Punky Skunk

Gameplay screenshot.

Punky Skunk is a side-scrolling action-platform game similar to Skyblazer where the player takes the role of an anthropomorphic skunk named Punky, who settles on saving the world with the aid of his friends Nash and Kelly from the evil BB Brigade army led by Badler as the main objective.[3][4][5][6][7]

Throughout the stages, players may find a set of special tools for Punky via a "gear" icon, including a skunk spray, a parasail, a pogo stick, inline skates, digging claws and a snowboard.[3][4][6] Besides the main stages in the game, minigames are also featured which can benefit Punky in his journey with items like extra lives.[3][4][6]

Similar to Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog, there are collectible stars scattered on almost every stage and obtaining 100 of them grants Punky with an extra life.[3] Punky loses a live if he sustains a number of hits or falls of the stage and once all lives are lost, the game is over.[3] Progress in the game is saved via the PlayStation's memory card.[3]

Punky Skunk was initially conceived as a mascot game commissioned by Bullet-Proof Software on Super Famicom, before development on the project restarted and was ultimately shifted by Ukiyotei and Visit towards the PlayStation.

Punky Skunk was the creation of Ukiyotei founder Kenshi Naruse, whose previous works at the company included Hook, Skyblazer and Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game. Kenshi recounted about the game's development process and history in a 2012 online interview.[8][9][10] Kenshi stated that the title went through various circumstances before its eventual release to market, initially starring a different main protagonist on a mascot action game titled Metamoru Kid Gūmin for the Super Famicom as a commission by Bullet-Proof Software,[11][12][13] who wanted a game intended for younger audiences while Ukiyotei settled on creating a concept reminiscent of Skyblazer but aimed at kids.[8][9][10] Despite work on Metamoru Kid Gūmin being nearly complete, development was later halted due to Bullet-Proof Software changing their direction.[8][9][10]

Ukiyotei started afterwards negotiations with Japanese publisher Visit, who proposed to the team with reusing the same game engine written for Metamoru Kid Gūmin on a new project but the arrival of PlayStation in Japanese markets led Ukiyotei focusing towards the western market of the Super Famicom instead.[8][9] Kenshi claimed that Punky's design and main method of attack were a product of Visit, who told the team that "this incorporated the opinions of North American buyers".[8][9] Although work on the Super Famicom version of Punky Skunk was nearly completed, the launch of the PlayStation in North America and the subsequent decrease in the 16-bit market for Super Famicom titles resulted in suspending its development.[8][9]

Ukiyotei would later propose Visit in resuing Punky and continue development of Punky Skunk on PlayStation, to which the latter agreed at the request of elements such as the visuals matched the system's capabilities.[8][9] The programming team used Punky as research in order to code previous techniques they were able to perform with Super Famicom on PlayStation such as character animation and parallax scrolling, as software development kits for the latter console were deemed to be not suitable for 2D titles, converting several elements from the former version while finishing level design and other aspects during the process.[8][9]

Gameplay screenshot from the unreleased Super Famicom version.

Punky Skunk was created by most of the same team that previously worked on Skyblazer for the Super Famicom at Ukiyotei.[3] Development was helmed by Kaori and Kenshi Naruse acting as directors, with Kenshi also being its sole game designer.[3][8][9] Artists Midori Nasu, Michiyo Komura, Rika Ueno, Sadaki Matsumoto, Tadashi Aoyama and Teruo Nagato were responsible for the character designs and pixel art respectively.[3] Norihiro Tokeshi, Satoshi Kuroda, Tadakatsu Makiuchi, Takeru Yamada and Yasushi Kamiya acted as programmers.[3] Former Capcom composers Harumi and Yasuaki Fujita co-wrote the soundtrack.[3] Visit also collaborated on the project's making as well.[3]

Punky Skunk was first showcased in a playable state on Super Famicom under its Japanese title, Cooly Skunk, at the 1995 Famimaga Earth World show.[14][15] The game was later previewed in gaming magazine such as Famitsu, touting its launch with a 23 February 1996 release date.[16][17][18] The original Super Famicom version of Punky Skunk was never released due to dying 16-bit markets and the launch of PlayStation in North America.[19] Prior to its cancellation on Super Famicom, a playable demo was broadcast via Satellaview.[9][10][20] In 2019, the demo was discovered on a 8M Memory Pak at the Japanese video game store Super Potato and a ROM image of said demo was later leaked online in January 2020.[9][10] Punky Skunk was later moved and eventually published on PlayStation by Visit in Japan on 1 November 1996 under the name Cooly Skunk, and later in North America by Jaleco in February 1998.[1][2][21] On December 2, 1999, the game was later re-released as budget title exclusively in Japan.[22]

Punky Skunk was met with mostly negative reviews from critics since its release. Next Generation reviewed the game, rating it one star out of five, and stated that "Nuts to this - you might as well hook up your SNES and play Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel".[25]

Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized the game's marketing for claiming the titular character had attitude, stating Punky was "...a Generation X skunk with an attitude!".[27] The titular character is ranked eighth on Game Informer’s list of "the top 10 worst character names".[28] Ryan Geddes of IGN considered the game and its English title to be equally bad.[29] Screen Rant's Evan Hopkins placed its titular character as number 14 in his "20 video game mascots that tried to dethrone Mario" feature.[30]

• Official website
• Punky Skunk at GameFAQs
• Punky Skunk at MobyGames