Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley (XBLA)

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley is a frustratingly enjoyable game. It somehow manages to make you want to both throw your controller against the wall and recommend it to all your friends.

The game centers around the trials and tribulations of Captain Smiley, a down on his luck superhero whose comic book has been canceled. In order to drum up enough cash to relaunch his book and his career, Smiley becomes a guest star for hire, appearing in other heroes’ books. Bouncing from the fantasy world of Nanoc: The Obliviator to the misogynistic and kind of racist Silver Age to the strange and confusing world of school girl manga, Smiley does whatever it takes to earn a fresh start.

The art style of the game, and Smiley’s appearance, change to fit each new world he gets dumped into. Seeing Smiley transform from a burly, Rob Liefeld-esque superhero into an androgynous, spiky-haired 16 year-old for the manga levels is a treat.

The writing is hilarious and the voice acting is excellent. From the over-the-top Schwarzenegger impression that is Nanoc (see what they did there?) to the Captain Smiley’s bro-tastic arch-nemesis Brad, the characters are hilarious and memorable.

The problems start when it actually comes time to play the game and not just watch it. The game plays like an homage to the action-platformers of the 16-bit era. Not quite the quarter-stealing level design born of arcade games that earlier games had, but still noticeably more difficult than many of today’s games. The controls work well, and other than a few hard to time jumps, rarely lead to your demise. The problems come from the level designs themselves. The game is less about skill than it is about memorizing enemy spawn points and powering through to checkpoints.

There were at least a couple times where I found out that, yes, the Xbox 360 controller can indeed handle me attempting to twist it in half. Maybe I just need to work out more.

The one good thing, at least the first dozen times, that comes from your numerous deaths in the game is the Mega Man radiating white dots death animation you always get. It would be funnier if there were a few others it rotated in between, but at least Captain Smiley says a few different things. “Hope none of your friends are watching…” It’s like the developers at Twisted Pixel wanted to do a parody of all things superhero, but walked a little too close to the line on the ‘Ha, remember how frustrating this crap was?’ parts of the game.

In the end, I’m really glad I stuck through it. Not only because I had to, being the reviewer and all, but because the ending is so amazing. Frustrations aside, this really is one of the funniest games I’ve ever played, and I’d recommend any big comic book or old-school action fans to check it out.

Disclaimer: Twisted Pixel provided us with a review copy.