The Adventures of Captain Comic
Description official description
You are Captain Comic, galactic hero. Your mission is to recover three treasures from the planet Omsoc, which have been stolen away and hidden on the remote planet of Tambi.
Captain Comic is a platformer featuring a huge nonlinear playfield divided into several different terrains. As Comic, you must search throughout Tambi for power ups and items that will aid you in your quest to recover the three treasures. The Captain's main weapon is 'Blastola Cola', a can of drink that allows him to hurl fireballs at his foes. For each can that he finds, an additional fireball can be thrown.
There are many different paths that are available from the start, but without the right item or weapon, it can be impossible to progress through certain paths, or even to commit suicide. It's up to the player to decide the correct route to take, and which places to return to at a later time.
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 57% (based on 5 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.6 out of 5 (based on 47 ratings with 8 reviews)
For those who were around at the time, this is wonderfully nostalgic.
The Good
This was the first game of any kind I played on the PC, so I guess I'm looking at it through rose-tinted spectacles. At the time it was ground-breaking - 16 colour graphics, cool sound effects, great action, utterly addictive. Wonderful stuff.
The Bad
Then again, when it was the only game I had, I guess it was the novelty of playing it that kept me going rather than any inherent addictiveness.
The Bottom Line
It obviously doesn't compare to modern games, but that's not the point, is it? This game was free (well... shareware) at the time, so I guess still is. For anyone who's old enough to remember the quality of early games, I heartily recommend a look at this.
DOS · by Steve Hall (329) · 2000
Great game for 1988 but outdated by 1990
The Good
It was the first EGA game I remember playing that was colorful and came close to what we were used to on the NES and Sega Master System. It was shareware and didn't cost anything to try it out.
The Bad
It was very slow on the average machine at the time. The animations are done with only a few frames so they look jumpy. It was late 1989 by the time it was really available on all BBS's. And shareware without an incentive of a new game when you paid didn't seem to make sense.
The Bottom Line
It is a side scrolling platform game like super mario brothers. It may have been the first of it's kind but quickly became old news as more shareware PC platform games hit the market.
DOS · by gametrader (208) · 2004
For once, I agree with Tomer Gabel!
The Good
I really liked the fact that it was on loan from the local library, so that I couldn't throw it out the window. I mean, it was a perfectly good floppy disk (a floppy floppy, BTW) otherwise. The basic concept is also nice...
The Bad
...too bad the game is crap. I quite frankly had no fun at all playing it. The gameplay is reminiscent of the most irritating CBM 64 platformers, and the graphics are amateurish at best.
The Bottom Line
It really was the first EGA platformer I ever played, but I feel about as nostalgic about it as one would feel about one's first enema. Or something. I assume. Haven't had one myself. Not ever. No sirree...
DOS · by Late (77) · 2001
Trivia
Cancelled port
Ron Risley's PAL port from the NTSC NES version was complete, but never marketed.
Development
After Scott Miller saw Captain Comic, he tried hard to recruit the author, Michael Denio, but Michael didn't have faith that shareware games could make money, and so he stayed at his normal job.
Music
For the NES port, the programmers chose classical music from the public domain so that they would not have to pay royalties to other music companies.
Names
The planet "Omsoc" where the treasures are stolen from is really "Cosmo" spelled backwards. Michael Denio used this trick for naming several things in the series.
Theme song
The theme song for Captain Comic was traditionally a rendition of the United States' Marine Corps Theme.
Information also contributed by Andrew Shepard and Sciere
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Crapshoot
A humorous review on PC Gamer
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by IJan.
NES added by lugnut.
Additional contributors: Frenkel, Shoddyan, Patrick Bregger.
Game added November 30, 1999. Last modified April 2, 2024.