Air Zonk is a horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up with the cuteness factor cranked up to 10 in much the same way as Konami's Parodius. Hudson essentially took the Bonk character and renamed him Zonk for this one which makes the game even stranger. Perhaps they felt it wasn't appropriate for a caveman to be jetting around in the sky.
There are no complaints here with the graphics. Like the Bonk series of games everything is very colourful and the sprites are drawn beautifully. The music and sounds whilst not memorable particularly compliment the game well. The action is thick and fast with no sign of slowdown or flickering.
This isn't a game that takes itself too seriously. As such it is perfect for a quick 'pick up and play' blast. It's quite short though and not too punishing even on the harder difficulty setting. Still there are enough shooters out there which are next to impossible. This may help to build up your self confidence in the genre again!
There's lots of variety in the weapons available to Zonk along the way. In addition to that there are also power-ups. One nice touch is a second character which you can pick up and merge with into Super Zonk! The usual end of level bosses are big, bold and brash too just as you might expect.
The only criticism would be the lasting appeal factor for Air Zonk. The game is put together really well but once completed there really isn't too much to go back for. That's a minor quip though, for 600 points this really is good value for money. Fans of the genre should give this a look.
1. Carl George
27 Apr 2007, 20:11 GMT
Air Zonk is, in my opinion, one of the better PC Engine titles that I owned. Fast, fun and fairly challenging. Probably download it to reminisce.
2. Johannes
18 May 2007, 17:09 GMT
I hope it will come out next week in Europe.
It looks very fun!
3. beefy
28 Jun 2007, 17:04 GMT
first i was skeptical, but a shoot em up bonk game sounds pretty fun actually. i want to shoot down one of the floating cow things.
4. PowerLegend
02 Jul 2007, 14:30 GMT
i hope it comes out next week. i mean these bonk games are the only tg16 games i download
5. Bass X0
09 Jul 2007, 14:32 GMT
More TG16 shooters. On the bright side, they are not endless - there will come a time when TG16 shooters on the virtual console will be few and far between.
6. michinmuri
09 Jul 2007, 15:31 GMT
Very good game. Glad to see they are bring a some of the better TG-16 games to the VC, which is that main reason I bought my Wii. I agree with 4 stars. Still wish they'd pick up some of the CD and super CD games like Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Cosmic Fantasy, and the Y's series. Another one to look forward to is Silent Debuggers, which I belive will come out soon.
7. lavkian
09 Jul 2007, 17:26 GMT
Air Zonk is cool, but where's Bonk 3?!
8. CocoLopez
09 Jul 2007, 20:05 GMT
you'll never see the Air Zonk sequel- Rockabilly paradise- on wii- because it is a turbo CD game. Thankfully the only system I own is a turbografx with CD player and japanese game adapter and 135 titles. Don't have Rockabilly Paradise yet- but I will...
9. Asherdude
10 Jul 2007, 02:00 GMT
Alright! You guys just don't know how long that I've been waiting to play this game! Shooters 4ever, man!
10. nephew77
11 Jul 2007, 20:23 GMT
I'd agree with Daz again here. The fact that you can select a partner character for each level gives Air Zonk a feel somewhat like Campcom's Megaman. Both are cutesy and give you some options, allowing you to experiment with a variety of weapons on a variety of characters. Unlike Megaman, however, this game is more shooter than platformer and is a bit on the easy side.
Easy or not, the graphics and music of this title are worthy of the Bonk/Zonk name. This is one of the better HuCards out there. Recommended.
11. StarSoldier1
12 Jul 2007, 03:13 GMT
Can anyone beat my world record? Heh heh (EGM#45). Anyway I highly recommend this action packed shooter too since it has some of the best graphics for the turbo.
12. PresidentLeever
14 Jul 2007, 19:45 GMT
Pretty cool game.. They might as well've named it Air Bonk instead though ^^
13. nine4v
15 Jul 2007, 12:53 GMT
One of my all time fave shoot em ups.
14. sirmatt
31 Aug 2007, 20:05 GMT
Speaking as an "older" gamer lured back to gaming by the Wii, I like these VC games:
As far as TG16 titles go, I just LOVE Soldier Blade (keep coming back for more plus it's fun...lots of shouting and cursing lol), but I am just not loving the Air Zonk. Dude, it is HARDER! Plus I am just not a fan of the side-scrolling shooter. Never played 'em, never liked 'em. To me that perspective just seems sort of intuitively clunky, whereas a top-down you "sorta" feel more seat-of-the-pants "really flying".
Anyhow, this game can be challenging. It's cute and bright but usually it's just a tad tougher than that point where I get addicted to it. I personally wish I would have bought Starfox 64 instead of this and Devil's Crush.
****** UPDATE ************
OK, screw the review above. I love this game. It's bright, cute, and a B*TCH!! Challenging and yet can be a lot more fun if you play your cards right - GET AND KEEP THOSE WEAPONS UPGRADES! Otherwise this game is SERIOUSLY tough.
The music also is really catchy and gets stuck in my head - it's playing right now in fact!
It is a good challenge and I enjoy "digging away" at it, plus for me - since I like quick-hit gaming, not long, involved sessions - the save state feature is great.
Recommended.
15. Yoshi175
16 Sep 2007, 14:03 GMT
I downloaded this and It's very fun, evryone should play this
16. sobaked
18 Jan 2008, 06:12 GMT
Air Zonk has become one of my favorite games on the VC,,, it is such a fun game, and IMO quite difficult, especially at mid and high difficulty! i love it, and im not a big schmup fan! move over gradius III, ive got a new favorite schmup on the VC
~
17. Nigel
07 Feb 2008, 14:30 GMT
Fun! Easy at the start, hard at the end!
18. Manicfatty
15 Feb 2008, 15:15 GMT
Hella fun! Good to see a quirky shooter on the VC. I love the 'parody' shooters that see good success in Japan, but never caught on in the states. This will tide me over until we get one on the Wii!
19. Rossi
17 Feb 2008, 21:22 GMT
So does this have any Bonk elements in it? Just gettin my way through Bonk 3 atm!
20. TRON
05 Apr 2008, 04:13 GMT
Great Cute-em-up! one of the better schmups ever, and despite it's appearance, be prepared to start from the beginning a few times before you see the ending. Highly recommended!
21. Pocketim
16 Apr 2008, 10:03 GMT
@ Rossi: By the looks of things, it has some of the powerups from Bonk 3
22. CopyofCopyX
21 Jun 2008, 10:43 GMT
The final level is surprisingly epic and the final boss is just insane. This is one of the best Shoot-them-ups on the VC.
23. Epyo
26 Jul 2008, 01:52 GMT
too short, and not very interesting to replay, but very cute, and the gameplay is pretty good. If you want a shoot em up, get a better one first, and then probably another better one, before going to this one.
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