The recent State of Play announced Arc System Works’ collaboration with Marvel Games for the new fighting gameMarvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. Arc System Works is known for its stylish anime fighters, and from the reveal trailer, it’s clear thatMarvel Tokon: Fighting Soulsis not being left out in this regard.
Along with this refreshing new style for Marvel’s heroes, they have all been redesigned to fit the developer’s past projects. Like another Marvel game that was released recently,Marvel Rivals’ character designshave become a point of comparison. Iron Man was one of the first characters revealed inMarvel Tokon, and his appearance differs drastically from hisMarvel Rivalscounterpart.
What Makes Each Game’s Iron Man Designs Unique?
The Unique Influences of Marvel Tokon’s Iron Man
Marvel Tokon’s design sensibilities feel distinct from Arc System Works’ previous titles, feeling at home alongsideGuilty GearandBlazBlue. It’s easy tocompareMarvel TokonwithDragon Ball FighterZ, but where they differ is the latter’s dedication to the source material, frequently making references to the anime and often replicating panels from the manga exactly. Instead,Marvel Tokontakes a unique approach, offering a fresh look for the characters without losing their identity.
Iron Man’s appearance inMarvel Tokonis striking. The suit is familiar and still recognizable as Tony Stark, though it strays away from its comic counterpart in an interesting way. In particular, the suit’s design seems to take inspiration from Japanese superhero shows likeKamen RiderandTiger & Bunny, as well as mecha anime series likeGundam. This gives Iron Man a distinct look forMarvel Tokonwithout straying too far from its roots.
Most Iron Man suits stick to a red and gold color scheme –Marvel Rivalsincluded – butMarvel Tokonstrays away from this, adding silver accents. While less common, this is still a color scheme used in some Iron Man armor. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies might draw similarities betweenMarvel Tokon’s design and theMark XLVI armor fromCaptain America: Civil War. Since the trailer opened up with Iron Man facing off against Captain America, it’s possible thatCivil War’s Mark XLVI was an influence.
Marvel Rivals Evolved Iron Man’s Classic Design
Marvel Rivalsinstead takes a different design approach, keeping very faithful to the existing designs fans are familiar with while still pushing the characters’ looks further. Some of the characters feature bold changes to their looks to emphasize their unique traits. This makesMarvel Rival’s character designs very appealingwithout losing the sense of the character.
In comparison toMarvel Tokon,Marvel Rivals’ take on Iron Man stays very true to his movie and comic counterparts, but exaggerates his recognizable features. Specifically, the arc reactor, which has become an iconic part of Iron Man’s design, is much larger inMarvel Rivals, giving this aspect of the character much more focus. This also lends itself well tohow Iron Man plays inMarvel Rivals,as it makes his Unibeam much more imposing, as well as making the ability more readable from a gameplay standpoint. This is in contrast to the arc reactor used byMarvel Tokon’s Iron Man, which is much smaller and resembles the v-fins found on manyGundammobile suits.
Marvel Rivals’ Iron Man continues a trend popularized by the MCU, which is the use of nanotech. Using this tech, Tony Stark is able to materialize weapons for use in combat, as can be seen in his Maximum Pulse ultimate ability. The connection to his Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration is emphasized byMarvel Rivals’Avengers: Endgameskin, which similarly uses nanotech. This is in stark contrast toMarvel Tokonwhich uses a much more mechanical design akin to some of Iron Man’s earlier suits.
How Iron Man’s Look in Marvel Tokon Differs From Rivals
The main point of contrast between the designs is their influence. From theMarvel Tokongameplay shown at State of Play, the original comic book looks are not forgotten, but built upon to fit the style of the game. In the background of one stage, a statue of the silver age Avengers designs can be seen, proving that the past is not forgotten. However, its tokusatsu and anime inspirations are very apparent, and fitting of what players would expect of an Arc System Works Marvel title.Marvel Rivalstakes an alternative approach, aiming to stay true to the iconic established designs while still injecting a unique flair to fit the style of the game.
Marvel Rivals’ Timestream Entanglementalso gives reason for the variety of its character designs. Many of its cast are from different universes and timelines that have collided, explaining why many have opposing aesthetics, as well as giving a canon reason for the game’s many skins. While the storyline ofMarvel Tokonremains unknown, it seems as though its characters belong to the same universe, judging by their complimentary designs. With the style used by Arc System Works in the previous games and from the initialMarvel Tokontrailer, Iron Man’s design fits with the style of the rest of the current roster, whereasMarvel Rivals’ take is purposely unique.
Despite their differences,Marvel TokonandMarvel Rivalsshare similaritiestoo, and this extends into their character designs. Even though both of the titles aim to take a different approach to creating distinctive variants of their characters to fit their respective games, they both ensure that their interpretations remain faithful to the versions that fans know and love. This extends to Iron Man; side-by-side, it is clear that the design philosophies and cultural influences of both iterations are complete opposites, and yet, they both manage to capture the essence of the character.
Fighting game fans can look forward to the release ofMarvel Tokon: Fighting Soulsin 2026, and in the meantime, they can enjoy the team-based combat ofMarvel Rivals. WithInsomniac’s Spider-Man design appearing inMarvel Rivalsas a skin for the character, there is a chance that players could expect Iron Man’sMarvel Tokondesign to also appear in the future.
