 Review By: Matt Flanagan |
Developer: | Hudson Soft |
| Publisher: | Hudson Soft | |
| Genre: | Platformer | |
| ESRB: | Everyone | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Virtual Console, Wii Remote, Classic Controller, GameCube Controller |
Bonk ranks somewhere between Captain Commando and Gex on the list of video game mascots nobody remembers. He used to be the TG-16’s Mario/Sonic, but since the Turbo didn’t exactly do fantastically he sort of fell to the side (despite scattered games on other platforms) and hasn't gotten much attention since the 16-bit days.
The game is basically the standard side-scrolling platformer that every company made to show that they were as good as Nintendo. The game follows the story of a caveman named Bonk who is on a mission to save a princess from somebody that kinapped her. Nothing overly original here, but seeing as how this isn’t a plot-heavy game to begin with, and how the story doesn’t really affect the game, it's not really a big problem. You side-scroll through several levels and fight enemies by jumping and pounding them with your head. The game is chock full of power-ups, which do things ranging from giving you extra strength, health, and points (basically standard power-up stuff). At times the game is a little unbalanced (harder or easier than it should be at certain points), but in the end it plays very well.
Graphically the game is what you'd expect from a TG-16 game. The backgrounds are nicely done, and the character sprites are detailed enough to look good. The game is very colorful and it's clear what everything is supposed to be. Keep in mind the game is 15 years old, and by early-90's standards the game is pretty.
The music is the standard beepish looping that you'd expect from a game this old. It's good for what it is; it doesn't get annoying, and unfortulately you might wind up humming some of the game’s tunes to yourself during the day, which will be embarrassing.
The game controls well whether you're using a sideways Wii-mote or Classic controller, and the game is just as responsive as you could hope it to be. I had a few problems when I was first learning the layout with the Wii-mote, but it's easy to learn and once you get the hang of it you'll have an easy enough time playing the game.
Bottom Line:
The game doesn’t really bring anything new to the side-scroller genre, but it pulls off the old-school stuff pretty well and still manages to be fun.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 7.5 |
Posted: 2007-01-22 20:31:44 PST