Bonk RPG

[hizaygizirlz]

Interesting stuff Jlued686.  I can't believe I somehow missed all the rest of this thread its only like 6 weeks old.

[reno5]

That was good stuff to read with my morning cofee ! Very interesting beside the Trolling No wait... that was the best parts !

[esteban]

Lots of good information in this interview from 2008. But relevant to Bonk RPG is this little tidbit:

GDRI: Did you or A.I have any involvement with an unreleased Bonk/PC Genjin RPG for the PC Engine or with any of the GB Genjin games?
SY: あははは。。。。「RPG原人」のことですか。。。あの作品は、私も現場にいる頃、ハドソンから試供されたロムでプレイしましたが、。。。。。うううーん、あれは、世に出なくて大正解だったと思います。
Ahahaha...RPG Genjin, you say? I was there for that. A sample ROM had come from Hudson that I played, but...No, I think the correct answer is that it never existed.

So maybe there's one out there somewhere?

Other points of interest (Bonk related)...

GDRI: What happened with Ultra Genjin [N64]?
SY: 「ウルトラ原人」の企画時期は、ちょうどゲーム業界が「２Dゲーム」から「ポリゴン３Dゲーム」に移行しようとする過渡期でした。技術的に勉強することもかなり多く、ゲーム制作に対して、誰もが混迷していた時期だと思います。そういうわけで、色々な試行錯誤の結果、「ウルトラ原人」は「ボンバーマンHERO」へと企画移植されました。
Ultra Genjin was being planned during the game industry's transition from 2D to 3D games. I studied the practical aspects of this quite a bit, but I think that nobody really knew what should be done with games at the time. As a result of trial and error, we were able to adapt the design for Ultra Genjin to Bomberman Hero.

GDRI: Of the companies you mentioned, would you say A.I was the developer of PC Genjin?
SY: かなり難しい質問ですが、私が企画＆監督した「PC原人３」の成功によって、エーアイがその後の作品を連続的に開発したことは否定できません。ただし、「PC原人」シリーズには、以下の会社スタッフで成立っていたことは、時系列的に考えた方が良いでしょう。
「PC原人１」（ハドソン＋レッド・カンパニー＋アトラス＋エーアイ）
「PC原人２」（ハドソン＋レッド・カンパニー＋）
「PC原人３」（ハドソン＋レッド・カンパニー＋エーアイ）
「超原人１」（ハドソン＋レッド・カンパニー＋エーアイ＋アンブル）
「超原人２」（ハドソン＋レッド・カンパニー＋エーアイ＋アンブル）
This is a difficult question. As PC Genjin 3 (which I was the planner and supervisor on) was a success, from that point on, A.I was entrusted with development of the series. Perhaps the list below would be better.
PC Genjin 1 (Hudson + Red Company + Atlus + A.I)
PC Genjin 2 (Hudson + Red Company + )
PC Genjin 3 (Hudson + Red Company + A.I)
Super Genjin 1 (Hudson + Red Company + A.I + Amble)
Super Genjin 2 (Hudson + Red Company + A.I + Amble)

Well, that's intriguing.

(1) Has anyone followed up on this to find corroborating evidence?
(2) Has anyone here played Bomberman Hero? Can we extrapolate/speculate on what components of the game may have originated from "Ultra Genjin"?


For folks who wanted to see a better scan of Bonk IV RPG found in EGM's 1993 Video Game Buyer's Guide (.pdf). I think it is the cleanest scan you'll find on the internets. I had shared the raw file with bonkzonk.com years ago, but I don't know if it is available there.

[reno5]

For folks who wanted to see a better scan of Bonk IV RPG found in EGM's 1993 Video Game Buyer's Guide (.pdf). I think it is the cleanest scan you'll find on the internets. I had shared the raw file with bonkzonk.com years ago, but I don't know if it is available there.

Thanks for this. Very interesting

[KingDrool]

Esteban: I've played Bomberman Hero, but it was quite a while ago. I do know that it's much more of a platform game in a pseudo-3D environment than standard Bomberman titles, complete with jumping. It's available on Virtual Console, so I was hoping to download it in the next few days. Here's a video:

Damn...I wish someone at Hudson Japan would unearth that Bonk RPG prototype.

[incrediblehark]

Yeah Bomberman Hero is not really like a traditional Bomberman Game, but more platformy. free range movement. The comments of an Ultra Genjin (which I hadnt heard about) becoming Bomberman Hero makes sense to me considering how far from the usual bomberman gameplay it is. Haven;t played it in a while, but would be interesting to do a quick playthrough to see if anything left over from Ultra Genjin made it into the final, if theres any screens of UG?

[Black Tiger]

At one point at least one mag talked about an attempt to do a 3D Bonk game. It was back during the 32-bit generation and I believe pre-N64. I remember my impression from what I read. 3D platformers were still pretty crude and developers were still figuring out how to do traditional genres in 3D. If the story was legit (probably EGM... probably Quarterman), then Ultra Genjin was probably just Bonk 3D. Since the biggest hurdle would have been trying to incorporate the spinning, it would make sense that they'd come to a point where they said "screw it! Let's just make it a Bomberman game". If things had gone smoother, then it likely would have come out sooner as Bonk 3D on Saturn. Bomberman was the dumping ground for Hudson's experiments back then (Bomberman Fight, Bomberman Wars, etc).

[esteban]

Ahhh, thanks for all of the info, comrades.

That actually fills in a lot of questions I had .

[Damon Plus]

6-Megs? That would make it the biggest game released in the USA for the system right?

[Sadler]

I believe there are a few 8 meg cards. Bonk 3 and Magical Chase?

[Necromancer]

I believe there are a few 8 meg cards. Bonk 3 and Magical Chase?

Magical Chase is only a 4mb cart, but Bonk 3 is indeed 8mb (the only US one I think).

[vestcoat]

I believe there are a few 8 meg cards. Bonk 3 and Magical Chase?

Magical Chase is only a 4mb cart, but Bonk 3 is indeed 8mb (the only US one I think).

Yep. PCECP.com lists megs n' shit. Neutopia 2 and Raiden are 6 Mega Power. Any other 6's?

[Bernie]

I hate seeing this thread keep popping up...  It depresses me, since its something we will never experience.  Well, unless Rover steps in and makes it.... 

[KingDrool]

I hate seeing this thread keep popping up...  It depresses me, since its something we will never experience.  Well, unless Rover steps in and makes it.... 

Unless someone in Japan unearths the ROM and puts it out! (Will never happen...)

[incrediblehark]

wait for MrMark to get a hold of the proto