Comic books seem all the rage today (Batman, Spiderman, Watchmen), and so too are all things retro (Street Fighter IV, anyone?). So why not mush them pleasantly together? That seems to be the thinking behind Vogster Entertainment’s upcoming PSP title, Unbound Saga. This “updated” classic brawler takes place within a comic book world, but has shiny modern (well, portable modern) graphics. If you’re a fan of brawlers and own a PSP, chances are that this title will fit well in your collection.

Lori doesn’t seem to get that she sounds silly.

Photo by Kate McKiernan

Unbound Saga follows the tale of Rick Ajax, a comic book tough guy, as he brawls his way through the baddies of Toxopolis, a stereotypical dystopian and futuristic city. The catch? Rick’s self aware: he knows perfectly well that he’s in a comic book, and that the new villains he encounters each issue are part of the comic’s narrative, rather than random happenstance that every bouncer encounters. No one around Rick has figured out that they’re in a comic book, however, including (apparently) his costar, Lori Machete. In later levels you can control either Rick or Lori, but the fact that you’re the one controlling her doesn’t grant her access to “we’re in a comic book” knowledge, and she simply accepts the fact that they are being attacked by dressed up bears.

Just when you think you’re out of bad guys . . . .

The comic book setting is part of the gameplay as well: you move from panel to panel like you would move from screen to screen in a typical brawler, but in Unbound Saga the screens are bound by comic book panel lines–also, sometimes you go down. New bad guys appear for you to fight as the hand of The Maker draws them in to impede your way. Rick sees himself as being in a long-standing feud with The Maker, but in fact The Maker also draws in levers and switches that solve puzzles that would otherwise impede Rick’s way, indicating that the relationship is more complicated than Rick believes it to be at first. Rick’s goal is to escape the drawn page and fight down The Maker. Then he’ll be free to go out and live his dream to become a veterinarian.

Stepping away from some traditional brawler models, the controls are designed with accessibility in mind. The goal is to let players beat up bad guys and feel cool rather than make them memorize the most damaging combos. Instead the bad guys drop upgrade tokens, which let you level up skills in the modern “RPG elements” style. There is also a stamina meter (read: mana bar), which limits how rapidly you can use your big power moves. If you don’t feel like rationing out your hard-core beatings, you can switch between the two characters strategically. As you play one character, the other character regains stamina. This strategy will reward players who take the time to master the two styles of fighting in the game. Rick plays as a strong bruiser-type fighter, while Lori is a quick ninja-type fighter.

The game already has more plot on its website than a lot of classic brawlers have in their whole game (strangely enough, your girlfriend does not seem to have been captured. Whodathunk?), and Vogster promises that as the plot goes on, Rick will peel back the layers of what’s going on both in Toxopolis and with The Maker. The story concept of a character who has both broken a fourth wall (of the comic book), but not the relevant fourth wall (of the video game) is a different one, and should be fun to see play out. There is also a good sense of humor, making fun of itself and its genre while telling its story.

Unbound Saga comes out this July, and while it doesn’t sound compelling enough to rush out and buy a PSP to play it on, it looks to make a solid addition to the PSP library.

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