''Air Zonk'', known in Japan as , is a horizontally scrolling shooter released for the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...

in 1992. ''Air Zonk'' was an effort to update the company's image with a modern, punkish character named Zonk, who bears a deliberate resemblance to the TurboGrafx-16's

caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or " ape-like" by Marcellin B ...

mascot,

Bonk Bonk may refer to: People * Bonk (surname) Arts and entertainment * Bonk (video game series), ''Bonk'' (video game series), a caveman character and video game series *Bonk!, a soft drink company in the first-person shooting game ''Team Fort ...

. The game was developed by Red Company, the original creators of the Bonk series, and also known for their '' Gate of Thunder'' series. ''Air Zonk'' features King Drool, the antagonist of the ''

'' series, along with many other enemies from that series. A sequel, '' Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise'', was released in 1993 for the TurboDuo and has been made available on the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

Gameplay

''Air Zonk'' is a reimagining of the ''

'' video game series as a

scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character m ...

set in the future. Artistically, the game is lighthearted, featuring humorous designs for the environment and characters. Throughout the five levels, the gameplay focuses on the effective use of shooting and bombing to complete each stage. At the start, the player may choose a companion character to team up with, such as an anthropomorphic gumball machine or a mummy with a drill attached to its head, in order to enhance Bonk's powers. Players can limit the use of designated companion characters for each level or opt not to use them at all. Each companion character, or friend, can only be used once. ''Air Zonk'' adopts the distinct visual style sometimes referred to as a "cute 'em up." There are three difficulty settings: sweet, spicy, and bitter. Zonk can charge his shots, allowing him to fire a more powerful attack. A longer charge causes Zonk to drop a bomb, which damages all enemies on the screen. Zonk can also acquire seven types of

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...

s, each of which can be charged for a unique special attack. As with most scrolling shooters, whenever Zonk acquires a new power-up, he loses the current one. If Zonk is hit while holding a power-up, he loses it but does not die, except in the case of the Mini-Zonk power-up. The Mini-Zonk power-up differs from other power-ups in that it cannot be charged and can be found in both florets and random enemy drops (while other power-ups can only be found in florets). Zonk begins each stage alone and without power-ups. He must collect eight smiley faces, the eighth of which will appear in giant form with sunglasses, in order to summon his friend. Initially, the friend acts as a ''

Gradius is a series of shooter ( shoot'em up) video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper. ...

''-style support, following Zonk and shooting projectiles. If the player collects another eight smiley faces, Zonk and his friend will merge into a hybrid form, granting a new attack and 20 seconds of invulnerability. This new attack cannot be charged, and Zonk cannot drop bombs while in hybrid form. Once invincibility expires, if Zonk is hit, he will revert to his normal form, and his friend will leave. However, Zonk retains any power-up he had before transforming into hybrid form.

Release

''Air Zonk'' was released on the

in May 2007 in Japan, July in America, and on July 13 in Europe. It was also released on the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

's Virtual Console in Japan on June 19, 2014, in America on July 27, 2017, and in Europe on August 3.

Reception

''Air Zonk'' garnered generally favorable reception from critics, holding a rating of 76.25% based on four reviews according to

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. The game received a score of 23.74 out of 30 in a 1993 readers' poll conducted by ''

PC Engine Fan PC Engine Fan was a Japanese magazine dedicated to the TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, published by Tokuma Shoten. It ran from 1988 to 1996. History The first issue of ''PC Engine Fan'' was published in late 1988. The magazine originated as a section in ...

'', ranking among PC Engine titles at the number 55 spot. For their 1992 game awards, ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...

'' honored ''Air Zonk'' as their "

Game of the Year Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given to a video game by various award events and media publications that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year. Events and ceremonies British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards) ...

" on the TurboGrafx-16.

Legacy

''Air Zonk'' received a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

in 1993 titled '' Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise'' (also known as ''CD Denjin Rockabilly''), which was released in the SuperCD format and requires the Super System Card to play on first-generation TurboGrafx-CD consoles. As its name suggests, the game features a

CD audio Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the '' Red Book'' technical specifications, which is why t ...

soundtrack consisting of

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

music. The game includes all-new levels, assistants, and enemies.

References

External links

The Bonk Compendium
(covering all games and references to Bonk and Air Zonk)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927202026/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3147303 ''Air Zonk'' featured in 1-up's "Stchick 'em up" article
Information on ''Super Air Zonk''
{{Bonk series 1992 video games Cute 'em ups Fictional cyborgs Horizontally scrolling shooters Hudson Soft games Kaga Create games Single-player video games Turbo Technologies games TurboGrafx-16 games Video game spinoffs Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games for Wii U Virtual Console games