Here's a recent 1-credit / no continues run of the PC Engine version of Air Zonk (called PC Denjin: Punkic Cyborgs), played on the MiSTer FPGA.
I decided to play the overseas version because quite a few things were changed and made more kid-friendly for the TG-16 release. A few of them are really obvious, like the fully charged bomb being a giant poop-shaped projectile being changed to a giant rocket. The Cutting Room Floor has an article on the changes here: tcrf.net/Air_Zonk
A few notes about the gameplay:
The game is easy to jump in and play, and is full of wacky weapons and partners that can help you. The overall difficulty isn't very high, but there is a difficulty spike before the final boss where I almost bit the bullet in this run. Thankfully, the game gives out plenty of extra lives. You can abuse the powered up weapons to destroy incoming bullets in many cases, which helps with some of the trickier boss patterns. I avoided the mini-Bonk power up, favoring having the charge shot and full charge bomb instead of a smaller character sprite and hitbox.
The colorful stages and nice soundtrack make this game an easy thumbs up from me. A side note: once you beat the game, the game locks you at the final screen with your score displayed. I used the MiSTer's menu to reset the game and let the intro play out afterwards, if you're interested in checking it out.
Thanks for watching!
#retrogaming #longplay #misterfpga