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.
Best described as a shmup that thinks it's a platformer. This was one of the first games I got off the Wii Eshop as a kid and it more or less introduced me to the Turbografx16. Even back in the early 2000s...those things were hard to come by and so I only had a SNES and Genesis. It's very accessible for non shm'up players and doesn't outstay its welcome. If you were to play just one game out of the entire TG16 library, I would say go with this one.
I fell in love with this silly ass shoot ‘em up at a Toys R Us that I used to visit after school. They had a TG-16 hooked up and playing a few different games. My favorites were Air Zonk, Alien Crush and Devil Crush. The last two are pinball games, and I will get around to giving them reviews too.
Now, Air Zonk is made by Hudson soft, who made the Bonk games, so Zonk looks like Bonk with Ray Charles shades on. But he’s also a robot.
Ok, so I don’t know the story, exactly. I just played the game last week, but I never pay attention to the story.
Basically each level you choose a partner to join you. They help you out kind of like Options from Gradius or Lifeforce. But you get a certain power up and Air Zone no and his buddy combine into a new form that unleashes hell all across the bad guy army.
It’s satisfying getting to the boss and grabbing this random power up.
The music is also really good.
This is a fun game. If you get the chance and you like shoot ‘em ups, definitely give it a whirl.
Now, Air Zonk is made by Hudson soft, who made the Bonk games, so Zonk looks like Bonk with Ray Charles shades on. But he’s also a robot.
Ok, so I don’t know the story, exactly. I just played the game last week, but I never pay attention to the story.
Basically each level you choose a partner to join you. They help you out kind of like Options from Gradius or Lifeforce. But you get a certain power up and Air Zone no and his buddy combine into a new form that unleashes hell all across the bad guy army.
It’s satisfying getting to the boss and grabbing this random power up.
The music is also really good.
This is a fun game. If you get the chance and you like shoot ‘em ups, definitely give it a whirl.
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.
Um ótimo jogo de "navinha" para quem não é pro nesses jogos, jogo muito bonito, com uma dificuldade acessivel, só começa a subir demais na fase final, vários poderes malucos e variados que deixam a gameplay divertida. Recomendo para fã de SHMUP e tmb quem quer entrar no genero.