I saw this when it first came out on the PlayStation and kind of wanted to play it, but I never did. Still was burnt out on mascot platformers even though Klonoa renewed my faith in the concept by then. Speaking of which, someone told me the music in Punky Skunk sounds like Klonoa's music. Klonoa kind of looks like a skunk, too. He's the fourth lost Animaniac. :)
Forgotten Gaming Mascots #20: Punky Skunk
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 On 02/23/2021 at 08:17 AM by The Last Ninja See More From This User » |
Game: Punky Skunk (PS1/1998)
Mascot for: Jaleco
Originally conceived as a Super Famicom game, Punky Skunk was developed by Ukiyotei and released in Japan in 1996 under the name "Cooly Skunk." It was eventually brought to America in February 1998 as "Punky Skunk." Talk about late to the party. By 1998, the furry mascot craze was all but dead. The game has the titular skunk saving the world with the help of his friends Nash and Kelly from the evil wolf Badler and his BB Brigade. While the game was aimed at kids, the Western marketing tried to appeal to an older audience, stating that Punky had attitude. If you watch the game for just five seconds, you will see that Punky is adorable and the tone of the game is clearly for 5-year-olds.
What happened: If you're gonna have a mascot, why would you make him a skunk? (a pile of poop might be a better choice) Upon release, the game was heavily criticized for its gameplay, audio, and visual presentation (that's everything). Here are a couple things said about this stinker of a game:
Next Generation magazine: "Nuts to this -- you might as well hook up your SNES and play Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel."
Punky Skunk is ranked 8th on Game Informer's list of "the top 10 worst character names," saying, "Compound this failure with gameplay that stunk as bad as its protagonist, and you've got a mascot platformer that never stood a chance."
So not only was the game bad, but so was the marketing and even the character's name. This is one mascot that will never see the light of day again, and he shouldn't. Also, why a skunk?
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