Fans of excellent Turbografx-16 shoot-em-up Air Zonk will undoubtedly be intrigued by this sequel which was released in the latter years of the console for the CD-Rom attachment. Given the CD format, it would be fair to expect the sequel to be a vast improvement over the HuCard original, but sadly, this is not the case.
In this version, Zonk’s buddies - Team Cool - have been captured by nasty King Drool. When they are rescued, the assist the player with taking down the big boss waiting at the end of each stage. Rather than using power-ups, as in the first game, you are now reliant on finding one of your buddies so you can use their special firepower. Also, you can now hold down the action button to do a charge shot, which is a welcome addition. The playability is as good as ever in Super Air Zonk. The action is fast and furious but you always feel in control. The enemies and bosses are very humorous and some of them will make you crack a wry smile.
The original had some lovely multi-layered scrolling backgrounds that even rivalled competitors like Thunderforce IV on the Megadrive. Sadly, the parallax scrolling was thrown out of the window for the sequel, which is a shame as it makes the backdrops appear much flatter. It’s not the end of the world though; the foreground characters still look super and after playing for a while you are unlikely to care about the backgrounds. The in-game music is an interesting mix of piano and electric guitar. This is one of the things to really benefit from the CD format. It’s a great soundtrack albeit very zany! Think Parodius and you are not far off.
On the whole, Super Air Zonk fails to really improve on the original. For die-hard Air Zonk fans it is definitely worth a look but the original is 200 Wii points cheaper and takes up far fewer blocks on your Wii’s internal memory. For a unique game like Gate of Thunder a higher price and memory requirements might be easier to swallow, but for a sequel that is really more of the same it is harder to justify.
1. michinmuri
28 Sep 2007, 14:22 GMT
first post....yay!
who cares. I wonder if this is going to be the chip version or super cd version. I wish they had done the super cd version of bonk 3 vs the chip version. much better music of course. either way super air zonk is a good game like the first. i dont really remember it too much since it's been so long since i've played it, but if you like shooters and/or air zonk, go for it. gotta love the turbo grafx. i do; it's one of the main reasons i bought a wii.
2. retro_gammer79
15 Oct 2007, 18:37 GMT
As stated in the above review it is the CD version. Another dead give away is the fact that it's 800 wii points.
"Super Air Zonk is a spin-off of the popular Bonk’s Adventure series and the CD based sequel to Air Zonk."
3. Tides of Chaos
26 Oct 2007, 05:30 GMT
ED, the poster above you posted in September which was before the game came out.
4. Aaron
29 Oct 2007, 04:23 GMT
This game doesn't look particularly rockabilly to me.
5. Manaman
03 Nov 2007, 19:23 GMT
Being a massive fan of the hugely enjoyable original, I came into Super Air Zonk expecting the same kind of exhilaration. I was left disappointed.
Everything that was fantastic about the original - the variety of weapon choices, companions, enemy types and fast-paced actions - seems to have taken a tumble with everything seeming much more subdued, slow and downgraded. Levels just seem sparse, enemies are boring and the freedom of choice simply isn't there.
The soundtrack is the one thing positive I can say about this otherwise underwhelming sequel.
6. morphballer
05 Nov 2007, 16:56 GMT
This game was supposed to come out in the US last month! What happened?
7. Drake
05 Nov 2007, 19:28 GMT
Morphballer: There were two TurboGrafx games left for the US in the last week of last month (This and Samurai Ghost) - Apparently Nintendo didn't want both in one week, so Super Air Zonk got pushed to this month. On vc-pce.com it says it's already out in the US, it's not though!
8. Stevii's Father
20 Nov 2007, 01:58 GMT
Can you just imagine if Treasure made this with Hudson... that'd definitely rock more!
All the same, it's a great spin-off of the Turbografx' mascot Bonk. Shooters make the purchase!
9. StarSoldier1
08 Dec 2007, 07:14 GMT
I liked this game but it was too easy.
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