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Comix Zone

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Comix Zone
Developer(s)Sega Technical Institute
Publisher(s)Sega
Designer(s)Peter Morawiec
Platform(s)Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Windows, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console
Release1995
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single player
Screenshot from the start of Comix Zone.

Comix Zone (コミックスゾーン, Komikkusu Zōn) is a 1995 arcade-style action game. The game's most remarkable feature is that it is set within the "panels" of a comic book. Each level consists of two "pages" and secrets are discovered by shredding the "paper" and revealing items. The unique dialogue is rendered within talk bubbles with the typical comic font. Sprites and backgrounds possess the bright colors and dynamic drawing style favored by superhero comics.

The music was composed by Howard Drossin, a known video game and movie composer. Graphics were done mainly by comic artists.

The game was originally from a concept video animated by Peter Morawiec titled "Joe Pencil Trapped In The Comix Zone". The video was made in 1992, displaying the animation of how the gameplay and the comic book elements would blend in.

Story

Sketch Turner (スケッチ・ターナー), a "starving artist" and freelance rock musician, is working on his newest comic book, named the "Comix Zone." Comix Zone is the story of the New World Empire's attempt to defend Earth from an invasion of alien renegades, with inspiration coming from Sketch's (oddly vivid) dreams and nightmares.

One night, while Sketch is working on Comix Zone during a storm, a massive lightning bolt strikes outside his apartment, somehow affecting the comic book too. In this instant, the main villain of Comix Zone - a powerful mutant named Mortus - manages to escape the comic book's pages, and hurl the stunned Sketch into the world of Comix Zone. Mortus intends to free himself by destroying Sketch in the comic book, as he is unable to do so in reality.

Inside the comic book, Sketch meets General Alissa Cyan, who believes he is a superhero ("the chosen one") who has come to save their post-apocalyptic world from the evil of Mortus and the alien invaders. Ignoring Sketch's protests, Alissa sends him on his mission, keeping in touch with instructions and hints via radio.

Now that Mortus has a physical presence outside of Comix Zone, he is free to change the world as he wishes, simply by drawing in enemies for Sketch to face - or in one instance burn up part of a page.

In the final (and partly unfinished) panel, Sketch finds a nuke ready to launch, and Alissa is working on defusing it. Enraged, Mortus zaps himself back into the Comix Zone and shuts Alissa inside the nuke, which starts to fill with liquid. Sketch must now defeat Mortus for good and try and prevent Alissa from drowning.

Gameplay

Sketch is capable of tearing shreds out of the backdrop and folding them into paper planes to throw at enemies as a weapon. Because this paper world is also part of everything within Comix Zone (as they are drawn on it), this action takes a significant slice off the player's health bar. Certain combos will send enemies hurtling, and if a fragile border between frames is in the way, the enemy crashes through it, tearing it to shreds. When confronted with an unbreakable frame barrier, the hero merely swings himself out of the frame, over the top of the border, and back down into the next scene. Sketch's pet rat Roadkill (whom he saved from certain doom in a garbage truck) is also capable of operating switches and discovering items hidden in panels, making him useful in helping Sketch's progress through Mortus' traps.

The game has multiple endings decided by actions taken during the final fight with Mortus. In the "good" ending, which is triggered by defeating Mortus and freeing Alissa in time, shows Sketch and Alissa leaving Comix Zone. Comix Zone becomes the highest selling comic of all time, Alissa joins the military and becomes the head of U.S Security, and Roadkill gets 100 pounds of mozzarella donated to him. In the bad ending, Sketch escapes Comix Zone, but because the player doesn't save Alissa, she dies and Comix Zone is destroyed. The story ends with Sketch contemplating re-releasing the evil to re-live his adventure in hope of a better ending.

If Sketch ever dies before reaching the final panel, Mortus will turn from ink and paper to flesh and bone, and announces, "I'm going to rock this world!"

Episodes

There are three episodes in the game, each consisting of two pages in a distinct area (levels):

  • Episode 1: "Night of the Mutants" (Newer York City)
    • Deceased streets/Sewers
    • Mutant base
  • Episode 2: "Welcome to the Temple" (Himalayas)
    • Mountain path/Tibetan city
    • Kung-Fung's Temple
  • Episode 3: "Curse of the Dead Ships" (Zealand Atolls)
    • Dried atolls/Caves
    • "Abandoned" ship graveyard


Cast

General notes on the game

Mortus does intend to give Sketch a 'sporting chance'. After the first page, if Sketch dies, Mortus will allow Sketch another chance to complete the page from the first panel, stating "Oh, come on -- that was just too easy!" After the second page, Sketch will get one more chance. If Sketch still has a chance at completing the game, his last words will be "Is this the end of the story?" If he has no such chances, his last words will simply be "Game over, man. The end."

As part of Sketch's travel into Comix Zone, he takes the hero's role in the story, giving him access to typical superhero fighting skills far beyond his regular abilities. If he attacks an immobile object, Sketch's health will diminish slightly, meaning that if he is low on health other tools such as explosives should be used to continue instead. One power-up - a collectible fist - temporarily transforms Sketch into Super Sketch, who shreds the page and destroys all enemies and obstacles in his path.

Comix Zone is designed to be used with the 6-button gamepad: buttons X, Y and Z correspond to the three inventory slots Sketch has. If used with a 3-button gamepad, button C cycles through the items, and button A activates the item. Button C on a 6-button gamepad is used for a custom action, blocking by default - on a 3-button gamepad, Sketch blocks automatically.

Sketch can utilize the background of the comic as a weapon. By holding down the attack button, Sketch will start tearing at the background (which uses life). Once torn, Sketch will make a paper plane out of the torn background and launch it at the enemies and objects in front of him. Blast processing was used to help render this destruction of the game-world in real-time.

Sketch's rat, "Roadkill", can be deployed to electrocute enemies or pull switches in low clearing areas which Sketch might otherwise not be able to reach. It can also be used for finding hidden items in such areas just by releasing it.

If the player keeps tapping down in the control pad, Sketch will sometimes break wind, although this has no known use in the game. He will also sometimes smell his shoes, and say, "Aw, man!"

Further releases of the game

The game is hidden within the Japanese version of Sonic Mega Collection and is an unlockable game in all versions of Sonic Mega Collection Plus, which is unlockable with having a Sonic Heroes game save, or is unlocked after starting all other Mega Drive game at least 50 times.

File:Comix Zone-suphero.jpg
The "Super Hero Meter" screen, full after a good ending

The game was ported to the Game Boy Advance, but fans criticized this rerelease because its significantly smaller screen size allowed much less onscreen. This was said to lessen the effect of seeing into the other frames around the player, making it more like a traditional platform game. The game is also a part of the Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.

Comix Zone was released on Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console, on January 29, 2007.

Notes on the soundtrack and bonus CD

Comix Zone has a heavy rock soundtrack, similar in style to early-1990s rock artists Nirvana and Soundgarden.

The American release of Comix Zone comes with a selection of twelve music tracks from American Recordings artists:

The European release of Comix Zone and the Windows PC version of the game were released with a free audio CD, containing 'enhanced' music taken from the game's soundtrack and played by a full rock band with vocals named 'Roadkill' (the main character's pet rat, as well as a playable item; see above). The CD contains the following tracks:

  • "Into the zone"
  • "Feed my Disease"
  • "10,000 Knives"
  • "Seen It For Days"
  • "Woe Is The World"
  • "Last To Follow"

"Into the zone" is music from the games' Options screen (which is itself an extended version of the title screen music); "Feed my Disease" comes from Episode 1, Page 2-1; "10,000 Knives" comes from Episode 2, Page 2-2; "Seen It For Days" comes from Episode 1, Page 1-2; "Woe Is The World" is the game's Boss theme; and "Last to Follow" comes from Episode 2, Page 1-3.

The printing also reveals the artists behind the music:

Lyrics & Vocals: Howard Drossin, Tim P.
Guitar: Howard Drossin; Solos on 2 & 5: Philip Stevenson
Bass Guitar: Weird Guy
Drums: Philip Stevenson
Producers: Howard Drossin, Tim P., Philip Stevenson
Executive Producer: Roger Hector

This audio CD was later released in North America under the Sega Tunes label.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Comix Zone (1995) (VG) - Full cast and crew
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