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Air Zonk

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Air Zonk
Cover Art
Developer(s)Red Company, Naxat Soft
Publisher(s)
  • NA: Turbo Technologies
Composer(s)Daisuke Morishima
Hisashi Matsushita
Platform(s)TurboGrafx 16
Release
  • NA: 1992
  • JP: December 12, 1992
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player

Air Zonk (also called PC Denjin Punkic Cyborg!/PC Denjin／Completion○／Clear× (PC電人／補完○／クリア×, PC denjin/ hokan ￮/ kuria ×)) is a video game, a side-scrolling shooter released for the TurboGrafx 16 console in 1992. Air Zonk was an attempt to update the company's image via a modern, punkish character called Zonk, who bears a purposeful resemblance to the TurboGrafx-16's caveman mascot, Bonk.

The game was developed by Red, better known for their Gate of Thunder series. Air Zonk features King Drool, antagonist of the Bonk series, along with many other enemies from the series. It was followed by a sequel in 1993 called Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise for the Turbo Duo, and has been released on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Gameplay

Air Zonk is similar to other scrolling shooters, but includes companion characters. Artistically the game is lighthearted, featuring humorous bosses such as a sentient garbage heap and an anthropomorphic boat. The gameplay centers around the effective use of shooting and bombing to complete a stage. At the start, the player may pick a companion character to team up with to perform special attacks, limit themselves to using the designated companion characters for each level, or opt out of using companion characters altogether. Each companion character, or friend, can only be used once. Air Zonk takes on the distinct visual style that is sometimes called "cute 'em up". There are three difficulty levels: sweet, spicy, and bitter.

Zonk can charge his shots, which allows him to fire a more powerful attack. Charging longer causes Zonk to drop a bomb, which damages all enemies on the screen. Zonk can also acquire seven types of power-ups, each of which can also be charged for a unique special attack. As usual for scrolling shooters, whenever Zonk acquires a new power-up, he loses the current one. If Zonk is hit while he has a power-up, he loses the power-up but does not die, except in the case of the mini-Zonk power-up. The mini-Zonk power-up also differs from the other power-ups in that it cannot be charged, and can be found in both florets and random enemy drops (other power-ups can only be found in florets).

Zonk starts each stage alone and with no powerups. He must collect seven smiley-faces, the last of which will appear in giant form with sunglasses, in order to get his friend to join him. The friend initially acts as a Gradius-style support which follows Zonk around shooting projectiles. If the player collects another seven smiley-faces, Zonk and the 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 normal form and his friend will leave, though he retains whatever power-up he had before changing to hybrid form.

Reception

Air Zonk was awarded Best TurboGrafx Game of 1992 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[1]

Differences in localization

In addition to having its intro removed instead of translated, "PC Denjin's" vulgar humor was seriously toned down for "Air Zonk". The computer brain encased in glass shown at the start of each stage was a sentient pile of manure, the fusion with the cow character would cause Zonk to grow breasts and shoot them at enemies instead of bottles of milk from his hands. When charging the button, Zonk drops a bomb whereas in the original game he defecates.

Sequels and re-releases

Air Zonk received a sequel in 1993 -- 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 would imply, the game has a CD audio soundtrack consisting of rockabilly music. The game contains all new levels, assistants, and enemies.

Zonk: Mascot for TurboDuo video game console

The protagonist in this game, Zonk, is a cyborg version of Bonk—the mascot for NEC Corporation's TurboGrafx-16 video game console. When TTi released the TurboDuo console (2nd generation successor to TurboGrafx-16), Zonk was adopted as the official mascot. Zonk adorned nearly all of TTi's promotional material, and was even featured on the package art for the TurboDuo console.

Virtual Console

Air Zonk was released on the Wii's Virtual Console in May in Japan, July in America, and on July 13 in Europe. It has gained an E rating from the ESRB. It was also released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan on June 19, 2014.

References

  1. ^ "Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide". 1993. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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