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Playing through Bonk's Revenge for Game Boy using a SNES Super Game Boy 2, both dumped with a Sanni Cart Reader and running in Mesen!
NOT a port of the 1991/92 PCE/TG16 "PC Genjin 2" / "Bonk's Revenge"; it's a new, later entry in the Bonk series: 1994, between the 2 SNES Bonks. It's the 2nd Bonk game for Game Boy--the first being a port of Bonk's Adventure--and titled "GB Genjin 2" in Japan; but in the West, Hudson gave it the same title as the second console Bonk: EU "B.C. Kid 2" and US "Bonk's Revenge."
In a SNES with a Super Game Boy 1 or 2, there's a custom border, per-stage color palettes, and a colored UI.
Slopes and walls can be kludgy, but Dive Bonking enemies works much better here than it did in the console version: GB Bonk slows down in a dive, giving you time to aim, whereas on console he jerks downward, hard to control.
When Bonk eats meat, he cycles in "Meat Roulette" between three forms, transforming into a random (?) one at button press (names from the manual https://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Bonks-Revenge-Game-Manual.pdf ): Stealth Bonk can get into the numerous locked doors for 4 random rooms--3 stocked with powerups and 1 the "JAIL" that takes 1/2 your Smileys (100 Smileys = extra life); pointy-eared Master Bonk moves fast and jumps super-high; manic Hungry Bonk bites enemies for big damage & KOs them with his Ground Bonk.
Regular Bonk getting hit becomes mummy-wrapped, teary Wounded Bonk--who takes double damage! = o
4 white ("Crystal") hearts adds a heart container. Small flowers take you to a headbutt-off-the-platform fight vs "Mechabonk" who is obviously RoboBonk, one of a number of Hollywood action movie parodies: there are bosses swiped from Star Wars and Alien. Knock Mechabonk off 2x for 1UP!
With more 1UPs around, lives from 100 Smileys, numerous health powerups, and boss fights that can be breezy once you figure out their pattern / weak point, the difficulty isn't high, and I got right through in a single session w/o save states. But I did die fairly frequently, ended with about as many lives as I started, and was kept on my toes, so maybe it was about right! I can see playing through this again--whereas I never want to see the console version and its several tortuous stages & bosses ever again, so this is definitely my fave Bonk game!
The music is a little rough & tumble. ; )
https://www.mobygames.com/game/44700/bonks-revenge/reviews/
Contemporary pro reviews appear to have been low-ish: most criticized is the length and difficulty, short and low. Later player reviews are largely more positive, although some still write it off as too short and easy.
The cart is kinda expensive now. GB Genjin 2 is half the price, as is the Japan-only compilation cart of all 3 GB Genjin games--besides GB Genjin 1 & 2, Japan also got a GB Genjin mini-game game. I got the US version because:
'The "Stealth Bonk" form was changed from a stereotypical Japanese thief to a stereotypical western thief. This change was made because Hudson Soft was scared that the original sprite would meet controversy over a racial stereotype.'
-- https://tcrf.net/Bonk%27s_Revenge_(Game_Boy)
GameFAQs https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/company/77486-ai lists the developer as "AI," who'd done the NES port of Bonk's Adventure the year prior (NES's last year--that cart now sells for 4 figures). Back then AI were mostly doing console ports; they went on to do, among other things, 4 Bomberman games, each on a different Nintendo platform. Their later years--ending 2013--were on Nintendo handhelds.
The title screen credits just "Red," short for Red Company--also on the title screen of PC Genjin 2 (see entry 1586); GameFAQs credits small studio "Mutech" for that one. (GFs credits Hudson for Bonk's Adventure on both GB and TG16, and for Bonk 3.)
Sole "Game Design" credit Jin Akabane's only other developer credits (all as "Director," as MobyGames classifies them, including for this game https://www.mobygames.com/person/206775/jin-akabane/ ) are licensed 1995 PC Engine CD fighting game Kabuki Ittou Ryoudan, and Super Robot Taisen N64 (1999) & GBA (2001) games.
Under Special Thanks, the credits include "People of Hudson & Red" (1:31:09). |
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| | | | According to MobyGames and Hardcore Gaming 101, A.I Co., Ltd. also developed Bonk 3 and the two Super Famicom Bonks (only the first of which came to the SNES). |
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