Game Review: Comic Jumper

Repetitive Gameplay and Great Humor All Together in One Package.

Comic Jumper is a Xbox Live Arcade Title from Twisted Pixel, the creators of The Maw and Spolison Man. Comic Jumper tells the story of Captain Smiley, who has lost his comic book, due to being poorly recieved and now must guest star in other comics to make enough money to get his own comic book again. You'll venture into 4 different kinds of comics, Fantasy, Modern, Silver, and Manga, you do all this with your abrasive partner, Star.

Comic Jumper is for the most part a rail-shooter the only difference is that you control the speed at which you move along the stage, at times. You run around firing guns in every direction, similar to Geometry Wars or any other 8-way shooter out there. From time to time you have sections where you can perform melee attacks and the occasional quick-time event is thrown in. It should be noted that Comic Jumper is a very, very, very repetitive game. You spend each of the game's 11 levels just running and gunning, the game doesn't stray from this mechanic at all. Some people will probably be turned off by this fact alone, but there was one aspect of the game that makes dealing with the repetitive nature not seem as bad, the dialogue. Comic Jumper is a very humorous game, veteran voice actor Chris Sabat (Dragonball Z and tons of other anime fame) brings the characters of Captain Smiley and Star to life. The dialogue spoken between Star and Smiley throughout each level is so funny, my sides started to hurt after awhile. Star (he's biologically attached to Smiley) is always criticizing Smiley  for every little thing he does, from how bad his aim is to how stupid of a hero he is. I feel Star makes this game, without him Comic Jumper would just be a very repetitive run and gun game, that I probably would of passed on. Another thing Comic Jumper does great with the dialogue is how it makes fun of each of the different kinds of comics, from the racial stereotypes of older comics to the bizarre nature of manga, this game really hits the jokes on the dot.

Comic Jumper features tons of unlockable content from the usual concept art to audio tracks. A couple things the game does offer I find pretty unique is that you can unlock additionally levels for Spolison Man and some really fun cast "interviews." Replaying Comic Jumper after you complete the main story can be kind of stretch since you don't unlock anything new by beating the game. All you unlock is challenges for each of the levels you've completed as you progress in the story. These challenges usually require you to complete a section or survive as long as you can without getting hit. They're ok challenges for maybe the hardcore gamer who wants to show off how good he is at dodging bullets, but they're mostly stuff you already did in the levels.

Comic Jumper is a fun game to play at first, but it can quickly become too repetitive for some people to handle. The dialogue saves this game in more ways than one, it made me want to keep on playing just so I can hear whatever Star has to say next. The game only costs $800 points these days, so for that price tag it's not too bad a deal, just remember you'll be doing the same thing over and over again for at least 3-5 hours.