Comix Zone Longplay (Mega Drive/Genesis) [50 FPS]
67Developed by Sega Technical Institute and pubvlished by Sega in 1995.
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Foreword: I've included both good and bad endings at the end of the video.
Sketch Turner has been working on his latest work, a comic book by the name of "Comix Zone". The comic focuses on the fight between alien invaders and New World Empire, who is attempting to protect mankind from extinction.
Sketch Turner is working on the comic in the midst of a thunderstorm when a lightning bolt strikes the comic, bringing to life the main villain from his comic, Mortus. Mortus escapes from the pages of the comic and manages to banish Sketch to it's pages.
Mortus will only become a real, living being if he can kill his creator and so begins drawing all manner of creatures inside the comic in an attempt to bring about Sketch's demise. Sketch must fight his way through various stores in the comic book, page by page, panel by panel, in an effort to defeat Mortus and to return to the real world.
The Mega Drive was coming to the end of it's natural life by 1995 and Comix Zone really was a final hurrah for the system. The PlayStation and Saturn were both on the market and the 3D revolution was well and truly under-way.
Even so, I remember there being a considerable amount of hype surrounding the game. The concept of playing as a character inside a comic book was fairly novel and the game featured some of the best graphics and animation ever to feature on Sega's ageing 16-bit machine.
The designers managed to absolutely nail the feeling of being part of the comic. Each level features two pages from the comic and Sketch navigates his way across the page by going from panel to panel. The panels tell the story in the same continuous-yet-disconnected fashion that real comics manage. All dialogue is conveyed in thought or speech bubbles and all text is written in that stylised, italic font that is synonymous with comic books.
Perhaps one of most novel features is the choice of multiple routes through the levels. sketch will be prompted to make a choice as to which panel to jump to and this does add a decent level of replay ability to the game.
Sketch has been endowed with considerable martial arts prowess as part of his assimilation into the comic. This enables him to battle Mortus' forces, pummelling them into submission with a variety of punches, kicks and special combo moves. The combat is solid and there's rarely a shortage of enemies to fight to the death.
Various weapons and power-ups can be collected throughout the game, although Sketch can only hold three items at a time. Some of the items found can be used to solve basic puzzles in some of the panels, such as using TNT to blow open doorways or to remove obstacles.
One of those items that you'll carry the most is Sketch's pet rat, Roadkill, who has been transported into the comic as well. Roadkill can be used to activate switches and various traps, but he will also seek out items hidden behind the scenery and retrieve them for Sketch.
Whilst the game has much to praise, it does have it's fair share of problems.
I did sense that this game was pushing the console to it's limits as there are occasional patches of slow-down when multiple enemies are on-screen at once, as well as spotting occasions where certain sprites disappear from view temporarily.
I also felt that the final levels of the game were too hard. The enemies block Sketch's attacks too often and do too much damage in return. Combat ends up becoming more of a chore than a satisfying experience.
Despite these flaws, Comix Zone remains one of the most memorable titles released for the Mega Drive. The slick presentation, quality artwork and replayability certainly make this a title worth adding to your collection.
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