Bonk’s Revenge
System: TG-16
Release Date: July 1991
Developer: Red Company
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Action
Bring out the hard head and get ready to drop it like a hammer in Bonk’s Revenge! Last time we saw Bonk, he put a hurting on the Evil King Drool and saved the princess. This time, he needs to take out Evil King Drool III. Y’see, the grandson is out to take out Bonk from the land of the living and replace the world with a monster kingdom. You won’t sit back and take it, so get ready to go through seven stages and come face to face with the younger Drool if you have what it takes.
Bonk controls the same as he did before, jumping with Button I and headbutting with Button II. Right off the bat, I noticed that Bonk was not as precise and smooth to control. There seemed to be a little delay and a little float that made precision movements difficult. This hampered me throughout the entire adventure. Each stage has a few different sections to it. They all require Bonk to platform from one end to another, whether it be horizontally or vertically. You now have the ability to jump between walls by pressing Button II and away from the wall you’re touching.
Enemies are still scattered all about and want you very dead. Jumping and then dropping the flying headbutt is the easiest way to take them down, if you can get used to the controls. Getting a piece of meat can give you extra powers. A big piece makes you invincible once again and allows you to spit hot fire, while a smaller one allows you to turn enemies into stone. The powerups go away after a set amount of time or after you get hit. If you lose health, you can get it back by finding hearts or eating healthy foods. You can also grab a flower that lets you fly around the stage, which is entertaining until you get hit.
There are bonus levels that you can be sent to by picking up a different kind of little flower. These allow you to collect smiley faces that take you to health replenishing areas after killing the boss. You may have to navigate an ice cavern without falling to the pits below. Collect items blown from an erupting volcano. Jump up a narrow chasm by bouncing back and forth between walls. Collect items while spin jumping from a high platform. Bounce and destroy spinning antennae.
The end of each stage brings you face to face with a boss. In what I can only assume is a great surprise, these bosses have patterns for you to learn and attacks to avoid. My least favorite fight was against the figure skating dinosaur. I kept getting hit no matter what I did until I learned to jump on her outstretched leg in order to get an attack in. The end stage puts you into a boss rush, which was not appreciated. The final boss was pretty easy overall and then you save the world and get a kiss.
Graphics: 3.0
There hasn’t been an upgrade in the graphical fidelity according to my eyes.
Sound: 3.0
A lot of the music and sounds have been recycled from Bonk’s Adventure.
Gameplay: 2.5
I feel like Bonk controls much worse than in the previous game, I had lots of trouble throughout.
Difficulty: 3.0
This isn’t the most challenging game outside of a couple difficult spots.
Fun Factor: 3.0
It’s still a good game, but nowhere as fun as the original.
Overall Rating: 2.9
Bonk’s Revenge earns a B. This is an example of a sequel that doesn’t do much of anything to surpass the game that came before it. I would rather go back and play Bonk’s Adventure again.