As a fighting game, Invincible VS’ bread and butter is its versus mode, but it will offer several destinations for fans and newcomers to sink their fists into. Players can learn the ropes in a training mode and challenge rivals worldwide in yet-to-be-detailed online play that boasts rollback netcode. However, fans of the source materials will likely be most excited about the game’s cinematic story mode.

This single-player offering lets players experience an original story penned by Mike Rogers, Quarter Up’s narrative director, and Helen Leigh, writer and co-executive producer for the TV series, with Robert Kirkman overseeing the process. Rogers, a lifelong comic book fan, tells us he’s always been drawn to Invincible’s more grounded take on the superhero genre and how it often examines the mental consequences of its world-shattering conflicts. “I always thought it was really interesting that they explored sort of like the psyche elements of things and what it does to someone to have their dad smash you through a bunch of people in a subway,” says Rogers. “You don't come out of that fight, whether you win or lose, being like, 'Yeah!' You come out of it being like, 'Oh no.'"

Atom Eve stands ready in the Invincible VS reveal trailer.

Rogers aims to capture Invincible’s complicated themes in the story mode. Although he was extremely cagey when I asked him to detail the story mode’s premise and whether it’s considered official canon, he does confirm that every playable fighter in Invincible VS will play a role in its events. As for when the story takes place, the best I can glean from Rogers is that it probably occurs during Season 3 of the show (something fans would likely deduce from the roster). However, Rogers tells me that Quarter Up is mindful that this will be some players’ first exposure to the world of Invincible and that the story is written so it does not feel dependent on prior familiarity with the show or comics, while still being additive for fans.
“If you're a fan of Invincible, [it’s] absolutely going to be rewarding,” says Rogers. “It's absolutely going to be something that you feel can slot right into your favorite parts of the show, your favorite timeline of the show, and the comics. And if you're someone new to the property, I also think it's going to be a really good point to jump in on.”

Although Rogers says Quarter Up looked to fighting games like Injustice 2 for inspiration in building the structure of Invincible VS' story mode, the team is aiming to create something uniquely their own. Rogers also states that the story mode is designed to feel like playing an episode of the show and, as such, will take roughly the same amount of time to complete (one hour). He compared the story mode’s scope to the 2021 special Invincible: Atom Eve, which told a complete self-contained narrative in about an hour. 

Mark faces his father, Omni-Man, in the Invincible VS reveal trailer.

Quarter Up has not officially confirmed how much of the show’s cast reprises their roles in Invincible VS, but we do know J.K. Simmons stepped back into the booth as Omni-Man. But based on what I heard from the other characters during the versus bouts, I’d be very surprised if any of them were recast, as the performances sound identical to their series counterparts. Although not explicitly designed to serve as a tutorial, Rogers views the story mode as a friendly destination for first-time players to get a handle on the mechanics while soaking in a new Invincible narrative. 

Interestingly, the story mode’s cinematics retain the in-game art direction but are rendered in the stop-motion-inspired style popularized by the Spider-Verse films. You can get a taste of this animation style from watching the game's original announcement trailer (posted below), as well as the subsequent roster reveal videos. Like everything else in the game, the cinematics were handled in-house with Skybound Animation, the studio that makes the Invincible show, working with Quarter Up to create the mode’s cutscenes. 

Speaking to Skybound Animation head Marge Dean, she shares that while most of the Invincible animation team remained busy developing the TV series, a small group of them split off to assist on Invincible VS. Dean also shares that Skybound Animation enlisted famed South Korean animator/director Seung Eun Kim to direct the story mode's cinematics. Kim is an Emmy award-winner whose directorial credits include popular animated series such as Jackie Chan Adventures, The Batman, and The Boondocks. 

For the sake of consistency, Skybound and Quarter Up opted for the story mode cutscenes to sport the in-game art style rather than replicate the show’s aesthetic. This approach also helps maintain visual parity between gameplay and cinematics. “So many games, it's like you see the cinematics and then you cut to the game, and it's so different, and you feel a little ripped off sometimes,” says Dean. “But in ours, we were very intentional and worked very hard to make that as seamless as possible.” Quarter Up art director Dan Eder tells us the animation style was also born out of the cinematics not needing to meet the framerate demands of the gameplay – why not have some fun? “When you get to see our badass high octane action sequences, I think it lends itself to the style beautifully,” says Eder.

As a fan of the NetherRealm story mode template, I’m curious how Invincible VS’ story mode stacks up and look forward to experiencing some new storytelling from what’s become one of my favorite superhero universes. 

Game Informer subscribers can read our full Invincible VS cover story here, and you can subscribe today to read the full issue and receive the print edition in the mail later this month as your first issue. Be sure to also read our exclusive feature detailing the gameplay for Dupli-Kate, and watch this video feature about how and why Invincible was turned into a fighting game. 

Today may be Mario Day, but the plumber’s faithful dinosaur steed, Yoshi, is also getting some spotlight thanks to a new trailer for his next game. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book’s new gameplay video shows off a new ability players will use, as well as revealing its May release date.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book sees Yoshi explore the whimsical pages of a talking storybook named Mr. E. Today’s video shows off the game’s creature cataloging mechanic and how interacting with these critters can unlock new abilities. For example, allowing a ring-shaped frog to hitch a ride to Yoshi causes it to spew bubbles that he uses for platforming. Feeding the frog certain foods, like fruits, causes the bubbles to change color and size. Once discovered, creatures can be given custom names as Mr. E creates records of them and their abilities. 

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is launching on May 21 as a Switch 2 exclusive. For more on the game, check out our recent magazine preview. You can also read Nintendo's announcement that Donald Glover will play Yoshi in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Resident Evil Requiem has been a massive critical success, and now it seems it’s doing well sales-wise too. Not only that, but fans of Grace and Leon’s terrifying adventure can look forward to new content thanks to newly announced story DLC.

Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi appeared in a short video posted to social media, thanking fans for supporting the game and announcing that it has already sold over five million copies since launching less than two weeks ago on February 27. He then shares that additional performance patches and updates are on the way, including a photo mode and some unspecified mini-game sometime in May. 

The biggest news was the announcement that additional story content was currently in production. Nakanishi doesn’t reveal any details, only stating it will “delve deeper into the world of Requiem” and says the DLC will “take some time” to come to fruition.

Here is Nakanishi’s full message:

I’m Nakanishi, the director of Resident Evil Requiem. Our game was released on February 27th, and thanks to our players’ overwhelming response, we’ve already sold over five million copies. On behalf of the development team, I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude. Thank you very much!

We released an update the other day to fix a variety of issues, and we will continue to address any other bugs and performance issues. But that’s not all. We are also planning to add more content.

First, the much-awaited photo mode. On top of that, there’s another surprise coming around May. We’re planning to add a mini game. We hope to continue providing support on Resident Evil Requiem to live up to its positive reception.

Oh…one more thing. We are planning to make extra story content. In this story, we will delve deeper into the world of Requiem. We’re hard at work on it now. It will take some time, so we ask for your patience and hope you’ll look forward to it. Thank you again for your support!

One interesting bit is that before revealing the story DLC, Nakanishi comedically flips through various paper flyers bearing other promotional images. One image shows Leon and another, obscured, woman in a romance, James Bond-esque adventure called “Forbidden Requiem”, while another says “Biohazard Requiem DLC” that displays the game’s box art but with Grace and Leon’s heads replaced by cats. Another slide shows Requiem’s villain, Victor Gideon, sitting behind a poker table in a scene reminiscent of Buckshot Roulette or Inscryption. Before anyone gets excited about Capcom teasing additional DLC or spin-off projects, these images are very likely to be jokes and not actual content. But we suppose anything’s possible; Capcom sure acted like Leon wouldn’t be a thing in Requiem before his reveal.

New story DLC isn't a huge surprise given that Resident Evil 7 and Village also received substantial story expansions, but we're excited to see how Capcom builds off its excellent work with Requiem. For more on Resident Evil Requiem, be sure to read our review and then check out the announcement of the game’s Switch 2-themed pro controller and amiibo figures. 

In the first four decades of the Super Mario series, Mario and his friends appeared in hundreds of titles, but in the core "Super Mario" series, the plumber was present in just 22 titles (if you include Lost Levels, Bowser's Fury, and Super Mario Run). While the series has some entries that are stronger than others, the Super Mario series doesn’t have a bad entry to date, so this list proved difficult to put together in an order we all felt comfortable with.

In 2018, we ranked the top 300 games of all time in our 300th issue. While that list was more about ranking games in terms of quality, importance to the industry, and cultural relevance, this list is just about our favorite games. So check out our rankings of the 22 core Super Mario games below!

Our Top 300 Games of All Time

In our  April 2018 issue, we ranked the top 300 games of all time. As you may have guessed, Mario’s core series made several appearances on that list. That list may have had different criteria than this one, but now you can check out where Mario fell on our list of the top 300 games of all time in 2018.

2. Super Mario Bros. 3
26. Super Mario World
66. Super Mario Bros.
69. Super Mario 64
98. Super Mario Galaxy 2
181. Super Mario Bros. 2
224. Super Mario Odyssey
239. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

If you’d like to learn more about the history of the Super Mario series, check out our Making Mario feature, where we talk to those responsible for the creation of the franchise. Do you agree with our rankings, or are we way off? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! And while you're at it, check out our ranking of the Mario Kart series here.

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Developer: Team Ninja
Release: March 12, 2026

Fatal Frame II’s reputation has always been intriguing. Hyperbolic phrases like “the scariest game ever made” have often been associated with the 2003 PlayStation 2 game, and I can frankly understand why after playing the remake. Fatal Frame II is frightening with its near-constant jump scares, oppressive atmosphere, difficult enemies, and arguably too much darkness. But more so than fear, the emotion I frequently grappled with was frustration.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake, like the original game, follows twin girls Mio and Mayu as they explore the haunted Minakami Village, a town that is just absolutely lousy with angry ghosts. The narrative, though intentionally vague and sometimes confusing, is engaging and follows the young girls as they grapple with the terrors of the village, its history, and a looming murderous ritual they must perform that sounds unpleasant. The quiet mood of Crimson Butterfly and the characterization of the sibling relationship are well executed, but fighting with the ghosts – the primary action of the game – is frustrating and usually ruins the mood.

The basic idea of using a camera to defeat attacking ghosts is a strong one, as it was when the franchise debuted with the first Fatal Frame in 2001. Looking through the lens as a ghost ambles toward you and holding out until the last second to “fire” off a shot is scary. But every encounter with a ghost takes too long. The initial encounter with every enemy is tense and fun, but the longer you spend taking pictures of the angry ghost lady with the big sleeves, the less scary she gets. I was so frustrated by the time it took to destroy a ghost, especially early in the game, that I worried I fundamentally misunderstood the basic concept, re-reading the tutorials and even looking up gameplay from the original game. But no, it’s by design.

 

Adding more than one ghost to the mix also just ups the annoyance rather than the terror. Running back and forth to each side of a small room as multiple ghosts trade off trying to grab you in a rhythm not conducive to photographing either of them stops being scary almost immediately. I am attempting to defeat the lingering souls of the undead, not trying to offer them multiple angles for an Instagram post.

And then, sometimes, the ghosts will become Aggravated, recover their health, and take even less damage from your photographs. Using the in-game term Aggravated is actually perfect, because it’s how I felt every time it happened. I would be okay with the challenges of fighting and photographing the ghosts, but it always hindered the fear factor tremendously, making every encounter less scary the longer it went on. Upgrading the camera and becoming a better photographer over the course of the game certainly helped with my annoyances, but I was never able to fully overcome them.

The jump scares are also overbearing and too frequent. Fatal Frame II relies heavily on them to unsettle the player, but they’re excessive. Reaching for items can lead to a jump scare; Opening doors can lead to a jump scare; Looking through the lens at an enemy also frequently leads to jump scares where ghosts will suddenly apparate right in front of you and scream in your face. It’s an unavoidable attack that can’t be predicted, which made me mad instead of scared. It doesn’t take long to recognize all the jump scare tricks being broadcast, and though it’s hard to deny they are effective and made me yelp, they quickly feel cheap and manufactured.

 

I like the setting and characters of Fatal Frame II. The quiet moments between photo-combat and jump scares are moody and ethereal in a way I admire. The overall stability of the game is perfunctory, to be polite, and the load times are long (but infrequent), but I do like how the game looks and the delicate performances of the dialogue. I don’t mind spending time in Minakami Village (even if I never, ever want to go there in-person), but the majority of Crimson Butterfly is spent behind the camera, which is where I was the most frustrated and, importantly, not scared.

Score: 6

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