Comix Zone is an action beat-em-up that takes the approach of, what if you were stuck in a comic book? To our hero Sketch, this is what happened, in his own book!  The idea is really fleshed out - the stage ends are white lines that break up the panels you jump, drop, or break into.  It makes it look as though your trapped hero really is fighting his way out! There are some hiccups, the move set is lacking any pizzazz and the difficulty can be unfair. But Comix Zone has style and some substance, but sadly not as much as one would want. This was one of the last great games for the Genesis system.


Graphics: 10
Wow. Genesis graphics look awesome when this game out. The backgrounds are detailed,  the foes are defined and unique. Your hero has a ponytail (hipster!) that moves with him. I really enjoyed the scenes where you interact with the edges of the panel, grabbing it like a ledge and flipping down to the next, or using explosives to blast a passage into the next area. This is a comic book, and the enemies and environments look right at home in them. The game uses classic comic work balloons and sound effects, and it helps immerse you.

But there are few problems. Our hero can upgrade and become a muscular super hero while in the stage - but these are used as often as they should be in a game about a comic book superhero. And there is no imposing enemies either - with much of the background setting the action and scale in panels, none of the enemies look very impressive. Everyone is roughly your size or smaller.

The good: The detailed backgrounds, the comic text and sound effects being visualized! 
The bad: Our hero, Sketch, reeks of 90's and was my least favorite look. I just wanted to play as someone who looked cooler.


Sound: 5
The music I didn't quite care for. Its kind of grungy rock synthesizer. There is not a lot of different tunes either. The sound effects got a bit annoying after awhile too. Powerful hits will smack hard against foes and a finishing hit will knock them back with a well recorded BOOM. But its loud, and gets a little tiring. 

The good: My favorite was the voice samples. OH YEAH! Indeed.
The bad: The 90's rock soundtrack. I guess it was supposed to be edgy.


Addictiveness: 7
The premise is handled well here, and it was fun to play as Sketch and get out of the comic .. zone. There are some secrets, though rare, and they were fun to find. I did like the story and wanted to play it through to the end. Our mutant army could have had some more soldiers in it, they seemed to have a morale problem.

The good: The flashy graphics did keep me going to see where we would go next.
The bad: Some of the platforming does not work well.


Story: 7
Our hero is Sketch, a comic book designer. He makes a successful comic book, then one stormy night, he is pulled into it by the comic's main villain! He is stuck in the book until he can find a way out. Fortunately, the leader of the resistance, general Alissa sees him as the chosen one and tries her best to help him with guidance and items. There is not any great breakout roles for any of the bad guys, which is unfortunate, because dialog and backstory are heavy in the comic book world. We don't know anything about Sketch's book he's been thrust into, and honestly, it doesn't seem all that complicated. So despite the interesting premise, I think it could have benefited from a richer story to go with this lush world.  The only real connection we feel to Sketch isn't with his creations, its Sketch's pet rat Roadkill that has also made it into the comic, and is actually an item you can pick up and use.

The good: He stuck in the comic book. And of all the places to be stuck, it could be worse. This premise is great for all the fighting in the game, and the strange characters and backgrounds. 
The bad: The ho-hum story is pretty typical. I also hated that Roadkill had to be used as an item, as it can hold up the whole game.


Depth: 4
I did like there are some secret rooms. That was a great touch. The enemies have several attacks that fit their design, and our hero can dodge attacks as well. But I there are a lot of issues here that are not so hot, and I'll go into all of those.

First off, for a fighting game, you don't fight that many enemies. They only have a couple of types, you just begin to hunger for a new foe - but they are rare to see.

And the combat is clunky. Our hero is well animated, but slow. And his dodge roll is not easy to pull off. In a NES game Battletoads, they have giant over-sized attacks - this game's attacks are often pretty standard to other fighting games. It does not make the most of its exciting medium and world. You mainly play as average Sketch, and he can fight, but its just regular kicks and such. I would have done this game like a superhero arcade game Space Ace, where the hero is wimpy, but periodically gets strong when the story needs him to. Having it be difficult to make Sketch a superhero, is just a dumb idea to me in a game about superhero comics.

The game is short.Its just over right when you think its picking up steam. And there was no sequel.

The good: Secret rooms are nice...
The bad: The meh combat, the meh enemy selection, the super short length.


Difficulty: 8
The game is short, but tough. The lead-footed jumping of our hero make some of the jumps a pain. There are some parts where you just keep getting knocked around, such as punching barrels. This can actually hurt you. Man! Where is our superhero?  The last boss also can be challenging as its not just a fight you have to deal with.

The good: Being short, the game at least puts up a fight.
The bad: I hate some of these jumps!


Overall: 7.8
This game has a unique look that is still iconic to this day. Its not the brightest or deepest game. Its clumsy, it has as stupid rat that if you don't pick it up, you'll just be stuck. But there is fun to be had here, even if its not long lasting.

endings :

I enjoyed reading this review!I especially like how you made your mixed feelings about the game very clear, I've played the game beforeand some of the points you mentioned on the negative side I hadn't even thought about yet, for instance the small size of the opponentsand the main characters coolness defficiency, so your review is pretty insightful I would say.  Good work!

endings : oh, wow. excellent review. i have a secret love for this game. i played this game so much! i had it in a sega collection on my xbox, and could not get enough of it!

bsnowotter : thanks, and Lupin is always a cool one

noahs_brother : Yeah, its really pushing the envelope for the 'comic book world', the sweet hand-drawn graphics when everything was going polygon and I really liked how to interface with your environment with the panels. It is a good game.