Comix Zone (Sega Genesis) Quick Review
I picked this one up a few years ago, and it honestly wasn't for me. A buddy of mine had been looking for this game, and I found it in a store but there was bad cell service, so I just picked it up. When I got home, come to find out he'd already landed his own copy, so this one became one of mine. I threw it in once or twice back then, but decided to give it a real Honest try this time around.
The game takes place in New York City, as Mortus escapes from the world of his comic book into our real world, but he still maintains his drawn-form. He has a plan that will allow him to fully become human, but to do so he draws you, his creator Sketch, into the comic book. As Sketch, it's your job to make it to the end of the book, surviving Mortus's plan and putting it to an end.
The Good
- Gameplay Style. Comix Zone is a side-scrolling beat-em-up game...but the way it's presented is most definitely original, and it's most definitely the highlight of this title. Most games of the same genre, you start off one side and fight your way to the other end. In this one, you journey through comic panels. Each panel has either an enemy you need to defeat or a quick puzzle to solve, and once you're done you literally jump into the next panel. It's a unique style and one that is certainly enjoyable while throwing punches.
- Useful Powerups. While they're your main weapons, your fists and feet aren't your only ones. Along the way you can pick up knives and grenades to throw, drinks to regain health, fists to gain strength, or a questionmark power up that pretty much acts like Russian Roulette, because it can either give you one of the previous powerups, or it can just explode in your hands and take the last shred of health you might have. You can even pick up your sidekick / pet rat, Roadkill, who can help you find powerups, take down an enemy, or solve puzzles that you can't reach.
The Bad
- One Life, One Chance. While this is a persistent issue in older games, it's worth noting in the 16-bit gen simply because there's more space to work with so this shouldn't be an issue. But it is in this one. Dealing with no continues is one thing, but only a single life to get through the games six levels? The powerups are nowhere near consistent enough to justify getting just a single life for the whole game.
Is it Worth it?
In the era of gaming in question, the market was flooded with side-scrolling games, because there wasn't much else for options. It was either that, top-down adventure/RPG, or racing, with a few other genres making appearances as well, but it was these three that ran things. So by the time 16-bit came around, to stand out as a side-scrolling game, you had to do just that : stand out. Comix Zone, in my opinion, definitely does. While the punching and kicking, and the speckling of power-ups are more common elements of the style, the travelling through comic panels was not, and it's what made this game stand out then and still do so today. This one might not go down as one of the greatest games of its generation, but it is a great one. It's fun, it's fast paced, and the enemy AI doesn't feel very over-powering, which is always a huge flaw in some beat-em-up's is that you constantly feel like you don't have a chance. And watching the bad guys get drawn into the panel right in front of you is such a cool touch to this game.
You can find a loose copy of Comix Zone for just under $20, or a complete one for closer to $40. While you might not get your full money's worth out of this one, it won't be a waste. You'll be slightly over-paying for the value of this game, because it is short (6 levels in total) but again, it is still enjoyable and worth picking up.
I've yet to make it to the end of this game, out of all the times I've played it. I've made it just past halfway, and I've died on the first level from stupid mistakes, both mine and AI-related. But I have a lot of fun with this one and while I might not spend an entire weekend only playing this one to try and beat it, I'll definitely keep coming back to it to try.
