Punky Skunk Game Sample - Playstation
44Punky Skunk, known as "クーリースカンク" (Kūrī Sukanku, or "Cooly Skunk") in Japan, is a strange, one-off title released on the Sony Playstation back in 1996 in Japan and 1998 in North America. Watching this video, Punky Skunk may seem like a game that would be "dead on arrival" --- However, there *is* a bit of a reason for that and it isn't so obvious when there isn't an abundance of information floating around for the game. The things that ARE floating around, however, are enough to shed some light on Punky Skunk and makes things a bit more understandable.
Originally, Punky Skunk was actually developed to be an SNES/Super Famicom title, slated for February of 1996. However, like a couple of projects during that time, it was canceled because games in 1996 for the SNES did not seem as though they would have much success, given the thriving 32 bit market at that time (Playstation in particular, though the Sega Saturn did enjoy some more modest success, with great games like Virtua Fighter 2, etc.)...I am reminded of games like "Star Fox 2", that were canceled on the SNES originally in favor of working on Star Fox 64, primarily for similar reasons as Punky Skunk. There are one or two screenshots floating around for the SFC version of Punky Skunk and the game, while looking different, did look somewhat reminiscent of the Playstation game...though the Playstation "upgrade" that would come months later (in late 1996 in Japan) would take advantage of the wide assortment of colors that the Playstation hardware provided, as well as additional background graphics and CD quality music (though the SNES is capable of high quality audio). As for gameplay, the screenshots make the interface look a bit different for the SFC version of the game...it would be cool to play a prototype of the SFC game, if one still exists...but if one does, I would suspect that it is somewhere in the 50 percent completion range.
At any rate, PS deals with Punky and his friends, Nash and Kelly, as they go up against the "BB Brigade" (Wolf Pack) and the main enemy, "Badler" and to deal with the waves of enemies to come, you will use a number of Nash's inventions. Punky can fire funky projectiles at enemies at default and when he grabs a power-up, he can switch between his normal form and his upgraded forms (by pressing the "equip" button). His upgraded abilities include a parachute form that can ride air currents, skates that increase movement speed, a pogo stick that allows him to jump higher than normal, a ski-board that allows him to move at super high speeds going down slopes (when going fast enough, he can become invincible), digger claws that allow him to move around underground (he can also launch the claws to attack, but he cannot jump in this form) and a jetpack where Punky can fly for periods of time (if you fly too long, he runs out of gas and begins to fall) and shoot fireballs...
Sounds like quite a bit, right? Well, there is more...there are a few bonus stages that, if you perform well in them, will reward you with 1-ups and...let's just say "pieces of heart" (think "Zelda") --- if you get 4 pieces, you can increase your maximum health. Furthermore, with a couple of exceptions, boss fights are not conventional in this game, and instead, are kinda like extra mini-games (though you have to succeed at them to advance). All of that said though, I must sadly confess that Punky Skunk is definitely not as enjoyable as games like Donkey Kong Country or Rayman...but then again, those games were pretty top-tier. Generally speaking, if you go in with low expectations, Punky Skunk is actually a perfectly playable game, though it has nothing in regards to replayability and the game does give off a certain feeling of incompleteness. The game is also very easy, as I demonstrate in the video (because you can keep looping and repeating bonus stages for crazy lives), though the last 3 or 4 levels can be a bit annoying, as you can't use the "equip" button with the jetpack...why does that matter? Well, if you time your "equip" button presses, you are essentially invincible, lol, though I didn't demonstrate that much in the video. During his transformation sequence that can be done in the ground or in air, Punky cannot be harmed and you can even "jump off of air" (think Donkey Kong Country, where you could roll off a ledge and jump in mid-air) with the proper timing to avoid falling to your doom...but even without that, the game isn't difficult at all.
The visuals are decent enough, and the music, while not super memorable, works...my one gripe is the annoying sound Punky makes with every jump...EVERY JUMP...YAAAAH!! It will be hard to forget that sound...*ahem*...but other than that, yeah. The game is actually quite rare and 1996 might have not been the absolute worst time to get the game, but getting it in 1998 in North America stings. An interesting novelty to own, though.
Read a bit more at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punky_Skunk