Introduction

If you frequent our site here at SunsetNerdVerse, you know we have a soft spot for Invincible. Not a perfect animated adaptation by any means, but Invincible still hits hard with incredible fights, mature animation sensibilities, and characters who are strangely relatable despite being superhuman. I never thought we’d see a fighting game built around the Invincible IP — but somehow, here we are. Invincible VS, developed by Quarter Up — some of whom are former developers of Killer Instinct — might seem like just another cash grab riding a well-known IP. But after playing the closed beta, I knew right away this was a solid fighting game with genuine love behind it. Well, folks, the full game is finally here, and we have just one question left to answer. Is Invincible VS worthy of the name it carries? We find out in our Invincible VS review for the PS5!

Gameplay

Invincible VS is a 3-vs-3 fighting game set within the Invincible universe. Players assemble teams from a roster of fan-favorite heroes and villains and battle it out either locally or online across a variety of game modes. The usual suspects are here — Story Mode, Arcade, and more — but as any seasoned fighting game veteran will tell you, what truly matters isn’t the modes available. What matters is how it plays — and Invincible VS plays quite well.

Formed from members of the team behind Killer Instinct, Quarter Up brings a clear understanding of how great fighting games work to Invincible VS. You have your light attacks, heavy attacks, and launchers, as well as auto combos — but the real depth comes from super attacks, ultimate moves, and a well-implemented tag system. The tag mechanics in particular are a highlight, offering the ability to have a tagged character bail you out of a combo stretch or extend your own into something devastating. A skilled player in Invincible VS can string together enormous combos that will drain an opponent’s HP before they have time to react. The mechanics do take some time to fully click — Invincible VS often feels like Killer Instinct mixed with Marvel vs. Capcom — but after a few hours I was moving from basic combos to full air launchers and sequences that genuinely made me feel like a cast member of the show.

The roster is another strong suit. At launch, Invincible VS features 18 characters from the series, and they all feel meaningfully distinct. You have your heavy brawlers like Mark (Invincible) and his father Nolan, but also faster, more technical fighters like Rex Splode and Bulletproof. Fighting game fans will find plenty of variety in team building — whether you prefer a squad built around quick combo strings or a lineup of hard-hitting grapplers like Monster Girl and Conquest.

Online, however, is a mixed experience — and honestly, I expected this coming out of the closed beta. The netcode isn’t perfect. Some matches run silky smooth, whether I’m the one landing the combo submissions or eating them — and then others feel like a slideshow. I’m hopeful that updates and quality-of-life patches will improve things over time, but it’s worth noting that games like Dragon Ball FighterZ took considerable time to get the online component right. The potential is clearly there — it just needs work.

Graphics

I’ll say this with complete sincerity — there are moments when Invincible VS looks better than the animated series. You might think I’ve lost it, but some of the cutscenes — particularly in the short story mode, more on that shortly — look absolutely incredible, feeling like comic book panels brought to vivid life. There are, of course, moments where the show clearly surpasses the game visually. But even accounting for that, Invincible VS looks stunning more often than not. The way characters take damage, the level of gore, and the variety of stage designs are all top tier. If Invincible VS finds its audience and sticks around, I’d love to see even more DLC — additional stages, character skins, and hopefully expanded story content.

Sound

Good news and bad news time. The good news: the sound design in Invincible VS is largely excellent — the fighting game soundtrack hits well throughout, and I particularly love the menu OST. The majority of the original voice cast from the animated series also returns to reprise their roles. The bad news: not everyone came back, and the results are a mixed bag.

Steven Yeun — known for The Walking Dead, The RIP, and Mickey 17 — does not reprise his role as Mark Grayson/Invincible in Invincible VS, with Aleks Le (Solo Leveling, Demon Slayer) stepping in as his replacement. And I won’t lie — Aleks is nearly a perfect stand-in. He matches Steven’s take on Mark closely enough that die-hard fans might not even notice at first listen. A similar situation applies to Powerplex, originally voiced by Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Dispatch), now played by Michael Schwalbe, who does a commendable job in the role. The exceptions are a handful of replacements that don’t quite land as well — the new voices for Conquest and Allen the Alien work, but they don’t carry the same weight as their show counterparts. Still, the fact that Quarter Up put in the effort to find quality replacements rather than phoning it in speaks to the care they brought to this project.

Story

As a fighting game enthusiast, I’ll be the first to admit that great stories in the genre are the exception rather than the rule. Even long-running franchises like Tekken, Street Fighter, and Dead or Alive have built notoriously convoluted narratives over the years. I don’t expect Invincible VS to become a long-running franchise in the grand scheme of things — but given that it’s built on a source material rich with story potential, I was left feeling a little mixed.

Invincible VS opts for a non-canon side story in the spirit of the smaller arcs from the comics or show — an unknown threat forces Mark and his allies and enemies to fight one another. Clocking in at just over an hour, the story is a fun little mini-arc that fans of the series will get a kick out of. It feels like Invincible, and that counts for something. But I wouldn’t point anyone to it for character insight or replay value. Arcade Mode also has short character-specific stories, but like most fighting games, the endings are presented as static stills with minimal information — nothing that meaningfully expands the lore. Invincible VS isn’t going to impress anyone with its story, but it’s there, and it’s okay.

Amazon Limited Edition Extras

For $100, fans can grab the Invincible VS Collector’s Edition — and I’m genuinely impressed by what’s inside. Housed in a book-sized box, the package includes: a metal game case with Mark on one side and Nolan on the other, the Deluxe Edition DLC which will add content over time, four art cards, a pack of Invincible trading cards, a variant first-volume comic in standard comic sizing, and a signed letter from the development team. Everything is housed in a sturdy hardcover display box that doubles as a great shelf piece for Invincible fans.

If you’re not planning on playing Invincible VS long-term or you’re simply after the base game, I wouldn’t recommend spending the extra money here. But for die-hard fans of the franchise, this is absolutely worth it — and as an Amazon exclusive, availability will only shrink as time passes. Don’t sleep on it if it’s on your radar.

Overall Impression

Invincible VS isn’t perfect, but I can’t deny that there’s far more here to enjoy than to criticize. Solid fighting game mechanics, stunning visuals, and excellent sound design more than compensate for a very short story mode and underwhelming extra content. I play fighting games for the fighting — and Invincible VS delivers on that front. Will it stand the test of time and maintain a lasting community? That’s hard to predict — great fighting games can still fade quickly. Personally, I intend to keep playing and work toward becoming a genuinely skilled Invincible VS player, at least until the next Virtua Fighter pulls my attention away.

Conclusion

Ask me a year ago whether I thought I’d enjoy Invincible VS and my honest answer would have been no. I expected another soulless cash grab riding a popular IP with no real mechanical substance. I’m happy to say I was completely wrong — and I’m humble enough to admit it. Invincible VS is a great fighting game that, while not without its flaws, scratches that fighting game itch in all the right ways. Fans may be divided in their love for it, but as both an Invincible fan and a fighting game enthusiast, I think Quarter Up did a genuinely impressive job with this adaptation. Are you playing Invincible VS? Let us know in the comments below — and drop who you main!