User:TheJoebro64/drafts/Comix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Comix Zone is a 1995 beat 'em up game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. The side-scrolling game is set within the panels of a comic book, with dialogue rendered in speech balloons and backgrounds with the art style of superhero comics. Comix Zone follows Sketch Turner, an artist and musician who is sucked into his own comic book. The player battles through comic book pages in each level to escape and prevent Sketch's villain, a powerful mutant, from taking form in the real world.
Comix Zone | |
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Developer(s) | Sega Technical Institute |
Publisher(s) | Sega |
Designer(s) | Peter Morawiec |
Programmer(s) | Adrian Stephens |
Writer(s) | Peter Morawiec |
Composer(s) | Howard Drossin |
Platform(s) | Sega Genesis, Windows, Game Boy Advance |
Release | Sega GenesisWindowsGame Boy Advance
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Genre(s) | Beat 'em up |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
STI's Peter Morawiec conceived Comix Zone after joining his co-workers on a trip to a comic book shop. His concept was approved by STI head Roger Hector and Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske when he presented it in December 1992, but development did not begin until after the release of Sonic Spinball (1993). Comix Zone was developed by a team of 12, which included comic book artists Tony DeZuniga and Alex Niño and sought to faithfully replicate a comic book in design and animation. It became STI's top project with the full support of Sega's marketing department and was one of only two games, the other being The Ooze (1995), to bear the STI logo.
Comix Zone was released for the Genesis and Windows in late 1995 to positive reviews. Critics felt its concept was unique, successfully blending the video game and comic book mediums, and praised the visuals and music. However, they criticized the gameplay as simplistic, repetitive, and lacking innovation. Comix Zone underperformed commercially because it was released late in the Genesis' lifecycle, after the launch of next-generation hardware such as the Sega Saturn and Sony's PlayStation. Proposed sequels were never developed, and after the cancellation of Sonic X-treme and STI's closure in 1996, Morawiec and Stephens left Sega to form Luxoflux.
In the years after its release, Comix Zone developed a cult following. It was rereleased for various platforms, including for the Game Boy Advance in 2002 and through compilations such as Sonic Mega Collection (2002) and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009). These rereleases brought Comix Zone wider recognition and retrospective reviewers have reappraised it as one of the best Genesis games. A film adaptation entered development in 2022.