This game made a great first and lasting impression on me since it was the first I played in the series!
User Rating: 8.5 | GB Genjin 2 GB
For years I had always seen the Turbo Graphix 16 mascot featured in reviews and gaming magazine advertisements....but for some reason I had never got around to ever playing any of the games in that era. Finally, I came across Bonk's Revenge and thought "finally, lets see what Bonk is all about". WOW! As simplistic as the game is, its undeniably fun. As you may or may not already know (or had the common sense to figure out), Bonk's primary weapon is his massive head. In addition to this, he gets some pretty neat power ups: Hungry Bonk (Chomps on enemies as opposed to "bonking" them), Super Bonk (a more powerful version of Bonk that can harm every enemy on the screen when slam his head on the ground) and Theif Bonk (can unlock secret rooms that lead to smileys to collect or prisons that drain you of smileys). There is also a powered down verison of Bonk...Injured Bonk, which causes him to take twice as much damage when hit (this is only gained if Bonk loses in 1 of several bonus duels against his rival Mecha Bonk).
Little known fact about the Theif Bonk power up: In the original Japanese version of the game, Bonk would sport "black face" when in this form. No lie, see for yourself:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bonk/bonkjp.PNG
My Breakdown:
What's Good:
- Game Play
- Cool power ups
- Plenty to do on the game
- Somewhat offbeat humor
- High replay value
What's Not-So-Good:
- No save or password feature
- Not being able to play as Mecha Bonk!!!
What's Bad:
- The racial insensitive depiction of African Americans as "Thieves" in the original Japanese version
In all, despite ignorance displayed in the original version of the game, Bonk's Revenge was one of the best games that I own for Gameboy and was even more fun to play on Super Gameboy. This is definately a title to check out for anyone into old school gaming.
