Bonk's Adventure (Turbografix 16) Retro Review!

The TurboGrafix (PC Engine) was a 16-Bit console that came out in the midst of the Console wars between Sega And Nintendo and as such, NEC needed a mascot...So they settled for a bald, angry caveman....

Bonk's Adventure was the headline title for the Turbografix launch in the west, seen as a parallel to Sonic and Mario, and despite being the best selling game on the console it ultimately failed to make the dent in the mascot wars but it was certainly an exciting time for owners of the console at the time.

Bonk is a 2D platformer set in a prehistoric world, where you play as the enigmatic Bonk, a bald little caveman with a serious anger issue when he eats meat! Bonk jumps, headbutts and head dives his way through the brightly coloured levels, encountering prehistoric enemies at every turn. When Bonk eats meat he transforms into a more powerful/angry caveman allowing his head dive to stun enemies after one piece of meat and brief invulnerability after a second piece. Overall Bonk controls well although a slightly quicker run speed would enhance the game in my opinion.

Graphically the game was beautiful at the time and i still think it holds up. The large sprites are full of detail and character, with eye pops being a particular highlight and the backdrops have lovely colour and a good level of scrolling. It showcased the relative power of the Turbografix 16 compared to the NES at the time.

Length wise Bonk can be beaten by an experienced player in around an hour, even more so if you are playing one of the virtual console versions, and i feel that's a good spot for a platformer of the time. I found the game fairly easy throughout and never really had any issues but the level did ramp up as the game went on and even in 2018 its a decent game.

Overall Bonk's Adventure is a classic platformer, its got great gameplay, graphics and sound but ultimately it doesn't quite stay with you as much as its contemporaries. That being said i would 100% recommend giving this game a go on the Wii U eShop, for £5 you cant go wrong!

7/10

Super Lucky's Tale Review (Xbox One)

Super Lucky's Tale is indeed a curious tale. An early Virtual Reality title turned into an E3 stage worthy Xbox One exclusive, does this cute Fox make for a worthy adventure or is it wasted potential?

Well, first off, i was very pleasantly surprised by Lucky's overall polish. I know this is a weird thing to start off with but when an exclusive game comes out at just £19.99 RRP it can give the illusion of poor quality or lack of effort, thankfully this is not the case with Super Lucky's Tale.

Following a charming intro cut-scene where you learn, from Lucky's sister, that Lucky and the villainous Kitty Litter (The pun game is STRONG in this one) have been sucked into the Book of Ages Lucky must collect enough Clovers (he's Lucky you see...) to defeat each of these colourful kitty villains, progress to the next world and escape the book. It's pretty by the numbers but overall i really like the way the game approaches its limited story. each of the worlds have unique and very adorable inhabitants but the cats are really the stars of the show. Each providing context to the changes they've made to each world and each of them very memorable in there own ways.

The game is also beautiful. Its use of simplistic and clean textures really allow the bright colours to pop and give the Lucky a feel very reminiscent of Super Mario or Banjo-Kazooie. Lucky and the cast also ooze personality with really vibrant animations and audio ques that again take you back to an era of games that were seemingly gone forever. I was surprised to see the game also supports 4K and is Enhanced for Xbox One X and although i haven't been able to try this out, i can imagine the game looks even more beautiful with the crispness of HDR and 4K. The music is also a highlight too, with most tracks being upbeat and very catchy.

Gameplay wise the game feels exactly how you would expect a 3D platformer to feel in 2017. Lucky can jump, double jump, burrow and spin to attack foes and progress through platforming challenges. All these work really well with the notable exception of the double jump that just feels plain off. It requires a far to precise button input that only seems to work half of the time. That aside the other moves work great and are utilized throughout the game. For example, throughout most of the levels there is clock you hit that then gives you a certain amount of time to collect coloured coins in sequence. these challenges usually have lucky switching from burrowing to jumping in quick succession and really test your platforming skills. Overall, Lucky controls are pretty good.

The level design also stands out as a real positive for me. Each of the levels are distinctly themed around a certain overarching gimmick, eg a farm that's been taken over by machines or a big maze overseen by an onion King, and this gives them all a unique quality that reminds me of early Crash Bandicoot titles. Each levels requires you to get 300 coins, Spell the word LUCKY, find a hidden challenge and Complete the level. Having these requirements the same throughout was actually a really smart move because it keeps the player moving towards a goal, they know what to look out for and as such can enjoy each level without wondering what they need to do to 100% it.

A major gripe i've seen a few other reviewers have with the game is the somewhat unusually high required amount of clovers to progress through the world. Whilst i can see why someone might complain about this i personally had absolutely no trouble getting all the clovers in each level with only 1 or 2 runs through. Coupled with the fact the levels in general are pretty short AND keep your LUCKY clover progress the difficulty of completion for Lucky is fairly easy.

In terms of Achievements the game is very straight forward. Beat the game, collect all the clovers needed to do so and perform a few tasks you will naturally perform throughout the game anyway and BOOM 1000 GamerScore.

Overall, Super Lucky's Tale is a fun game. Its simple setting and fluid controls are brilliantly mixed with beautiful graphics and upbeat humour to provide an enjoyable adventure that anyone can enjoy. Its Poor double jump and lack of replay value are really its only short comings but this is quickly balanced by its low price point and now the fact it is on Xbox Game Pass. The DLC adds some more well made content at a very reasonable price!

My final verdict for Super Lucky's Tale is a good game that only misses greatness by a inch.

7.8/10