Bonk's Adventure
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
In the midst of the 16-bit gaming wars, NEC eventually came
to the realization that their TurboGrafx-16 system was in
dire need of a mascot, as the generic warrior known as Keith
Courage simply wasn't cutting it. Well aware of the
tremendous success that Nintendo enjoyed with their Super
Mario line of games, not to mention the immediate popularity
attained by Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog cart, NEC went to work
on creating a new franchise focused on a single appealing
character. They came up with a charismatic little
Neanderthal whose name was Bonk. Constantly wearing a smile
on his face and burdened with a big bald head that was twice
as large as his little scrawny body, Bonk may very well have
been the most likable of the system mascots, even if the
games that he starred in didn't quite achieve the same level
of notoriety as the video adventures that featured a certain
Italian plumber and a spunky little hedgehog.
Everyone's favorite caveman made his debut in Bonk's
Adventure, a charming, run-and-jump title that had been
designed along the same lines as the many Mario and Sonic
games. Not surprisingly, the game play consists of your
typical side-scrolling, platform action, with plenty of
malicious (yet cute) enemies to destroy, dozens of colorful
locales to traverse, and countless secrets to be discovered.
The game's story will probably evoke an undeniable sense of
deja vu in most veteran gamers: Bonk's mission is to defeat
King Drool, an evil green lizard that had the gall to kidnap
the princess of the land. Sure, this adventure is just a tad
bit reminiscent of Mario's quest to rescue Princess
Toadstool from the sinister Bowser, but at least the
princess in this case is a dinosaur.
Back in Bonk's time, advanced weaponry had not yet been
discovered (heck, they probably hadn't even stumbled upon
the wheel yet). Without any swords or machine guns to fight
off the many dangerous dinosaurs that would stand in his
way, Bonk was forced to improvise. The ingenious little
savage decided that his abnormally large head would serve
just fine as a tool of devastation, and even developed a few
special techniques that took full advantage of his
rock-solid cranium. With just a little bit of practice, Bonk
was able to perfect a move that we'll refer to as a
'jumping head-butt'. An incredible demonstration of
strength and athleticism, the jumping head-butt technique
demanded that Bonk take a great leap up into the air, and
come down head-first on the bad guys. Resourceful as well as
sturdy and handsome, Bonk figured out that he could power
himself up by smashing the many flowers that grow throughout
the land. Every now and again, Bonk might stumble upon a
flower that contains a huge piece of meat, which would not
only make our hero stronger, but would also grant him
invincibility for a few moments. It was necessary to be
cautious when bonking flowers, however, as certain blossoms
contain traps that could harm the poor, naive caveman.
While Bonk's Adventure isn't a great deal different than
many other side-scrolling platform titles (at least as far
as its basic game play goes), NEC threw in a number of
interesting features to make the game more enjoyable and
unique. For instance, Bonk can climb up the sides of cliffs
by gnawing into them with his teeth (he was definitely a man
of many talents). There are also a number of secret bonus
rooms in which Bonk can participate in various mini-games in
order rack up points and gain extra health and lives. This
is one adventure that you'll likely play through many times,
thanks in part to the many secrets that it contains and the
numerous areas that can be explored.
Bonk's Adventure is a colorful game to say the least. As you
might expect from a title of this nature, the backgrounds
are very bright and cartoonish. The game features some
humongous bosses; these big bad dinos are actually Bonk's
buds, but the devilish King Drool had placed them under a
spell to make them believe that our bald protagonist is
actually their enemy. Bonk need only knock some sense into
them (literally) to make them realize the truth, but they
can take a pounding before they finally come to their
senses. Let me tell you, King Drool picked the right
dinosaurs to hypnotize; these guys dwarf poor little Bonk.
The music in the game contains some pleasant variety and is
another strong point. While most of the tunes are rather
lighthearted and easygoing, the track that plays during boss
battles is surprisingly intense. The sound effects are
equally effective: it's always satisfying to hear a nice
loud 'SMASH' upon bashing one of King Drool's evil henchmen.
As good as it is, Bonk's Adventure isn't quite as deep or as
polished as most of the Sonic or Mario games. Part of the
problem is that Bonk's jumping head-butt attack can make the
game way too easy. By cranking up the turbo on Button II of
your TurboPad, it is possible to fly through entire levels
simply by continually spinning in the air. However, this is
the only major flaw in a very worthwhile video game. Just
about everyone who ever owned a TurboGrafx had purchased
this game at some point or another, but if you do happen to
still have a TG-16 and you've never played Bonk's Adventure,
I highly recommend that you find and purchase a copy. Dust
off the old Turbo one more time and give Bonk a try.
Overall: 9 out of 10
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