Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley is the next game from Twisted Pixel, the developers who brought Xbox Live Arcade gamers hits like Splosion Man and The Maw. And once again they are offering a very unique idea that gives a new twist to action games and beat-em ups.
As the name suggests, Comic Jumper literally has you “jumping” between a variety of unique comics (five in total), so that the main character. Captain Smiley can take part in the stories of said books in order to fix their plots. Naturally, this leads to many differing stages and designs with different graphical styles, gameplay elements and plots.
Players take control of the titular Captain Smiley (and his biologically attached sidekick, Star, who is the living logo on his chest) as they make their way through the five different comics beating up evil doers. Each comic will have it’s own style and a kind of model that inspires it. Include a noir-esque level akin to Sin City, a cartoon style level similar to Power Puff Girls, a style modeled after Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, and three others.
The comic style of the game naturally extends to all parts of it with comidic voice overs as well as speech bubbles. You will also naturally get comic-book-style action phrases like “BOOM!”, “CRASH!” and “THUD!” as you waste enemies in your path. And like the Sega Genesis classic Comix Zone, players will literally be transitioning through sections of the stage by jumping from panel to panel and from page to page.
The game will also be played from a side-scroller just like Splosion Man. And although the game essentially starts out like a beat-em up, the gameplay will change depending on the comic you are in. So later on in the adventure you’ll get weapons like a gun, which switches this action game into more of a Contra-style shooter (in fact the game was inspired by the likes of Contra, Gunstar Heroes and Earthworm Jim). Interestingly enough, the controls can actually be changed to suit the different gameplay styles on-the-fly, and can be mixed and match to your own preference.
The developers promise plenty of awesome bosses and mini-bosses for players to face as well as crazy gameplay elements to spice the levels up and lots of funny dialog and situations.
See the game in action in this gameplay video where players take on the role of “Captain Smiley” in a comic where Dr. Winklemeyer, a crazy scientist and leader of a rogue European nation, makes the decision to rob a bank due to it’s annoying hidden fees, which the bank slapped him with when he opened a checking account. As you can see, the developers trademark humor is as funny as ever.