Comix Zone is one of the best games on the Genesis!
The opening cutscene of Comix Zone shows Turner working on drawing up some comic. It is nighttime, and all of a sudden there is a huge crack of thunder. An evil man appears, and uses his comic book magic to somehow transport you into one of his twisted graphic novels. You awake in a 2d world, full of strange creatures and obstacles. Luckily, you have a companion, who tells you your mission, and guides you along the way.
The graphical style is fairly self-explanatory. All of the environments are set inside a comic book, so everything is handdrawn. There are some really cool effects to be seen within the game. For one thing, when you kill an enemy, it explodes into shreds of comic paper. The explosions also look great, even though they are handdrawn.
Comix Zone is based around fighting, as well as some puzzle-solving elements. After fighting your way through some very strange enemies, you might be faced with an obstacle. Many of the puzzles involve using a rat to help you. This rat can get into small areas in order to activate switches. Sometimes, he can even find hidden items that will help you through the level. The obstacles aren't particularly difficult to overcome, but they do manage to offer a nice break from the fighting. That's not to say the fighting is boring though; it is actually very well-done. When you begin punching an enemy, you can also throw in some kicking combos, or you can grab the character. Once in a grab position, you can knee the enemy, and then throw him into a wall. There are many different combos that you can achieve when fighting.
Comix Zone's sound is great, even though there is not much voice acting in the game. There is a wide variety of tracks to choose from in the game, ranging from heavy metal, to slow rock and jazz. The music fits the game surprisingly well. I especially like the musis that comes on when you take part in the arena fights. All of the environmental sound effects are great too, and everything seems to blend well with the comic book style and feel of the game.
Comix Zone is more than just your average beat 'em up. It blends in a unique comic book art style with some great fighting mechanics and a pretty good story. If you had a Genesis but didn't own Comix Zone, then you missed out on one awesome game!