Air Zonk

Picture Bonk, the caveman prehistoric rascal from the legendary Bonk's Adventure series, trading the whack of his club for a futuristic blaster and setting off into a color-soaked future. That is exactly what Air Zonk is — a cyberpunk, cartoon spin-off of Hudson's mascot character that turned a platformer into a brisk shooter with horizontal scrolling.

On the PC Engine, which always prided itself on a rich palette and fast sprite processing, Air Zonk feels like a celebration of everything this console did best. The backgrounds glow with neon colors, the enemies are adorably wacky, and the whole thing breathes a downright playful, not-entirely-serious tone that set the cute-em-up subgenre apart from the gloomier cosmic battles of the competition.

In gameplay terms Air Zonk rests on the classic formula of the shmup genre: you fly from right to left, collect upgrades, dodge streams of shots and try to reach the sector boss. What sets the game apart is the buddy system and the charged shot — by holding the button you pump up a stronger shot, so you have to balance between aggressiveness and caution. The pace is fast, the controls are snappy, and each level adds a new visual idea.

For players who know Bonk's platformers, Air Zonk is a pleasant surprise — it shows how flexible Hudson's license could be and how cleverly a recognizable character could be transplanted into a completely different genre. For shooter fans, meanwhile, it is one of those titles that PC Engine connoisseurs mention with love, because it combines accessibility with visual charm.

If gloomy space epics have worn you out and you want a shmup that knows how to smile, Air Zonk is the ideal ticket. It's brisk, funny and exactly as colorful as a retro shooter should be.

Why play: A colorful, funny cute-em-up that takes Hudson's mascot and turns him into one of the most characterful shooters on the PC Engine.