Head-butting isn't just for wrestlers anymore!!
The story behind this game is that you control Bonk, a pre-historic caveman type kid who learns that Princess Za has been kidnapped by the evil King Drool. Your task is to then navigate Bonk through five stages of Cretaceous carnage, taking down King Drool and his minions, and thereby winning the Princess her freedom. Given that it is pre-historic times Bonk doesn't have any real weapons per se, the only destructive device he has at his disposal is the giant melon sitting on top of his shoulders! Wielding Bonk's oversized cranium in a variety of different ways is how you fend off your enemies and progress through the game.
Given the old-school nature of this title there isn't really a "main menu" as much as there is simply a title screen. All you do at the title screen is press the Start button and you are whisked away to the first stage of the game. The following is a brief description of the various stages this game throws at you:
The stages in this game consist of many sub-stages. Stage 1-1 is pretty much just an easy warm-up, in it you start out in some kind of volcanic jungle and simply have to make your way through it, facing some alligators and these half-hatched dinosaurs that still have their eggs attached to them.
Stage 1-2 starts off in the same type of jungle environment, not long in to it you'll have to scale a cliff wall and fight more of those half-hatched dinos. After scaling the cliff Bonk comes to a live volcano that suddenly springs up out of the ground, you just have to boot past it and avoid the falling balls of lava. Before reaching the end of the stage there are a series of more of these volcanoes to jump across, as well as some crevices where the ground drops away under your weight.
In stage 1-3 play begins on the tail of a giant dinosaur, looks like a Stegosaurus. Making your way across the dinosaur's back, fighting slug creatures, more half-hatched dinos, and at the same time having to avoid the Stegosaurus' moving armoured plates, Bonk will finally make it to the dino's head. After "bonking" said head Steggy will open up his mouth in surprise, you climb down on to his tongue and proceed to enter the belly of the beast. Inside the dinosaur's stomach you have to avoid these boney types of fish, weird jellyfish like creatures, more slugs, as well as Steggy's swinging uvulas. Eventually you'll arrive at this stone skull statue that's lying on the ground, when you climb in to it, it actually ends up being an elevator. Said elevator takes Bonk down to a room made of stone where he faces the first boss of the game, a big and dopey looking dinosaur with a rainbow coloured hat on who shoots bubbles. When you win the fight you release him from the spell King Drool apparently had him under and he then becomes your friend.
The second stage starts off in a fairly different type of environment, stage 2-1 begins in more of a desert type place, with palm trees and all. Making your way through the desert you'll have to avoid these new medium sized dinosaurs, they look like mini-Triceratops . . . who wear sunglasses. You'll also have to avoid some evil cacti, although they can't move their sting is sharp when you accidentally land on them. Eventually you'll come to a stone cave you can enter, it actually ends up being a long series of stone caves. Inside some of these caves are bonus rooms and bonus stages that earn Bonk points and replenish his energy, but more on that later. Anyways, after passing all the caves you have to scale a cliff and then come to a stretch of quick sand. To cross it easily just head-butt a palm tree, which makes it come alive, then hop on top and enjoy the ride to the end of the stage.
Stage 2-2 takes a bit of a detour, starting off in a deep forest. Soon you'll come to a big waterfall where Bonk has to avoid (more than engage) giant dragonflies, electric eels, and more half-hatched dinos. You can drop down the face of the waterfall and use built in ledges to aid your progression. The end of the stage comes not long after passing the waterfall.
In stage 2-3 you are inside a cave that has many passages to choose from. As you navigate your way through it Bonk will do battle with these weird rolling orbs that seem to have these baby lion creatures inside of them, more slugs, and more half-hatched dinos.
The game takes you back to the volcanic jungle for stage 2-4, early on you have to face more half-hatched dinos, alligators, as well as some new flying Pterodactyls and their nests of babies. After this bit of action you'll came to a long series of quicksand pits, navigate them by jumping across the plants that are scattered about as well as by climbing atop some more walking palm trees. Trying to hinder your progress here will be giant dragonflies that air drop alligators in to the fray, as well as these tiny new dinos that look like Compys. The end of the stage appears soon after navigating these quicksand pits . . . mercifully.
Stage 2-5 heads back to the deep forest, only this time it's at night and very dark. Bonk starts off high up on a ledge and has to swing from tree to tree using some hanging vines. Waiting down below at the base of the trees in the toxic muck are giant frogs (both of the flying and land locked varieties), giant dragonflies, and these tiny new flying insects. Eventually you come to a spot where the trees become more sparse. To make your way across the toxic muck you instead have to jump across the heads and bodies of a series of these new, larger dinosaurs that blow streams of water out their blowholes. After crossing a handful of these beasts the end of the stage presents itself.
Stage 2-6 begins at the base of this large tree that has a ton of thick branches. You have to scale your way up the tree, to the top, all the while avoiding/battling flying frogs as well as a new type of half-hatched dino that throws hatchets. When you finally get to the top of the tree avoid some giant dragonflies and then use the vine to swing across to the exit, a treehouse type of structure.
Stage 2-7 takes place up in the treetops, among numerous white, fluffy clouds. The clouds are actually quite springy, allowing Bonk to bounce around the level like a crazy man. As you make your way through the treetops you'll have to battle hatchet dinos as well as these new bird creatures that wear crash helmets. At the end of the treetop sequence you must climb a cliff face and then soon arrive at a skull elevator, which you take down to a stone room where Bonk squares off against the second boss of the game. This guy is way trickier than the first boss, he's a short and skinny dino who's clad in some sort of flamboyant safari suit and can split himself in to two separate entities . . . and he's also able to hurl throwing stars at you. Defeat him to free him from King Drool's enslavement.
The third stage is when the game starts to get hard. Stage 3-1 starts of in the jungle again, but this part of the jungle looks a little more dark, volatile and sinister. As Bonk sets out through the jungle you'll face some new creatures, including some small grasshoppers and this bright red dinosaur that looks like a hybrid between Bonk and a chicken!! Eventually you'll come to a series of stone caves, inside of them are some more bonus rooms/bonus stages. After passing by all the caves you have to jump up to the top of a cliff, on the other side are a couple of lonely hatchet dinos guarding the end of the stage.
If you can take advantage of the shortcut offered in stage 3-2, definitely do so!! The stage starts off on a high platform, in front of Bonk is a long bridge made of dinosaur bones. The only problem is that when Bonk steps on the bones they drop away. The first time I tried this stage my attempt to run across it failed and I got dropped down in to the water below. However, I learned in later attempts that you have to jump and spin your way across to reach the other side. If you can manage this Bonk will warp all the way ahead to stage 3-5. But we'll continue on with stage 3-2, and it's not long. Once you hit the water below the bone bridge just swim a bit to the right and that's the end of the stage. It's a short one either way, but taking the shortcut makes things much easier in the long run.
Stage 3-3 picks up underwater, where you leave off in stage 3-2. You'll simply have to make your way through the water, avoiding jellyfish, these weird amoeba type organisms, crocodiles, and conchs that shoot ink, before reaching the end of the stage. You'll also have to avoid some underwater volcanoes along the way.
In stage 3-4 you're still underwater, but this time you need to make your way upwards through some caverns. Complicating this matter are a bunch of turtles that shoot harpoons at Bonk . . . should be the other way around!! You'll also have to avoid more jellyfish as well as these bizarre radioactive rocks that fall through the water, I'm not sure if they ever actually hurt Bonk or not though. Once you reach the top of the caverns, crawl out on to an icy ledge and that's the end of the stage.
Stage 3-5 picks up where the last one leaves off, on the icy ledge Bonk climbed out on to in stage 3-4. Make your way across the ice, battling some half-hatched dinos, hatchet dinos, helmeted birds, as well as these new blue dinosaurs that have a giant head on them and trap Bonk in their mouths if he gets too close. Making this passage even harder is the fact that the ground is so bloody slippery! To expedite your travels, hop aboard the odd block of ice that comes hurtling through the environment. Eventually Bonk will come to a waterfall/lake area, beneath the surface you'll find a secret passageway that leads to a bonus game. After climbing out of the lake you come to a paved walkway. Follow it, facing more of those giant headed dinosaurs along the way. Next you'll happen upon another lake area, but this one is covered in ice. "Used your head" to break the ice, beneath the surface you'll find a secret passageway that leads to another bonus game. After getting out of this second lake continue down the walkway and soon you'll come to a crocodile infested lake that's broken up by what look like castle turrets. Further complicating matters are the storm clouds passing above that can electrify Bonk with their lightning strikes. At the end of this sequence you'll arrive at a skull elevator, take it down and Bonk will face off against the third boss of the game, a creature that's half dinosaur/half gorilla! He's a fast mover and loves to throw rocks at Bonk, probably the second hardest of the regular bosses in this game by far. Beat him to free him and afterwards he'll give you a clue about poor Princess Za . . .
The fourth stage of this game consists of just one lonely stage, stage 4-1! It takes place in a violent volcanic jungle lit with a flashing red sky, right off the bat you'll have to face hatchet dinos, these small, fuzzy Triceratops type dinos, some green, full sized Triceratops, and some Pterodactyls. Eventually you'll come to a quicksand area that's infested with cacti. Making the quicksand sequence even trickier is a series of live, erupting volcanoes. Use one of those walking palm trees to help get Bonk across. At the end of the quicksand sequence you'll arrive at a skull elevator, take it down to face the fourth boss of the game. This boss appears to be a tall, female dinosaur, who sports boxing gloves! She's pretty easy though, the only trouble comes when her boxing gloves come off and turn in to rockets that try to shoot Bonk down.
The end of the game is nigh!! Stage 5-1 begins outside of a stone castle. Start by ascending the castle wall using the various ledges, battling hordes of hatchet dinos in the process. You'll find a couple of caves built in to the castle wall that lead to bonus rooms/bonus stages. Bonk will eventually make it to the top of the castle walls, which signify the end of the stage.
In stage 5-2 move along the top of the castle walls, the parapets and turrets are chock full of hatchet dinos and helmeted birds. Eventually you come to a lake infested with crocodiles, above the lake are moving platforms made of bone that you can ascend. At the top you'll find a secret passage in the wall, enter it only to fall down a deep pit full of water.
Stage 5-3 begins under water, at the bottom of the pit Bonk fell down in the previous stage, underneath the castle. You begin by swimming through a tunnel that's filled with sharp spikes and guarded by these weird skate like creatures. You'll soon come out upon an open area that's filled with crocodiles. Make your way around them and you'll soon find more spike filled tunnels, this time clogging the way are even more enemies including skates, crocodiles, as well as harpoon toting turtles. Bonk will then arrive at a skull elevator, but it doesn't take him to a boss. The elevator just takes you up in to a gloomy cavern, no longer underwater. Impeding your progress through this cavern are pools of toxic green sludge, as well as these stone Triceratops statues that come from both sides. Another new enemy introduced during this sequence are these green pods that shoot out a number of black seeds that cause Bonk damage. You'll soon arrive at another skull elevator that takes you up to second cavern, where you have to deal with more pods, alligator skeletons that shoot bubbles, and some lava pits. Once more you'll arrive at another skull elevator, take it up and you're in the final cavern of the stage, where you'll have to deal with more pods, plus these new purple wizard dinos that can turn invisible and shoot their magic wands at Bonk. They definitely aren't relatives of Barney!! The last thing you do in this stage is face some hatchet dinos before finding one last skull elevator that shoots you up and away . . .
Stage 5-4 takes place in the upper regions of the castle. You'll be forced to climb these trick platforms that split in two after a couple seconds, and drop you down below. Complicating this already tricky sequence are those orbs that have the baby lion creatures in them, some Triceratops statues, and some Pterodactyls. During the climb eventually some platforms made of old bones join the mix, look for the secret passage along the right side wall leads to a very important bonus room. Finally you'll arrive at a skull elevator that takes you up an icy tunnel.
The trickiest stage of this game by far is stage 5-5. It starts off in a stone cavern covered in ice that consists of four consecutive rooms. In each of these rooms stands one of the original four bosses Bonk faced earlier in the game, only they are all greyed out, appearing to be frozen like statues. At the far end of these rooms is a skull elevator that takes you down in to an underwater area filled with crocodiles. Make your way through this area and Bonk will happen upon a really tall waterfall that he must scale, avoiding the hordes of electric eels that infest it. At the top of the waterfall another skull elevator waits that will take Bonk up to the top of the castle walls. King Drool then swoops out of the sky and fires what appear to be four eggs at you, but they don't do any damage, just disappear in to the castle. When Drool takes off afterwards just continue along the top of the castle walls and you'll come upon a sequence of those separating platforms, climb them up to what looks to be the castle's main turret, complete with a statue of a hideous dragon on top. When you enter the doorway built in to the turret Bonk is warped back to the very start of this stage, to the four rooms where the original game bosses were being held . . . only this time they are back to being very much alive. Now we know what those eggs were for! You'll then have to fight all four bosses in a row, collecting energy in between each battle, after the fighting is over Bonk will end up falling down a pit. At the bottom of this pit is a tunnel which leads to an empty room with a throne in it. Through the other door soon comes a diva-ish female dinosaur that sicks this living vehicle on Bonk that looks like it came straight from hell! Take the hell mobile down and you'll free the female dinosaur . . . turns out Princess Za was inside of her! When Bonk rescues her she'll ask you to help free her home world of Moonland, which has been conquered by King Drool. So you'll then head through a tunnel and climb in to a skull elevator together, only this one ends up being a space ship instead, blasting the pair up to the surface of the planet Moonland.
The final stage of the game is stage 5-6, it sees King Drool shoot Bonk and Za's space ship down to the surface of Moonland. After exiting the wreckage of the ship you'll traverse a bit of the planet before King Drool presents himself. At first he seems to be covered in some manner of cloaking device or shield. He'll disappear and then reappear, sicking these glowing red and white orbs on you in the process. After a number of hits Bonk destroys his shield and then the true King Drool comes out to play. This time around his attacks become a lot faster and come from above, you'll have to keep on the move to prevent yourself from being crushed by his impacts upon the surface of the planet. During this second phase of the battle he'll shoot hordes of glowing tridents at you in addition to his regular melee attacks. Just stick with it and you'll score enough hits to make the takedown, destroying King Drool and freeing the people of Moonland!! At the end of your three lives, unless you've completed the game, you will be offered two options. You can either continue from where you left off, or start over from the beginning.
While making your way through this grand adventure there are a number of things you'll need to look out for. First are fruits and veggies (including bananas, watermelon, some green mystery fruit, carrots, onions and green peppers), which are strewn about the environment in pretty much every stage of the game. Each fruit or veggie, depending on the type, restore Bonk's energy to varying degrees. Also look out for meat powerups. These don't restore Bonk's energy but they do make him more powerful for a time. On the first meat powerup Bonk will then be wearing a new blue outfit and his attacks become much more powerful. You can also freeze enemies with this powerup by performing a head-butt to the ground. On the second meat powerup Bonk turns in to a savage version of himself, turning brown and flashing green for a short while. While Bonk is flashing green this means he is invulnerable and can take out any enemy in the environment just by touching it. This invulnerability and the powerups in general all wear off after a short while, so be sure to make good use of them while you can. There are two sizes of meat power-ups, the small and the large, the large taking you to savage Bonk right off the hop. Another important object to look out for are red hearts, which restore Bonk's energy in larger quantities than do the fruit and veggies. A small heart will restore Bonk's energy meter by one heart, whereas a large heart will restore it by a count of three hearts. Be on the lookout for yellow smiley faces as well. These items will be released by certain enemies after you destroy them, when you finish the overall stage you're playing these smiley faces will be added up to earn you bonus points. Points are very important in this game as they earn you free lives at certain intervals.
There are also some environmental features you'll need to be aware of. First is a series of particular plants that will become commonplace as you make your way through the game, they come in four different colours. The most common colour is the red variety, when you jump on it it usually spits out fruit and veggies, and the odd time even a red heart. Every once in a while it will release a bizarre, jumping plant enemy that only appears in the game via this red plant though. Another common variety is the yellow plant, these act as springboards, increasing Bonk's jumping distance, mainly used for reaching hard to get areas. A less common variety is the orange plant, when you jump on them they release meat powerups. The least common variety is the green plant, when you jump on them they release a blue heart. Bonk's energy in this game is measured by a health bar made up of three red hearts, as he takes damage these red hearts decrease and turn to blue. When all hearts are blue the jig is up! By collecting a blue heart from one of these green plants you add an additional heart to Bonk's health bar. The other environmental feature you should look out for are caves and secret passageways. Some but not all of these can be entered, inside you'll find either a bonus room or a bonus game. The bonus rooms are usually filled with fruit and veggies, but the odd time you'll find meat, hearts, and even free lives. As for the bonus games, they aren't used to restore Bonk's energy but to gain bonus points. There are four types of bonus games in total: 1) one where you have to use a series of yellow plants to leap across some chasms, collecting as many fruit and veggies as possible along the way, 2) one where you have to scale a large cliff as fast as you can, 3) one where you have to jump off a high cliff and spin, landing on your feet to win, and 4) one where you have to head-butt as many volcanic rocks being spouted from a live volcano as possible.
The game screen is very simple and sparse for this title. In the top left corner you have Bonk's health bar, composed of 3 (or more) red hearts. And in the bottom right corner you'll see your score, just beneath that number will be a tally of how many lives you have left, represented by tiny Bonk icons.
Controls for Bonk's Adventure are also quite simple, and remember this is the PSP version I'll be referencing. First off, you can use both the D-pad and the analog stick to move Bonk around his environs. The L button is used to bring up the system menu, from which you can choose to save your game, load another game, view the software manual, or set the screen size (full screen, original or zoom). The R button is just a simpler, quick draw way to switch between the three screen size options I just mentioned. The Triangle button will make Bonk perform a high jump, whereas the O button will make Bonk perform a short jump. Both the X and Square buttons can be used to make Bonk throw a head-butt while he is in a standing position. If you jump and then press the X button Bonk will perform a ground slam by head-butting the Earth. And if you jump and then press the Square button (holding it down), Bonk will perform a series of spin attacks. Lastly, the Start button is used to pause game action.
As for the game's presentation, given the time frame it was released it's nothing short of awesome! The graphics aren't totally top drawer, but they are very good. The environments are colourful, exciting and memorable. The cartoony goofiness of the enemies they unleash within these environments only help to enrich the experience. I really believe this game is on a close par with the Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man franchises. They are all very cool, original and memorable types of games, with this unique vibe that they all kind of share. The sound is also very solid, it doesn't blow you away but it does the job it needs to, forming a backbeat to the extended jungle action this title offers. Perhaps the best part of this game's presentation is how Bonk reacts within the game. The controls are perfect in this game, no issues whatsoever. Partly this is because they are so bloody simple. When the only weapon available is your massive cranium, how can they screw that up!?
The pros and cons for this game are short and sweet. First, the pros. This game, considering the time it was released, is a massive adventure! There are 22 stages in total, most of which are of a decent medium to long length. With the later stages being a fair bit more difficult than the earlier ones Bonk's Adventure offers gamers a fun and exciting experience, but an experience where you have to earn your victory, it's not a cakewalk. Also, this game is a delight to be immersed in. Like I said earlier it's bright and fun, very cool and unique, the graphics and the controls are as sound as it gets for a game of this vintage. The last pro is the fun factor, which is extremely high. With how immersive the experience of Bonk's Adventure is, combined with it's near perfect execution, you will always have a good time when you decide to fire this game up. As for cons, there aren't any. Plain and simple, a great game!
I do have a few tips and tricks to offer anyone interested in taking a spin on this game. First, to get to the very end of this game, battling all the bosses along the way (twice unfortunately!!), it takes a great effort. In order to complete this task you must be very careful and conserve as much energy as possible. To do so . . . memorize. This game is very much like old school NES titles in that the same enemies always show up in the same places. The sooner you learn the sequence, the easier time you'll have getting through each stage with minimum damage. Also, explore, explore, explore. Learn the locations of all the hidden rooms and bonus games, and all of the other extra items you'll stumble across. The more hearts you add to your health bar and free lives you add to your cache, the easier time you'll have of it. Lastly, figure out just how to beat each boss in the most efficient manner. Since you'll be needing to beat each one twice, it helps to know how to take them out quickly, losing as little energy as possible in the process.
In summary, this is one fantastic game! TurboGrafx16 wasn't around for long but in their brief existence they sure left their mark, leaving behind quality games like this. The fact that there were a couple of follow ups produced speaks volumes to Bonk's popularity. Bravo!!