1396: PC Genjin 2 - PS3 JP - PC Engine Archives \\ 1st "Expert" playthrough! Aka "Bonk's Revenge"!
0Four-session play-through on my first go all the way to the end of "Expert" mode in PC Genjin 2 aka Bonk's Revenge! This is the Japan-only version from the Japanese PSN store on PS3; it supports 5 save states and I definitely couldn't have done it without those! = o It ran in 1080p.
I have a video showing the "PC Engine Archives" section of the Japanese PS3 PSN store, where PS3 ports of PC Engine games like PC Genjin 2 can still be purchased as long as you have a funded Japanese PSN account: https://youtu.be/LANe4mjljRw . I bought PC Genjin 2 there a week or so ago for 628 yen.
I'd last played it in 2019 as Bonk's Revenge in the Gate of Thunder 3-in-1 pack-in disc for the Turbo Duo (which also has Bonk's Adventure, and Bomber Man as a hidden extra); no save states there so I'd stopped about halfway through.
This time though, all the way to the end! = o ;_;
Whereas in the US version, Bonk transforms into a head-scarred, angry Bonk upon eating a small chunk of meat, in the JP version, he changes into PC Beauty, a cute baby girl who blows kisses at the enemies to stun them.
My Bonk playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZO3OPzPjIzNdn8ArJC-kxW3qM6ymCqfA
0:00 - SESSION 1
0:52 - play start
2:17 - manual
7:17 - PC Beauty
15:29 - big ol' turtle
24:48 - SESSION 2 & title screen
43:25 - paralyzing boss I don't get
46:17 - slippy snow stage
54:18 - continue screen
1:01:15 - slippy ice stage
1:09:36 - skate boss I work out later
1:11:31 - hit da beach! (Round 4)
1:13:49 - sweet ship!
1:30:38 - pirate boss I never figured out
1:38:50 - SESSION 3 - hot zone (Round 5)
2:03:47 - that long dry climb
2:25:41 - moon & rooftops
2:34:08 - mystical tower
2:58:51 - SESSION 5 - boss rush (Round 7)
3:20:55 - figuring out skate boss
3:33:09 - tunnel torments
4:18:38 - big boss
4:21:46 - ending & credits
Publisher Hudson Soft made Bonk 1 and 3 in-house, but for 2 on the PC Engine / TG16, according to GameFAQs, they went with small developer Mutech, who "worked frequently with Hudson, contributing to games such as Bonk's Revenge and Battle Lode Runner," according to Giant Bomb: https://www.giantbomb.com/mutech/3010-10685/ .
Bonk's jump is significantly delayed and he can't run, so unless enemies are perfectly spaced for chain-dive-bonking, which is rare after the first stages, you have to stop and take them on one-by-one. There is no timer; the game requires patience, which I am not so great at. Also I'm not particularly good at platform games. : P
The ship level just over halfway through is really cool. But the game's difficulty is all over the place and I got particularly tied in knots by a slippy slidey snow stage followed by a slippy slidey ice stage right before the halfway mark, and by a long, no-health-items climbing section absolutely packed with enemies about 3/4s of the way through. That last one broke me and I heavily abused save states after that because I no longer trusted the game to play remotely fair. ; P Unlike the US version, continues in PC Genjin 2 are unlimited, but you do have to restart from the beginning of the stage, and I wasn't enjoying those stages enough to want to do that.
Also, I never figured out how to hit two of the bosses without getting hit; I did figure out a third one that was unclear the second time they came around, but only after dying and abusing save states repeatedly. There's a lot of stuff with hurt boxes and other things that isn't intuitive, and that coupled with Bonk's clumsy movement and the game's penchant later on for enemies teleporting in on you and random bullet sprays means you kind of have to memorize stages and know what to do beforehand to avoid taking lots of hits. That ruined the fun for me; I got through but don't see myself playing through again.
When the game ends you're stuck in a credits loop.
"To be continued... Maybe..." it says.
Was inspired to do this playthrough so I could participate in the selectbutton.net "PC Engine: Welcome to the Ideal World!" thread: https://selectbutton.net/t/pc-engine-welcome-to-the-ideal-world/13480
5/7/23
#pcgenjin #pcgenjin2 #bonk #bonksrevenge #pcengine #hudsonsoft #mutech #videogames #games #game #gaming #gamingvideos #letsplay #playthrough #gameplay #ps3 #platformer