Super Bonk Review by: Zlinqx - 6/10
Completely BONKersPicture yourself at the gaming scene during the 16 bit era. The console wars raged on, every company had their own mascot. Nintendo had Mario, Sega had Sonic, Hudson having created their own console the Turbografx 16, decided to make their own mascot and this ended up being a little caveman with an oversized head called Bonk.
Their console ultimately couldn't compete with the Genesis and the SNES in way of games but despite all this Bonk lived on and eventually the franchise continued having it's first game for the SNES imaginatively titled Super Bonk... Go figure.
Ultimately this has been my first game in the series, and what do I think about? Well, it's really weird... You'll see what I mean...
A mix between cartoony and just plain weird and bizarre... Asthetically the game didn't really push the limitations of the SNES but it looks decent for an SNES game. There's a nice amount of detail to the Bonk himself and the creatures he face... Even if you can't always instantly figure just what those things are. And there's a nice amount of variety of how the levels look you explore everything from China Town to the super sized house of a dinosaurs (that for some reason looks the same as those of humans) and that same dinosaurs brain... Yeah just don't think about it... (it gets weirder) Well while it doesn't really always make sense it does keep you amused and at times is pretty creative, the only really bad thing per say is that the animations could've been done a bit better.
The game also looks fairly colourful a lot of the time which really helps give it a pretty upbeat and cheery feel. The sound effects often times seem cartoony as well which fits with the game though some times they can also just be plain weird, they do manage for the most part not be annoying at least.
The soundtrack I actually found suprisingly good especially during the beginning where it can be really upbeat and fit well with this overall feel of the game. It's often because of this and the general goofiness of the game that it's hard to not feel happy when playing it. Granted there are also some soundtracks, like a really intense one later in the game which while good also seemed out of place though that is something I could've seen somewhat intended with just how bizarre of a feel the game has so I wont lower the score too much for it. With that said some soundtracks are re used later in the game so a slight minus in variety because even though it doesn't really get too repetetive most of the time I feel like it could have been remedied with how short the game is.
This is some Citizen Kane level stuff right here
So basically the story starts out with Bonk just walking around in the stone age until he notices a huge piece of meat with a sign labeled trap next to it... So Bonk runs right to it but he's trapped by his arch nemesis King Drool! (which is some kind of weird flying dinosaur dragon) who sends him into the future and that's... Basically all there is to it then you set out to just kind of idk get back at King Drool and save the world or something in the process.
Not really much to say here... It's pretty straightforward and simple
There really isn't much to say because that's more or less all you're given. The story is pretty basic and doesn't really have much of a focus it's simple like most platformers of the time. The focus is really more on the experience, the ride on your way to stop him and it's probably better off that way.
With that said there are some clever references to movies and pop culture in general, like the name of some levels or even the enemy themselves, just some funny smaller details. They're not really a huge deal but it's still more than what a lot of other platformers offered at the time and they're a nice touch that can provide some laughs and really makes it seem like the developers had fun making the game.
This gameplay, I don't even.
The controls are fairly floaty which is normally something that I'd take away points from the game for but oddly enough this is actually something you get used to fairly quickly and feels like it was almost done on purpose. The gameplay at it's core is pretty simple you go through levels jumping around and use Bonk's greatest weapon to dispose of enemies, headbutting. It's not very complicated and it's really easy to learn. It would get repetetive luckily there are several different powerups to obtain which are really just downright bizarre most of the time...
Firstly Bonk has 2 "alternate forms" one where he transforms into a bald Rock Lee (dem eyebrows) and his power becomes his glare as he literally turn enemies to stone with it. His other form is some weird dinosaur thingy that shoots smoke from it's ears... Yeah I don't even think the game knows what it is because it displays a bunch of question marks when it transforms into it and suddenly you can't headbutt enemies anymore but became invisible for a short period of time and after that you can instead use your suddenly super long tongue to dispose of them.
Think this is weird? You've heard nothing yet...
Bonk can also change his size and become tiny or giant. When he becomes tiny Bonk has the power to let go of all his pent up Rage! No I mean literally get rid of it as he can shoot the word RAGE! out of his mouth which he can then use to ride on and it's even a central gameplay mechanic in some levels (just pure genius) I'm not joking. He also has a giant form where his power becomes... detaching his head from his body... EW. What's interesting about this though is that his 2 alternate forms suddenly changes. In his rock lee form he suddenly becomes half chicken and can lay exploding eggs at enemies... And his other form becomes a godzilla like creature that for a short amount of time that can even destroy buildings.. Also getting squished turns him into a crab that can pinch people for some reason... Yup.
So while the core gameplay is relatively simple and consists of just headbutting your enemies the powerups and just the general craziness of the levels and just the enemy designs keep things from becoming repetitive (many enemies can literally eat you and you have to platform through their bodies to get out I MEAN WHERE DO THEY COME UP WITH THIS STUFF???!!!)
More weirdness...
Throughout the levels there are several tiny flowers scattered that when touched will transport you away to bonus levels that are like small minigames. These while fun at first mostly becomes repetetive later on as the flowers are literally everywhere and they're completely pointless as the only thing you get from them is a higher score and smilies which are kind of like the rings or coins of the game except they serve no purpose at all.
Like I briefly touched upon earlier there's a lot of variety there's even some suprising level variety like a zero gravity level in space and a level that's more like an arcade shooter where you're a rapidly rotating crab shooting tinier crabs and getting coins... Nothing weird with that.
It's really all so bizarre it's kind of hard to even comment on it, at the same time it does still work in it's favour. While the gameplay is most of the time pretty shallow it's well just so weird you want to keep playing to see what happens next, just when you think you've seen it all something ever weirder shows up and just leaves you wondering what is even going on. And strangely enough that's where the game shines.
Short and easy
The game is short it took me like barely even 4 hours to complete it and I didn't really rush through it either. What's more is that more or less an entire stage is just you facing all the bosses you've previously faced in the game which is really cheap and just serves as a way to add length. At the same time the game is more or less just short enough to where it doesn't get dull, had it been any longer, you would have probably burned out on it. Even so that doesn't justify it because in terms of value for money it really isn't there, and that makes me have to lower the score for the game. Because after one short playthrough you've really experienced it all.
The game is also very easy, you start out with three hearts and you can take a total of 9 hits before dying you can even extend your life by getting heart containers which means you can take a total of 18 hits at max, and you may likely not die at all throughout the entire game (I died just once) what's more is it doesn't matter if you do because you'll respawn at the exact same place and only have to replay the levels if you run out of continues which is extremely unlikely since they're usually plentiful. Keep in mind this isn't neccesairly all a bad thing because the game really becomes more of an experience than anything, you play mostly weirdness and bizareness of it all and to see just how weird it can get and not for the challenge itself.
An experience
From a purely critical standpoint this game isn't that impressive, it's very simple not very challenging and is pretty short even while having a few imaginative levels some decent sounds and nice visuals it is overall mostly an average game.
Despite all this I still had a good time with the game, it's not going to win any GoTY awards but taken from a surface level as an experience it really succeeds in the one thing that's the most important. Being entertaining while putting a smile on your face and sometimes that's really all that matters and is in the end despite it's flaws the reason I've given it a 6 out of 10. It's not really much value for money but if just looking for something to relieve boredom one day, this game does just fine and proves to be a suprisingly memorable experience in the process.
On another note: Yay for first official staff review.
Graphics
7 Sound
7 Addictive
7 Depth
2 Story
6 Difficulty
3
User Notice 
.png)
