I don't see what's so great about the Bonk games

[MrFlutterPie]

I think Bonk is up there as part of the great platformers.  I grew up with a NES and I play way more Bonk then Mario or Sonic now a days.  It always seems to hold my attention.  I agree with everybody else on what they were saying about it's merits.

[Sadler]

It's impossible for me to objectively evaluate the Bonk games compared to its rivals. I never had a Genesis so it's probably no surprise that to this day I don't understand the fascination with Sonic. I did have a SNES back in the day and yes, I think the Mario games are fantastic. I had a TG16 first though, and one of the first 2 games I had was Bonk's Revenge (the other being Keith Courage). I absolutely loved the Bonk games back then. I probably played more of Revenge than any other platformer I've ever owned. The other two are pretty good (I prefer Adventure to Bonk 3), but Revenge is something special to me. I played through Revenge a month or two ago for the first time in well over a decade and I can honestly say it was just as incredible as I remember it being.

[HercTNT]

Personally i think that anyone that tries to compare the classic mascots are missing the point. The charm of Sonic is different than the charm of Bonk is different from the charm of Mario. I like all three games due to the fact that play completely different from each other.  Bonk's artistic style and random scenarios keep the game fresh for me. i love mario and sonic, but they tend to feel overdone at times.

[motdelbourt]

To know Bonk is to love him. Especially on the TG16.

The funny thing about Bonk though is that only a fraction of his games are actually on the PCE/TG16. The ones that are not on the TG are on the whole considerably weaker and less charismatic in every area compared to the Turbosauce versions.

I've been playing the arcade game lately. It's funny how it reminds me of NSMB, but boy is it annoying.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I love Mario, but Sonic, I've tried so hard over the years to enjoy those games.  I have virtually ever collection that's been released in the last 10 years, so I have all the original games.  I just can't get into them.  I like the music, & visuals in most the games, but the gameplay just kills it for me.  It doesn't help that they're all essentially 1 hit wonders, which I usually hate(though I tolerate in Mario's), but I get so friggin agitated when I lose all my rings.  It's like you're on top of the world, & BAM, you suck!  And it's so easy to get hit before you even know what's going on, because of that damn blast processing!  Seriously, I do like aspects of the Sonic games, but, I just can't play thru them from begining to end. 

Ofcoarse, I'm one of those wierdo's that still considers Super Mario 2/USA as the best Mario game of the 8/16bit era, & wish they'd revisit Wart & the gang.

[SignOfZeta]

Gawd, Super Mario USA is such a bastard creation.

[KnightWarrior]

Super Mario isn't a Real Mario Game at all

The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 is..

[Mathius]

I love Super Mario Bros. 2 USA! It's one of my fondest gaming memories when my mom bought it for me at K-Mart all those decades ago. I even love the box art.

[Arkhan Asylum]

They are fanboys, period.

I will have to disagree. I grew up with NES, SNES, TG and Genesis. I had them all. I grew up with every mario, every sonic, and every Bonk. There was no fanboying afoot. I was like, 7.

I liked Bonk's Adventure more than all of them even back then. It's got a charm to it that the other games don't have. The cartoony dinosaur theme helps. The music definitely helps. Bonk's Adventure's soundtrack is perfect for the game.

It's why I like Joe and Mac alot too. If that game played the exact same but it was like, some stupid italian plumbers, I would probably not like it.

Anyway, my top platformers from the era go something like this:

Bonk's adventure
Super Mario Bros 2 (Doki Doki Panic)
Sonic 2
Rocket Knight Adventures
Ristar

Throw in Joe and Mac and Super Bonk too. I think I had the most fun growing up playing Mario 2, Sonic 2, Super Bonk and Bonk's Adventure.

I also liked Kid Chameleon alot. That was a strange fuckin game. Most of my other favorites are Genesis games. Go figure.

Super Mario World was fun, but alot of the levels really pissed me off for the wrong reasons. I don't like the levels that move for you. They were a pain in the ass in Mario 3, and are still a pain in the ass in SMW. If SMW didn't have all the secret stuff to do, the game wouldn't be half as fun for me. I like using the cape to launch up to some secret bullshit. That's where the real fun is. and Star Road. That's the best part.


I liked this game called Claymates on SNES alot too. That's another strange fuckin game.

[turboswimbz]

I'm guess it might have something to do with Arkhan and me being similar in age, But I really, really agree with him.  Those are my favorites too.  + claymates and chemelon twist are awesome as well. (damn this are upstairs - gotta plug them back in and play them, along with Joe and Mac.  I liked Super Mario World a lot as a kid, but I find now that it's boring until you unlock the secret stuff. I never had a gensis, but my 1 friend did, we played Sonic 2 all day long. The 1 diffrence is that I like mario 3 as much as 2.  IDK why, I just do.  However, Bonk is my favorite becuse it was just diffrent, fun, simple and challenging.  It doesn't need to be anything other than what it is.  IT doesn't need to be some kind of crazy awesome, game that makes everyone like it.  The Games are solid early 90's platform style games or whatever you want to call them.  BOttom line.
BONK = GOOD

also don't care if I'm a fanboy, that's the point of liking it, and being a fan.

BONK PLEASE HAVE MY BABIES! ALL MY BABIES!

[Arkhan Asylum]

There were a few other oddball platformer games that I really liked. 

Castle of Illusion was great.  Still one of my favorite Sega games actually.

I'm not sure if it counts, but Ecco the Dolphin too.   That's another one of my favorite Sega games.

[futureman2000]

I remember being interested in Bonk from a snippet of gameplay in a TG-16 commercial, but I didn't play the game until about two years ago. The graphics and general theme appeal to me, but it's not a game that I play very often.
In comparison to Sonic/ Mario, I dunno.
When Sonic came out, I was a bit disappointed that it was so popular. I had a Genesis, so it was cool that the system was really taking off. But it wasn't really the kind of game that I liked. The colors were nice, and the scrolling was neat, but I didn't really care about scrolling at the time. I was mostly into RPGs, or strategy games- we generally didn't buy a game unless it had a save feature (with the exception of Strider- it was kind of a big deal at the time). I do like the Sonic games now (especially Sonic 2), but more as an example of programming prowess and creativity.
I think that it's not a stretch to say that most every Mario game is enjoyable without regard to context. Super Mario World was the kind of deep, exploratory game that I had wanted Sonic to be.
Finally playing Bonk was cool, because I remember seeing the art style and reading about the game play mechanics. But they're not the type of games (aside from maybe the giant Bonk sprite) that show off what the console can do, nor do they provide the kind of deep gameplay of Mario.
Then again, I was 30 when I first played Bonk- maybe I would feel differently if I had secured a turbo in 1990.

[reno5]

To my opinion the only missing thing in Bonk is save point. The game is kinda long if you don't have all day to play !

[Arkhan Asylum]

Save points in a platformer?

lolwut



You can beat the game in like an hour.

[turbokon]

To my opinion the only missing thing in Bonk is save point. The game is kinda long if you don't have all day to play !

I agree. What all the talk of bonk, I decided to fire up bonk's adventure. Got to stage 3 before I had to quit. I don't see how you can beat in an hour without trying to discover all the bonus stages.

[jlued686]

To be fair, save points weren't exactly common back at that time; especially for platformers. I mean, Mario 3 is freaking ginormous (without warp whistles), yet: no save point. No save points in Sonic either, as I recall.

[Arkhan Asylum]

To my opinion the only missing thing in Bonk is save point. The game is kinda long if you don't have all day to play !

I agree. What all the talk of bonk, I decided to fire up bonk's adventure. Got to stage 3 before I had to quit. I don't see how you can beat in an hour without trying to discover all the bonus stages.

Save the discovering for a time when you aren't going to get up 12 minutes later.

[CrackTiger]

Sonic 3 and Valis PCE games have saving, but it was uncommon for sidescrollers bitd.

The Bonk games aren't long for the time period either, they just aren't too short.

[esteban]

Gawd, Super Mario USA is such a bastard creation.

YES, BUT IT IS SUPREMELY AWESOME. I recently mentioned this in another thread: the *charm* of the Mario universe (as we now know it) owes a huge part to the bastard-child we know as Super Mario Bros. 2 USA North America. That's the first game where TONS OF LOVE AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL went into character designs and fleshing out the finer details of things.

I'm with Paranoia Dragon 1 million percent: I wish Nintendo would create an alternate universe where Wart, Birdo & Co. can continue their antics. Why should Wario and Waluigi be the only demented offsprings of the Mario cannon? Birdo, I want you back, baby! I friggin' love Birdo.

Super Mario isn't a Real Mario Game at all

The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 is..

This is silly. WHO CARES IF IT IS CANON OR NOT? It is a brilliant game, literally oozing with charm, personality and originality. So many great ideas (play mechanics) in this game. IT IS A CRIME THAT THIS GAME HASN'T BEEN EXPANDED AND DEVELOPED as an offshoot of the Mario Universe Proper.

See my prior comment on how Mario Universe Proper is indebted to Super Mario Bros. 2 USA North America.

I love Super Mario Bros. 2 USA! It's one of my fondest gaming memories when my mom bought it for me at K-Mart all those decades ago. I even love the box art.

HELLS YES!

[VestCunt]

To be fair, save points weren't exactly common back at that time; especially for platformers. I mean, Mario 3 is freaking ginormous (without warp whistles), yet: no save point. No save points in Sonic either, as I recall.

Man, I HATE save points in platformers (or almost any game that's not an RPG). Super Mario World seems to be the game that really made save points mainstream. As much as I like SMW, it introduced two of my pet peeves in action games: save points and in-game tutorials (in the form of blocks).

[Obfuscate]

Since I don't really enjoy platformers I wouldn't mind save states as I would probably play through more of them. Dracula X is a good example.

I love shooters and would hate it if they had save states. Unlimited continues pisses me off also, so I could see why people who like platformers wouldn't want them.

Bonks Adventure and Bonks Revenge are cool for a early 90's platformers though. One of the few I enjoy playing here and there.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Super Mario 2 (USA) was a brilliant game.  I played the hell out of it, and was floored when I found out the gameplay would be different than what we saw in the first SMW.  Then I was floored again when I really got into it.

Is it weird that I think Bonk 3 was the most fun of the Turbo trilogy?  Perhaps I just loved playing it two players with my kids years ago.  I also had the SCD copy, which I really dug the music in. 

I should bug my son now that he's out of the house and ask if he remembers playing Bonk 3 late nights back in 1995.... LOL

[KnightWarrior]

Well SMUSA is based off Doki Doki Panic..

SMB2J is the true sequel, even know everyone thinks it's just a add on of SMB

[esteban]

Super Mario 2 (USA) was a brilliant game.  I played the hell out of it, and was floored when I found out the gameplay would be different than what we saw in the first SMW.  Then I was floored again when I really got into it.

Is it weird that I think Bonk 3 was the most fun of the Turbo trilogy?  Perhaps I just loved playing it two players with my kids years ago.  I also had the SCD copy, which I really dug the music in. 

I should bug my son now that he's out of the house and ask if he remembers playing Bonk 3 late nights back in 1995.... LOL

You're not the only one who likes Bonk 3...someone here (nat?), whose opinion I respect quite a bit, well, he actually likes Bonk 3 the best. HE'S CRAZY WRONG, but that's OK.

YOU ARE CRAZY, too. But that's OK. I WISH I was able to enjoy Bonk 3 more. I've only played it via emulation (I don't have HuCard). Actually, this is probably part of the problem (I prefer playing on actual hardware).

[Nazi NecroPhile]

You're not the only one who likes Bonk 3...someone here (nat?), whose opinion I respect quite a bit, well, he actually likes Bonk 3 the best. HE'S CRAZY WRONG, but that's OK.

It's nat and me that champion Bonk 3 as the best of the three.  Neither of us is crazy.... we're just different. 

[Bernie]

Hey, I really like Bonk 3 too!!

[BigusSchmuck]

Hey, I really like Bonk 3 too!!

Yeah I do too, but is it really worth paying $80+ for it? That I'm not so sure of.

[Drakon]

Then get the turbo everdrive and play it on that.

Hey, I really like Bonk 3 too!!

Yeah I do too, but is it really worth paying $80+ for it? That I'm not so sure of.

[Bernie]

Hey, I really like Bonk 3 too!!

Yeah I do too, but is it really worth paying $80+ for it? That I'm not so sure of.

hmm..  Depends on how much you want it and want to play it.  I'd pay 80 for it, although although I already have it so it doesnt really matter.

[Mathius]

Hey, I really like Bonk 3 too!!

Yeah I do too

I just can't get into Bonk 3. The music and level design are lackluster IMO.

[csgx1]

Bonk 3 is my least favorite out of the three.  I wouldn't pay $80+ for it.  That being said, I bought the Japanese version, PC Genjin 3 for around $35 which seems fair for what the game offers.

[kazekirifx]

I always liked the music in Bonk 3. Sounds newer to me than other turbochips, and there isn't really another turbochip that sounds like Bonk 3.

[esteban]

You're not the only one who likes Bonk 3...someone here (nat?), whose opinion I respect quite a bit, well, he actually likes Bonk 3 the best. HE'S CRAZY WRONG, but that's OK.

It's nat and me that champion Bonk 3 as the best of the three.  Neither of us is crazy.... we're just different. 

Hahahhahhahaha. So you were the other crazy one!