The Adventures of Captain Comic
Early shareware side-scroller for IBM PC compatibles.
The Adventures of Captain Comic is a 1989 shareware platform game for MS-DOS, created by Michael Denio. It was among the earliest side-scrollers for IBM PC compatibles to rival Nintendo Entertainment System titles, helping to pave the way for the shareware platformer boom of the early 1990s. An unlicensed NES port was later released by Color Dreams.
The story follows Captain Comic on a mission to the planet Tambi, where he must recover three artifacts: the Mystical Gems of Lascorbanos, the Thousand Coins of Tenure, and the Crown of the Ages. The game is won once all three treasures are collected.
Gameplay is split into eight major areas, each containing three smaller zones. Moving between zones triggers a short tune, clears all enemies, and saves Comic’s position. Comic has twelve shield points as health; each enemy hit removes two points. When shields reach zero, the next hit kills him. Shield pickups restore health to full or grant an extra life if health is already full. Comic starts with four lives, and an extra life is awarded every 50,000 points, up to a maximum of five extras. Dying—either by falling off the screen or being hit with no shields—costs a life and returns Comic to the zone’s entry point. Enemies behave differently: some bounce off walls, follow set paths, or chase Comic. After collecting a Blastola Cola, Comic can shoot and destroy enemies for points.
Denio had earlier written an interactive demo for a TMS34010 coprocessor board called The Adventures of Captain Pixel of the Galactic Security Patrol in 34010 AD. The credits screen shows a 1987 copyright for the graphics. The TMS34010, a CPU with graphics-oriented instructions, later appeared in arcade games like Narc and Mortal Kombat. In the game manual, Denio explained that Captain Comic began as an experiment to test whether a real arcade-style game could run on a standard IBM PC with an EGA card, and whether it could make money.
The final 1991 revision replaced the original theme with George Frideric Handel’s Harpsichord Suite in D Minor, HWV 428, Air. The NES version’s soundtrack consists entirely of classical music.
A sequel, Captain Comic II: Fractured Reality, followed in 1990.
Quick Facts
- Title
- The Adventures of Captain Comic
- Developer
- Color Dreams
- Publisher
- Michael Denio (shareware) / Color Dreams (NES)
- Designer
- Michael Denio
- Platforms
- MS-DOS · NES
- Released
- 1988: MS-DOS / 1989: NES
- Genre
- Platform, Metroidvania
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Captain Comic is on a mission to the planet Tambi, where the quest begins. Comic must find three artifacts: the Mystical Gems of Lascorbanos, the Thousand Coins of Tenure, and the Crown of the Ages. To find them, he must travel through many varied environments. The game is completed when Comic is in possession of all three treasures. The game is divided into eight major areas, each containing three smaller zones. Transitioning between zones plays a short tune, all enemies are removed from the screen, and Comic's position is saved. Comic has twelve shield points acting as health; each enemy hit removes two points. When at zero, Comic dies on the next hit. Shields can be found that replenish health to full or give an extra life if already full. Comic starts with four lives, and an extra life is given for each 50,000 points earned if not already at the maximum of five extras. If killed by falling off the bottom or hit with no shields, a life is lost and he returns to the last zone entry point. Enemies have different behaviors, from bouncing off walls to seeking Comic. After picking up a Blastola Cola, Comic can shoot and destroy enemies for points.
Reader's Guide
The Adventures of Captain Comic holds significance as one of the earliest side-scrolling platform games for IBM PC compatibles, directly challenging the dominance of Nintendo Entertainment System titles on home computers. Its shareware release model in 1988 helped establish a trend that would flourish in the early 1990s, influencing later shareware platformers such as Commander Keen. The game's development by Michael Denio began as an experiment to test whether a real arcade-type game could run on a standard IBM PC with an EGA card, and whether it could be profitable. The original theme song was a rendition of the United States Marine Corps Hymn, later replaced in the 1991 final revision by Handel's Harpsichord Suite in D Minor. The NES version soundtrack is composed entirely of classical music. In 2012, PC World ranked it the twelfth greatest shareware game of all time, noting its inspiration for other shareware authors. The game was cloned for the SAM Coupé and also as The Adventures of Pioneer Ksenia in 1990 by Ukrainian programmers. A sequel, Captain Comic II: Fractured Reality, was released in 1990.
Did You Know?
- In 2012, PC World called it the twelfth greatest shareware game of all time.
- A version for the NES was published by Color Dreams as an unlicensed title.
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