Marvel: Secret Wars

Marvel: Secret Wars is a fighting game made by Arc System Works in partnership with Marvel comics.

Summary[]

After numerous Incursions destroy the Multiverse, Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange manage to confront the Beyonders, and Doom steals the omnipotent abilities for himself. With it, he creates a new planet called Battleworld, which is made up of the various collapsed worlds. With that, the various heroes and villains of the new world only know Battleworld (eight years having passed in-universe), aside from a handful of heroes that were in the Future Foundation's Life Raft -- namely Spider-Man, Thor, Star-Lord and Captain Marvel.

There are a number of different locations in this new world, due to consisting of various different worlds. In this time of crisis, the heroes must band together to restore the world they once knew, at least in some capacity, but that's only if they can survive the various forces awaiting them...

Gameplay[]

A 2D fighting game with a large cast of diverse characters. Each character has a unique Trait, which sets each character apart from the others. Fights can be 1v1 or 2v2. Each character has a Power meter which can enable Special moves or an Ultimate which unleashes the whole meter to do a deadly attack.

The game has a stylized comic book design, made to evoke the image of a comic book come to life. The art style features detailed cel-shaded graphics and fluid animations, and even the menus are styled in this fashion.

Each character has various skins, such as their default one and ones taken from other places in the comics (ex. Captain Marvel has her old Ms. Marvel costume, Spider-Man has "Bombastic Bag-Man" etc.)

Gameplay mechanics include:

Power: The meter that's built over the course of the match, allowing one to either execute a Special or build to an Ultimate.
Special: A move that utilizes meter, with a varying amount depending on the move in question.
Trait: Unique abilities that each character has. It ranges from stances, temporary power ups, special attacks, or a change in configuration. Each Trait is unique to each character.
Ultimate: Special move that takes up all of the Power gauge to deliver a devastating attack.

Modes include:

Story: Adventure through the story of Secret Wars as the heroes try to restore life they once knew before Battleworld.
Arcade: Play through a series of matches and try to get the best score.
Versus: Offline fights between two individuals.
Online: Prove who's the best on a global scale against players from around the world.

Characters[]

There are a total of 38 characters in the game, which vary from headlining acts to the lesser-known. Each character was chosen for their gameplay potential.

Name	Alter Ego	Species	First Appearance
Annihilus	N/A	Arthrosian	Fantastic Four Annual #6 (November 1968)
Ant-Man	Scott Lang	Human	The Avengers #181 (March 1979)
Armor	Hisako Ichiki	Human mutant	Astonishing X-Men #4 (October 2004)
Black Panther	T'Challa	Human mutate	Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966)
Captain America	Steve Rogers	Human mutate	Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941)
Captain Marvel	Carol Danvers	Human/Kree hybrid	Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968)
Cloak & Dagger	Tyrone Johnson & Tandy Bowen	Human mutates	Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982)
Dazzler	Ali Blaire	Human mutant	Uncanny X-Men #130 (February 1980)
Deadpool	Wade Wilson	Human mutate	The New Mutants #98 (February 1991)
Doctor Doom	Victor Von Doom	Human	The Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962)
Doctor Octopus	Otto Octavius	Human	The Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July 1963)
Doctor Strange	Stephen Strange	Human	Strange Tales #110 (July 1963)
Enchantress	Amora	Asgardian	Journey into Mystery #103 (April 1964)
Ghost	???	Human	Iron Man #219 (June 1987)
Gwenpool	Gwen Poole	Human	Howard the Duck #1 (November 2015)
Hawkeye	Clint Barton	Human	Tales of Suspense #57 (Sept. 1964)
Hulk	Bruce Banner	Human mutate	The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962)
Iron Man	Tony Stark	Human	Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)
Juggernaut	Cain Marko	Human (mystically empowered)	X-Men #12 (July 1965)
Magneto	Max Eisenhardt	Human mutant	The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Moon Knight	Marc Spector	Human	Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975)
Ms. Marvel	Kamala Khan	Inhuman	Captain Marvel #14 (August 2013)
Nico Minoru	N/A	Human	Runaways #1 (July 2003)
Nova	Richard Rider	Human	Nova #1 (September 1976)
Psylocke	Betsy Braddock	Human mutant	Captain Britain #8 (December 1976)
Rocket Raccoon	N/A	Raccoon	Marvel Preview #7 (June 1976)
Sentinel	N/A	Sentinel	The X-Men #14 (November 1965)
She-Hulk	Jennifer Walters	Human mutate	Savage She-Hulk #1 (February 1980)
Spider-Man	Peter Parker	Human mutate	Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)
Spider-Woman	Jessica Drew	Human mutate	Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977)
Star-Lord	Peter Quill	Human	Marvel Preview #4 (January 1976)
Storm	Ororo Monroe	Human mutant	Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Super-Skrull	Kl'rt	Enhanced Skrull	Fantastic Four #18 (September 1963)
Taskmaster	Tony Masters	Human	Avengers #195 (May 1980)
Thanos	N/A	Eternal/Deviant hybrid	Iron Man #55 (February 1973)
Thor	Thor Odinson	Asgardian	Journey into Mystery #83 (August 1962)
Wolverine	James "Logan" Howlett	Human mutant	The Incredible Hulk #180 (October 1974)
X-23	Laura Kinney	Human mutant/Clone	NYX #3 (February 2004)

Traits[]

A Trait is a unique ability that related to each character. This is activated by pressing the "T" button (B/Circle), and the use depends on each character. They are a mechanic the fits the character in question, and come in four forms: Stance, Power-Up, Special Attack, and Assist. Some require a special meter to use, others don't, depending on what kind of ability it is.

Character	Trait	Description	Type
Super-Skrull	All for One	Enables the powers of the Fantastic Four to be used at once, giving him more potential for damage in a period.	Power-Up
X-23	Assassin	Temporarily increases the range of the blades on her hands and feet, allowing her to attack from a greater distance.	Power-Up
Doctor Strange	Astral Projection	Releases his astral form from his body, which greatly increases his speed and attack power, albeit leaving his body vulnerable.	Power-Up
Captain Marvel	Binary	Goes into her Binary state, marked by her a flaming aura. It temporarily increases her attack power and speed.	Power-Up
Juggernaut	Cyttorak Empowerment	Increases his speed for a period to allow him to deliver his high-power attacks at a very fast rate.	Power-Up
Ms. Marvel	Embiggen	Grows large, which slows her down but increases her damage.	Stance
Black Panther	Energy Absorption	Unleashes hits taken (either landed or blocked) in a burst with its power depending on the build-up.	Special Attack
Annihilus	Exoskeleton	Increases his durability and gains more air-based abilities for a duration.	Power-Up
Gwenpool	Explosions	Creates a random “accidental” explosion that happens to be near the opponent's vicinity.	Special Attack
Wolverine	Feral State	Temporarily enters an animal-like state, which increases his speed and regenerates a degree of damage.	Power-Up
Ghost	Ghost Form	Turns on the invisibility in his suit, making him nearly unable to be seen, and thus giving the player a tactical advantage.	Power-Up
Storm	Goddess of Weather	Temporarily increases the power of her projectiles while keeping her in the air.	Power-Up
Rocket Raccoon	Gun for Hire	Uses various guns with different effects, depending on the one selected.	Stance
Deadpool	Healing Factor	Restores his health to a certain degree, but cannot attack while during the process.	Power-Up
Dazzler	In the Groove	Switch song-types (disco, rock, electronic etc.) to give her abilities different effects.	Stance
Star-Lord	Jet Boots	Activates his thrusters to give him aerial control.	Stance
Thor	Lightning	Temporarily surrounds himself with lightning which gives him extra projectiles while adding a bleed effect to his melee attacks.	Power-Up
Magneto	Magnetic Forcefield	Surrounds himself with a forcefield that makes him immune to damage briefly.	Power-Up
Nova	Nova Force	His power increases over the course of the match, which he unleashes at once in a temporary super mode with the press of a button. Duration depends on how much was stored.	Power-Up
Doctor Octopus	Octo-Stance	Uses two of his tentacles to stand, giving him better aerial options and access to new moves while eliminating others.	Stance
Iron Man	Overclock	Charges his suit with electricity, increasing his speed and projectile potency.	Power-Up
Cloak & Dagger	Partner	Calls either Cloak or Dagger (depending on character selected) to attack, with different variations depending on button combination.	Assist
Taskmaster	Photographic Memory	Temporarily simplifies the buttons combinations needed to execute complex combos, allowing him to pull of combo strings much easier.	Power-Up
Moon Knight	Power of Khonshu	Temporarily increases his strength and projectile speed through the power of the god he worships.	Power-Up
Psylocke	Psionic Weapons	Utilizes different weapons in combat, such as her katana, crossbow, bow and arrow, and claws.	Stance
Armor	Samurai	Forms a samurai sword, which gives her extended range and new moves but eliminates others until the stance is cancelled.	Stance
Sentinel	Sentinel Force	Summons other sentinels to perform commands depending on the input.	Assist
Captain America	Shield	Places his shield in front of him, giving him unique moves and the ability to deflect attacks while eliminating others until the stance is cancelled.	Stance
Ant-Man	Shrink	Shifts into the size of an ant, making him much harder to hit and increasing his speed for the duration of the process.	Power-Up
She-Hulk	Special Training	Lower the cost of Power by half, allowing her to perform special moves for significantly less cost for a period of time.	Power-Up
Nico Minoru	Staff of One	Access to a wide variety of special moves which can alter the course of a fight, but each move must be built up and can only be used once in a match.	Special Attack
Doctor Doom	Summoner	Summons a demonic creature to his aide for a brief period.	Assist
Enchantress	Time Distruption	Slows down time within an area of the player's choosing while she remains at normal speed, allowing her to perform easy combos are execute a powerful attack if the opponent is trapped in it.	Special Attack
Hawkeye	Trick Arrow	Selects between a number of different arrows (fire, electricity, ice) that has different effects.	Special Attack
Thanos	Turn to Stone	Shoots a beam that, if the hit lands, will temporarily turn his opponent into a statue.	Special Attack
Spider-Woman	Venom Blast	Shoots a blast of bio-electricity that if landed will stun her opponent temporarily and leave them open to an attack.	Special Attack
Spider-Man	Way of the Spider	Changes his move set to a more precision-based and martial arts-oriented style.	Stance
Hulk	You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry...	Gets angrier for a period, which increases his attack power and regenerates his health to an extent.	Power-Up

Ultimates[]

An Ultimate is a special move that depletes a character's entire Power meter to deliver a devastating attack.

Character	Ultimate	Description	Ultimate Line
Spider-Man	All Webbed Up	Completely encases his opponent in webbing before slinging them up in the air and dropping them down into the ground.	"Let's tie you down!"
Hawkeye	Archery Assault	Shoots various kinds of arrows in a single barrage at the opponent, including fire, electricity, and ice.	"Always hit my mark!"
Annihilus	Armada	Unleashes the Annihilation Wave to send a large number of his followers to attack his opponent at once.	"Have a taste of my power!"
Armor	Arsenal	Creates a variety of different weapons and beats down her opponent with them, before finishing them off with a giant hammer.	"Go away!"
Nico Minoru	Blood Magic	Uses the Staff of One to create a variety of effects that all attack the opponent, namely ice, a rain of bats, and a finally a sword that shoots into them.	"Staff don't fail me now!"
Gwenpool	Boom!	Takes out a heatseeking rocket launcher and blasts the opponent with it repeatedly.	"Medium or well-done?"
X-23	Circle of Death	Does three somersaults that slashes her opponent with bladed attacks repeatedly.	"I'm the second best at what I do!"
Wolverine	Cut to Pieces	Unleashes a variety of slashes using his adamantium claws.	"This is going to get ugly!"
Cloak & Dagger	Darkness & Light	Cloak transports the opponent to the Darkforce Dimension, and attacks the opponent with dark matter, just as Dagger creates a giant light dagger to finish them off.	"Drown in darkness!" (Cloak), "Blinded by light!" (Dagger)
Iron Man	Death from Above	Sends an army of suits to grab his opponent, and then fires a gigantic laser from his chest to finish them off.	"This might be overdoing it..."
Ghost	Deathly Surprise	Turns invisible, and begins to unleash a beatdown involving his weapons and gadgets while the opponent can't see him, and then finishes them off with a planted explosive to the back.	"All these gifts, just for you!"
Psylocke	Death Strike	Uses her katana to deliver a number of deadly strike, and finishes them off with a swift blow to the neck.	"See you in Hell!"
Moon Knight	Divine Punishment	Grapples around his opponent with his grappling hook to tie them in place, and then calls in the Mooncopter piloted by du Champ to deliver a barrage of bullets down upon them.	"Feel the wrath of the Moon Knight!"
Doctor Strange	Duplication	Creates many clones of himself to surround the opponent, and all of them attack with mystical energy simultaneously.	"Taste the might of the Sorcerer Supreme!"
Storm	Elemental Fury	Summons a variety of different weather attacks, such as thunder, earthquakes, wind, and lightning, to strike down her opponent.	"I summon the power to strike my enemies!"
Super-Skrull	Fantastic	Delivers a beatdown to his opponent that involves the use of all the Fantastic Four's powers.	"Beg... for forgiveness!"
Thor	God of Thunder	Drops Mjölnir on his opponent to keep them in place, and then summons a massive lightning strike on top of them.	"Behold the mighty Thor!"
Doctor Doom	Hellbound	Grabs his opponent and takes them to Hell, where they’re attacked by a horde of demons, and Doom finishes them off with a blast of lightning.	"To Hell with you!"
Hulk	Hulk Smash!	Grabs the opponent by the leg and replicates the iconic beatdown from the MCU.	"HULK SMASH!"
Nova	Human Rocket	Blasts through his opponent at full speed, and delivers a massive energy-enhanced punch.	"One punch... with everything I've got!"
Enchantress	Illusionist	Creates an illusion of various creatures attacking her opponent, and then finishes them off with a giant stomping on them.	"Know what the Enchantress can do!"
She-Hulk	Judge, Jury and Executioner	Grabs her opponent and spins them around quickly, before throwing them away. Then she tosses a car that lands directly on them.	"The court's out and it's judgement day!"
Captain America	Justice Bringer	Delivers a beatdown using his shield, then knocks them away, and finishes them off with a shield toss.	"Those who oppose the shield... must yield!"
Magneto	Master of Magnetism	Forms a bunch of metal around the opponent and throws them a great distance, before blasting them with multiple beams of magnetic rays.	"Behold the master of magnetism!"
Black Panther	Maul	Pounces and mauls his opponent repeatedly from his claws from different directions.	"For Wakanda!"
Ms. Marvel	Morpho	Stretches and grabs her opponent, before tossing them around like a ragdoll.	"This is gonna hurt, a lot!"
Thanos	Moon Drop	Telekinetically breaks down a moon and drops the pieces of it down on his opponent.	"Die like the rest!"
Deadpool	Overkill	Performs gun kata where he mixes his martial arts with guns and swords, slashing and shooting his opponent one after another, before finishing them off with a grenade.	"Slash! Slash! Bang! Bang! BOOM!"
Sentinel	Sentinel Strike	Sentinel and others join together gang up and beat down the opponent, before they all simultaneously blast them with lasers.	"Prepare to be exterminated!"
Star-Lord	Showtime, A-Holes!	Fires a barrage of lasers down on his opponent, then throws a powerful grenade at the end.	"It's showtime!"
Spider-Woman	Spider Attack	Flies through the air to deliver multiple attacks in different directions, then ends it with an enhanced Venom Blast.	"I tried to warn you!"
Ant-Man	Someone Your Own Size...	Calls in an army of fire-ants to attack his opponent, and then grows into Giant-Man before slamming them into the ground.	"You should pick your fights more carefully!"
Doctor Octopus	Striking Power	Holds the opponent with two arms, and strikes them repeatedly with the other two, before throwing them away.	"Like the trash you are!"
Captain Marvel	Supernova	Creates a miniature sun and hurls it down at her opponent.	"You'll be getting scorched from this one!"
Rocket Raccoon	The Best Pilot in the Galaxy	Jumps in his ship and blasts his opponent with a massive amount of missiles.	"Ain't nothin' like me, 'cept me!"
Dazzler	The Power of Music	Creates a giant disco area where Dazzler absorbs all the energy, and then blasts her opponent with all of it in one strike.	"Now face the music!"
Taskmaster	Variety is the Spice of Death	Beats his opponent down with a shield and sword up-close, before knocking them away and shooting an arrow at them. Finally, he casually tosses a grenade behind his back and it explodes.	"Your time has come!"
Juggernaut	Wrath of the Juggernaut	Grabs the opponent by the neck and unleashes a beatdown before stomping on them.	"I am the JUGGERNAUT!"

Gameplay styles[]

Each character has their own style of play that is different from another.

Name	Style
Annihilus	Rushdown type involving his flight, speed and energy blasts.
Ant-Man	Relies on confusing the opponent by timing his shrinking abilities just right, along with some projectiles involving ants and assists from Wasp.
Armor	Glacier type who uses different grapples and construct weapons, plus a katana stance.
Black Panther	Uses mixups, and a core part of his gameplay involving his Energy Absorption Trait that must be unleashed at the right time.
Captain America	Defensive character with a move set involving his Shield, which is important to keeping the enemy from advancing.
Captain Marvel	Powerhouse who uses great mobility combined with high attack power to deliver strong attacks. While not the strongest overall, she makes up for it as a jack-of-all-stats.
Cloak & Dagger	A dual character; one chooses to be either Cloak or Dagger and the other assists. Timing the assists just right, as well as their abilities, is essential to success.
Dazzler	Uses different effects based on song-types depending on the situation, and is highly mobile along with projectiles.
Deadpool	Keepaway who has great versatility with his guns and swords. His healing factor is also useful.
Doctor Doom	Projectile-based character who uses spells to keep his opponent at a distance.
Doctor Octopus	Heavily air-maneuverable with great mix-up potential involving his tentacles, along with specializing at ranged melee attacks.
Doctor Strange	Zoner who uses magic spells with a variety of different effects to confuse the opponent.
Enchantress	Specializes in illusions, can slow down time in her vicinity, and is good as an airborne fighter.
Ghost	Fittingly, he involves being ghostly by using his invisibility and intangibility to avoid attacks, sneak on his opponent, and make their life a living hell.
Gwenpool	Uses her inherent unpredictability to confuse and lay the pressure in combat.
Hawkeye	Fights primarily with projectiles, using special arrows at the right time is essential along with playing keepaway.
Hulk	All-around powerhouse who can deal heavy damage and juggle his opponent for a long time, at the expense of lacking projectiles.
Iron Man	Zoning character that utilizes various weaponry in combat and is fast, with is Trait upping both temporarily.
Juggernaut	Defensive grappler who uses his overall power and forcefields to keep damage off himself, and can use his Trait to make himself temporarily faster.
Magneto	Zoning character that specializes in his various energy blasts and magnet-based projectiles, and can give himself temporary invulnerability with his magnetic forcefield.
Moon Knight	Mixup and combo-oriented, with some gadgets to close the distance. His Trait allows him to increase his power which makes him even deadlier.
Ms. Marvel	Varies between her normal-sized form that has average damage but faster attacks, and her Embiggen trait that slows her but increases her damage. Also uses Lockjaw for assists.
Nico Minoru	Keepaway character who uses various spells, flight, telekinesis as well as Old Lace to deliver damage, and has a special trait where she can use powerful moves -- but only once.
Nova	Rushdown character with fast combos and special projectiles, and his power builds over the course of the match which he can unleash in a super mode.
Psylocke	Uses various different psionic weapons both upclose and at a distance, and is heavily combo-oriented.
Rocket Raccoon	Specializes in using his small size and weapons to make it hard to be hit by the opponent; can call Groot for assists.
Sentinel	Zoning specialist with its various weapons, and can call other sentinels to perform assist commands.
She-Hulk	Mixup and rushdown-based character. Very strong, though not as strong as some others she's faster to compensate. Her Trait means she can use specials for greatly reduced cost.
Spider-Man	Quick and highly mobile, with great mixup potential and can close the gap with his web-slinging. His Trait gives him an alternate, precision-based fighting stance.
Spider-Woman	Often airborne and also a close-range fighter, and has a Trait that can stun her opponent in place to leave them open for an attack.
Star-Lord	Aerial-based zoner, he uses his guns, gadgets and jet boots to keep his opponent away from him at all times.
Storm	Versatile fighter who can use her weather effects to both attack and defend, but has high risk and low reward for hand-to-hand.
Super-Skrull	Rushdown character who utilizes the various F4 powers to keep his enemies off-balance.
Taskmaster	Combo-based fighter, he excels in stringing combos together and his Trait allows him to do it with ease.
Thanos	Powerhouse, capable to doing serious damage if he gets the chance. His Trait, which turns in opponent into a statue, makes it easier to do so.
Thor	Powerhouse who lacks ground mobility but makes up for it with air mobility, and has powerful lightning-based combos. His Trait amplifies them, allowing him to bleed damage just from punching people.
Wolverine	Rushdown and mixup character who is appropriately savage up-close, and is a fast fighter with unrelenting brutality. He can also enter a feral state which increases said and heals him.
X-23	Similar playstyle to Wolverine, though she lacks some of the power she makes up for it with even greater mobility and agility, fitting of an assassin.