The early 1990s was the heyday of the 'rockstar' comic book artist; an era where Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane left Marvel comics to find fame and fortune with their own creative projects. This, then, was the perfect point in pop culture history for a game like Comix Zone to release.
You play as Sketch Turner, a grungy comic book artist who sports jorts, fingerless-gloves and a cut-off leather waistcoat, who is sucked into his own comic book. It's a simple premise and the game certainly succeeds in capturing the energy of contemporaneous comic books. The game sees you cheekily jump from comic panel to comic panel, beating up cool looking enemies that are literally drawn into being by a hand and pencil on-screen as speech bubbles pop up for the odd bit of dialogue. The tone and graphics are great and the comic book vibe that Comix Zone evokes is unique, for sure.
The thing is though...the gameplay lets the game down massively. Comix Zone is a beat 'em up / puzzle platformer but almost everything you do takes away your health, whether that's trying to beat up a boss or bash your way through an obstacle. The health loss completely kneecaps the game and, in particular, makes the combat jarringly unfun. I can't help but feel the slow-pace and cautious attitude that you have to adopt to preserve your health doesn't really fit with the flashy, action-packed presentation of the game. I had to abandon this one because it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped it would be, which is a shame.
You play as Sketch Turner, a grungy comic book artist who sports jorts, fingerless-gloves and a cut-off leather waistcoat, who is sucked into his own comic book. It's a simple premise and the game certainly succeeds in capturing the energy of contemporaneous comic books. The game sees you cheekily jump from comic panel to comic panel, beating up cool looking enemies that are literally drawn into being by a hand and pencil on-screen as speech bubbles pop up for the odd bit of dialogue. The tone and graphics are great and the comic book vibe that Comix Zone evokes is unique, for sure.
The thing is though...the gameplay lets the game down massively. Comix Zone is a beat 'em up / puzzle platformer but almost everything you do takes away your health, whether that's trying to beat up a boss or bash your way through an obstacle. The health loss completely kneecaps the game and, in particular, makes the combat jarringly unfun. I can't help but feel the slow-pace and cautious attitude that you have to adopt to preserve your health doesn't really fit with the flashy, action-packed presentation of the game. I had to abandon this one because it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped it would be, which is a shame.