~ BONK'S ADVENTURE ~
Hudson Soft / Atlus / Red
HuCard
1990
Good old Bonk. I've never liked "mascot platformers" in general, but this one has always been great fun. It's a very endearing game, with its charismatic and infectiously gleeful protagonist, colorful enemy cast (T. Ractorhead and the crew of giant-dino bosses are particularly memorable), cute ending, and neat visual touches. And I must mention that the soundtrack is one of the Turbo's finest.
I turn the game on from time to time with the expectation of playing only a level or so, getting a nice dose of nostalgia, and then finding something else to do. I always end up playing all the way through it. It's really, really nice when you revisit an old game and that sort of thing happens.
The eggshell guys are the low-ranking wretches of King Drool's army, but they could slaughter any "Little Goomba"-type fool, without question. One of the Bonk series's greatest strengths is its lineup of bad-guy dinosaurs, who are so much more fun to fight than the mushrooms-and-turtles Mario contingent or Sonic's "woodland robots."
The coolest villain of all is the awesome T. Ractorhead. Even Bonk seems happy to see him.
Most of the bosses are extremely vulnerable to noggin spin-slams. I'll still take 'em any day over the Bowser clan or Robotnik's stupid contraptions.
Kongo Zilla can actually fight pretty well, but he softens up just like his buddies do.
The best thing about those fights is the tune that accompanies them; it ranks among the greatest boss tracks ever if you ask me. And it helps make the brief, action-packed, Triceratops-and-Pterodactyl-dominated fourth stage my favorite level in the game. Bonk doesn't seem to be coping with the intensity well in this screen.
One thing he can handle very well is swimming. The controls feel great whether you're underwater or under... whatever that orange stuff is.
Bonk is also a proficient climber. Being that these are prehistoric times, crazy ideas like using your hands and feet for climbing hadn't been invented yet. So clever Bonk uses his teeth.
Swimming and climbing are neat and all, but there isn't all that much of it to do. In fact, you can spend most of your time spin-jumping your way right through the mostly linear stages. Some areas tighten things up a bit, but the level design improved by leaps and bounds in Bonk's Revenge. Still, at least the action remains fast and fun here, while many similar titles slow everything down for the sake of dull moving platforms and the like.
Bonk's Adventure isn't amazing graphically, but its backgrounds occasionally feature some very nice touches, like the enormous moon up in the sky. And some of the levels are really neat thematically; who needs "donut plains" and "marble zones" when we can explore dino innards?
And do make sure to explore each stage thoroughly, as there are lots of secret entryways to stumble upon...
...some of which lead to bonus rounds, others to rooms full of goodies.
Of course, the best goody of all is meat. Upon nabbing a piece, Bonk blows his top and becomes super strong, eager to steamroll all who stand in his way.
Aw.
