Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley Review for Xbox 360

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley Review for Xbox 360

Down and Out Hero

You’ve got to be at least a little bit jealous of Twisted Pixel’s COO Josh Bear. Never mind the fact that the up-and-coming indie studio has already seen two solid XBLA titles in The Maw and ‘Splosion Man. Forget that Comic Jumper only adds to the company’s impressive pedigree. How cool would it be to see a character you created as a kid become the star of its own property?

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley screenshot

This is exactly the case with Captain Smiley, who Bear came up in seventh grade. Right off the bat that makes Comic Jumper a true labor of love, which is evident both in the game’s quality and relatively slick production values (for an indie) as much as it is in Smiley and the various cast of ridiculous characters that populate his universe with him. There’s Smiley’s sidekick, an eponymous, sarcastic, and selfish star that’s attached to Smiley’s chest; Gerda, Smiley’s personal assistant, whom the yellow-faced hero leaves in the lurch during adventures within his own comic; and Brad, the dude-brah villain with a sorority’s worth of sexy female henchbots, and whom Star has a raging, uhm, star-crush on. Out of the whole game’s cast, in fact, there are only a couple characters who may grate on your nerves (particularly the increasingly obnoxious Dr. Winklemeyer, who talks like a cross between a stereotypical nerd and a caveman), and the writing here is as unique as it is, often, laugh-out-loud funny.

And for good reason, too; the basic premise for Comic Jumper is silly enough in its own right. Essentially, after screwing up one too many times in his own comic, Captain Smiley’s readership plummets, and now destitute, he is forced to take guest starring roles in other comics to raise enough cash to re-launch his solo comic. Aside from the plot, a lot of laughs come from Smiley and Star’s bickering—the two don’t really like each other that much, and often find each other at odds with what the other wants, especially when Star’s fawning over Brad, or either character’s lusting after women, gets in the way. The duo’s past, which we’re only allowed to speculate on, also makes for great one-off jokes; Smiley can even punch Star on the rare occasion his chest-residing sidekick decides to bite him. The entertainment value of these two alone may be worth the price of admission for some.

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley screenshot

Twisted Pixel plays a pretty big comedic role in the game themselves. After the first level, we see people in the real world throwing down or destroying Smiley’s comic in exaggerated disgust, so the fourth wall is almost instantly broken down. Shortly thereafter, Gerda arranges a business agreement with Twisted Pixel themselves, who agree to lend a hand with Smiley’s dire financial situation, providing a comic jumper that lets the embattled, smiley-faced hero take guest roles in other comics. Every so often you can even talk to Twisted Pixel from Smiley’s low-rent warehouse base via a large screen next to the titular jumping machine (or have the dev team save you using a kill-everything power-up during a level), and while it’s little more than a humorous distraction, just the fact that they decided to put it in is funny enough on its own.

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley screenshot

With such a strong emphasis on humor, you would hope that the game’s mechanics would balance out. Thankfully, it does, at least with the right point of view. Essentially most of the time you’ll play the game like a dual-stick analog shooter in the vein of Contra or Gunstar Heroes, with the occasional brawling, platforming, or on-rails section (think Sin & Punishment) thrown in for good measure. It’s actually better to go into the game with an arcade mindset, since the mechanics don’t really change or evolve over time. The slick visuals and general feel may lull you into thinking the game is going to evolve, with new abilities to unlock and additional gameplay elements that will crop up, but Comic Jumper is really much more of an old-school arcade game with modern trappings. If you’re cool with that, you’ll probably enjoy it, though you should be prepared to take some punishment from the game’s steep difficulty.

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley screenshot

It is a little bit disappointing that the game changes so little from level to level, or even world to world, however. Essentially, once you’ve played a couple of levels of Comic Jumper, you’ve probably played them all, with minor variations. Only the level and character skins change (which are admittedly pretty neat). There are still some definite surprises to the game, though. Smiley and Star take a trip back to the Silver age of comics (read: the 1960s), which gives our heroes, as well as the world around them, a Jack Kirby-style makeover; the villainess of the Silver age comic is a hardcore, second-wave feminist, which lends itself to countless jokes about either gender stereotypes or misogyny. Twisted Pixel also makes fun of the cultural attitudes of the time, blatantly subverting them with, say, a comics censorship board that fines Star or Smiley every time they do something indecent during the game. I was pretty surprised at some of the jokes seen here, although the manga section may be even more ridiculous. I don’t want to spoil anything, and I hope for your sake you don’t end up reading about Smiley’s makeover, let alone some of the other things that happen in the manga section, before playing the game; let’s just say that JRPG fans and Otakus will likely get a kick out of what happens. Even the Conan-style rip off, Nanoc the Obliviator, has its moments, though you’ll have to experience them for yourself.

Ultimately, Comic Jumper is a good game with a fantastic script and limited range in terms of gameplay mechanics. For once, this is a title I would recommend based on its narrative rather than how it actually plays, a total-180 compared to most games made these days. If you can stand its arcade-rigid mechanics and a few repetitive stages, this one should keep you entertained for a while, considering the challenge levels and all the extras and jokes Twisted Pixel have stuffed in here. Just one word of advice: you’ll enjoy it more if you don’t blow through it in a day. It’s rare to find a game that’s as entertaining as Comic Jumper, even when its gameplay lags a little. Do yourself a favor, and don’t spoil it.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.0 Graphics
Comic Jumper’s visuals are slick enough to be a disc-release game. 3.0 Control
Controls are basic, but functional. Dual shooting can wear on your thumbs after awhile. 4.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The script and voice acting is hilarious. 3.0 Play Value
Definitely a game worth playing, although surprisingly more for its script than its gameplay. Comic fans will get a kick out of the extras, which reference everything from The Dark Knight Returns to Kitchen Sink Press’ Scud. 3.7 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Comic jump your way through four different comic book worlds
  • Hilarious storyline will keep you entertained throughout
  • Tons of unlockables and extras, including comics to read and new levels for Twisted Pixel’s ‘Splosion Man

  • To top