Something went wrong. Try again later

Giant Bomb News

69 Comments

Return of Bonk

The face of the TurboGrafx-16 is coming back next year with an all-new adventure.

Hudson has announced plans to produce Bonk: Brink of Extinction for Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, and the PlayStation Network. It'll be an all new game featuring Bonk, the big-headed caveman who was the closest thing the TurboGrafx-16 has to a mascot back in the early 1990s.

While it'll be an all-new game, Brink of Extinction appears to be duplicating the side-scrolling platformer style of the original games. It'll also contain some sort of online play when it hits in early 2010. The game is being developed by Pi Studios. I reallyreallyreally liked the first couple of Bonk games, such that they almost tricked me into thinking that the TG-16 had a chance against the more-powerful Genesis. Looking back on them today, those games haven't aged especially well and they seem sort of dull when compared to other platformers from that era. It'll be interesting to see how a new game fares today.

Here's the full fact sheet, which has a bit of story info, and some screenshots.
 


About Bonk:
It is the start of a new age and Bonk has returned at the turn of the tide as the world faces extinction.  Our loveable caveman is back and has brought his huge head with him.  A doomsday comet, surrounded by smaller chunks of debris, is on a collision course with Earth.  A strange magnetic field around the comet seems to be driving most of the planet’s weak-willed creatures crazy, and smaller bits of debris are smashing into the jungle near Bonk's home.  Bonk must undertake a perilous journey that will take him to the very center of the planet to save the world.

The Return Of The Most Widely Requested Classic Platformer 
Story Mode with Co-Op play.  Play alone or have a friend join you any time.
An entire new adventure with Bonk as he swims, bites, climbs, jumps, runs, and head-butts his way through jungles, deserts and volcanic caverns
Search for help along the way: power ups, check points, and extra health are the staple for every adventuring caveman.  
Transformations are back and weirder than ever!  Now Bonk can transform himself into eight different forms by eating meat or encountering Primordial Ooze.  No enemy is safe from the boy with the super noggin!
Multiple other modes and adventures are available as add on packs

New Features:
Online play for the first time in the series.  
New enemies with wide variations in personality/abilities.  Beware the Raptor Unicycle Tank!
Next generation gameplay meets retro brand: Classic 2D platforming in a 3D world.
Collectibles will have you searching the entire prehistoric world 
Download Content to keep the experience going

Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

69 Comments

Avatar image for emilio
Emilio

3581

Forum Posts

1268

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 6

Edited By Emilio
@Video_Game_King: 
Bonk used to be a mischievous rascal type character when he was originally introduced, but when they shipped him over to west they gave him a more cutesy look.
 
@Snapstacle:
There already exists an Alien Crush remake on WiiWare.
Avatar image for fuzzylemon
FuzzYLemoN

1609

Forum Posts

2558

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By FuzzYLemoN

BONK!
BONK!
Avatar image for jasonlblair
jasonlblair

109

Forum Posts

612

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 16

Edited By jasonlblair

Oh man, BONK! Very nice.

Avatar image for cherokeejack
CherokeeJack

24

Forum Posts

25

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By CherokeeJack

Yeah, the visual style looks kinda awful.

Avatar image for jjor64
JJOR64

19700

Forum Posts

417

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 5

Edited By JJOR64

I might have to pick it up.  I picked up the first on Wii VC and I enjoyed it.

Avatar image for scooper
Scooper

7920

Forum Posts

1107

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Scooper

The graphics look..... stock.

Avatar image for akeldama
Akeldama

4373

Forum Posts

28

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By Akeldama

oh no. They better not fuck this one up.

Avatar image for phlegms
phlegms

1622

Forum Posts

101

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 3

Edited By phlegms

This I did not see coming.

Avatar image for giyanks22
giyanks22

2950

Forum Posts

816

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 17

User Lists: 5

Edited By giyanks22

HELL YEAH!!!!!!

Avatar image for kirbichu54
Kirbichu54

122

Forum Posts

566

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Kirbichu54

Online play? Nice!

Avatar image for fcksnap
FCKSNAP

2338

Forum Posts

844

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By FCKSNAP
Avatar image for skrutop
skrutop

3810

Forum Posts

23630

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 48

User Lists: 14

Edited By skrutop

Dude, Bonk's Revenge was my favorite TG-16 game when I had one as a kid.  I hope this one is more Bionic Commando Rearmed and less Turtles in Time Reshelled.

Avatar image for jakob187
jakob187

22972

Forum Posts

10045

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 9

Edited By jakob187

Curious about it...but not expecting much.  =  /

Avatar image for meetthepyro
MeetThePyro

440

Forum Posts

197

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 8

Edited By MeetThePyro

Never played Bonk back in the day... hmmm

Avatar image for diamond
Diamond

8678

Forum Posts

533

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By Diamond

I too really like Bonk.  I'm a bit concerned by the graphics style / look going on.  Looks like a bad PSP game.  Maybe the graphics look poor because it's coming to Wiiware as well as XBLA and PSN...
 
As far as the old titles, I feel Bonk's Revenge and Super Bonk hold up quite well.

Avatar image for video_game_king
Video_Game_King

36563

Forum Posts

59080

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 54

User Lists: 14

Edited By Video_Game_King

Why does he look so angry? Is it because he's not retail? Don't be angry, Bonk; your game is a perfect fit for digital marketplaces.

Avatar image for liquidswords
LiquidSwords

2728

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By LiquidSwords

Kinda want

Avatar image for coltonio7
Coltonio7

3214

Forum Posts

114

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

Edited By Coltonio7

Oh my god, yes.
 
As long as meat still makes Bonk a dinosaur, this game will be an absolute for me.

Avatar image for jeff
jeff

6357

Forum Posts

107208

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 20

Edited By jeff
Hudson has announced plans to produce Bonk: Brink of Extinction for Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, and the PlayStation Network. It'll be an all new game featuring Bonk, the big-headed caveman who was the closest thing the TurboGrafx-16 has to a mascot back in the early 1990s.

While it'll be an all-new game, Brink of Extinction appears to be duplicating the side-scrolling platformer style of the original games. It'll also contain some sort of online play when it hits in early 2010. The game is being developed by Pi Studios. I reallyreallyreally liked the first couple of Bonk games, such that they almost tricked me into thinking that the TG-16 had a chance against the more-powerful Genesis. Looking back on them today, those games haven't aged especially well and they seem sort of dull when compared to other platformers from that era. It'll be interesting to see how a new game fares today.

Here's the full fact sheet, which has a bit of story info, and some screenshots.
 


About Bonk:
It is the start of a new age and Bonk has returned at the turn of the tide as the world faces extinction.  Our loveable caveman is back and has brought his huge head with him.  A doomsday comet, surrounded by smaller chunks of debris, is on a collision course with Earth.  A strange magnetic field around the comet seems to be driving most of the planet’s weak-willed creatures crazy, and smaller bits of debris are smashing into the jungle near Bonk's home.  Bonk must undertake a perilous journey that will take him to the very center of the planet to save the world.

The Return Of The Most Widely Requested Classic Platformer 
Story Mode with Co-Op play.  Play alone or have a friend join you any time.
An entire new adventure with Bonk as he swims, bites, climbs, jumps, runs, and head-butts his way through jungles, deserts and volcanic caverns
Search for help along the way: power ups, check points, and extra health are the staple for every adventuring caveman.  
Transformations are back and weirder than ever!  Now Bonk can transform himself into eight different forms by eating meat or encountering Primordial Ooze.  No enemy is safe from the boy with the super noggin!
Multiple other modes and adventures are available as add on packs

New Features:
Online play for the first time in the series.  
New enemies with wide variations in personality/abilities.  Beware the Raptor Unicycle Tank!
Next generation gameplay meets retro brand: Classic 2D platforming in a 3D world.
Collectibles will have you searching the entire prehistoric world 
Download Content to keep the experience going