omni-Man, but not Steven Yuen as Invincible himself. They got Gillian Jacobs as Atom Eve, but not Seth Rogen as Allen the Alien. They got Phil LaMarr as Lucen, but not Jason Mantzoukas as Rex Plode, and so forth.
While the Story Mode is a bust even for hardcore Invincible enthusiasts, it's still undeniably fun to see the various characters interact, even if not all of the cast reprise their roles. It's a shame, too, since in Arcade and Vs modes, the various characters have unique dialogue exchanges, which are nothing less than a hoot for lore-hounds. The unlockables for leveling up (both the player profile and individual fighters) are also nice, with illustrations as backgrounds and other player card goodies, which are nice if you're into that sort of thing, though the EXP curve gradually turns into a real grind as you start to level up.
If you're a fighting game enthusiast, you're going to find a lot to enjoy with Invincible Vs. It's the rare fighter that's accessible to newcomers while also appealing to genre veterans. Anyone can hop in and play without feeling lost or overwhelmed, but there's plenty of meat on these bones for players who want to really sink their teeth into getting the most out of all 18 characters on the playable roster (with more coming as DLC, natch). All told, Invincible Vs might fall short in some areas, but it nails the basics, and for a fighting game, there's nothing more important than that. Just be sure to ignore the outrageously overpriced DLC cosmetics. I mean, ten dollars for one skin for one character? I know that's how things are done these days, but... No thanks, babe!
GameDaily Score: 7/10
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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 6:50 PM.