Shmups (or shooters) definitely aren't for everyone. They're about as niche as niche can be and pretty intimidating, given how bullets and enemies and other projectiles are constantly flooding the screen. Some of the best shmups of all time hail from the TurboGrafx-16 - a short-lived console from the tag team of NEC and Hudson Soft.
Much like how Nintendo had Mario and Sega had Sonic, the mascot and flagship series of the TurboGrafx-16 (abbreviated TG-16) is Bonk. Bonk is a small caveman who uses his big ol' head to attack enemies. Like any mascot character, he was bound to get a spin-off in some way. We got that spin-off in the form of Air Zonk; a horizontal shmup for the TG-16 with lots of color, attitude, and style. Holy shit is there a lot of style.
American cover (left), Japanese cover (right)
You play as Zonk - basically a cyborg version of Bonk. You fly through stages shooting enemies, sub-bosses, and eventually the stage boss. When you start a stage, you can pick one of 10 companions. As you demolish enemies, they'll drop smiley faces. After collecting so many, you'll spawn a giant smiley face which, when collected, will cause your chosen companion to appear. They'll just fly near you and constantly fire at enemies. If you keep collecting smiley faces and grab another giant smiley face, Zonk and your companion will merge into a hybrid form, where you'll be invincible for a short while and you'll do LOADS of damage! The companions are all so diverse and goofy and I love it. One is just a giant missile, one is a mummy with a drill on its head, one is a Japanese shrine, a bloated cow, and so many more. I LOVE THEM ALL.
You start off with your pea shooter (or what I assume is a pea shooter) and occasionally you can pick up some really cool power-ups! Most shmups either upgrade your laser or give you drones that fly with you and attack enemies. But in Air Zonk, you'll get boxing gloves, a stream of lightning, boomerangs, and a whole lot more.
There's only five stages to the game, but I think that's perfect. The stages themselves are so colorful, so vibrant, and have so much going on at any given time. The first stage, Toxy Land, has a beautiful blue ocean and some futuristic factories in the background. Then you get to Rockin Stadium which has you flying through a horse track, and Deep Blue has you gliding through a dark blue ocean floor as you annihilate different sea life. The enemy designs are also just as insanely cool as the rest of the game! You'll see things like a skeletal elephant with mushrooms on its back, robot lobsters, and my favorite, robo-dudes with magnets on their heads.
The soundtrack, of course, SMACKS. Not a single bad track in there.
That's pretty much it! What started as a caveman platformer evolved into a cyberdude with his wacky friends shooting some crazy enemies. I'd definitely recommend this to any newcomers to the shmup genre. It's short and sweet and insanely colorful, chock-full of character, and extremely well-made. It's as much as fun to play as it is to listen to and to look at. One of the best that the TurboGrafx-16 has to offer.
