Comix Zone is a 1995 beat 'em up video game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. It is set within the panels of a comic book with dialogue rendered within talk bubbles and sprites, and backgrounds possessing the bright colors and dynamic drawing style of superhero comics. This style is in previous video games, for example Ocean Software's Batman: The Caped Crusader in 1988, but Comix Zone stretched the idea to such an extent that Sega applied for and was granted a patent for a "videogame system for creating a simulated comic book game".
Jonah Hex co-creator Tony DeZuniga (pictured in 2011) designed Comix Zone's beginning and ending sequences.
Sega Technical Institute (STI) was an American video game developer owned by Sega. Founded by the Atari veteran Mark Cerny in 1990, STI sought to combine elite Japanese developers, including the Sonic Team programmer Yuji Naka and his team, with new American talent. STI developed games for Sega Genesis, including several Sonic the Hedgehog games, before it was closed at the end of 1996.
Sega Technical Institute
Mark Cerny, founder of Sega Technical Institute
The Sonic & Knuckles cartridge features a "lock-on" adapter that allows it to be physically attached to other Genesis cartridges.
Retrospectively, STI's games have been considered important to the Sega Genesis.
