Kyukyoku! PC Genjin / B.C. Kid - Arcade (1994)
European Flyer
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Kyukyoku! PC Genjin
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Kyukyoku! PC Genjin
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The arcade version of Bonk is dubbed "Kyukyoku! PC Genjin", or "Ultimate! PC Genjin", and was developed by Kaneko rather than Red. While it looks similar in style, it's structured quite a bit differently from the console versions. You're given a level select with approximately thirty different stages. Each stage is extremely short, and the goal is to get the end as quickly as possible, all while trying to rack up a high score. There are various sports items you'll find lying around the stages, like basketballs - as long as you continue to dribble it while moving, you'll get bonus points. And ripping a page right out of Super Mario World, there's a goal post at the end of each stage, with a target that moves up and down, granting more points if you hit it at its apex. After completing three stages, you get to select from one of seven boss battles.
On the surface, it plays similar to the previous Bonk games, but some major things have changed. There are no power-ups, for starters. You can grab smiley faces, which attach themselves to Bonk's head and can be used to either absorb enemy projectiles or extend the length of your own attacks. Strangely, you no longer bounce off foes when you dive bomb them - instead, you just keep falling into you hit the ground, which is bound to throw off a lot of Bonk fans. It's also two-player, with the second player taking on the role of a female Bonk, who looks similar to the makeup-clad Bonk from the PC Engine games.
Graphically, it's a step up from the Turbografx installments. Like Super Genjin 2, the sprites are a bit smaller, but the detail in both the background and characters looks fantastic. Overall, it's interesting to see the Bonk games reimagined into a time/score attack setting, but its disjointed nature feels lacking compared to the console games, and loss of power-ups and altered controls don't do it many favors either.
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Kyukyoku! PC Genjin
Kyukyoku! PC Genjin
Kyukyoku! PC Genjin
Kyukyoku! PC Genjin
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Bonk's Adventure / GB Genjin - Gameboy (1992)
American GB Cover
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Japanese GB Cover
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Bonk's Adventure (GB)
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Don't let the English name fool you - even though this Gameboy entry is titled Bonk's Adventure, it's actually an original game and not a port of the TG-16 version. At the same time, it's not a completely original game. Rather, it takes bits and pieces from the first two Bonk games, changes the level designs, sprinkles in some new bosses. Most of it will look somewhat familiar, with similar levels and enemies, and music from Bonk's Revenge. It's a decent enough portable rendition, although like the NES game, it's sparsely populated and lacking in challenge. The only real unique aspect is Bonk's agitated form, where he turns into a punk and screams at his foes, doing damage in the process.
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Bonk's Adventure (GB)
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Bonk's Revenge / GB Genjin 2 - Gameboy (1992)
American GB Manual
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Bonk's Revenge (GB)
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Bonk's Revenge (GB)
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Once again,the English title of this game is full of lies and trickery - this is not a scaled down port to Bonk's Revenge. In fact, it has nothing to do with Bonk's Revenge - it's a completely new game for Gameboy. However, it plays pretty much the same, just with a new assortment of levels and bosses. You can now climb on any surface, including ceilings. However, the biggest change is the addition of several new forms - grab a piece of meat, and you can transform into a super hero, a thief, or a creepy pumpkin head dude, each with special skills. For example, each level is filled with locked doors - as the thief, you can pick the locks and gain access to bonus rooms, where all kinds of goodies are kept. There are also bonus stages, where you face off against a strange doppelganger of Bonk with a Robocop head. Lose, and you'll be turned into a mummy. It's decent, but it still shares the flaws of the original Bonk Gameboy game. There's one small regional difference - in the Japanese version, the thief perhaps looked a bit too much like someone in blackface makeup. This was changed so Bonk wears a striped prison outfit.
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Bonk's Revenge (GB)
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Screenshot Comparisons
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American
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Japanese
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GB Genjin Land - Viva! Chikkun Oukoku - Gameboy (1992)
Japanese Cover
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GB Genjin Land
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GB Genjin Land
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GB Genjin Land is basically just a collection of small levels and bonus games into one package. There are a total of six challenges, each with different skill levels. If you win, your score tally is used to open up new skill levels and unlock other events. Some of these should seem familiar - climb a building while collecting as many smiley faces as possible, for example - although some are new, like a whack-a-mole type stage, and a Breakout clone where you reflect the ball with Bonk's head. It's a neat bite sized distraction, but the content is too thin to support itself on its own. Luckily, later in the Gameboy's life, all three titles were released on the same cartridge. In this context, it works well as a companion to the other two proper games.
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GB Genjin Land
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Bonk's Return - Mobile (2006)
Bonk's Return
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Bonk's Return
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Bonk's Return
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Bonk's Return
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Technically the most recent Bonk game is Bonk's Return for cell phones. It's a completely original adventure through almost twenty small stages, including forest, ice and fire stages. The graphics and animation are actually surprisingly decent - more detailed than the TG-16 games, actually - and the levels work relatively well given the size of the screen. But like most mobile games, Bonk's Return falls victim to terrible controls. The speed is just far too slow, and jumping causes a ton of headaches. You need to hold down the button to determine how you leap, so it's way too easy to overshoot or undershoot something. Still, there are far worse cell phone games out there.
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Bonk's Return
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