Bonk's Adventure Review

The NES and SNES had Mario, the SMS/GG had Sonic, and then the little guy NEC with its TG16 had its mascot...Bonk.  Though the TG16/DUO is dead and has been for quite awhile, NEC wouldn't let their little friend die.  NEC through their friends at Hudson placed Bonk on all the Nintendo 8 and 16bit formats, even including the Gameboy.  Oddly enough it seems that the ports of Bonk were not
all the same, and that does include the Gameboy as well, but is it good?

Graphics The graphics while in black and white feel just like the original Bonk from the TG16.  While things are a bit smaller obviously everything still feels to the original scale, except for smaller sized boss monsters.  The themes of all the areas seem somewhat random as they switch often.  As you pass through the stages at one point its like prehistoric, then a cloudy place, then a desert like area will expand before you but with pyramids.  Characters like the various enemies and Bonk are richly detailed and look as close as possible to the TG16 originals.  When Bonk eats the meat and goes nuts, when the helmet wearing enemies come at your with a hammer, and the bouncy flowers come toward
you I think you might feel as if the graphics were just scaled down to the GB. 

Rating: 4.0 SoundSimply, wow.  The musical pieces given to us here on the little Gameboy sound
amazingly almost identical to the great sounds the TG16 could produce in its original Bonk title.  All the great musical scores and sound effects have been recreated, and new sounds included as well in this title.  The music will really set the mood of the game and draw you right into it as if you were playing with an old friend.
 

Rating: 4.0 Theme & FunThe caveman platformer thing was something I recall that was never well moved into by many companies to give it that overdone feeling.  Bonk fortunatley does benefit from this but also from his unique attack style, head banging and I don't mean of the musical type.  Bonk the character needless to say is a good and original character that never did get the attention he deserved, but at least this game is a blast to play, yet a shame that you can not save your
progress as you play.  Though you might end up getting a little tired after awhile, the game is something you can come back to.

Rating: 3.5 Play Control The play control of Bonk is pretty good, but feels just a slight bit floaty when coming down from a jump.  Other than his jump Bonk has a few other moves at his disposal.  Bonk can bash his head on the ground or dive bomb in air to attack enemies.  Bonk when he gets a powerup (meat) he can be invincible, or have talents such as a destructive yell.  Bonk can also continually use the schloss konflikt hack android headbutt in mid air so that he can sail down slowly.  Other than attacks he
can also grab onto a ledge with his jaw and scale or descend walls.  Overall his control is great, but would be excellent if the jump didn't feel slightly floaty, but the rest of the options really do help out a lot.
 

Rating: 4.0 ChallengeThe challenge of Bonk is pretty good, but not something I would rate as hard. As Bonk is a mascot game just like with Mario and Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog these games tend to be a moderate challenge as to not alienate new or casual gamers while still appealing to the people who have played for years.  With all the environments you have to deal with and the options Bonk has to move about and do things the game will keep you busy for awhile.  Lives are sort of
easy to come by if you can find a bonus area and meet the objective, but other than that it will take a good effort on your part anyways.

Rating: 3.5 Replay Value and Closing Notes:The replay value of a game like this I would equal to a game like Super Mario Bros. and Sonic launch titles.  Bonk is a title that will keep you interested
and is pretty unique as well which adds to its appeal.  He has many places to go and many moves to do while he's there so I see this as a game with some good replay value.

Simply I love Bonk.  I used to have a Turbo DUO, and I kept my CD that has his first two adventures and still play them through Magic Engine for Windows which I ordered last year.  Bonk is like Mario and Sonic as he never gets old, and if you can find this I'd buy it, or at the least rent it first.

Overall Rating: 3.8 / 5.0