I beat this game on Saturday, and I still am astonished at what just happened.

Right off the bat, Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley, is bringing the funny with its dialogue.

Egotistical and dimwitted Captain Smiley (A beefy superhero with what looks like an emoticon for a head) and his foul mouthed chest piece, Star, are instantly likable.

The dialogue they spew at each other and other characters is perfectly written, and the cast of characters ranging from fed-up sidekick, Gerda, to the zany Dr. Winklemeyer are prime examples on how to write engaging, and unique characters.

When it comes to jokes, the game pokes fun at everything. MMO’s, real-world banks, sexism in the ’60’s, racial stereotypes and even ex vice president Dick Cheney aren’t safe when the jokes start flying.

Perhaps the funniest part of the game is when Captain Smiley enters the manga world. If you’re a fan of shojo manga, you’ll catch every negative joke and stab the developers take at the genre’s love of young girls and out-there plots. To take it one step further, Twisted Pixel named the high school to poke fun at anime’s…tentacle filled brethren.

There’s so much pop culture infused into the game that it’s almost overwhelming unless you’re familiar with it all. Even Captain Smiley’s death sequence references a certain 8-bit Blue Bomber.

The plot follows Captain Smiley after his fall from grace in the comic book world. Twisted Pixel -- yes, the game’s developers -- buy the property and task Smiley with guest starring in different comics until he has enough money to re-launch his own.

It’s certainly unique to have an actual developer as a plot device.

Not only are staff members used in a special attack, but they also appear in a number of live action sequences and talk to Captain Smiley throughout his adventure.

All of this is funny, witty and entirely unique. However, there is one thing that holds this game back from perfection: the gameplay.

The developers describe Comic Jumper’s gameplay on their website as being inspired by Gunstar Heroes.

Don't get too excited after reading that; the game doesn't even come close to replicating Treasure's frantic, high-paced classic side scrolling shooter.

The action is split into two types: melee and shooting.

In melee sections our hero has two attack buttons; one is used to cause damage, while the other smacks baddies away to prevent him from being surrounded. If done perfectly, these sequences net Captain Smiley a special attack.

The shooter sequences are much more frequent, and just as simple.

Players push in the right trigger to shoot and aim by pointing the right analog in the desired direction. Usually this is done in the game’s standard platforming levels, but it also shows up for on rails, third person, sections.

On top of that players can jump and slide to dodge enemies. Quick time events are also included, though only a handful of very simple ones that do little to spice things up.

I was hoping that the various real-world inspired art styles would also present some unique gameplay -- they don’t.

Luckily the story keeps up with the different time periods.

When starring in improbable Paper Pals, a comic from the ‘60’s, Star will be censored dozens of times by the fictional Comics Obscenity Commission with a big, red censor stamp and buzzer as he lets loose with his foul mouth.

Even though the art is different and interesting in each comic genre, environments and enemy types can get very repetitive to the point of boredom.

The museum level in Paper Pals is a prime example of this. Smiley is fighting the same geisha dolls, security guards and ventriloquist dolls while climbing identical sets of stairs and smashing though windows over and over again for much longer than was really needed.

Also, from time to time little money boosting incentives will pop up on the screen and task players with a challenge to earn some extra cash. It’s important to go for these cash bonuses in order to buy upgrades for Smiley as well as bonuses like concept art, but they follow a rinse and repeat pattern.

Only once did a challenge not ask me to do a certain area without getting hit.

It doesn't have the gameplay variety of The Maw, or the innovative found in ‘Splosion Man, but Comic Jumper makes up for it with its well-written narrative, funny dialogue and slick presentation -- something many games could use more of.

The good: Constant pop culture references, funny dialogue, superb voice acting.

The bad: Gameplay is weak, levels and enemy types are repetitive.

The Star: Captain Smiley's chest piece just became one of gaming's funniest characters.