Comix Zone

Comix Zone is the Mega Drive's most aesthetically original game and perhaps the entire 16-bit era's. Sketch Turner, a comic artist, was pulled into his own creation by villain Mortus. The entire game unfolded in comic panels: enemies were drawn before your eyes, attacks tore paper, transitions between panels were literal jumps from one frame to another. Written onomatopoeia (WHAM! POW!) accompanied hits. Released in 1995 when Mega Drive was declining — too late for deserved commercial success. But it remains a design masterpiece nobody has ever replicated.