Shmup Club January 2022 - Air Zonk

[MetalFRO]

Historically, there has been some crossover between platforming games and shoot-em-ups, particularly in the 8 & 16-bit eras, when there were a number of multi-genre games, as developers began to experiment somewhat, and stretch themselves. Sometimes it was a shmup level or two in a platformer, like Xexyz on the NES, or Batman on the Game Boy, or more integrated into the game, such as in The Guardian Legend. What was less common was when a game from one genre had a sequel or related game in the other genre. It's not unprecedented, but certainly uncommon. Air Zonk is one such example, with the previous "Bonk" games being of the platforming style, and Air Zonk being a related character, but switching things up to be a shooter instead.

On April 4, 2999, the evil scientist Count King Tamago Sandrovich performed a remodeling operation on Genhead in order to act as a trump card for the ZZ project (Earth Evil Deterioration Plan), modeling him after the strongest rival Bonk who afflicted his ancestor King Drool. Thus, he was named Zonk. Recognizing the Count's ZZ plan, Zonk escapes from the laboratory, forms a family of electricians (Punkic Cyborgs) with his friends, and confronts the count's cyber robot army. Join the RF Generation Community in January 2022, as we play Air Zonk!

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
MiniConsoleMan
Golem
Corkman
FauxMacho

[MetalFRO]

Just a reminder, this is on the TurboGrafx Mini, so it's more accessible that way! I know this game is a bit expensive these days, but that system is a great value for the money, and well worth picking up.

[MiniConsoleMan]

Just a reminder, this is on the TurboGrafx Mini, so it's more accessible that way! I know this game is a bit expensive these days, but that system is a great value for the money, and well worth picking up.

I'm in and that's exactly how I'll be playing it!

[MetalFRO]

Excellent! Welcome aboard to kick off 2022!

[Golem]

Air Zonk runs counter to my skills. I recall it being fast and busy, a bit like Thunder Force IV. So, I expect to get frustrated. :b But I'm still giving it a shot!

[MetalFRO]

Air Zonk runs counter to my skills. I recall it being fast and busy, a bit like Thunder Force IV. So, I expect to get frustrated. :b But I'm still giving it a shot!

Excellent! Always good to try and expand our horizons, so glad to see you jump in.

[Corkman]

  
Alright, the holidays are over and work deadlines are more manageable now. I'm itching to play some shmups. Great pick this month!

I'll be playing on the TG Mini. I've been plugging in the TG Mini so often since I got it. So glad I picked it up. I think I'll just connect to the TV right now!!

Happy New Year everyone and happy blasting in 2022!

[MetalFRO]

It will be interesting to hear everyone's experiences of playing on the TG Mini. I'll spend some time with it there, but I think I might primarily play via OG hardware, assuming I can get the console hooked up through my RetroTINK okay.

[FauxMacho]

Nice, I'm in.
My TurboGrafx experience is very light. I think I've only played Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Ys Book I on the Wii Virtual Console. It'll be Raspberry Pi for me for this one.

The internet archive has a scan of the manual: https://archive.org/detai...k_1992_Hudson_US/mode/2up
Quite helpful for clearing up my questions after jumping in blind for a few runs.

[Corkman]

 
   I've been playing some runs of this the past few days. Got to stage 4 on Spicy mode.
   
   I've played this somewhat in the past and finished it on Sweet then so I hope to do it on Spicy this month.

[MetalFRO]

Thank you for linking the manual scan, FauxMacho! I'll have to check that out, as I don't have the full game either, just on the TG Mini, flashcart, MiSTer, etc.

@Corkman - stage 4 on Spicy is impressive for an early run. As you saw last night on stream, with that chunky hit box, there's some stuff that can be hard to avoid.

[Golem]

I'm chugging along, and things are getting a little easier. For instance, I found that the electric weapon (the skinny, short range electric staff) helps on the stsge 4 midboss because it chews through the midboss' growths. And the lightning bolt shot is a radial pattern that eats bullets, so it's great for the second half of stage 4, although it creates a ton of flicker.

Also, one interesting note is that you get a powerup reset every level. The only other STG I can think of with a powerup reset is Gradius: Interstellar Assault.

As for the TG Mini, seems good to me. I've played through several titles on it so far, and I haven't had any trouble with its performance.

EDIT: Hey, do you get the big smiley after every 7th small smiley? Does that count as "medalling"?

[MiniConsoleMan]

So I got my first clear of the game today on Sweet Mode. I did well enough during the early stages to build up some extra lives to prepare me for Stage 5. I'm not sure if I had much of a strategy other than always making sure I had a power-up, to allow for an extra hit. Also I tried to make good use of the bombs. This was especially helpful in the stage 5 Boss-rush prior to the final boss.  In order to take the final boss down I kind of abused the bombs and extra lives that I had as I got hit a lot.

[Corkman]

  Nice job Zoydo!

  I played on Sweet mode today and got to Stage 5 at the boss rush. Which was further than I was getting on Spicy mode (Stage 4 boss there). I'm not sure that's there too much difference between Sweet and Spicy other than the enemies and definitely the bosses take more hits.

  I think I'll play on Sweet mode the rest of the month just to see if I can clear it on one credit. I remember finishing it on Sweet before but had to continue on Stage 5 a few times.

[MetalFRO]

I've managed to reach the final boss on Sweet a couple times, but I keep losing all my extra lives at that point. I need to figure out how to better approach that boss.