Twisted Pixel is something of an indie success story – and that might be putting it mildly. While there are around twenty employees now, with more being considered as I type, the company was originally started with just a few. The team jumped up to six or seven folks for The Maw’s development and moved ever forward as ‘splosion Man did great and now we sit on the precipice of their third game’s release.

Based in Austin, Texas this company has a vision and everything they’ve created so far has gotten them to Comic Jumper. Using a custom engine they call “The Beard,” they’ve been steadily adding features with each game they create. The Maw started in three dimensions, and then things were shaken down to two dimensions for ‘splosion Man. Utilizing a mix of the two, Comic Jumper now does a lot of switching between two and three dimensions in order to showcase he most robust use of the engine yet. The majority of the game plays out in a two dimensional platformer plane, but there are also driving segments that segue into three dimensions and shooter segments where you’re not just shooting in 2D, but actually into the background of the level. Your ability to smack bad guys also sends them careening into the background of the levels, smashing through windows and other fragile things throughout.

The Maw hit XBLA in January 2009 with ‘splosion Man not far behind in July. Thus Comic Jumper has required the longest development cycle of all their titles to date. But the game has been done for a while and they’re actually already working on another top secret game that we hope to hear about soon. The game is going to be another iteration of “The Beard” engine with the most features packed in yet.

Captain Smiley, the Comic Jumper protagonist, was originally conceived by one of the founding members of Twisted Pixel in the seventh grade. I don’t know if you’d count that as the beginning of the development cycle, but it at least gives some credibility to bringing a dream into reality. Captain Smiley has a talking star on his chest, with the relationship being akin to an old married couple who argue a lot. Their dialogue is great and Comic Jumper is Twisted Pixel’s first game with full voice acting. If you recall, ‘splosion Man had a lot of what I’d call plain gibberish.

If you’ve been following Comic Jumper at all, you’ll know that it’s a side-scrolling (mostly) beat-’em-up that follows Captain Smiley through four different comic worlds. Twisted Pixel claims the full experience will clock in at around six hours. The reason for the jumping through the worlds is due to the fact that Captain Smiley is broke and needs to make cameo appearances in other comics in order to regain his fortune and re-launch his own comic book. So as you travel as a guest through these other comics and defeat bosses, once you return to your own base, you’ll see the bosses hanging out like they’re on break on a movie set. After all, the comic action is all staged but the base is real life where you’re just dealing with other people in the business. This nonchalance is makes for more hilarious dialogue in all the times in between actual levels. In your base you can also upgrade your skills to get stronger

The latest style of comic book they revealed is Manga. I played through a level of this zone featuring the cute but oh so deadly characters the Kid Cupids. Like Manga itself, the game moves from right to left and attacks and other explosive elements are highlighted with bursts of hearts. I rode a unicorn mercilessly through the black and white Mange plains while shooting down demons. It’s a great addition to an already contrast-packed game that has come together well.

The full game will have twelve levels that are split between 2D side-scrolling, vehicular segments and shooting with targets. Twisted Pixel are excited about the fact that Comic Jumper is full of unlockables and you’ll actually be able to unlock content for ‘splosion Man as well as avatar accessories, interviews, concept art and music. Lots to do. This is all compounded by leaderboards that track everything from how much money you earned in a level to to how fast you made it to the end to how many points you tallied. They’ve filled the game to the brim with content and Twisted Pixel and comic fans alike should be excited about this new game.

Comic Jumper will release on XBLA on October 6th for 1200 Microsoft Points. Read more about it on Twisted Pixel’s website.