Captain Smiley is a pretty crappy superhero. He's insecure, frequently confused and his itchy trigger finger has resulted in the accidental death of more than one innocent. Not traits that we typically associate with the larger-than-life 4-color demigods of our youth. Mind you, it doesn't exactly help that he's perpetually browbeaten by his "friends" just as often as the villains in his rogues gallery either. That can't be good for anyone's self-esteem. It's no wonder the poor guy's series got cancelled.

So what does a down-on-his-luck hero do when he needs to raise a bunch of cash in a hurry to fund the relaunch of his comic? Why, a series of guest-starring roles in other troubled titles, that's what! Throw in a bunch of pop culture references, some retro-styled gameplay and a whole lot of laughs and you have Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley. Hit the jump for more, True Believer. Excelsior!

It's a fairly good sign when I'm not even five minutes into a game and literally cannot stop laughing. Comic Jumper contains a mix of clever writing, spot-on dialog delivery and lowbrow stupidity so perfectly balanced that, on more than one occasion, I had to pause my game in order to regain my composure before continuing. Fans of Twisted Pixel's 2009 XBLA hit, 'Splosion Man, are already well acquainted with the Austin, Texas-based studio's love of surreal humor and catchy, off-kilter musical ditties. Don't worry, as those are still very much present in Comic Jumper. Plus, the inclusion of some great voice acting and an actual storyline allows them to stretch their comedy wings much further than the broad physical humor and sight gags that 'Splosion Man allowed.

When the first teaser trailer appeared at PAX 2009, I assumed the game would be standard action/adventure platforming fare, but its real inspirations show through early on. Rooted more in classic "run and gun" titles like Contra, Rush'N Attack and Metal Slug, Comic Jumper finds Captain Smiley and his obnoxiously loudmouthed sidekick/chest emblem, Star, running eternally to the right (well, almost always --  more on that later), while dispatching a seemingly endless stream of enemies via gun, fist and foot. Hopefully years of games replete with gentle hand-holding haven't atrophied your arcade muscle memory, as your twitch control and timing are in for a challenge. It's not quite as brutal as 'Splosion Man in that regard, but it continues to show that TP is a company unafraid to hold a gamer's feet to the fire of challenging, old-school difficulty.

Since you'll spend most of your time shooting the various and sundry waves of flying and ground-based enemies, you'll want to get comfortable early on with the game's aiming mechanic. But the less precise analog stick-jocks among you needn't worry, as there's an option to turn on aim assist. After completing the game regularly, I played through a couple of levels with it on and found them still challenging, while far less rage-inducing. It's not a snap-lock however; just a gentle assist that leaves your brain extra clock cycles for dodging projectiles and memorizing attack patterns.

The allusions to classics like Contra are further enhanced by "behind-the-back" shooting galleries that break up the levels, making the whole package feel at times like just as much of an homage to classic gaming as to comics themselves. Aiming feels a bit floaty in these sections, sadly, but the change in perspective is a nice palate cleanser, as are the vehicle sections, quick-time events and the all-too-brief melee segments (the later two of which could use serious difficulty bumps).

Comic Jumper's conceit takes Captain Smiley and Star from their own "modern day" comic setting and drags them, kicking and screaming, through three disparate genres. From the Frazetta-styled barbarian world of Nanoc The Obliviator; to the socially regressive Silver Age stereotypes of The Improbable Paper Pals; to the disorientingly confusing, painfully kawaii manga of Cutie Cutie Kid Cupids, each set of levels faithfully emulates their genre's visual and stylistic tropes. Sometimes with painfully cringe-worthy results (Origami Kid, anybody?). Of all of these, the manga levels stand out the most and the presentation is masterfully executed. Levels move right-to-left instead of left-to-right, backgrounds are liberally shaded with screentones and Smiley seems to be unable to understand what anybody is saying, despite the fact that they're speaking perfect English. Your guns shoot hearts and bubbles and when they hit enemies, the on-screen sound effect is the Japanese word for "tickle." Need I say more?

Comics have occasionally been known to break the fourth wall. Marvel's Deadpool is a prime example, being one of the only superhumans who is fully aware that he's just a comic book character. But Comic Jumper doesn't just break the fourth wall -- it demolishes it, grinds the fragments into dust and blows it into the void of space. For instance, Twisted Pixel themselves appear in-game as the benefactors who fund the comic jumping technology for Smiley's adventures. Find yourself in a bind? Trigger a screen clearing "Help Me Out" and the devs will show up to lend a hand (or ten... and maybe a head too). The game also never misses a chance to squeeze in a self-aware video game or pop culture reference and the crew seems to have a bit of a fixation on a the back catalog of a certain actor-turned-governor, as well. An entire boss fight based around a single awful character from Total Recall? I don't know if I want hug them or punch them for that. I'm leaning towards hug... for now.

Abundant unlockables, online leaderboards and challenge levels provide some needed replayability. Also, Twisted Pixel have proven themselves to be self-promotional geniuses, as your home base sports a pair of "arcade cabinets" where you can access the marketplace demos of The Maw and 'Splosion Man. Indeed, one of the unlockables is a set of bonus levels for 'Splosion Man; a nice reward for faithful fans. Well played, Twisted Pixel. Well played indeed.

Still, Comic Jumper isn't a game without some (relatively) minor flaws. The slide mechanic isn't introduced via tool-tip until far past the point where you would have needed to learn it for survivability's sake. The game's many hand-over-hand platforming sections would also far prove less frustrating on certain levels if the handholds didn't blend into the background so much. Likewise, the black and white visuals on the manga levels suffer from a lack of distinction, which makes some enemy projectiles hard to make out. It also would have been nice to have the gameplay vary a bit more from genre to genre, but perhaps that could be addressed in a sequel.

And I'll go on record saying that a sequel is something this game desperately needs. As a huge comic geek myself, I can think of at least a half-dozen different comic genres and styles off the top of my head that are ripe for parody; enough material for at least two sequels. This would also allow some room for experimenting with different gameplay modes and maybe even the possibility for some co-op. Still, even with the few problems it has, its undeniable goofball charm and retro sensibilities make Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley worthy of promotion to the Staff Picks section of the New Release wall, rather than languishing in the musty and beat-up "4-for-$1" longboxes underneath the back-issue bins.

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Things We Liked: Old-school gameplay. Relentless, non-stop laughs. Obvious source material love/stylistic faithfulness. Star's bromance with Brad. Singing Pling Pling to Heaven. Tons of behind-the-scenes collectibles. The potential for a sequel. "I GOT FIIIIIIIIVE KIDS TO FEED!"

Things We Disliked: Boss fights lacked variety. Some sections felt like throwaways and could have used a ramp-up in difficulty. Overhead handholds shouldn't blend in so much that they can't be seen. Would have preferred to see at least one extra genre, even if it meant clipping a level out of each of the existing ones.

Target Audience: Comic fans. Pop culture junkies. Twitchy, old-school arcade rats jonesing for a fix. Fans of ukulele songs about stat screens. Twisted Pixel groupies who want to ride on their unicorns and swim in piles of money.

(Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley – Developer: Twisted Pixel Games. Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios. Available for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)

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(Originally posted on Crush! Frag! Destroy! on 10/4/10)