Bonk's Adventure (1989)

Bonk's Adventure
The most iconic game on the PC-Engine !
Protagonist(s): Bonk Genre(s): Action Platformer Platform(s): PC-Engine NES Amiga Release Date: JP: December 15 1989 NA: April 1990 1993 (NES) Developer(s): Atlus/Red Company Factor 5 (Amiga) A.I Company Ltd. (NES) Publisher(s): JP: Hudson Soft NA: NEC Home Electronics EU: Ubisoft (Amiga) Series: Bonk's Successor: Bonk's Revenge

Bonk's Adventure is a 2D Platformer release in 1989, the game was ported to the NES and Amiga, as well as being released as a coin-operated arcade game, under different titles (FC Genjin and BC Genjin in Japan, and BC Kid in Europe). A completely different game with the same name appeared on the Game Boy (under the title GB Genjin in Japan). In 2003, The game got a remake on GameCube only in Japan.

Plot

Bonk's mission is to rescue Princess Za (a small pink Plesiosaur-type reptile) who has been kidnapped by the evil King Drool (a large, green, Tyrannosaurus-type dinosaur).

Why It's A Great Adventure

1. The concept of a hero that use his head to fight enemies is a unique and hilarous concept, and thus it had given a very funny game franchise with this game along with the sequels having ton of funny moments.
2. Fun, unique gameplay that mostly resolve around Bonk head gimmick that is very fun to use, so much that it is actually a great game to speedrun or even to replay over and over due to how fun it feel to use Bonk head.
   • Even better, you can use it to not fall in a pit and press the button for attacking repeatedly so that you can fly and having less chances to fall, also it can do wall jumps and you kill enemies with this way, which is very fun.
3. Great graphics for it's time, since it nearly look like a 16-bit game and is on par with a Sega Genesis game, the Amiga port had even better graphics, due to being even more colorful and detailled and having improved sprite work compared to the PC-Engine version.
   • The graphics in the NES port are also very impressive for the system because it nearly look like a 16-bit game even if the NES is an 8-bit system, and because of that, it may be one of the best looking NES game.
   • The graphics in the 2003 remake are also pretty decent for the systems they were released on, even if some other 2003 GameCube games looked better such as Bomberman Land 2.
4. The NES version is quite impressive, as the sprites are very detailed and look like the sprites from the PC-Engine version of Bonk's Revenge and the mechanics are fully ported onto the NES with a faithful execution, and even if the level design is slightly different, it still good and the game itself is just as fun and easy as the PC-Engine original.
5. While the game is easy for the most parts, there's still some challenging moments, especially with the boss fights and some of the last levels that are more difficult than the rest of the game.
6. Amazing and memorable soundtrack, especially on the PC-Engine, as the soundtrack is extremely catchy and fit the tone of the game and even the premise, the title screen music, the level 1-1 theme and the boss fights theme are the best exemple as memorable musics.
   • The NES version soundtrack is not only faithful to the original game but also extremely well done because they are very well adapted to the NES sound chip and they are just as catchy, and some of the remixes might sound even better than in the original game for some peoples.
7. It spawned lot of sequels, some of which are even better than this game.
8. The length is decent for a 1989 platformer, lasting 1 hour, which was quite long for a platform game back in the 80s.
9. While the overall controls are very clunky, the game is designed with it so it's not a problem and honestly, the controls still manage to be decent due to being responsive (at least for the most parts).
10. The bosses themself are very decent for a first entry, as they are challenging and their paths are unique and are easy to learn, in fact they are the most challenging things in this entire game, although the final boss is terrible.
11. Great box arts for the JP version, and for the Amiga and the NES ports (both in Japanese and North America).
12. The GameCube remake is also very good and a very fun game to play that is very faithful to the original while adding more contents and being more modern, unfortunately that would be the last Bonk game (though a game was planned to be released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii in 2009 but was unfortunately cancelled).
13. Very cool characters, such as Bonk himself, also the characters designs in this game are goofy and unique, and they look great.
14. This game also saved the sales of the PC-Engine by becoming it's mascot, even in North America the game saved the consoles from worst sales (although in that country it still didn't sell well unfortunately), and the franchise also spawned lot of games afterward until Konami brought Hudson Soft back in 2012.

Bad Qualities

1. The final boss is terrible, especially in the PC-Engine version since his attacks are impossible to dodge and if you doesn't had enough lives, then you will get a game over, and it is impossible to get a no damage run for this game because of it.
2. The game is a bit too easy, even for the PC-Engine version, to the point that it is barely possible to get a continue screen if you play well enough.
3. When you die, to get up you need to press the start button, which is confusing and peoples that play it for the first time will not know this until they press every buttons and end up pressing start, this problem will even continue in the sequels (with the exception of Super Genjin 2).
4. When you get a game over, you start all over the beginning of a stage, which mean that if you we're at the fourth level of a stage, you will start to the very first stage, which is boring after a while, and can be a problem for some peoples.
5. The box art of the NA PC-Engine version is quite ugly and Bonk look almost nothing like he does in the game.
6. The NES version is much shorter than the PC-Engine version, lasting only 45 minutes.

Reception

Bonk's Adventure received positive reviews by critics and gamers and is often considered to be one of the best game of the PC-Engine, it is also one of the most popular game of the console library and did spawned a lot of sequels.

Game Tips

1. It is recommended to kill enemies and try to hit them as much as possible to get extra lifes for finishing the game more easily, especially for the final boss and the last couple of stages due to them being more difficult.
2. There's a short cut in Area 5-3, to reach it, stay at the top right side after falling down into the water. Jump and spin while pressing Right when Bonk's head is halfway out of the water to move above the screen. Move to the right to reach the skull elevator.
3. (NES version only): Hold Down Left A B Select and Start while the title logo scrolls on the screen. Switch between modes with Select.

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