Twisted Pixel have quickly gathered a reputation for producing highly original games. The Maw and ‘Splosion Man weren’t exactly standard fare, even in the more creative world of download only titles, and Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley continues the trend. You play as Captain Smiley, a comic book hero who has recently hit hard times. Shortly after you start the game the Captain’s book is cancelled after it’s denounced as terrible in an opening video. Luckily Twisted Pixel come to the rescue, giving Smiley a chance to earn enough money to relaunch his book by appearing in other comic books.

That may sound bizarre but I promise you that’s pretty much the story line. Comic Jumper seems to be set in a weird universe where our world and the world of comic heroes intersects. It’s not actually clear whether the world Captain Smiley inhabits is the same world that Twisted Pixel is in but you do regularly converse with the game’s creators in a move that is deliciously meta.

Essentially, once Twisted Pixel decide to save you they build you a base of operations and a machine that allows you to jump into other comic books, earning cash and driving up fan interest to get your own title back. As well as your own book there are three books you visit; Nanoc, a fantasy comic in the style of Conan the Barbarian; Paper Pals, in the style of 1970s Silver Age comic, complete with censorship; and Cutie Cutie Kid Cupids, a Manga comic. You feature in each comic for three issues and each series features very different art styles, all of which look absolutely fantastic.

Along with the unique art, each of the comics has its own heroes and villains that are brilliant parodies of the style’s writing. Whilst these go deep enough that they’ll appeal to comic fans, they’re funny enough to appeal even if you had no knowledge of comics.

However whilst the writing is good for each of the comics, the best writing is between Captain Smiley, his sidekick Star and their arch-nemesis Brad. Firstly the dynamic between Smiley and Star is simply brilliant. Star is an actual star on Smiley’s chest, yet the two are constantly at odds over most things that happen in the game. However, when you toss Brad into the mix the writing becomes amazing. Not only is Brad a fantastic caricature of the typical “too cool” dude who calls everyone “Brah”, Star thinks he’s amazing. Given that he’s supposed to ne Captain Smiley’s arch-nemesis the potential for humour is obvious.

Along with the plethora of comic book references, all of which come hilariously close to copyright and trademark infringement while staying just clear, are a variety of pop culture references and references to other Twisted Pixel titles. This goes beyond alluding to ‘Splosion Man or The Maw, these games actually exist in the world of Comic Jumper and you can buy them in game through arcade cabinets in your home base. When you first find these cabinets Star and Captain Smiley will discuss the controversy about The Maw’s early DLC; later in the game Captain Smiley talks about how much he enjoyed playing ‘Splosion Man and reminisces about defeating one of the bosses on his second attempt.

Whilst Twisted Pixel have outdone themselves with the art and writing there is a pretty large downside to the game – the gameplay. Comic Jumper is basically a 2.5D side scrolling shooter, although there are some other mechanics such as over the shoulder, on-rails shooter sections and a few melee parts.

Firstly the gameplay does switch mechanics at the drop of a hat, which can lead to a brief moment of disorientation. However the real issue is that it’s just too hard. Enemies can take a lot damage before they go down, and the way that enemies are thrown at you could be classed at challenging.

The problem comes when there are two or three types of enemy on screen, all of which have different attack patterns. Trying to manage all of the enemies can feel impossible at times, making the game feel frustrating rather than simply challenging. In fact it’s close to controller-throwingly frustrating, mostly down to what feels like poor design.

Fortunately you do have infinite lives, you’ll just miss out on bonuses if you die too much, and there are checkpoints inside the levels although they’re far enough apart that you’ll find yourself repeating some sections over and over as you slowly work out how not to die. Sometimes it just feels like luck and you’re not sure if you’ll be able to get past a point again if you die.

There is one very entertaining fall back when you feel overwhelmed, hit the Y button and the Twisted Pixel team will punch, kick and headbutt the comic panel killing all enemies on the screen. You can buy more of this power-up or earn it by clearing the melee sections that appear occasionally. Having the screen cleared is useful but you can only have three of the power-up available at any time and enemy attack patterns mean you’ll be back to feeling frustrated again pretty quickly.

Finally, a quick word on replayability. If you feel that you can get past the gameplay issues there’s plenty of opportunity to go back through the game. Each level has a few small sections where you set a challenge, such as don’t take any damage while climbing a wall, to please your readers. Complete it and you’ll get extra cash. Sadly there isn’t an option to restart the challenge section of the level, so you do have to kill yourself if you fail the challenge. Along with the in-level challenges there are a selection of stand-alone challenges which reward cash and track score for leaderboards.

Compared to the frustrations with the rest of the game the challenges actually feel about right in terms of difficulty. They’re not easy but they all seem achievable. They’re also all pitched at just about the right length that if you fail just before the end it’s not too much of a chore to try again.

Pros:

• Very funny writing
• A variety of well drawn art styles
• Will appeal to comic fans
• Challenges extend replayability

Cons:

• Gameplay quickly becomes frustrating
• Switch between gameplay mechanics can be disorientating
• Checkpoints are too far apart

Comic Jumper is a game that could so easily be fantastic and falls depressingly short. Whilst the art is excellent and the writing will have you in fits of laughter, they don’t make up for gameplay that irritates rather than entertains. It’s a shame that Twisted Pixel got so close to something that could be amazing but instead falls to merely average. With a few tweaks to the gameplay Comic Jumper could be a very impressive title.

Score: 5/10