Comix Zone (MD, 1995)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-8
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-7
+ Multiple paths, interesting concept (you're a comic book artist/athlete/bum trapped in his own comic by a fictional villain of his own creation), lots of moves, good use of the rat mascot (find hidden items, pull switches, electrocute enemies) and the six button pad, great animation, minor puzzles here and there, control options, item inventory (limited to three items), pretty good variation
+/- Need to read the manual/a guide for the move list, can't move back to a previously visited frame, can't run
- No lives or continues (you can find a couple of hidden lives though), pretty short, some strange physics (you take damage from punching any object and reach higher platforms by kicking in the air), some slowdown, hard to keep track of dialogue in the middle of a fight, no difficulty options, some trial & error (the jump on page 1, some puzzles, the burning page segment), somewhat sloppy hit detection at times (shaolin kick too close to the torch pillars and it doesn't register, using the burning barrel against the first boss), cheap hits through leaps of faith (because you can't look up or down), road kill (the rat) is a bit slow at searching for items
Notes:
-The damage from hitting barrels and boxes can be removed with a GG code
-Minor side effects from overclocking (somewhat distorted PSG, some graphical glitching outside of the frame you're in)
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-7
+ Multiple paths, interesting concept (you're a comic book artist/athlete/bum trapped in his own comic by a fictional villain of his own creation), lots of moves, good use of the rat mascot (find hidden items, pull switches, electrocute enemies) and the six button pad, great animation, minor puzzles here and there, control options, item inventory (limited to three items), pretty good variation
+/- Need to read the manual/a guide for the move list, can't move back to a previously visited frame, can't run
- No lives or continues (you can find a couple of hidden lives though), pretty short, some strange physics (you take damage from punching any object and reach higher platforms by kicking in the air), some slowdown, hard to keep track of dialogue in the middle of a fight, no difficulty options, some trial & error (the jump on page 1, some puzzles, the burning page segment), somewhat sloppy hit detection at times (shaolin kick too close to the torch pillars and it doesn't register, using the burning barrel against the first boss), cheap hits through leaps of faith (because you can't look up or down), road kill (the rat) is a bit slow at searching for items
Notes:
-The damage from hitting barrels and boxes can be removed with a GG code
-Minor side effects from overclocking (somewhat distorted PSG, some graphical glitching outside of the frame you're in)
