RetroGameClub #2 - Bonk's Adventure (PC Genjin)

[Sayo]

The concept behind this thread is quite simple, one game is chosen and you are all invited to play it till completion (or at least as far as you can) and we use this thread to discuss the game and anything relating to it.
The deadline for this current thread is of 10 days, this should be an easier title than the prior one, or at least I hope so.
So to summarize

• A game is chosen (suggestions are encouraged)
• It can be a game for any retro console or computer, if it's something like a modern port or decompilation that's okay too
• Preferably lesser known titles instead of something everyone has already played
• Play the game till completion or at least as far as you can get in the game
• Use any means to play the game, be it emulation or real hardware
• Links will be provided, preferably from CDRomance, if the game is not available there, I can curate it for CDR.
• If you are using save states or similar, please be honest and disclose it

For this second entry of Retro Game Club, we will be playing no other than the PC Engine's (TG16) pack-in title, which is also its most emblematic title or at least the prequel to it, Bonk's Adventure.
The ROM can be found here on CDRomance: Bonk's Adventure / PC Genjin (USA, Japan) TurboGrafx-16 ROM
As part of the larger Bonk series, it was created to showcase NEC's PC Engine console and its capabilities, his name being a pun on PC Engine and Genjin, which means caveman. It's a uniquely controlling game, most of the actions you perform involve your head changing shape or size and there's a bit of inertia and momentum play that takes a while to get used to. It's sequel Bonk's Revenge tends to be more highly regarded but I wanted to pick the game where it all started.
I wanted to pick a shmup since the PCE is well known for those, but I ultimately decided on this instead, maybe Air Zonk or Cotton next time? Also I was thinking about making a logo for the thread based on the RGT logo, maybe someone has some ideas.

Some links of interest

• Hardcore Gaming 101 article about the game
• Soundtrack on Youtube
• GTV Japan's video on the unique nomenclature of the game

 

[sandogma]

Looking forward to checking it out

 

[Sayo]

Looking forward to checking it out
View attachment 1993

So do I, I am quite tired at the moment so i don't think I will progress much right now but there's a whole whoopin' ten days to play it and it looks much easier than Samson, so I am not too worried.
Adorable pixel art on this one by the way.

 

[DunkeyKong]

That looks familiar, where have I seen that before?

 

[sandogma]

That looks familiar, where have I seen that before?

Post automatically merged: Nov 13, 2024

I just realized there is more to the JP box art than meets the eye. Does anyone know what the significance is for the random placement of English text?

 

[dejiko]

i like the sound of this, gives me a goal!

just got out of the hospital so i will give this a try :3

also i second cotton!!! i never get tired of cotton x3

 

[sandogma]

This game is great! While I did find myself fighting with the controls at certain points, I just love how expressive Bonk is! This game came out in 1989 and I can't think of any game on the NES/Famicom or Mega Drive/Genesis at that time that had characters as expressive as in this game. I also find it very funny that, after your character dies, before you press start (or Run) button, Bonk just lays there with a smile on his face, like he's just chillin out waiting on you haha.

The stages are bright and colorful, though there is a weird effect with the Moon in the background following you in an odd way. I don't know if its an emulation issue or that the devs just couldn't nail down the parallax effect they were trying to go for.

While Round 1 was a breeze, Round 2 definitely amps up the difficulty. One word... dragonfly's.... I hatechu! Thankfully this game has a forgiving Continue system after you lose all lives.
I got to the start of Round 3 before calling it a night. Looking forward to continuing the adventure!

 

[Lee__Kanker]

View attachment 2007

Post automatically merged: Nov 13, 2024

I just realized there is more to the JP box art than meets the eye. Does anyone know what the significance is for the random placement of English text?
View attachment 2009

I see they used a list of ingredients haha

Nah they just think it's cool

PC Genjin is a great game I tell you what, big sprites, unique gameplay, nice music, interactive backrounds, makes me wish there were more pc engine platformers. It had a very nice remake on the ps2 and gamecube. There's many 3d remakes of 8-16 bit games that suck ass (especially during the ps3 era) but that one did it right, giving it a nice "kid drawings" artstyle and keeping it expressive

Also I hate how generic "bonk" sounds, the road runner-esque fake latin name was so neat; the pal title does a much better job at conveying what the og name was going for

And for all that dont know PC Genjin has a very good co op arcade game

 

[sandogma]

I see they used a list of ingredients haha

Nah they just think it's cool

PC Genjin is a great game I tell you what, big sprites, unique gameplay, nice music, interactive backrounds, makes me wish there were more pc engine platformers. It had a very nice remake on the ps2 and gamecube. There's many 3d remakes of 8-16 bit games that suck ass (especially during the ps3 era) but that one did it right, giving it a nice "kid drawings" artstyle and keeping it expressive View attachment 2037


Also I hate how generic "bonk" sounds, the road runner-esque fake latin name was so neat; the pal title does a much better job at conveying what the og name was going for View attachment 2038


And for all that dont know PC Genjin has a very good co op arcade game
View attachment 2049

Oooh I'll have to try the remake after finishing the series on the PC Engine! Same for the arcade!
As for the name, I actually like the name "Bonk", its simple, its easy to remember, it gets the point across (he "bonks" enemies with his massive head). Your target audience are children after all. No need to make a point that he's a caveman in the name, as the visuals easily convey that.

And I'm sure the name "B.C. Kid" aka "Before Christ Kid" was likely seen as a potential risk to market in the West. Now Air Zonk... THAT is a stupid name that doesn't seem to make any sense to me. Though I have not yet played that game so perhaps the name does have some affiliation, but it just sounds like they were trying to resemble "Bonk" but didnt know how to.

 

[stealthRUSH]

Quirky, charming, with tons of personality. I'd give it a strong 8/10.

 

[Sayo]

Guys I am so sorry for not replying to my own thread for days, I have been really busy with IRL obligations and haven't really had time for gaming, I only started playing today. I made a cute sketch of Bonk to make up for it and can't wait to read all your posts.

Post automatically merged: Nov 16, 2024

View attachment 2007

Post automatically merged: Nov 13, 2024

I just realized there is more to the JP box art than meets the eye. Does anyone know what the significance is for the random placement of English text?
View attachment 2009

Aside from being absolutely adorable, I think it's mostly a stylistic choice. Japanese people love using random english words

i like the sound of this, gives me a goal!

just got out of the hospital so i will give this a try :3

also i second cotton!!! i never get tired of cotton x3

I hope you are doing well and able to play the game, as for Cotton that's definitely a later entry of RGC down the line!

This game is great! While I did find myself fighting with the controls at certain points, I just love how expressive Bonk is! This game came out in 1989 and I can't think of any game on the NES/Famicom or Mega Drive/Genesis at that time that had characters as expressive as in this game. I also find it very funny that, after your character dies, before you press start (or Run) button, Bonk just lays there with a smile on his face, like he's just chillin out waiting on you haha.

The stages are bright and colorful, though there is a weird effect with the Moon in the background following you in an odd way. I don't know if its an emulation issue or that the devs just couldn't nail down the parallax effect they were trying to go for.

While Round 1 was a breeze, Round 2 definitely amps up the difficulty. One word... dragonfly's.... I hatechu! Thankfully this game has a forgiving Continue system after you lose all lives.
I got to the start of Round 3 before calling it a night. Looking forward to continuing the adventure!

I am currently stuck on the Round 2 boss, I am really enjoying the game but also struggling heavily with getting used to the control scheme. Don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic game, it's easily among the best platformers from its decade for sure, almost hard to believe how ahead of its time NEC was.
There are so many cute little details, the controls feel polished and with nuance, the music is comforting and simple, I love it so far.

I see they used a list of ingredients haha

Nah they just think it's cool

PC Genjin is a great game I tell you what, big sprites, unique gameplay, nice music, interactive backrounds, makes me wish there were more pc engine platformers. It had a very nice remake on the ps2 and gamecube. There's many 3d remakes of 8-16 bit games that suck ass (especially during the ps3 era) but that one did it right, giving it a nice "kid drawings" artstyle and keeping it expressive View attachment 2037


Also I hate how generic "bonk" sounds, the road runner-esque fake latin name was so neat; the pal title does a much better job at conveying what the og name was going for View attachment 2038


And for all that dont know PC Genjin has a very good co op arcade game
View attachment 2049

I want to eventually make another thread for more Bonk games!

Oooh I'll have to try the remake after finishing the series on the PC Engine! Same for the arcade!
As for the name, I actually like the name "Bonk", its simple, its easy to remember, it gets the point across (he "bonks" enemies with his massive head). Your target audience are children after all. No need to make a point that he's a caveman in the name, as the visuals easily convey that.

And I'm sure the name "B.C. Kid" aka "Before Christ Kid" was likely seen as a potential risk to market in the West. Now Air Zonk... THAT is a stupid name that doesn't seem to make any sense to me. Though I have not yet played that game so perhaps the name does have some affiliation, but it just sounds like they were trying to resemble "Bonk" but didnt know how to.

Air Zonk is a really silly game but its a very, VERY good game with a fantastic soundtrack and gameplay, its the only game of the series I have dedicated any amount of time before this.

Quirky, charming, with tons of personality. I'd give it a strong 8/10.

I would give it somewhere between that too, I will give a better assessment once i get further into the game

 

[Lee__Kanker]

View attachment 2082
Guys I am so sorry for not replying to my own thread for days, I have been really busy with IRL obligations and haven't really had time for gaming, I only started playing today. I made a cute sketch of Bonk to make up for it and can't wait to read all your posts.

Post automatically merged: Nov 16, 2024

Aside from being absolutely adorable, I think it's mostly a stylistic choice. Japanese people love using random english words

I hope you are doing well and able to play the game, as for Cotton that's definitely a later entry of RGC down the line!


I am currently stuck on the Round 2 boss, I am really enjoying the game but also struggling heavily with getting used to the control scheme. Don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic game, it's easily among the best platformers from its decade for sure, almost hard to believe how ahead of its time NEC was.
There are so many cute little details, the controls feel polished and with nuance, the music is comforting and simple, I love it so far.


I want to eventually make another thread for more Bonk games!


Air Zonk is a really silly game but its a very, VERY good game with a fantastic soundtrack and gameplay, its the only game of the series I have dedicated any amount of time before this.


I would give it somewhere between that too, I will give a better assessment once i get further into the game

You could make a thread about "caveman games" in general really, for some reason the 80s and early 90s loved dopey looking club (or boomerang or stone axe!) wielding neanderthals

..Shin Jinrui: The New Type has GOTTA be the only entry is the "caveman shoot em up" genre

 

[sandogma]

I love this!

 

[Sayo]

Come, Sweet Death...
I am on World 5 and there's some truly diabolical enemy placement on these stages that defies reason. I did the thing and read GameFAQs, apparently there's going to be a boss rush soon before the final boss which I am totally not thrilled about.

You could make a thread about "caveman games" in general really, for some reason the 80s and early 90s loved dopey looking club (or boomerang or stone axe!) wielding neanderthals




..Shin Jinrui: The New Type has GOTTA be the only entry is the "caveman shoot em up" genre

The unspoken caveman game trend from the 80s/90s is truly something to behold, I am personally really fond of Adventure Island, Takahashi Meijin and Hudson Soft are some of my favorite videogame adjacent entities.
I look forward to discussing these games

I love this!

Thank you!

 

[Lee__Kanker]

View attachment 2169
Come, Sweet Death...
I am on World 5 and there's some truly diabolical enemy placement on these stages that defies reason. I did the thing and read GameFAQs, apparently there's going to be a boss rush soon before the final boss which I am totally not thrilled about.


The unspoken caveman game trend from the 80s/90s is truly something to behold, I am personally really fond of Adventure Island, Takahashi Meijin and Hudson Soft are some of my favorite videogame adjacent entities.
I look forward to discussing these games


Thank you!

Whats most funny to me is that it was international, everyone collectively decided to greenlight them; chuck rock and its sequels were british and on amiga, then theres all the japanese ones, then theres the american ones on dos and famicom...
I wondering if this was because the flinstones movie came out but no I checked and that was 1994 when the cavemania was on the way out! Maybe it was a case of everyone taking inspiration from wonder boy

And speaking of Takahashi Meijin and Pc Genjin, I find it funny how both series have eventually have aliens in the stone age; jap platformers looove aliens

 

[sandogma]

I finished World 3! Damn those gators

When I got to the boss, I was already on my last life and ended up dying, which caused me to have to restart World 3 from the beginning. Since I had to restart, I was determined to pass a collapsing bridge at the beginning of Stage 2 that appeared to be an optional route. This time I was able to cross it but it took my about 20 retries

Thankfully that was a shortcut and it took me to the last few Stages of World 3. I also found bonus Stages! This was the first time I came across one. Are they in the all the Worlds??

Thanks to the shortcut, the boss was a breeze since I had plenty of lives to kill.
Now I'm off to World 4 but from what Sayo is saying, it sounds like World 5 is going to be a real ass kicker

 

[Lime]

Alright I managed to beat it with no continues just before the time's up.

Juggling enemies in this game is really fun and it gives you so much score. I had around 300k by the end of the game and 8 lives.

 

[Sayo]

I'm going insane trying to beat this guy, I can't even damage him without taking hits myself....

Whats most funny to me is that it was international, everyone collectively decided to greenlight them; chuck rock and its sequels were british and on amiga, then theres all the japanese ones, then theres the american ones on dos and famicom...
I wondering if this was because the flinstones movie came out but no I checked and that was 1994 when the cavemania was on the way out! Maybe it was a case of everyone taking inspiration from wonder boy

And speaking of Takahashi Meijin and Pc Genjin, I find it funny how both series have eventually have aliens in the stone age; jap platformers looove aliens

I assume it was maybe a cultural trend of the time, maybe the Flintstones had a huge influence on people? LOL

I finished World 3! Damn those gators
View attachment 2177When I got to the boss, I was already on my last life and ended up dying, which caused me to have to restart World 3 from the beginning. Since I had to restart, I was determined to pass a collapsing bridge at the beginning of Stage 2 that appeared to be an optional route. This time I was able to cross it but it took my about 20 retries
View attachment 2176
Thankfully that was a shortcut and it took me to the last few Stages of World 3. I also found bonus Stages! This was the first time I came across one. Are they in the all the Worlds??
View attachment 2178
Thanks to the shortcut, the boss was a breeze since I had plenty of lives to kill.
Now I'm off to World 4 but from what Sayo is saying, it sounds like World 5 is going to be a real ass kicker

Good luck with World 5, it's not so much difficult as it's tedious since the stages are segmented and long.

Alright I managed to beat it with no continues just before the time's up.
View attachment 2180
Juggling enemies in this game is really fun and it gives you so much score. I had around 300k by the end of the game and 8 lives.

Impressive, very nice. I am trying to beat Drool but struggling, any advice?
Also how do you guys get extra lives easily? I don't seem to be able to get any by this point (5-5 boss rush)

 

[dejiko]

(way out of time but i still wanna do this lol) now that i have some time and dont feel too sick, im gonna try beating this tonight! wish me luck :3

playing on retroarch on my old sony vaio lcd and it looks really choppy...anyone have an idea as to why?

Post automatically merged: Nov 27, 2024

first boss down! also managed to farm some lives by bonking the (sperm cells???) inside the dragon's body, very easy to juggle!

 

[DunkeyKong]

Wait what? You can get lives from...that?

(way out of time but i still wanna do this lol) now that i have some time and dont feel too sick, im gonna try beating this tonight! wish me luck :3

playing on retroarch on my old sony vaio lcd and it looks really choppy...anyone have an idea as to why?

Post automatically merged: Nov 27, 2024

first boss down! also managed to farm some lives by bonking the (sperm cells???) inside the dragon's body, very easy to juggle!

 

[dejiko]

Wait what? You can get lives from...that?

from getting the points, yes! you can juggle them and max out points on each one and get easy lives as they dont move when you juggle!

 

[DunkeyKong]

from getting the points, yes! you can juggle them and max out points on each one and get easy lives as they dont move when you juggle!

That's interesting
Never have I seen such...mechanics?

 

[Sayo]

(way out of time but i still wanna do this lol) now that i have some time and dont feel too sick, im gonna try beating this tonight! wish me luck :3

playing on retroarch on my old sony vaio lcd and it looks really choppy...anyone have an idea as to why?

Post automatically merged: Nov 27, 2024

first boss down! also managed to farm some lives by bonking the (sperm cells???) inside the dragon's body, very easy to juggle!

I had no idea you could get extra lives by doing that!
Thanks for playing the game @dejiko

 

[dejiko]

I had no idea you could get extra lives by doing that!
Thanks for playing the game @dejiko

no prob! i didnt wind up beating it cause stuff but i will probably attempt some other time :3