CD DENJIN - ROCKABILLY PARADISE
[US-SUPER AIR ZONK] AKA: CD ZONK
CD電人ロカビリー天国

MAKER: HUDSON SOFT / RED
RELEASE DATE: 23 JULY 1993 / 1993
STYLE: HORIZONTAL SHOOT 'EM UP
FORMAT: SUPER CD-ROM
RATING:

 

Overview
After the success of PC Denjin, our hero leaps onto CD with a whole new game and a whole new soundtrack. Flying over the various landscapes (you get to choose which order to play the first four levels in), you come up against tidal waves, giant robots and a general array of nasty but cute bad guys as you would expect. The plants from the original PC Kid games are still here to provide such joys as extra firepower, fountains of smiley faces or the tiny-denjin which makes dodging bullets that little bit easier. Another handy little trick is that your boots also pack a punch, so backing into an enemy is more likely to dispose of them than do you any permanent damage. Part way along each of the levels you get the chance to rescue a friend who then joins with you, giving you a specific extra ability. These friends are pre-set one per level and cannot be chosen, and they allow things like rapid-sushi-fire and handy rear shots.

See a translation of the songs in the game here.

Comment
After the brilliant PC Denjin, and the previous Hudson/Red shooters like Gate of Thunder and Winds of Thunder, I was expecting something graphically very special from CD Denjin - and although the design is nice enough, albeit a tad functional in places, it lacks any parallax scrolling and also the boundless variety of those games. The game's strongest points are the first two levels - both are fun, pretty and have really catchy music, but this quality doesn't seem to have followed through to the later stages, which somehow don't seem as exciting. But this all sounds like I'm down on the game, which is not true. It is a great little shoot 'em up, fun to play, variable in quality and it's only because the games we compare it to are so good that it seems to have developed a bad rep. I'd still recommend it.
sunteam_paul

You say...
It cost me 200 bucks but I finally got my hands on one of the rarest Turbo Duo games in existence. The game is Super Air Zonk and it is of course the only sequel to the infamous shooting title. I'm a very happy man! So how is the game itself though? Well, Super Air Zonk is a lot like the first game because you are still controlling a flying robotic Bonk-like dude that blasts away at the futurist King Drool army before they conquer the world. You can save one of seven new friends half way through each stage for help and extra firepower but I don't like how you don't have the option to pick which friend can actually help you in that stage so it feels more linear. Another thing I didn't like was how short the game was, there are only seven stages and they are not that hard to beat either (I was able to finish the entire game the second day I got it). That was Air Zonk's biggest problem; it was a solid shooter but it was too short and way too easy so Super Air Zonk just felt like a extension of that game with some slightly better music. As a collector Super Air Zonk is a great edition to my Turbo Duo set but as a player I am definitely disappointed with the easy difficulty, average graphics, and standard shooting action we've all seen before. It's a shame but I can see why the Zonk series died after this mediocre game here. For 1 player only. Graphics: 5/10 Sound: 6/10 Gameplay: 5/10 - 3/5 overall.
Ryan Genno

You say...
CD Denjin is a strange game, more because of the rockabilly soundtrack than anything else.  For years I thought it was just a CD version of Air Zonk, aka PC Denjin, but it's a completely different game.  Soundtrack aside, the game retains the large colourful sprites of its HuCard counterpart, but it changes up a lot.  The first thing fans of PC Denjin will notice is that you don't get to pick a buddy to join up with later in the stage.  There will still be a buddy, allowing for comical combinations and some insane firepower, but they're pre-set into the stage, making the game a bit linear and costing some replayability.  The second point is that compared to the first game, it's a lot easier, perhaps quieter.  It's just a bit less interesting, which is odd coming from a CD title, and odd seeing as they had an amazing template to start with.  It's still a good game, but it feels like a missed opportunity, and comparisons to the prequel are hard to avoid.
soop

Turbo Views Review

 

 

Screens

Gameplay Video Longplay Video from World of Longplays
     
 

Visual Scenes

Images
Front CoverBack CoverCD Character Designs 1Character Designs 2Character Designs 3 CD Denjin Wallpaper

 

Music