This is a pretty solid shooter spin-off for the Bonk series with smooth gameplay and colorful visuals. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it all works.
Why is there a Bonk shmup?
Anyways, this here's a cute shmup starring Bonk and friends with super colorful graphics and some pleasant music. It didn't manage to be that good, however.
The game starts out as a very basic shmup: you have some weapons you can employ if you find them, and a layered system for your buddy: once you find a big smilie they will be called to act as an option, and with the next one you'll fuse into a stronger creature.
Despite being pleasant, Zonk isn't particularly interesting. Most stages are separated into two, with two bosses in them. However, each subsection of the level feels like it drags on for a while, reusing the same enemies and situations for a few minutes too many, while the levels themselves are rarely anything but just scrolling backgrounds.
I also question devs' love towards one of the power-ups you can find: the power to make you small seems to appear WAY more often than other ones, and I don't really get it. It's usually not an issue, Bonk did have some size shenanigans, it's just that when an end-level boss approaches, it becomes really tough to survive the battle in that mode considering the background is a mess of fast-moving bubbles.
One thing that the game really learned from Bonk, however, is that last stage sucks. If you've ever played Metal Slug 3, there's your comparison. While featuring more sections and bosses and being probably the most interesting, it's also really stingy with power-ups, featuring boss refights even of bosses you fight in this very stage, and having a really tanky last boss.
Overall, I didn't like Air Zonk very much: for most of the game it's way too simplistic before going into an overdrive, and the power-ups don't feel that great, especially the one the game really wants you to use at all times.
Anyways, this here's a cute shmup starring Bonk and friends with super colorful graphics and some pleasant music. It didn't manage to be that good, however.
The game starts out as a very basic shmup: you have some weapons you can employ if you find them, and a layered system for your buddy: once you find a big smilie they will be called to act as an option, and with the next one you'll fuse into a stronger creature.
Despite being pleasant, Zonk isn't particularly interesting. Most stages are separated into two, with two bosses in them. However, each subsection of the level feels like it drags on for a while, reusing the same enemies and situations for a few minutes too many, while the levels themselves are rarely anything but just scrolling backgrounds.
I also question devs' love towards one of the power-ups you can find: the power to make you small seems to appear WAY more often than other ones, and I don't really get it. It's usually not an issue, Bonk did have some size shenanigans, it's just that when an end-level boss approaches, it becomes really tough to survive the battle in that mode considering the background is a mess of fast-moving bubbles.
One thing that the game really learned from Bonk, however, is that last stage sucks. If you've ever played Metal Slug 3, there's your comparison. While featuring more sections and bosses and being probably the most interesting, it's also really stingy with power-ups, featuring boss refights even of bosses you fight in this very stage, and having a really tanky last boss.
Overall, I didn't like Air Zonk very much: for most of the game it's way too simplistic before going into an overdrive, and the power-ups don't feel that great, especially the one the game really wants you to use at all times.