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 The
origins of the popular Bonk character began in the late 1980’s with Bonk
starring in a comic strip in a Japanese magazine for the PC Engine (later
known as the TurboGraphx-16 in the United States). Bonk became so popular in his comic
strip that it was only natural that he ended up with his own game on the
system. When the TurboGraphx-16
was first released in the U.S.
in 1989 it lost badly to the Sega Genesis. In an effort to try and combat Sega’s new
mascot Sonic the Hedgehog, Bonk was plastered over any advertising for
the TurboGraphx-16. The plan
worked as the popularity of Bonk took off in the U.S. and his first release, Bonk’s Adventure was a smash hit
for a system that was quickly becoming obsolete in the United States. One year later a sequel appeared
entitled Bonk’s Revenge and in
1993 his final appearance on the system debuted: Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure.
By this time it was clear that the TurboGraphx-16 was on its way
to extinction in the U.S.
so Hudson
brought their pride and joy over to the NES.
In 1994 following the demise of the TurboGraphx-16 and ironically
right as the NES was breathing its final breaths, Hudson released Bonk’s Adventure. The
game went virtually completely unnoticed by the gaming community since
there were few people still buying new NES games. Even those that were still into NES
games had a hard time finding it even if they knew of its existence. Indeed, I was a huge Bonk fan and I
never even knew the game existed until the late 1990’s. Due to its rarity, this is a title that
few people have actually gotten a chance to play. When I finally got my hands on it I was
extremely excited.
 In
Bonk’s Adventure you star as a
caveboy who lives in prehistoric times.
As Bonk you have been graced with an enormous head that you must
use to bonk all of the dinosaurs and other enemies that you will
encounter on your adventure. You
also love to eat meat: if you discover a small hunk of meat then you will
be able to smash the ground once to destroy all enemies and will be able
to take a little damage without it hurting your life meter. If you eat a large chunk of meat, then
you will become invincible in a manner very similar to Mario when he
finds an invincibility star. The
game is a standard platformer featuring five stages with (typically) four
levels in each stage with the final level ending in some kind of boss
that takes a lot of bonks on the head to defeat.
As soon as I popped the game into the system, I realized I was in for
a disappointment. First of all the
bright and colorful graphics of the TurboGraphx-16 version have been severely
muted for this translation. Now I
understand that the game can’t be graphically on par with the original
but it isn’t even as colorful as Hudson’s
1993 release Felix the Cat. The gameplay is also not as crisp and
the game has also been shortened from its original incarnation. The game is not a complete disaster,
though, because it still retains its charm due to the coolness of its
main character.
In fact Bonk would go on to have quite the career for Nintendo
starring in two Gameboy releases as well as one Super NES game. Today you can find all three of his
TurboGraphx-16 releases as well as the spinoff game Air Zonk on the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console.
Positives:
 There
are many cool things about Bonk’s
Adventure. The character of
Bonk is awesome, he is unique and funny.
He also has lots of cool moves.
You can climb up walls by using your giant teeth to gnaw your way
up. You can jump in the air and do
a head slam into the ground to deal a greater amount of damage to your
opponents. If you die, Bonk falls
to the ground and when you press start he pops back up exactly where you
left off, very original for a platformer.
Also, be on the lookout for skinny flowers that you can bonk that
lead you to bonus games in each level – my favorite being one where you
have to spin around in air and see how many rotations you do before you
land on the ground, but you better land on your feet or you will get nothing. You also have to collect smiley faces
in each level, which are akin to coins in Super Mario Bros. The difference is that you don’t get
credit for them until you defeat the boss at the end of the world. Once you defeat the boss your energy capsules
are filled in direct proportion to the number of smiley faces you
collected since you last died. The
level designs are also interesting, sometimes you are inside of large
dinosaurs, sometimes you are in water and every once in awhile you have
to play a vertical level where you must chomp your way to the top.
Glaring
Negatives:
 Bonk’s Adventure is no where near
as exciting as it could be. A lot of
the edge that it had on the TurboGraphx-16 is missing. The colors have been muted, the
graphics lessened and most importantly the gameplay is not as
precise. Bonk is a little harder
to control now and you will often get hit trying to change directions to
avoid an oncoming baddie. That
problem has been fixed, though, by making the game extremely easy. This is a game that you will beat the
first time you play without breaking much of a sweat. It may take you a couple continues but
it just isn’t very challenging.
Graphics
and Sound: Average
Everything about this game is just average. The problem is that most platformers
released at the end of the NES’s life have excellent graphics and
sound. I expected a lot more from
this game.
Gameplay
and Controls: A little rough
The controls on this game are not as spot-on as they should be. You will find turning around quickly to
be a difficult feat and will often take damage in situations where you
feel like you should have gotten away cleanly. The gameplay itself is solid, the
levels are pretty fun and there are plenty of bonus worlds scattered about.
Features:
Continues
If you lose all your lives you can continue at the beginning of the
world that you died on.
Fun?:
Sure
Bonk’s Adventure is
definitely a fun game – it just pales in comparison to the definitive TurboGraphx-16
version. You will enjoy playing
this game but once you beat it, it will become just a conversation piece.
 Challenge: Extremely
easy
You shouldn’t have much problem making your way through this one. The fact that you get to start off
exactly where you died makes the bosses of each world very easy to
defeat.
Replay:
Not Alot
There isn’t much reason to play this game other than to marvel at Bonk’s
one appearance on the NES.
2
Player: No
Hudson
didn’t provide us with that option.
Online
Manual?: Yes at Nintendo Age
You can find all the NES manuals
at Nintendo
Age.
Bottom Line: Not Worth It, Stick with TurboGraphx-16
Unfortunately Bonk’s Adventure has become an expensive
purchase on the NES. If you have a
TurboGraphx-16 or a Nintendo Wii I would just play the 16-bit definitive version
of Bonk’s Adventure. If you are a huge Bonk
fan and have to play this one, don’t get your hopes up too high or you
will be disappointed.
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