Why Comic-Con Was the Best Time to Release Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3

Marvel, unsurprisingly, dominated San Diego Comic-Con. With its Marvel Studios panel that fully outlined the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4, and its Marvel Games panel that showed off Marvel’s Avengers footage to fans en masse, the show might as well have been called Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con 2019. But one of Marvel’s smartest moves didn’t even happen at the show itself — it was the release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3

that same weekend, timed perfectly to capitalize on the fan fervor of all things Marvel.If you’re a Marvel fan like me, you’re only just coming off the emotional rollercoaster of Avengers: Endgame and the coda note of Spider-Man: Far From Home. So after Marvel went ahead and ahead and took the Comic-Con spotlight to announce major new comic book changes, and a movie and TV slate that will also inevitably see Blade, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men inevitably join the fray, you might be looking for something to put all of that Marvel-focused energy into.

Lucky for us, if you’re a Nintendo Switch owner, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 was released amidst all these announcements. And if you’re a fan of one particular corner of the modern Marvel landscape, chances are it’s represented in this game.

Ultimate Alliance 3 is a really good game, as IGN’s Tom Marks laid out in his Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 review. Playing out as a ‘greatest hits’ of heroes and villains throughout both the MCU and Marvel comics history, there’s something for both new and old fans alike to enjoy. It’s also a largely accessible adventure. Ultimate Alliance 3 has some RPG depth to it, but it’s also just a great game to play with up to three friends, locally or online, button-mashing your way through while still feeling like you’re pulling off dazzling moves with ease.

We’ll have to wait until next month to see how Ultimate Alliance 3 fares overall, but its place atop the Nintendo eShop this past weekend is a sign that many, like me, were especially hungry to jump into some kind of Marvel experience right now. And I’d guess that releasing it right around Marvel’s biggest press weekend of the year brings as much attention to it as any other marketing method might have. The Black Widow, Thor, and Doctor Strange movies too far off for you? Well, they’re all in Ultimate Alliance 3. Interested in seeing the X-Men fight along with the Avengers again? Well, in case that movie is half-a-decade away, Ultimate Alliance 3 has you covered there.

With Comic-Con also confirming free DLC characters and the introduction of Blade, the Punisher, and more via Ultimate Alliance 3’s expansion pass, Marvel has positioned its Nintendo Switch-exclusive as the only way to see all your favorite heroes come together in 2019 — and play as them. (Y’know, until Marvel’s Avengers comes out in 2020 and continues to keep adding new Marvel icons to its roster.)

Ultimate Alliance 3 may not be groundbreaking, but it sure is a lot of fun, and a great encapsulation of what Marvel Games can do, free from the burden that drags down licensed movie games. It’s an enjoyable, fan-service-filled experience the likes of which Marvel fans haven’t got from a game in a while, and more, it’s an experience that came at just the right time.