Bonk's Revenge Thread

[lukester]

This is a game that is lauded and beloved on the forum, but threads for it are almost non-existent.

A perfect mix of colorful cartoony graphics, intricate level design, wonderful compositions, spotless attention to detail, and a technical achievement all on a tiny 4 Mb HuCard.

Post your thoughts on this masterpiece here.

I think Ikermel sums it up very nicely http://videogameden.com/hucard.htm

[VenomMacbeth]

I enjoy it, but my girl likes the first game better.  I'm inclined to agree with her...the second game pushed the cutesy envelope a bit farther, and while I think the graphics look better, I think they're more inspired in the first game.

[johnnykonami]

I think Bonk's Adventure was my 3rd or 4th game for the TG-16, and I played it to death.  I have a soft spot for it and I appreciate it for what it is.  But Bonk's Revenge topped it in nearly every way for me.  In particular the variety and level design itself made it more fun to progress.  Not to mention a little more in the way of polished graphics and more detailed world objects.  I think those are facts.  But for the music, I might be biased.  I found it pretty memorable, personally.  I love the 1st stage climbing up the waterfall, that's my favorite.  I love when a game has a great introductory/1st stage song that just sets up your mood for what's to come.  A close 2nd is the snow level music.

I got 1 & 2 pretty much just as they were released, but I never did play all the way through Bonk 3.  Part of that was that I never owned it physically, and part of it was it just didn't have the same charm as Revenge.  One day I'll get it but it's a pretty expensive pickup and I've got higher priority obey on my list.

[Black Tiger]

It was my favorite Bonk game for years and I'll always have the best memories of it, as it was a special game during a particular time bitd.

It's more of a technical achievement than many realize, since it contains so much art and animation. EvilExoX liked to use it as an example of how inferior the PC Engine is and how bad the hardware is at animation. His proof was comparing it to Sonic 2 for Genesis and the massive number of frames of animation the player sprite has in that game. Besides the facts that PC Genjin 2 was released a year and a half earlier and is half the rom size of Sonic 2... if you actually look at the animation, the player sprite in Bonk 2 has a comparable number of frames as the Sonic sprite in Sonic 2. The enemies also have more artwork and animation than most 16-bit games.

Although the PCE doesn't have lots of ram to push compression, many games did a lot with a "tiny" 4 megs, such as:

Air Zonk
Coryoon
Soldier Blade
Final Soldier
Super Star Soldier
Dragon Saber
Tatsujin
Magical Chase
Gekisha Boy
Bubblegum Crash
Zero 4 Champ
Detana Twinbee
Bomberman '93
Ninja Spirit
Aeroblasters
Bloody Wolf
New Adventure Island
Download
R-Type TurboChip
Cyber Knight
Order of the Griffon

[lukester]

BT, there certainly are other 4 Mb games that look absolutely amazing. But Bonk's Revenge is just a good example, considering all the SNES Cart games with 16 Mb or mapper chips.

Genpe Toumaden is one of the best looking HuCards imo, and that is also a 4 Mb. It also plays pretty well in my opinion.

[Sadler]

I love this game, probably my favorite on the system.

Two questions:

1) What's the maximum number of smileys you've got in any area?
2) What's the proper technique for the piranha bonus level?

[lukester]

I've gotten 53. You get to warp past a level.

I've played the game many times, but only beat it recently. I will probably get more as I play this game again and again.

Someone more experienced may know how to get a perfect on the piranha level.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Still my favorite Bonk.  Played the hell out of it over the years.  I have very warm feelings toward this game & playing it in my childhood. 

[Damon Plus]

Love Bonk's Revenge. I'd even put it up there with the best 16 bit platformers. It is very long, has fun gameplay, and lots of varied stages. If you like collecting items for points you're in heaven. Has a lot of secrets too, and technically is pretty good looking and sounding. The only flaw I can find is the lack of passwords or a stage select code.

[esteban]

AND NOW...
(1) You should play PC Genjin 1 & 2! See the different character design and animation! If you like the game, it's worth it.

(2) Sadly, over the years, a bunch of us have acquired a "broken" PC Genjin 2...now, I want to believe that these particular HuCARDs were simply abused (submersed under water, left in the freezer, exposed to extreme heat) and not an indication of some inevitable "lifespan" for the HuCARD medium. ALTERNATIVELY, it makes me feel better to attribute these unplayable HuCARDs to manufacturing defects.




DILETTANTE vs. CONNOISSEUR*
(2) All of us, back in the day, felt that Bonk's Revenge was an step forward and an important upgrade to Bonk 1 (stage design, variety of places to explore, etc. aesthetics, mechanics/abilities, etc.)

(3) However, this initial impression that "everything in Bonk's Revenge improved upon the first game" is actually NOT TRUE. That is... It is, in fact, NOT a fact.

(4) Over the years, we have had discussions here where the seemingly humble, outclassed Bonk 1 has emerged as the game with stronger "replayability" (I hate that silly term, but I can't think of an alternative). Where the fancy, shiny production values of Bonk 2 can't hide the fact that Bonk 1 has fantastic music (is it the best?) and the platforming in Bonk 1 is SOLID and more satisfying for replay (I can't be the only one who thinks that Bonk's Revenge feels rather long and tedious at times...whereas Bonk 1 seems focused on BAM!). AGAIN, this is from replaying each game countless times over the years.



NOT RHETORICAL
(5) Which one do you find yourself going back to after you've beaten each one countless times? I was surprised to answer Bonk 1. Now,  maybe this is because I overplayed Bonk's Revenge to the point of neglecting/dismissing Bonk's Adventure. But that, in itself, proves my point. Ha!




* Yes, of course my post reeks of elitism. I tired to make it obvious. Damn. This disclaimer shouldn't be necessary. Damn. However, I have found that, as a general rule, there is a big distinction between the "virginal" experience and the "replay it to death" experience. Both are important and valid. They are qualitatively different, and must be. Some folks, for some games, never progress beyond virgin/dilettante stage. Ewwww... And now the metaphor sounds sexist and misogynistic. I didn't realize. Ewwww. Anyway, to switch metaphors, the elitism/jadedness of veterans can sour the sweet ecstasy of the honeymooning neophytes.

[Lost Monkey]

AND NOW...
(1) You should play PC Genjin 1 & 2! See the different character design and animation! If you like the game, it's worth it.

(2) Sadly, over the years, a bunch of us have acquired a "broken" PC Genjin 2...now, I want to believe that these particular HuCARDs were simply abused (submersed under water, left in the freezer, exposed to extreme heat) and not an indication of some inevitable "lifespan" for the HuCARD medium. ALTERNATIVELY, it makes me feel better to attribute these unplayable HuCARDs to manufacturing defects.




DILETTANTE vs. CONNOISSEUR*
(2) All of us, back in the day, felt that Bonk's Revenge was an step forward and an important upgrade to Bonk 1 (stage design, variety of places to explore, etc. aesthetics, mechanics/abilities, etc.)

(3) However, this initial impression that "everything in Bonk's Revenge improved upon the first game" is actually NOT TRUE. That is... It is, in fact, NOT a fact.

(4) Over the years, we have had discussions here where the seemingly humble, outclassed Bonk 1 has emerged as the game with stronger "replayability" (I hate that silly term, but I can't think of an alternative). Where the fancy, shiny production values of Bonk 2 can't hide the fact that Bonk 1 has fantastic music (is it the best?) and the platforming in Bonk 1 is SOLID and more satisfying for replay (I can't be the only one who thinks that Bonk's Revenge feels rather long and tedious at times...whereas Bonk 1 seems focused on BAM!). AGAIN, this is from replaying each game countless times over the years.



NOT RHETORICAL
(5) Which one do you find yourself going back to after you've beaten each one countless times? I was surprised to answer Bonk 1. Now,  maybe this is because I overplayed Bonk's Revenge to the point of neglecting/dismissing Bonk's Adventure. But that, in itself, proves my point. Ha!




* Yes, of course my post reeks of elitism. I tired to make it obvious. Damn. This disclaimer shouldn't be necessary. Damn. However, I have found that, as a general rule, there is a big distinction between the "virginal" experience and the "replay it to death" experience. Both are important and valid. They are qualitatively different, and must be. Some folks, for some games, never progress beyond virgin/dilettante stage. Ewwww... And now the metaphor sounds sexist and misogynistic. I didn't realize. Ewwww. Anyway, to switch metaphors, the elitism/jadedness of veterans can sour the sweet ecstasy of the honeymooning neophytes.

I think you managed to offend just about everyone with that post.  What is someone who likes Bonk III the best? (Not me, but I am sure there are some...)

[Necromancer]

I'm one of the rare guys that likes III the most, but all three are excellent games.

[jtucci31]

I'm one of the rare guys that likes III the most, but all three are excellent games.

Why 3 the most? I'm curious.

I know people rag on the music in it. I recently got the JP version but only had time to play it briefly. I agreed that music wasn't necessarily on par with the previous 2 games (especially the first one. I agree with esteban and others, that game's music is fantastic). But I did like some of the platforming/play mechanics like the big/small Bonk and cool pipe stuff. It's the last Bonk game on the system I need to beat, and intend to.

[Necromancer]

Why 3 the most? I'm curious.

It's longer, it looks the best, the candy can be fun (though half the time it's useless), it's two player, and the minigames of the CD version are fun mid-level intermissions.  I also dig a couple of the CD tunes, but I wouldn't say they're superior to the great chippy tunes found in the other games, and the 'blowing wind' track is downright godawful.

[Black Tiger]

Bonk 3 needed the Arcade Card to be done right on CD. It's not broken or anything, but it feels like a noticeably inferior experience to me.