Superhero Showdowns
Spidey and His Amazing Friends was the first superhero show to dominate the household after my daughter was old enough to demand what to put on the TV. The show was obnoxious at first, but it grew on me as it brought some excellent imaginative play out of her. I'm also a DC kid at heart, so I was pretty put off that Batwheels couldn't match it. It's a common complaint that the MCU has oversaturated the movie theater, but I admit I'm impressed how much better Disney and Marvel have been at making their superheroes the dominant pop culture force at all levels.
I'm playing Marvel Rivals lately. I love having a game that's essentially a "shooter," but is perfectly fine to play with my daughter in the room. She's been drawn to it since she recognizes so many of the characters, and she's intrigued by the many new characters she spots. She's asked to play a few times, and while it's fun for her to amble about, it's a bit above her abilities with a controller.
So our excitement for Rivals, as well as playing the fantastic beat 'em up Absalom with my wife, made me think Marvel Cosmic Invasion was going to be a perfect family game. It's a much easier, readable, and colorful game for my daughter.
While she can technically play Cosmic Invasion much better than Rivals, something about the levels makes her quit halfway through. She's always excited to play, but she just won't stick with it. Her favorite part of the game is definitely the character select screen, so aborting a level after spending five minutes deciding on a character is a bit deflating.
This tendency to quit halfway through something that took a while to set up is a common speed bump we've hit a lot lately. It might just be a phase for four and a half year olds. I'm doing my best to build up resilience without being a hard ass. On the other hand, she is perfectly happy to watch me play games. That's a bit of the dream as a dad who plays games, right? I'm much more eager to have a little co-op buddy than a captive audience though.