Bonk's Adventure (NES review)

Developer: A.I
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Released: 1994

Bonk's Adventure is an action-platformer that was first released in 1990 on the Turbografx 16.

+ An impressive port to the humble NES that manages to retain much of the original's level design, charm and character.

+ Stages and locales have plenty of variety, with Round 5 being a highlight due to its meandering layouts.

+ Gaining invincibility and ploughing through enemies is a joy and feels more visceral than in Super Mario Bros. (1985, NES).

+ Bosses still feature gigantic sprites with barely any flicker, and there's only minimal slowdown throughout.

- However, unlike other late NES releases like Kirby's Adventure (1993), levels are sparse with feeble enemy sprites.

- Controls aren't quite as tight as they should be, especially when attempting minute, precise platforming adjustments.

- Remarkably easy to see the credits roll due to the abundance of extra lives and health top-ups scattered around.