Bonk's Adventure (PCE, 1989)
Graphics-7 Sound-8 Control-6.5 Challenge-6.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-6 Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
+
Some interesting mechanics (spin your head to float in the air, petrify enemies by stomping the ground with your head after eating meat, eat more meat to become invincible and able to run, juggle enemies on your head)
Hidden items (break walls)
Expressive characters
Some good bosses (some large sprites)
Respawn on the spot
Ddecent length (~1 hour)
Mini-games (hidden/collect item, gain 1-ups)
+/-
Would've been less frustrating overall if you could headbutt to the front when in mid-air (you'll often get pinned down by accidentally stomping the ground, flying enemies often crowd the screen when you're jumping between platforms which forces you to 'ground stomp')
Standard jumps to hit enemies above you takes some getting used to
Life refill between stages depends on your ability to collect smiley faces
Decent cutscenes (some funny dialogue)
Slight delay when jumping
-
Somewhat sloppy hit detection (uvulas in dino's tummy, items)
Trial & error (weird mechanics, boss patterns)
Clunky swimming and climbing controls
Vertical based jumping
Poor jump height control
Slow acceleration from standing position
No manual running
Dead enemies keep bouncing into your head when jumping
Hard to tell if some objects are part of the foreground or not (equal saturation on everything)
Some tedious parts (underwater, final stage)
Poor shading on some sprites and areas, cheap final boss (unavoidable hits?), mostly simple bosses (except for the second to final and the second one), some enemies take too many hits to kill (breaks flow), no difficulty options, somewhat uneven difficulty (second volcano eruption, not much thought behind placement of meat so you can become invincible over and over)
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-6 Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
+
Some interesting mechanics (spin your head to float in the air, petrify enemies by stomping the ground with your head after eating meat, eat more meat to become invincible and able to run, juggle enemies on your head)
Hidden items (break walls)
Expressive characters
Some good bosses (some large sprites)
Respawn on the spot
Ddecent length (~1 hour)
Mini-games (hidden/collect item, gain 1-ups)
+/-
Would've been less frustrating overall if you could headbutt to the front when in mid-air (you'll often get pinned down by accidentally stomping the ground, flying enemies often crowd the screen when you're jumping between platforms which forces you to 'ground stomp')
Standard jumps to hit enemies above you takes some getting used to
Life refill between stages depends on your ability to collect smiley faces
Decent cutscenes (some funny dialogue)
Slight delay when jumping
-
Somewhat sloppy hit detection (uvulas in dino's tummy, items)
Trial & error (weird mechanics, boss patterns)
Clunky swimming and climbing controls
Vertical based jumping
Poor jump height control
Slow acceleration from standing position
No manual running
Dead enemies keep bouncing into your head when jumping
Hard to tell if some objects are part of the foreground or not (equal saturation on everything)
Some tedious parts (underwater, final stage)
Poor shading on some sprites and areas, cheap final boss (unavoidable hits?), mostly simple bosses (except for the second to final and the second one), some enemies take too many hits to kill (breaks flow), no difficulty options, somewhat uneven difficulty (second volcano eruption, not much thought behind placement of meat so you can become invincible over and over)