What does an intrepid gamer and a major developer’s surprising lack of security surrounding an announced game equal? An early reveal of Hudson’s Bonk revival!
Videoman, a poster at the NeoGAF forums, was poking around on Hudson’s site looking for information on Lost in Shadow, when he starting messing around with inputting random URLs. This led to the discovery of a previously unannounced Bonk title, Brink of Extinction. Hudson wisely owned up to the screens and write ups (which you can eyeball after the jump) with a Twitter message stating “yes. BONK IS BACK!!!!” Pretty righteous.
The game’s set to hit XBLA, WiiWare, and PSN in Spring 2010, and I’m hoping that the months between now and then will allow Hudson to clean up the visuals. Currently, the 2.5 graphics look cool in some screenshots and borderline repulsive in others. Naturally, I would’ve preferred high-definition sprites as they tend to have far more flair than polygons when it comes to crafting cartoony characters, but it’s early, and we have no idea how old those images are or how far Hudson’s along in the visual design of the game.
Regardless of how this revival turns out, Bonk will forever hold a special place in my heart as he and the TurboGrafx-16 were my entries to the 16-bit arena. Sure, I had sampled a friend’s SEGA Genesis, but it was Bonk’s Adventure’s colorful, playful world and absolutely huge boss sprites that made me realize, as cliche as it sounds, that gaming had reached the next level. Besides the GameCube remakes, I believe that I’ve owned every Bonk game released on a console or handheld – - even the subpar Super Nintendo entries that presented nothing that resembled a challenge.
Bonk fans – - are you pumped?
Bonk. Is. Back! Hudson’s loveable caveman makes his long-awaited return and has brought his enormously giant head with him! Get ready for an all new adventure exclusively on Xbox LIVE®Arcade, Playstation®Network, and WiiWare™ in Spring 2010!
A doomsday comet, surrounded by smaller chunks of debris, is on a collision course with Earth. A strange magnetic field around the comet seems to be driving most of the planet’s weak-willed creatures crazy, and smaller bits of debris are smashing into the jungle near Bonk’s home. Bonk must undertake a perilous journey that will take him to the very center of the planet to save the world.
The Return Of The Most Widely Requested Classic Platformer
• Story Mode with Co-Op play. Play alone or have a friend join you at any time!
• An entire new adventure with Bonk as he swims, bites, climbs, jumps, runs, and head-butts his way through jungles, deserts and volcanic caverns
• Search for help along the way: power ups, check points, and extra health are the staple for every adventuring caveman.
• Transformations are back and weirder than ever! Now Bonk can transform himself into eight different forms by eating meat or encountering Primordial Jelly. No enemy is safe from the boy with the super noggin!
New Features
• Online play for the first time in the series!
• New enemies with incredible variations in personalities and abilities. Beware the Raptor Unicycle Tank!
• Classic 2D platforming in a 3D world.
• Tons of collectibles will have you searching the entire prehistoric world.
Join us as we welcome Bonk back into our hearts! For those who haven’t played the originals, you’re in for a prehistoric side-scrolling adventure, the likes of which you’ve never seen! Coming soon for XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare.
