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Bonk's Adventure
Developer(s)	Red Company, Atlus
Publisher(s)	JP Hudson Soft NA NEC Home Electronics
Platform(s)	TurboGrafx-16, NES, Game Boy, Amiga, Virtual Console, Arcade
Release date(s)	1990, 1993
Genre(s)	2D side scrolling platform game
Mode(s)	Single-player
Media	cartridge
Input methods	Gamepad

Bonk's Adventure is a 2D platform video game developed by Red Company and Atlus and released in 1990 for the TurboGrafx-16. In Japan it was known as PC Genjin, a play on the Japanese name for the system, PC Engine. The game was later ported to the NES, Game Boy, Amiga, arcade systems under different titles (FC Genjin, GB Genjin and BC Genjin) and is available through Nintendo's Virtual Console service.

Story

The game's protagonist is Bonk, a strong caveboy who battles anthropomorphic dinosaurs and other prehistoric themed enemies. Bonk's mission is to rescue Princess Za (a small pink Pleisiosaur-type reptile) who has been kidnapped by the evil King Drool (a large, green, Tyrannosaurus-type dinosaur). In the Arcade version, Bonk is also assisted by a female version of himself.

Gameplay

Bonk's Adventure

Bonk attacks enemies by "bonking" them with his large, invincible forehead. Bonk starts the game with three hearts worth of health, which are depleted to blue as Bonk takes damage, and three extra lives. Bonk's health can be restored in increments by collecting fruits and vegetables.

Bonk can also collect pieces of meat as power-ups; these lend him special abilities and make him stronger. There are three stages of power-up: his normal self, a second stage during which he can stun enemies by pounding on the ground, and a third stage where he becomes temporarily invulnerable. Meat can be found in two varieties: big meat and small meat. The effects of meat are additive but wear off over time. A small meat gives Bonk the second stage of meat power but will eventually decay into the first stage of meat power, and then back into regular Bonk. Eating a small meat while in stage two will put Bonk into the third, invincible stage of meat power. And eating either size of meat while in the third stage of meat power-up will reset the timer on Bonk's meat power.

Bonk can occasionally collect red heart power-ups that refill an entire heart worth of health, or even more rarely, a large red heart, which restores all of Bonk's missing health. There are also two rare, blue heart power-ups in the game which will increase Bonk's maximum health by one heart.

Bonking an enemy will typically knock it backward and slightly into the air. Defeating an enemy yields points and also releases a small "smiley" power-up. Bonk's smileys are totaled at the end of each stage after defeating the boss of that stage. The player is given additional points and a caveman type congratulation based on how many smileys were collected.

Development and release history

The Japanese name for the original game for the PC-Engine is PC-Genjin (PC-原人, literally, PC-barbarian). In Japanese, PC-Genjin sounds like PC-Engine, and the PC stands for Pithecanthropus Computerus, a pun on Pithecanthropus Erectus. It is generally called PC-Kid in English, as he was meant to be NEC's mascot at the time. Later, when the game was ported (or given different versions) for other platforms, it was renamed accordingly, like FC-Kid (after Family Computer, the original Japanese name for the NES, and the FC stood for Freakthoropus Computerus), GB-Kid (after the Game Boy), or the more generic name BC-Kid in some other versions, including Amiga. In North America, this was scrapped, as the game name is always Bonk's Adventure or something similar.

In 2003 Hudson Soft included a 3D remake of Bonk's Adventure in their Hudson Selection series of games released exclusively in Japan for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube consoles.^[1]

Factor 5, developers of the Amiga port, have made BC-Kid available for free through their company website but it requires an emulator to play.^[2]

The TurboGrafx-16 version was released for Wii's Virtual Console Nov. 21, 2006, and according to informal surveys it has been one of the most purchased games.^[3]

Hudson is currently developing a reboot of the franchise entitled "Bonk: Brink of Extinction" for WiiWare. It is scheduled to be released Q1 2010.

References

1. ^ Shoemaker, Brad (2003-09-27). "TGS 2003: Bonk's Adventure Impressions". GameSpot. CNet. http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/bonksadventure/news.html?sid=6076053&mode=previews. Retrieved 2006-12-20.  
2. ^ "Factor 5 Classics page". http://factor5.com/downloads.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-05.  
3. ^ Snow, Blake (2006-12-06). "TurboGrafx the most downloaded Virtual Console games? (sic)". Joystiq. Weblogs, Inc.. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/06/turbografx-the-most-downloaded-virtual-console-games/. Retrieved 2006-12-20.  

External links

• Bonk's Adventure at MobyGames
• The Bonk Compendium (Covering all games and references to Bonk)

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Bonk's Adventure
Developer(s)	Red Company Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	Hudson Soft Famicom NES Game Boy NEC PC-Engine TurboGrafx 16
Release date	PC-Engine: December 16, 1989 (JP) TurboGrafx 16: 1990 (NA) Game Boy: December 1992 (NA) Famicom: July 30, 1993 (JP) NES: 1993 (NA) Virtual Console: November 21, 2006 (NA) December 2, 2006 (JP) December 8, 2006 (EU)
Genre	2D platformer
Mode(s)	Single player
Age rating(s)	N/A NES Game Boy PC-Engine TurboGrafx 16 ESRB: E Virtual Console
Platform(s)	Nintendo Entertainment System Game Boy PC-Engine TurboGrafx 16 Virtual Console
Media	Cartridge NES HuCard PC-Engine TurboGrafx 16
Input	NES Controller Turbo Pad Gamecube Controller Wii Remote Classic Controller
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough

Bonk's Adventure is a game released for the TurboGrafx-16, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Gameboy. It is the first game of the series released for the TurboGrafx-16 that features the main character Bonk, who according to Hudson Soft was originally created as a comic book character called PC Genjin for their PC Engine magazine. So many people liked the character that there were talks held on giving him a game of his own. Despite his origin, Bonk was elevated to being a mascot game character for that system as Mario became that for the Nintendo systems and Sonic for the Sega systems.

Gameplay

You play Bonk, the hard-headed cave child who battles anthropomorphic dinosaurs and other prehistoric themed enemies. Bonk's mission is to rescue Princess Za (a small pink Pleisiosaur-type reptile) who has been kidnapped by the evil King Drool (a large, green, Tyrannosaurus-type dinosaur). In the Arcade version, he is also assisted by a female version of himself.

Bonk uses his head (quite literally) to defeat his enemies by bonking them. Besides running and jumping, he can use his teeth to climb up cliff walls in the levels he encounters on his journey. He can swallow meat, which powers him up temporarily and incrementally; the second meat he eats after the first will allow him to stun his enemies by pounding the ground with his head, and the third meat after that will give him temporary invulnerability.

Gallery

Famicom Boxart	NES Boxart	Game Boy Boxart	PC-Engine Boxart
TurboGrafx 16 Boxart

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