Comix Zone: The Sega Genesis Masterpiece Hits the Wii Virtual Console

In 1995 the 16-bit era was coming to and end. Sega had been in the lead in the 16-bit console race since it introduced its Genesis in 1989 and it was fighting to retain that lead. Though the Super Nintendo Entertainment System would become number one in sales after the 1995 holiday season, Sega were committed to releasing new and innovative software to keep an edge. New franchises were born, and Comix Zone, "The worlds first fully interactive comic book," was one of them.

The game takes place in present day New York City. Through a cinematic introduction gamers are introduced to the hero, Sketch Turner, a writer/artist/freelance rock musician who is working on his comic book, Comix Zone late on a dark stormy night in his gothic high rise apartment with his best friend, Roadkill, a sewer rat who Sketch saved from death years earlier.

Suddenly, seemingly from no where, the villain of the comic book world which he created, Mortus, rises from the pages and traps Sketch in his own comic book, along with his pal Roadkill Through out the game Mortus sketches in enemies to attack Sketch.

The game begins with Sketch in the N.W.E. (New World Empire) control room in Newer York City. There he meets face to face with another one of his creations, General Alissa Cyan, (much more attractive than Mortus). Alissa gives Sketch a briefing of the situation and Sketch is left to explore the depths of Comix Zone.

Players take Sketch page by page and panel by panel through this distinctive title. In each panel on all six pages there is either a fight or a puzzle to solve. To move from panel to panel a flashing arrow will appear to show which path to take. Sometimes there will be two arrows... Sketch can only choose one. This adds a high replay value to the game. Players will want to play it over and over until they've explored all possible paths.

The combat is simple, as Comix Zone is at its hear a side scrolling beat 'em up. There are three action buttons. One button jump, one button can be assigned a special move, such as "Shoulder Smash" or "Block." The third button is the attack button, depending on the directing pressed on the D-Pad, this cause Sketch to kick or punch. Sketch can also roll or tear a piece of paper out of the comic book to make a paper airplane which has the ability to destroy all obstacles and enemies in his path.

There are several items in the games that players can collect to assist Sketch. The attack items which are pretty self explanatory: throwing knife, hand grenade, and dynamite. In addition to that there is Ice Tea which restores health, and Roadkill the rat. Roadkill has an exceptional sense of smell. This "item" can be used to locate hidden items in panels. Moreover, as Roadkill was transferred from our world to the comic world something strange happened.

His tail became electrified. In addition to sniffing out goodies, Roadkill can be used to electrocute enemies. Another item in the game that players will run across are question marks. Be weary of collecting these. When picked up their can either give you a random item (except for Roadkill), or explode in your face taking down half of your life.

This unique gaming experience is my truly great by the sense of comic book authenticity. Each character and back ground is hand drawn by real comic book artists. Even more enchanting is the fact that each character and enemy produce speech or thought bubbles. Sketch himself is prone to making Spiderman-esque smart-alecky remarks.

Plans for a 32X version of Comix Zone were announced, but the game was cancelled as Sega decided to drop support for its Genesis add-on. Later a PC version was released, and recently the game was published by THQ for Nintendo's Gameboy Advance.

Anyone who hasn't played this game should. It provides a unique gaming experience in an authentic comic book atmosphere.