Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Shadow Fight 3 vs Marvel Contest of Champions

Shadow Fight 3 4.7★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Marvel Contest of Champions
Marvel Contest of Champions 4.7★ · Free + IAP 70

Marvel Contest of Champions has a slight edge due to its engaging character roster and overall positive gameplay experience, despite shared issues with pay-to-win mechanics and technical problems.

Full reviews: Shadow Fight 3 · Marvel Contest of Champions

Both Shadow Fight 3 and Marvel Contest of Champions are free-to-play fighting games with in-app purchases, but users report significant pay-to-win elements and technical issues in both. Marvel Contest of Champions benefits from its popular IP and diverse character designs, while Shadow Fight 3 is praised for its detailed graphics and unique combat.

Head to head

Features and Content edge: Marvel Contest of ChampionsR5R9R15R26
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 is praised for its detailed graphics, unique weapon styles, and diverse move variety, making it feel like an RPG R5R26. However, some players find the gameplay repetitive and the online PvP dead R9R15. There are also requests for more animations and easier ways to acquire specific items .
Marvel Contest of Champions Marvel Contest of Champions is highly regarded for its cool characters, designs, and a wide selection of Marvel heroes . Users appreciate the engaging story and various game modes . Some players suggest adding a wider range of characters, making them more MCU accurate, and allowing existing characters to be starred up instead of having duplicates .
Ease of Use and Progression tieR1R12R13R16
Shadow Fight 3 Many Shadow Fight 3 players find the game's progression difficult without spending money, describing it as 'pay to win' or 'pay to play' R1R27R28. Bosses and events are often considered unfairly difficult unless players have paid for better gear R13. Some users report issues with controls sticking or not responding R12R16.
Marvel Contest of Champions Marvel Contest of Champions also faces strong criticism for its pay-to-win progression, with users stating it's hard to level up and acquire high-star characters without spending money R61R67. The AI is frequently described as unfair, cheating, or having random buffs, making fights feel rigged R67R70R75R76. Some players also mention issues with energy limits for story mode .
Reliability and Performance tieR4R6R10R12
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 users report frequent issues with lag, bugs, freezes, and crashes R4R12. Connection problems are common, with some unable to play on Wi-Fi or experiencing unstable mobile data connections R6R10. There are also specific bugs like inability to open quest chests R19.
Marvel Contest of Champions Marvel Contest of Champions also suffers from significant reliability issues, including frequent lagging, buffering, and loading problems R61R75R81. Many users report the game getting stuck on loading screens or failing to load entirely R63. There are also reports of progress or characters being deleted after updates or crashes .
Price and Value tieR1R11R12R27
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 is criticized for being heavily monetized, with excessive ads appearing frequently, sometimes after every mission or every few minutes R1R11R12R30. Many users feel the game is 'pay to win' and that good rewards or progression are locked behind paywalls, making it difficult for free-to-play users R1R27R28.
Marvel Contest of Champions Marvel Contest of Champions is also widely criticized for its aggressive monetization, with users feeling that spending money is necessary to progress and that rewards don't match monetary value R61R67. Players report constant offers and feeling pressured to spend . Some users mention issues with crystals not giving characters or being too expensive .
Customer Support tieR4R19R111R115
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 users report that developers don't care about problems and don't help when issues are reported R4. One user reached out to support for an inability to open chests but the issue remained R19.
Marvel Contest of Champions Marvel Contest of Champions players have negative experiences with customer support, describing them as unhelpful, deceptive, and even scamming R111R115. Specifically, one user mentioned a manager refusing to help with purchases made by a minor R111.
Pick Shadow Fight 3 if

you prefer a fighting game with highly detailed graphics, unique weapon styles, and a strong RPG feel, and you don't mind frequent ads or a challenging progression system that often encourages in-app purchases R5R26.

Pick Marvel Contest of Champions if

you are a Marvel fan who enjoys collecting and fighting with iconic characters, appreciates good graphics and diverse game modes, and are willing to contend with significant pay-to-win mechanics and occasional technical glitches .

Evidence note: Both apps are free with in-app purchases, and the negative reviews for both heavily skew towards issues common in free-to-play models, such as pay-to-win mechanics and aggressive monetization. The lifetime ratings are very close, indicating a similar overall user sentiment despite the specific complaints.

Frequently asked

Is Shadow Fight 3 a pay-to-win game?
Yes, many users describe Shadow Fight 3 as a pay-to-win game, stating that equipment is extremely important, events are rigged, and it's difficult to progress or defeat bosses without spending money or grinding extensively R1R27R28R39.
Does Marvel Contest of Champions have connection issues?
Yes, Marvel Contest of Champions frequently has connection issues, with users reporting lag, buffering, loading problems, and the game getting stuck on loading screens or failing to load entirely R61R63R75R81.
Are there many ads in Shadow Fight 3?
Yes, many users complain about an excessive number of ads in Shadow Fight 3, with some reporting ads appearing after every mission or every few minutes, and being longer than usual with no option to exit R1R11R12R30.
Is the AI fair in Marvel Contest of Champions?
No, many players find the AI in Marvel Contest of Champions to be unfair, reporting that opponents often get random buffs, cheat, or have overpowered abilities that make fights feel rigged, even against characters with lower ratings R67R70R75R76.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Shadow Fight 3 5/5 · US THE BEST: THIS IS LIKE THE MOST DETAILED MOBILE GAME IVE EVER PLAYED SO I RECOMMEND THIS
  2. [R9] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US An absolute (NOT) classic.: This game is repetitive, just the same fight over an over spamming the same combo and missing one move and getting pulled into an inescapable combo for the rest of eternity and that makes me want to GENUINELY eat bugs but otherwise it's mid, people who call this classic and say bring back 2017 should realize they were 3 days old in 2017😂
  3. [R15] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Good game but…: I got this game around when it came out and it was absolutely amazing. But now it just so mid. The online pvp is pretty much dead and useless and as someone that complete the story there is quite literally nothing to do. The void battles aren’t worth it cause you have to GRIND to even get good rewards. It’s not worth it. You used to be able to quickly get up to higher ranks in rank
  4. [R26] Shadow Fight 3 5/5 · US Crazy: This game is actually like a real game
  5. [R1] Shadow Fight 3 2/5 · US P2W: Cool game, events seem a bit rigged. Equipment is HELLA important. You could beat a better geared person but that might mean hitting then 5 times as many times before they land a very few good blows. Commercials are like 5 times longer and don’t give the option to exit even when complete.
  6. [R12] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Bugs/button sticks: The “control” button to move around sticks in certain spots. I know for a fact thats been there since 2020…and the fact the game continues to crash. What’re we doing besides adding 60 ads popping up every time you back out of something? Holy smoly jimbo. Worse than youtube and twitch ads brother.
  7. [R13] Shadow Fight 3 1/5 · US The bots are absurdly difficult in adventure mode. The developers are jerks. · translated
  8. [R16] Shadow Fight 3 1/5 · US DONT DO IT: Would not recommend to anybody. Like a game that constantly cheats. And I mean cheats. You be winning then all the sudden your controls won’t work or they do the opposite of what you did. DONT recommend it at all.
  9. [R4] Shadow Fight 3 2/5 · US Lag bugs freezes: This game constantly lags and has tons of bugs. It’s almost impossible to play at times really annoying and the developers really don’t care you tell them that the game has a problem and they don’t help.
  10. [R6] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Internet Connection Error: I cannot play when connected to Wi-Fi. I am forced to use mobile data, but even then, it's very unstable and only works sometimes. This issue needs to be fixed urgently.
  11. [R10] Shadow Fight 3 1/5 · US Không hài lòng: Lúc nào cũng mang yếu dù wifi rất mạnh chả chơi dc
  12. [R11] Shadow Fight 3 4/5 · US Very good GSME: Very fun game with lots of different things to do but has way to many adds.It seams like the more you play the game the more often you get ad at first there were practically never adds but now I get them after every mission.
  13. [R27] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Event and new duel: So I love the game it’s great really fun but the only issue is that is not free to play friendly most the stuff you have to spend days grinding for just to have a small chance to get it and most the good stuff are locked behind pay walls and most the hard challenges in events are hard if you don’t have the sets you pay for
  14. [R19] Shadow Fight 3 1/5 · US Chest and rewards: I am unable to open any of my 3 chest after earning countless keys through duels or throughout the game I tried uninstalling and refreshing it also reached out to support but I am still unable to open my chest
  15. [R111] Marvel Contest of Champions 3/5 · GB Great job: The game itself is pretty good and the mechanics are unique for a Marvel game and to be honest the summonings animations are pretty balanced as as well as the team and story but one of the managers Chris does not seem to understand that people can sometimes face financial crisis and refuses to help when purchases are not made by the main account holder by a member of their family that i
  16. [R115] Marvel Contest of Champions 1/5 · US Scamming, bait and switch trashy Company: The developers of this game are truly horrible people. Offers are blatantly deceptive, buying items with mis clicks is happening by design. Customer support will cheerfully rip you off. Do not give this company money. Do not download this game. You will be cheated and scammed. Kabam and it’s employees are filthy, lying, hateful garbage. Karate Mike in part
  17. [R28] Shadow Fight 3 1/5 · US Worse game in existence: First of all the game experience is so bad everything is pay to win and if I come back to play this game I have to pay to complete any event since my gear isn’t good enough and I am not paying shi for this game that I won’t play in future this game is ruined and this game developer never listened to their community so it would be better if this game shuts down
  18. [R39] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · GB Pay to win: The game is good but u can’t defeat the bosses without spending money this game is pay to win.
  19. [R61] Marvel Contest of Champions 1/5 · US DO NOT SPEND MONEY IN THIS GAME: Not only are the rewards not even close to the monetary value but the game is always sub buggy and crashing. I've been through all the highs and lows and it's time to retire the game.
  20. [R63] Marvel Contest of Champions 3/5 · US Isn’t working: I get on every single day but like 5 days ago it wasn’t loading it still want load.
  21. [R75] Marvel Contest of Champions 3/5 · US Review: Game is fun, there’s just a lot of problems. For example, it’s extremely laggy and slow. My game will buffer and load non stop. Sometimes, the only way to stop the loading is to completely swipe out the game. Another problem would be the AI enemies you go against will get a random buff or hack and just one shot you, making it feel like it’s rigged. A small problem would be that some charac
  22. [R81] Marvel Contest of Champions 3/5 · US Hello: My game wouldnt load, and said I had no internet connection witch I did so I don’t know
  23. [R30] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Remove the ads: The ads shows up after a match which I don’t like,you have to fixed that.
  24. [R67] Marvel Contest of Champions 1/5 · US Garbage AI: The AI in this game is terrible and you developers know it. I’ve been playing this game for 10+ years and the way these AI fight now is laughably bad. Frame-perfect, flawless gameplay from these overpowered champions you create nowadays. What else would we expect from you greedy losers though? Game has been pay to win for every single year it’s ever been out. The way the AI plays now i
  25. [R70] Marvel Contest of Champions 1/5 · US The worst fighter: The worst fighter I've ever played. How can your opponent activate defense during your ultimate, and why can't I do the same? The game doesn't register your commands. I tap for an upper attack, but the character does a lower one. They inflated reviews but forgot to make a decent game. It sucks 👎 · translated
  26. [R76] Marvel Contest of Champions 1/5 · US Horrible game: This game is so dumb they give the defenders buff and debuff you can never use even if you have that character it to hard to beat characters it just stupid no reason why I can’t use the same buff fix it

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store