Love the bows. Everything else... NO.
Got any tiny hard hats?
Aww, he looks so sad.
WANT SECRET.
Stage 3 begins in a forest, with lots of Chikkuns and big-lipped fish to headbutt and AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE, respectively. See, the fish swallows you, and then you have to fight your way through its digestive system, and you come out of the fish's rear end smelling like you just came out of a fish's rear end, and no one wins in a situation like that. Beyond the forest, another stone tower awaits, but this one is climbed from the inside rather than the outside. The tower may actually be a pyramid, since it's inhabited by dinosaur mummies and other terrible things you might find in a dinosaur pyramid.
Third Boss: Pterodact-o-lantern
See what I did there? The boss doesn't really attack; it just flies back and forth across the room, slowly gaining height as it does. This makes it harder and harder to get above it until it gets too high and drops back down to start the pattern over. The head can be tricky to hit over and over again, since Bonk's headbutt timing seems to be less reliable than in the previous games. But persistence wins, and when persistence wins, Bonk wins.
Judging by the screenshots below, it's hard to imagine King Drool III fit inside that thing with his little flying machine.
Is it a bird? Is it a Jack-o-lantern?
No, it's King Drool III!
Don't trust prehistoric snowmen. Ever.
Bathtub karaoke is dangerous!
Crab + ice = horrible controls
Here, ma'am, let me help...
No platformer is complete without an ice level, and stage 4 fulfills the requirement. Snowy hills and plateaus lead to icy caverns, and Chikkuns in flying bathtubs sing karaoke and throw microphones at Bonk. No, I'm serious. Look at the screenshots.
Fourth Boss: Deceptive Nautilus
When you first enter the boss' chamber, you're greeted by a damsel in distress, tied up next to some dangerous-looking spikes. But when you get too close, the boss reveals its true form, a nautilus with the tips of its tentacles painted red to look like legs with red shoes. It then just kind of moves back and forth repeatedly. The challenge here is the ice, since one mistimed headbutt drop can send you hurtling uncontrollably into the spikes. But with a little patience, it's a very easy boss, as long as you don't try to rush the fight.
How dare you trick an innocent
caveman like that!
Oh, don't start crying now!
Hey, eyes on the road!
Let's not be subtle about it now.
Stage 5 is modeled after a modern city, complete with billboards advertising Bonk III all over the place.
Fifth Boss: Turtle Submarine
It's a turtle, and it's a submarine, and it launches various sea creatures at you. It only exposes its head at certain times, and maneuverability is tricky in the water, so this can be a challenging battle. I personally only saw the sub launch crabs and squids, but there's no telling what else it's got in there.
Why am I the only blue one?
Invisible Bonk wins!
I don't remember much about stage 6, other than jumping from pillar to pillar, but it's really just a gateway to the final stage.
Sixth Boss: Three-Man Crab Machine
This particular mechanical crab requires three Chikkuns to pilot it, two of whom get to wear goofy crab-eye hats. I couldn't get the hang of targeting the weak point, which I assumed was the unhatted Chikkun in the center, but keeping up my attacks worked just fine. Extra lives are easy enough to come by, after all.
How many Chikkuns does it
take to run a crab?
More than three, I guess.
King Drool III's latest hideout is at the bottom of the ocean, and he's keeping the top half of the moon bound by chains underneath it. Inside, a series of skull elevators lead to each of the bosses, but beating each boss returns you to this main room, and there's a big heart to recover all your life there, so there's not much to it.
What is it with his obsession with the top half of the moon?
Imagine what this is doing to the tides.
Oh boy, boss marathon time!
No fair! Those claws are fake!
YIKES! GIANT CREEPY SMILEY BABY!!!
Bonk looks way too happy.
Poor overworked flower.
After defeating the bosses, one last stage awaits, inside a giant house like the one in stage 2. There's a giant fake-clawed mom in the kitchen, a giant smiley-faced baby in its playpen, and occasionally a giant Bonk running around causing trouble. The path then leads down into a volcanic cavern, with lava waterfalls and all kinds of nasty obstacles.
Final Boss: King Drool III
No surprises here, unless you count the fact that, like you, King Drool III is capable of changing sizes as a surprise. His pattern cycles him through his various sizes (normal as pictured, Bonk-sized, nearly-microscopic, and so-big-only-the-top-of-his-head-is-visible-on-screen), and sees him mainly swooping or jumping from side to side across the screen. His weak point has shifted from his nose to the top of his crown, as far as I can tell, but hitting him there doesn't always work. I was able to get in two or three hits each time he changed size, and he cycled through his sizes nearly three times before I beat him.
Stand still so I can break
your nose again!
I'll just stomp on him now.
Once King Drool III is defeated, a series of explosions rocks his fortress, and the top half of the moon is freed from its imprisonment. Bonk then emerges unscathed from the undersea pit, and the top half of the moon rises out of the ocean and into the sky to be reunited with the bottom half. With the moon whole once again, the world is saved thanks to Bonk!
Oh no! Will Bonk make it out in time?
He sure will!
It's a good thing the moon floats on its own.
Brace yourself, lone moon palm tree...
Ahh, much better.
I don't wanna grow up; I'm a Bonk kid!
If we don't count the ports, spin-offs and non-canon games for other systems (or the arcade game), this marks the end of the Bonk's Adventure series. Maybe I'll check some of those games out and see if they merit a playthrough, but for now, we'll just say I'm done.
New game this weekend! And it'll be another TurboGrafx-16 game!
I'll give you a hint as to what it is: it has ninjas... and spirits!
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