Review – Comic Jumper

Publisher: Twisted Pixel
Developer: Twisted Pixel
Platform(s): Xbox Live Arcade
Genre: Retro Style Shooter / Beat ‘Em Up
Rating: Teen
ESRB Content Descriptors: Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor, Language, Suggestive Themes

The Scoop: Comic Jumper is Twisted Pixel’s third outing on Xbox Live Arcade (following The Maw and ‘Splosion Man), and easily their most ambitious title yet. Utilizing old school gameplay and a quirky sense of humor it aims to please not only video game fans, but comic book fans as well.

The Setup: In the world of comic sales Captain Smiley isn’t exactly a top shelf hero. He constantly fights with his immobile sidekick Star (the talking emblem on his chest), absentmindedly leaves his female companion to die, shoots any potential threat even before being given proper justification, and whines about it nearly the entire time; so it’s no wonder when his comic book gets canceled due to lack of interest after only a little over twenty issues (Hey, that’s milestones better than All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder… that’s right, I went there). The only way Smiley can get back on top, or at least back on the shelves, is to drum up interest by guest starring in other comics. This is where Twisted Pixel comes in with their amazing ‘Comic Jumper’ device, which allows Smiley to enter any other comic world which will pay him for his services.

Area changes are often accompanied by leaping out of one comic panel and into another.

What’s Hot: Gameplay has a few different variations which allow the game to do its best at changing things up. The most common form of gameplay, roughly 90% of the game, is a platforming-shooter, very much akin to the classic Gunstar Heroes. Occasionally you will enter a rail-shooter segment similar to the old Space Harrier games from the early Sega Genesis days, mixed with some sequences that reminds me Rez (lots of Sega inspiration here). You also will play shooter segments where you fly around and shoot incoming enemies, which is a mix between the standard platforming-shooter formula the game standardly employees and a twin stick shooter like Geometry Wars. There is also simplistic sidescrolling beat ‘em up segments; they aren’t the most in-depth form of brawler you can have, but they are often humorous and doing them without taking a hit will net you a special attack in which a Twisted Pixel programmer will start punching the screen to kill off all the enemies (one of the best special attacks I have ever seen). There are even more variations to the gameplay throughout the game, so there is almost always something fresh to do. There are also QTE segments… everyone loves QTEs…

By far Comic Jumper’s greatest gift is its wonderful sense of humor. It has to have about some of the most hilarious dialogue I have ever encountered in a video game. The game is flooded with what seems like hours of recorded banter between Smiley and Star, so much so that I’ve actually taken dozens of hits throughout the game just being distracted by listening to them or laughing about the conversation; obviously this is both a blessing and a curse. It actually very reminiscent in that sense of Batman: The Brave and the Bold (the games even garner some similar complaints from me, go figure), but the dialogue is definitely better in this case. Even outside of combat the dialogue remains fresh and humorous, not only in cut-scenes but you are able to converse with previously defeated bosses as well as listen to Smiley and Stars comments on various objects between levels as you roam around Smiley’s base of operations; in one of my favorite jokes in the game the duo makes cracks at Twisted Pixel’s other games while walking past arcade machines of ‘Splosion Man and The Maw.

At one point one of these girls will fart a tornado at you... I am not making this up.

Outside of gameplay each different comic you jump into gives you a unique style and experience. It begins and ends with a fairly standard parody on modern super hero comics; that is Smiley’s standard universe. You then get dragged into a parody of the 1960s and 70s barbarian comics, much like Conan and Red Sonja. Following is my personal favorite, a campy 1960s duo comic which is ripe with censorship (every kill nets you a fine) and racial and cultural insensitivity. Finally you go into the deep dark world of manga (I really can’t describe this, it must be seen), you suddenly go from right to left and everything is in black and white; more on that later. Every world offers a unique art style and different interpretation of the hero, as well as its own unique blend of humor.

Depending on what comic era you are in the style is different, from the drab and colorless style of dark fantasy comics...

...to the campy and colorful look of the buddy super hero comics.

What’s Not: Most of the levels are way too long, especially the 1960’s campy levels, raking in around 15-30 minutes long each. Because of this the game begins to feel a little repetitive, it even gets to the point that the game begins to comment on its own length and repetition. I really feel that more levels of shorter length would have been a better idea. I also think it could have been improved if you went through each era one comic at a time. Doing one level from each era and then starting over would have relieved some of the tedium.

Upgrades are ridiculously expensive and make very little difference to the gameplay, not enough to warrant the cost anyway. To get the final upgrade for damage I needed to beat the final level four times in a row and complete the first two challenges (the only ones I managed to beat, challenge doesn’t even begin to describe them). The money is better spent unlocking the extra videos, sound files, and dashboard items; which are well worth the prices.

The manga levels at times made me want to soccer punt a small furry animal. Mainly because everything is in black and white and the projectiles from the enemies are extremely difficult to see, I checked with a few people watching me play and they vouched that it wasn’t just me. The amount of projectiles that get throw at you are also at times not able to be dodged, the best strategy is to memorize where enemies come out so you can take a few of them out before the attack start to fly. The difficulty of those levels otherwise far exceeds the other levels in the game, which is already a pretty difficult game. I do like a little challenge in a game, but this gets to the absolute point of tedium; as funny as they are, I actually started yelling at the TV to just end the levels.

If this were a Highlighter Magazine I would ask you to circle all the enemies on the screen and the projectiles they are throwing... good luck.

Final Verdict: Comic Jumper feels a bit repetitive at times, and prepare yourself for a pretty decent challenge, but any other complaints I had are minor to the overall product. Just the humor alone makes this is one of the best games you can get on Live Arcade, coupled with some mostly solid gameplay and a decent length for an Arcade title (four to five hours) Comic Jumper is one of the best ways for you to spend 15 dollars (1200 MSP) on Xbox Live’s marketplace, so don’t wait, purchase it now!

!!!!!CONTEST!!!!!

The wonderful people over at Twisted Pixel were nice enough to give us a free copy of Comic Jumper to give away to a reader of Level Up News. This contest is open to any US resident that is not professionally connected to Level Up News, Twisted Pixel, or their immediate families.

To enter all you have to do is become a fan of our Facebook page and respond to the post about this review telling us what is your personal favorite piece in your comic book collection, it can be anything from a signed collectible to your favorite graphic novel. For example mine is a hardcover for the comic book Invincible which creator Robert Kirkman personally stole (well he didn’t really steal it, but it was still pretty funny) from the Image Comics booth at Comic-Con and signed for me after a rep interrupted my worship of him.

One person who responds will be randomly chosen and I will contact them on facebook in regards to emailing them the code.

The contest is open from now until Halloween night, October 31st, at 8pm EST.