Bonk's Adventure

Every console of the eight- and sixteen-bit era needed its mascot, and while Nintendo had a plumber and Sega a hedgehog, NEC and Hudson bet on a caveman kid with a disproportionately large head. Bonk's Adventure from 1990 and 1991 became the face of the PC Engine, or the TurboGrafx-16 in the West, and to this day ranks among the most characteristic platformers of its time.

Bonk's main weapon was literally his head. Instead of jumping on enemies, Bonk bit into walls to climb them and attacked with a fierce headbutt, whether from below or with a slam from above that stunned everything around him on landing. This single, but cleverly developed mechanic gave the game its own rhythm, unlike anything from the competition. Collecting pieces of meat moreover temporarily turned Bonk into a furious, invincible state.

Visually the game shone with a colorful, playful prehistoric world full of dinosaurs, which after being stunned often became friendly. The graphics leveraged the strengths of the PC Engine, a console that Hudson and NEC built as a direct challenge to Nintendo, and it celebrated great success in Japan. Bonk became a symbol of the whole platform and appeared even in the TurboGrafx advertising campaigns.

Behind the game's development stood a collaboration of the studios Atlus, Red Company and Hudson Soft, experienced creators who knew how to squeeze the maximum out of the hardware. The birth of the mascot was no accident: the PC Engine desperately needed an iconic character to give it an identity in the battle for living rooms, and Bonk filled that role perfectly.

The success of the first game kicked off a small series of sequels and spin-off titles, and Bonk became one of the few mascots who managed to compete with the established stars. Although the PC Engine never broke through in the West the way it did in Japan, Bonk's Adventure remains a beloved classic and a gateway into the library of one of the most underrated consoles of that era.

Why play: For a fresh, original platformer with the unmistakable headbutt mechanic and to get to know the iconic mascot of a console that deserves more attention.