So, I mispronounce the word "library" in this video as a few of you have pointed out. Memories of my 2nd grade teacher lecturing me come to mind. It's not how I normally say the word. Although, it does make me wonder if I ever made the same mistake in any other videos.
In a world of Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo , I was a TG-16 man who got the CD setup early by complete chance. The neighborhood friends and I would set up an “arcade” in a kid’s garage during the summer for a long weekend. People lined up to play the Turbo !
I loved my TB16, if they had brought all those shooters to the US the system would have been a success. The Japanese people got to enjoy what the system could so and at the time that is what I was hoping for. I remember reading about all the games coming out for the system back then in the gaming magazines and hoping those would make their way here and they never did. Thankfully I can enjoy those games now through other means.
I was barely aware that the TG16 existed back in the day. None of my friends had it, and at one point I remember I had assumed it was exclusive to Europe and Japan.
Galaga 90 is great! I still have it, Devils Crush and my original Keith Courage....but I sold my TG16 years ago. I keep the games for sentimental reasons and they don’t take up much room, but I’m over collecting physical copies of games. They just take up too much room and cost too much for stuff I’m only going to play once in a blue moon (if ever). Long ago I lost the need to fill up my bookcases with crappy old games.
I remember having R-Type on the Sega Master System and my buddy brought over his brand new Turbografx-16 with R-Type and it blew me away. I sold my SMS to a different buddy at school and picked up a Turbografx-16. It's been my favorite console ever since.
Actually the games were called Hu-Cards in the US as well for most of the TG-16's life. They were only rebranded to Turbochips after the Turbo-duo was released.
@@nexxusty there is a lot of misinformation out there about how they were called Turbochips from the beginning here in America. What OP is saying is that didn’t start until the Turbo Express came out, but everyone still mostly called them Hu Cards. Kinda wondering what the point of your comment was.
I Remember seeing TG16 in toy stores when I was very young. I admit I didn’t give it a second thought next to my Nintendo. Today is a different story of course. A great console with great games. Thanks for the video.
probably the first time i saw it was at KMart after a summer of saving up for the Fighting System w/SoRII packed in ... the design kinda reminded me of the Master System, and i was a bit intrigued, but i was set on the Genesis. hmmmm, looking back, though, it would have been nice to snag thee Turbo when they were on clearance ... still trying to get the PCengine mini once/if they start up production again ...
@@briantaylorcloe7725 just buy an emulator. My friend has one with almost every NES, SNES, Genesis, Game Gear, Master System and TG 16 game on it and it was around $100 dollars.
During this time, growing up I had the NES, SNES, Genesis and TG-16. The TG-16, by far, had the most play time of all of those systems. I was the only one of my friends that had the TG-16, but all of my friends loved it too. It was always the go to console when people came over to my house. Nothing against the others because they are amazing, but the TG-16 was always my favorite.
I got my Turbografx 16 back in 1989. I've always thought the HuCards are unique and cool! I didn't know anyone else who had one, so whenever someone would come over I would show them Splatterhouse, Blazing Lasers and Legendary Axe 2. They'd be impressed.
Yeah a lot of people didn't even know that Street fighter was on any home console. I used to tell everybody I played it when I was a kid on a turbo graphics 16 that my uncle had it was called Fighting Street.. Needless to say the controls are horrible now that I look back at it for the first Street fighter but if you could rattle off of hadouken they did serious damage in that game. Good times indeed lived being born in 1980,got to experience video games to the max lol
I was completely obsessed with the TG16 - I played the living shit out of legendary axe and blazing lasers growing up - wanted the CD player so bad but once girls happened, I could never save enough $ for it
I had an uncle and a cousin from another uncle who both got it Christmas of 89. That will forever be one of my favorite Christmases ever. Playing Alien Crush, Keith Courage, Military Madness, The Legendary Axe and Blazing Lasers was mind blowing. Also both got the Turbo booster which made playing on my cousin's 42 inch tv with stereo speakers hooked into it that much more amazing (that Blazing Lasers soundtrack my God!) Then not long after my uncle got Splatterhouse and I was obsessed with it then a year or two after got Dungeons and Dragons Order of the Griffon. I think we spent a whole Summer vacation playing through that one. Nothing but awesome memories. Always wanted one but never got one (my parents opted for a Genesis the following Christmas because it like half the price. Not that I'm complaining because I love the Genesis). I have been singing the praises of this system since '89. Though at this point looking back at what stuff I played after the life of the Turbografx I'd say my favorite thing about it for me is it was the start of my favorite gaming company: Working Designs! It's funny I don't own one but have 3 games for it: 1. That D&D game for nostalgia. 2. Exile and Cosmic Fantasy 2 from Working Designs. I'm thinking about getting an Analogue Duo to finally play those bad boys.
I used to play bonk's adventure at my friend's house house on a black and white tv. His mom wouldn't let us use the main tv. Still had fun though. We had a cassette of the song Rump Shaker on repeat in the background.
Castlevania Rondo of Blood in my opinion is the best CV game, except for CV3 Dracula's Curse on NES. I bought Rondo in 2009 on the WiiShop and I was so excited about being able to play that game. 100 percented it. One of the tougher games in the series. Amazing game. I would have probably benefited greatly from buying a TurboGrafx16 back in the day.
My best memory of the TG-16 was going to the mall one weekend afternoon and finding a kiosk setup in the middle where they were having a promotional tour. I stopped by and played a few of the games. I recall playing Bonk's Adventure for about an hour or so. I finally pulled myself away, only to realize I had been wearing a Super Mario 2 T-shirt the whole time, They must have a good laugh about that one. 😁
Toys R Us and Children’s Palace, Kohl’s and probably most dept stores had demo systems where I lived. They also had a VCR playing a video about the TG16, games, CD add-on etc. I read game magazines back then too and the Tg16 got a lot of coverage. I’ve heard people say it wasn’t advertised well but it was where I lived, which was Indianapolis.
The Turbo kicked all the ass back in the day! I would play Blazing Lazers until my eyes bled. One of my most regrettable mistakes was selling off my Turbo collection.
I bought into this and not Sega or Nintendo. I loved it and had a whole team when playing sports games like football. They owned the shooter and RPG Genre.
I grew up in South Africa, and the PC Engine was never on my radar. We got all the Atari consoles in the early 80s, but late 80s/early 90s were dominated by Famiclones and the Master System (and its clones). I mostly gamed on a PC because of all the games I could pirate for it.
Blazing lazers and Devils Crush are amazing. Some of the best games I’ve played on my Mister FPGA. Impressive how good the developers were on this platform...
I always thought that "Turbo Grafx 16" sounded so cool lol. But I was so used to just Nintendo and Sega that the TG just seemed like something to not even bother with. And the kid on the box always reminded me of Zach Morris from Saved By The Bell.
Haha. He's totally got that sorta vibe and that's probably what the marketing team was trying to key in on. Just looked it up: that show originally aired in August of 1989 so it's possible.
In Canada at least, the thing that hampered Turbo Grafx most was that the only store that carried it was Radio Shack. Exclusive distribution channels is not good for wide spread appeal.
Yes and I remember the store demo machines were setup with only 1 controller. I didn't even know you could get a multitap until about a year after it launched.
@@RottenMuLoT The pack in game was Keith Courage, it was ridiculously easy and had terrible controls. I remember thinking as a kid I can't wait to get home and play my NES.
I grew up playing the system in my uncle's house, it was so amazing, so wonderful so different, and I got to play it when I first released, unfortunately, I never owned it, but now that I'm gonna adult, I actually bought myself a duo r modded with RGB and region free as well.. This statics of the Japanese system is so beautiful, makes me wonder why I never was released over in the United States and I bought myself Rondo of blood ❤ I got to say, we really did miss out on so many great amazing, wonderful Japanese titles, my titles keep growing as we speak.
All throughout '89 and '90, I wanted a Turbografx but I honestly had quite a lot on my plate with both an NES and a recently-acquired Game Boy. I saw the advertisements in game magazines and the games on display at my local Toys 'R Us. I never knew or encountered anybody that owned one, although a friend did get a TurboExpress for his birthday in '92 and I got to play a few amazing minutes of Blazing Lazers on it. When I started getting back into classic video game consoles in the mid-2000's, I was reminded of the Turbo and made an effort to pick one up. I don't regret it one bit. Sure, it's game library doesn't pack quite the consistent and versatile punch that the Genesis or SNES do but part of what makes it so interesting to play today is that it's all new experiences. These are games that a majority of people never played or knew much about and exploring them is like uncovering some kind of long-forgotten treasure. The Turbo has such a distinct style, graphics and sound. It is a real treat! Not very collector-friendly these days, unfortunately. Especially the TurboCD systems and games.
I started collecting for the PC engine about 2 years ago, mainly because I wanted to play Rondo of Blood and Spriggan. I picked up a PC engine Duo R because of the great library of Shmups. I picked up the PC Engine mini as well. I think it has the best collection on games on a mini console. So many great games are represented.
Yeah, the mini did a great job with it's library. Some of the heavy hitters that only people who know the entire scope of it's library would think to include. Devil's Crush and Gate of Thunder are the two main ones I want to add once that option becomes available :)
I only ever knew one kid that had a TurboGrafx-16. And the only reason I remember it was because we played Bonk on it, and that the system took those cards.
This was my fave 16-bit system. The CD attachment was mind-blowing at the time. The first time I booted up Ys, I just sat there in awe, watching the introduction over and over.
I bought a PC Engine a decade ago to play Splatterhouse after seeing it in an AVGN video. Since then it's become my gateway into shmups, the Ys series and making me a diehard Castlevania fan. The Far East of Eden series is also amazing, with those games really taking my Japanese language studies to a next level. It has become my favourite system to collect for.
Totally. I had a handheld GT and the Duo both from Japan. GT was the best handheld by mikes until GB colour came along many years later. Hardly anyone here in UK knew about it.
2nd console I purchased after Sega Genesis. It was different but I loved it so much that I have 2 TG-16's, 4 TurboDuo's & a Turbo Express. Some of my top 10 games of all time are on Turbografx. I'd say try Vasteel, Military Madness, Bonk 1,2,3, Air Zonk, Bomberman 94, Gate of Thunder, Beyond Shadowgate, Neutopia 2 & SM Terraforming
got my mini for $75 off amazon right before they got scarce and the price went way up. I mostly only use it for Blazing Lazers. That game is incredible.
Rondo of blood is great in playing it on the mini. On the castlevania note, still haven’t played SOTN, but I have played the GB games and I love those.
I remember seeing ads for the system in videogame magazines and in Disney Adventures magazines, some television ads, and of course some in-store displays. Never owned it, as I was a Tiger Electronics kid, and would not get a home console until Christmas 1992 with my first NES. Never knew anyone who had it, and never saw it show up at garage sales or Goodwill. Just sort of always thought of it as the console that time forgot, unless you could buy it at the time it came out.
Back in my teenage days my friends and I were big eight bit Nintendo players. But as soon as I could graduate to 16 bit, I got the Sega genesis the first Christmas it came out. One friend of mine was waiting for the new super Nintendo to come out, but he did buy the TurboGrafx 16 because he couldn’t wait to get to the next level of video game playing. We played four or five different games that he had but he ultimately sold the system when the super Nintendo came out and purchase that one. But I did enjoy the bright colorful graphics that the TurboGrafx 16 had.
For the longest time the TurboGrafx 16 was my unicorn system. Always wanted one but never seen one. Don't even remember seeing one as a kid. While visiting a friend earlier this year I went retro hunting and found one and brought it home. I also picked up the Everdrive for it. No regrets.
The CPU was 8 bit, but because it was clocked about twice as fast as it's competitors at release, it was able to perform most workloads pretty well compared to true 16 bit processors at the time. The reason it is considered a 16 bit system is because it has two 16 bit video chips. A 16 bit VDC and a 16 bit Color Encoder chip. It could only have a single background plane, but with line scrolling and other tricks like animated background tiles, it could simulate two background planes. It had the same total colors as the Genesis, but could display up to 240 colors on sprites, and another 240+1 colors for the background plane. I remember it didn't do as well as Genesis and SNES because it was a bit more expensive to get started (composite out and 2nd controller and turbo tap). Another big reason was that all the cool games were coming out for Genesis and SNES. Needed more "Killer" games. Having 2 action buttons only was a bigger deal then you may first think.
The way you voice your videos now is so much better than here. You still seemed to care in this video. The thick layer sarcasm in your new videos is so good.
I bought one of these at a yard sale with some games for $30 and made over $500 reselling them. Best find I've ever made - I didn't even know it was valuable just thought it was cool.
Got the Genesis in 92 to replace the NES. All my friends were Sega kids too. Only knew 1 or 2 kids that had a SNES instead. Never met anyone with a TG16, but those Gamepro magazines had me wanting one. At least I got the mini now!
Bonk and especially Bonk’s Revenge were great, unique platformers. AeroBlasters and Blazing Lasers were two of my favorite shooters ever. Loved playing Splatterhouse as a kid. And Dragon’s Curse was one of my personal faves for the system. I never had the cd-Rom. So these are all Hu-Card games. I even loved that format. No clunky cartridges (although they were possible to lose, like a debit card or something, if you didn’t put them away in their modified jewel cases after playing). Nothing but good memories of TG-16.
Keith Courage was my favorite on TurboGrafx-16. Then Bonks adventures. I remember baseball was fun on this too. O yeah vigilante was on this too. Great game.
From what I remember from my adolescence. Unlike NeoGeo, Turbo Graphix 16 had a full page in the Sears catalog. Like NeoGeo, I never played it, never knew anyone that had it.
You forgot to mention the Turbo Express, which was the first (as far as I know) portable game system to be able to play the same cartridges as its full-size counterpart. Of course, it couldn't play the CD games, only the card thingys.
I loved the TurboGraphics 16!! People forget TG 16 also had the first and only handheld game boy type that was in color (before game gear came out) and the games were able to be used with both they system and handheld
It wasn't just any color screen, it was a TFT active matrix LCD (also backlit) that was miles better than the passive matrix, blurry, poor viewing angle LCD of Game Gear and Lynx (and later Nomad). It was expensive to produce TFT displays (the best tech at the time) , and the Turbo Express price reflected that, but the performance was excellent. I don't think any other handheld had a backlit TFT LCD until the Nintendo DS or a later revision Gameboy Advance, well over TEN YEARS after the Turbo Express was released!
The marketing was it's main problem. I was oblivious to the consoles existence back in the early 90's. I knew what a Jaguar, Neo Geo and 3DO was, but I always viewed them as super expensive consoles. However, the discussion was dominated by Sega and Nintendo back then.
In Arkansas, the TG16 was a myth we only read about in magazines or on TV shows. They *might* have sold it somewhere in Little Rock, but certainly nowhere else. We were NES/SMS/GEN/SNES all the way.
@@jhousdan I had a 3DO and it was a POS system. I only played street Fighter and Star Control on mine. When it was being blown out you could go into Best Buy and buy games for like 5 bucks. I bought a bunch and they were almost all complete garbage that I played for a few minutes and never played again.
It's overlooked and underrated, but we just didn't get enough of the games in the west. Of the games we did get, too many of them were vertical/horizontal shooters. More variety certainly would have been nice. And yeah, the fact that they made you buy a multi-tap for 2-players was a dick move. No other home console I know of did that.
Like a lot of kids back then, my parents only let me have one console and I was on Team Nintendo. I managed to get a Genesis once used ones became available pretty cheap, but the prospect of a third console from the same generation was unthinkable, which meant I got no Bonk and had to make do with Chuck Rock to get my caveman fix (not that I didn't enjoy that game).
Awesome video! Loved hearing your perspective. It's funny how we were so tribal about which system was better when we were growing up but now recognize that they were all great and for very different reasons. Each console had personality, unlike nowadays.
Growing up in the 90s my cousin had a TurboGrafx and Bonks adventure was great game that could have reviled Mario and Sonic. I was able also able to play Street Fighter 1 which was called Fighting Street and doing special moves was impossible. and splatter house was Gory and fun.
You forgot to mention that the HuCard game could also be played on there handheld system, so you only needed 1 library of games. I remember that Christmas morning we got our Turbo Grafx 16 with the shooter Ordyne. It was night and day difference to the NES. I loved that system.
It's a total must-have console if you are into shooters and arcade ports. There are also some great exclusives of other genres but those 2 reasons I mentioned are the biggest ones. I mean, there are more than 110 shooters for the console, like a 1/6 of the whole catalogue. Great console indeed.
Keith courage is one of my favourite turbo graphx 16 games its a platform action game for the people who never played it play it its pretty good i love it
I have never owned one but I remember initially wanting it as an upgrade to nes. A older family friend talked me out of it and I got a Genesis instead.
It's great you used actual footage from a old tv because it looks even more beautiful! I consider myself lucky to have grown up with a turbo grafx 16. Ninja Spirit, Splatterhouse, R type, Bonk's adventure, Bloody Wolf, Dungeon Explorer, Legendary Axe, are all great games that I still love playing. In fact I probably like more games on turbo than genesis although obviously the Sonic series is amazing in every way and am a huge old Sonic fan Turbo graphics are bright and colorful and also it has a very cool distinct sound
I use to do googly eyes at the pictures of the PC Engine games in EGM and other gaming mags back when it released. The graphics looked way more advanced than what the other systems were offering and I remember thinking that the PC Engine looked so tiny and advanced in comparison to the NES and Genesis. Unfortunately, it never released in Australia where I am from. All these years later and I might have to finally go buy the mini to see what I missed.
For Christmas I had a choice between Genesis or Turbografx I seen that commercial with blazing lazers & legendary axe had me sold I never looked back or regret my purchase still have the system til this day 👍
@@frankhdz yeah I almost got rid of it as well as my SNES when I moved into my new home but I had a feeling to just keep them in my collection now I'm glad I did
So, I mispronounce the word "library" in this video as a few of you have pointed out. Memories of my 2nd grade teacher lecturing me come to mind. It's not how I normally say the word. Although, it does make me wonder if I ever made the same mistake in any other videos.
BTW Neutopia and Neutopia 2 are awesome.
you spelled "graphics" wrong, too - twice!
@@hhectorlector hahah
I didn't notice.
I haven't gotten that far in the vid but I'm gunna guess you said "lie-berry" instead of "lie-brare-ee" - I say the first one. It's an Ohio thing.
In a world of Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo , I was a TG-16 man who got the CD setup early by complete chance. The neighborhood friends and I would set up an “arcade” in a kid’s garage during the summer for a long weekend. People lined up to play the Turbo !
I loved my TB16, if they had brought all those shooters to the US the system would have been a success. The Japanese people got to enjoy what the system could so and at the time that is what I was hoping for. I remember reading about all the games coming out for the system back then in the gaming magazines and hoping those would make their way here and they never did. Thankfully I can enjoy those games now through other means.
I've never heard of the TG 16 ... I had the saga megadrive here in the uk..A++
@nasachusetts Gunhed :p
Had so much fun with groups playing the arcade style wrestling on the t16 with the multi-tap
I was barely aware that the TG16 existed back in the day. None of my friends had it, and at one point I remember I had assumed it was exclusive to Europe and Japan.
Back in the 90s...there was a company called Japan Video Games in the back of EGM.
I got SFII about 6 months before anyone else.
Still play my turbo grafx today! I love galaga 90
All right!
Galaga 90 is great! I still have it, Devils Crush and my original Keith Courage....but I sold my TG16 years ago.
I keep the games for sentimental reasons and they don’t take up much room, but I’m over collecting physical copies of games. They just take up too much room and cost too much for stuff I’m only going to play once in a blue moon (if ever).
Long ago I lost the need to fill up my bookcases with crappy old games.
LOL. No idea why they added 2 for the US market. Galaga 88 it is.
I remember having R-Type on the Sega Master System and my buddy brought over his brand new Turbografx-16 with R-Type and it blew me away. I sold my SMS to a different buddy at school and picked up a Turbografx-16. It's been my favorite console ever since.
To be fair the Master System's R-type was good. I know the R-Type on the Turbographix is very good however.
Actually the games were called Hu-Cards in the US as well for most of the TG-16's life. They were only rebranded to Turbochips after the Turbo-duo was released.
Of course they were Hu-Cards...
@@nexxusty there is a lot of misinformation out there about how they were called Turbochips from the beginning here in America. What OP is saying is that didn’t start until the Turbo Express came out, but everyone still mostly called them Hu Cards. Kinda wondering what the point of your comment was.
Ah man your face when symphony of the night is on the table Lmao!! Love it
Haha, I wonder what you all think of me doing that kind of stuff sometimes. It's fun for me so I do it :)
He sounds like being so missury as if he didn’t feel like to do a kind of review of it, just insane.
@@RetroBirdGaming well it got a laugh out of me
Haha that face
He reminds me of Odo. Esp. when blurred out slightly.
I Remember seeing TG16 in toy stores when I was very young. I admit I didn’t give it a second thought next to my Nintendo. Today is a different story of course. A great console with great games. Thanks for the video.
I was so young at the time but I feel like I remember seeing it at least once myself.
probably the first time i saw it was at KMart after a summer of saving up for the Fighting System w/SoRII packed in ... the design kinda reminded me of the Master System, and i was a bit intrigued, but i was set on the Genesis. hmmmm, looking back, though, it would have been nice to snag thee Turbo when they were on clearance ... still trying to get the PCengine mini once/if they start up production again ...
@@RetroBirdGaming you don’t “feel” like you remember , you THINK you remember.
You feel cold, you feel pain, you feel sick.
@@briantaylorcloe7725 just buy an emulator. My friend has one with almost every NES, SNES, Genesis, Game Gear, Master System and TG 16 game on it and it was around $100 dollars.
@@Vichedges wait you buy emulators?
they are free they aren't sold I don't think it would be illegal for them to be sold
the TG16 has one of my favorite games of all time, the "champions forever" boxing. we even had tournaments with championships and all that.
During this time, growing up I had the NES, SNES, Genesis and TG-16. The TG-16, by far, had the most play time of all of those systems. I was the only one of my friends that had the TG-16, but all of my friends loved it too. It was always the go to console when people came over to my house. Nothing against the others because they are amazing, but the TG-16 was always my favorite.
I got my Turbografx 16 back in 1989. I've always thought the HuCards are unique and cool! I didn't know anyone else who had one, so whenever someone would come over I would show them Splatterhouse, Blazing Lasers and Legendary Axe 2. They'd be impressed.
I had the original Street Fighter on the CD system. I loved that game. Blazing Lasers was one of my top favorite games along with Y's III.
I must be an anomaly, I had two friends who had a TG16. We used to swap games.
Yeah a lot of people didn't even know that Street fighter was on any home console. I used to tell everybody I played it when I was a kid on a turbo graphics 16 that my uncle had it was called Fighting Street.. Needless to say the controls are horrible now that I look back at it for the first Street fighter but if you could rattle off of hadouken they did serious damage in that game. Good times indeed lived being born in 1980,got to experience video games to the max lol
I really enjoyed blazing lasers but the TurboGrafx-16 was definitely the least of the 3 consoles.
I was completely obsessed with the TG16 - I played the living shit out of legendary axe and blazing lasers growing up - wanted the CD player so bad but once girls happened, I could never save enough $ for it
Legendary Axe and Blazing Lasers are two very iconic games for the console. Most people with a TG-16 had them.
Damn girls! Get your priorities straight. There is Turbo Grafx games to be played.;)
That is a problem I would love to have had.
@@BigAL68xyz I believe that.
RUclips recommended this, very cool video! TG-16 has always intrigued me :) videos like this make me realize it’s still worth it
That's great to hear!
I had an uncle and a cousin from another uncle who both got it Christmas of 89. That will forever be one of my favorite Christmases ever. Playing Alien Crush, Keith Courage, Military Madness, The Legendary Axe and Blazing Lasers was mind blowing. Also both got the Turbo booster which made playing on my cousin's 42 inch tv with stereo speakers hooked into it that much more amazing (that Blazing Lasers soundtrack my God!)
Then not long after my uncle got Splatterhouse and I was obsessed with it then a year or two after got Dungeons and Dragons Order of the Griffon. I think we spent a whole Summer vacation playing through that one. Nothing but awesome memories. Always wanted one but never got one (my parents opted for a Genesis the following Christmas because it like half the price. Not that I'm complaining because I love the Genesis). I have been singing the praises of this system since '89. Though at this point looking back at what stuff I played after the life of the Turbografx I'd say my favorite thing about it for me is it was the start of my favorite gaming company: Working Designs! It's funny I don't own one but have 3 games for it: 1. That D&D game for nostalgia. 2. Exile and Cosmic Fantasy 2 from Working Designs. I'm thinking about getting an Analogue Duo to finally play those bad boys.
That was a cool story. I was looking up Military Madnessand noticed it looks similar to Advance Wars. Pretty cool for 1989.
@@GeordiLaForgery It blew my mind back then. There wasn't anything like it on NES and nothing yet on Genesis. Win for TG16 in 89.
I used to play bonk's adventure at my friend's house house on a black and white tv. His mom wouldn't let us use the main tv. Still had fun though. We had a cassette of the song Rump Shaker on repeat in the background.
Dude, love your videos, they are amongst the absolute best in the retro RUclips community. 👍🎮
Thank you my friend!
Castlevania Rondo of Blood in my opinion is the best CV game, except for CV3 Dracula's Curse on NES. I bought Rondo in 2009 on the WiiShop and I was so excited about being able to play that game. 100 percented it. One of the tougher games in the series. Amazing game. I would have probably benefited greatly from buying a TurboGrafx16 back in the day.
My best memory of the TG-16 was going to the mall one weekend afternoon and finding a kiosk setup in the middle where they were having a promotional tour. I stopped by and played a few of the games. I recall playing Bonk's Adventure for about an hour or so. I finally pulled myself away, only to realize I had been wearing a Super Mario 2 T-shirt the whole time, They must have a good laugh about that one. 😁
Toys R Us and Children’s Palace, Kohl’s and probably most dept stores had demo systems where I lived.
They also had a VCR playing a video about the TG16, games, CD add-on etc.
I read game magazines back then too and the Tg16 got a lot of coverage.
I’ve heard people say it wasn’t advertised well but it was where I lived, which was Indianapolis.
The Turbo kicked all the ass back in the day! I would play Blazing Lazers until my eyes bled. One of my most regrettable mistakes was selling off my Turbo collection.
Ah man, that’s tragic! You need to get it back :)
@@MarMaxGaming I got the Mini it will do for now.
💔Nooo! I hope you get it all back👍
I bought into this and not Sega or Nintendo. I loved it and had a whole team when playing sports games like football. They owned the shooter and RPG Genre.
I grew up in South Africa, and the PC Engine was never on my radar. We got all the Atari consoles in the early 80s, but late 80s/early 90s were dominated by Famiclones and the Master System (and its clones). I mostly gamed on a PC because of all the games I could pirate for it.
The little clips in which you appear are hilarious, by the way! 🤣
Blazing lazers and Devils Crush are amazing. Some of the best games I’ve played on my Mister FPGA.
Impressive how good the developers were on this platform...
Those are great games indeed!
MiSTer is also my preferred way to play tg16 but the PC engine mini is pretty good for a emulation box . My most played Mini console.
I always thought that "Turbo Grafx 16" sounded so cool lol. But I was so used to just Nintendo and Sega that the TG just seemed like something to not even bother with. And the kid on the box always reminded me of Zach Morris from Saved By The Bell.
Haha. He's totally got that sorta vibe and that's probably what the marketing team was trying to key in on. Just looked it up: that show originally aired in August of 1989 so it's possible.
NEC would've sold way more systems with Kelly Kapowski on the box...
zack morris is trash
The only thing I concretely remember of this console is Devil's Crush's soundtrack. :D
In my personal opinion, the Turbo Grafx Mini is my favorite mini console from all the mini consoles out there.
Great video Retro Bird.👍
y's book 1 and 2 my fave game!!!!
Definitely a favorite among Turbo enthusiasts.
I played that, I think I rented the CD player.
Or it might have been on genesis CD, I honestly can’t remember.
It was OK but not that interesting IMO.
Adol kicks ass!!!
I bought a tg just for this game. Then I bought the game and found out it was cd only. Still haven't bought the cd addon some 8 years later.
@@RetroBirdGaming can we hang out? I just want to play all your tg games. I hope you have ese, i mean y's.
Wow, I suddenly have this sudden urge to play Lords of Thunder...
It's laggy on the mini, but plays great on a MiSTer.
In Canada at least, the thing that hampered Turbo Grafx most was that the only store that carried it was Radio Shack. Exclusive distribution channels is not good for wide spread appeal.
Yes and I remember the store demo machines were setup with only 1 controller. I didn't even know you could get a multitap until about a year after it launched.
What! Not in a million years my inner kid would have bought an exclusive and pricey video game console at Radio "scrap". What the hell was that?!?
@@RottenMuLoT The pack in game was Keith Courage, it was ridiculously easy and had terrible controls. I remember thinking as a kid I can't wait to get home and play my NES.
I grew up playing the system in my uncle's house, it was so amazing, so wonderful so different, and I got to play it when I first released, unfortunately, I never owned it, but now that I'm gonna adult, I actually bought myself a duo r modded with RGB and region free as well.. This statics of the Japanese system is so beautiful, makes me wonder why I never was released over in the United States and I bought myself Rondo of blood ❤ I got to say, we really did miss out on so many great amazing, wonderful Japanese titles, my titles keep growing as we speak.
All throughout '89 and '90, I wanted a Turbografx but I honestly had quite a lot on my plate with both an NES and a recently-acquired Game Boy. I saw the advertisements in game magazines and the games on display at my local Toys 'R Us. I never knew or encountered anybody that owned one, although a friend did get a TurboExpress for his birthday in '92 and I got to play a few amazing minutes of Blazing Lazers on it. When I started getting back into classic video game consoles in the mid-2000's, I was reminded of the Turbo and made an effort to pick one up. I don't regret it one bit. Sure, it's game library doesn't pack quite the consistent and versatile punch that the Genesis or SNES do but part of what makes it so interesting to play today is that it's all new experiences. These are games that a majority of people never played or knew much about and exploring them is like uncovering some kind of long-forgotten treasure. The Turbo has such a distinct style, graphics and sound. It is a real treat! Not very collector-friendly these days, unfortunately. Especially the TurboCD systems and games.
This is the system I always wanted but never got. Now as an adult, I've gotten to play the Bonk Games on emulation.
I started collecting for the PC engine about 2 years ago, mainly because I wanted to play Rondo of Blood and Spriggan. I picked up a PC engine Duo R because of the great library of Shmups. I picked up the PC Engine mini as well. I think it has the best collection on games on a mini console. So many great games are represented.
Yeah, the mini did a great job with it's library. Some of the heavy hitters that only people who know the entire scope of it's library would think to include. Devil's Crush and Gate of Thunder are the two main ones I want to add once that option becomes available :)
not having 1989 game of the year the legendary axe on the turbo mini was a deal breaker forme
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones and Blazing Lazers were my jam! Also, the turbo switch on the controller, Galaga ‘88 port (Galaga ‘90) was AWESOME!
Fun Fact The TG16 had a hard shelled case that held the system with the CD unit, and controllers. I have no idea where mine went.
I played a bunch of Bonk on the display model of my local Radio Shack. Later on when I got one, the Neutopia series was my stand out.
The CD versions of Ys 1-4 live here. That's all you have to say!
Word. imo the best versions of Ys 1+2, Ys 4. And the best ost for Ys 3. A shame Ys 4: Dawn of Ys is retconned in the whole Ys lore
@@matthewlumibao7057 I can't imagine playing them without that music.
I only ever knew one kid that had a TurboGrafx-16. And the only reason I remember it was because we played Bonk on it, and that the system took those cards.
Turbo Duo R was my first import system back in the 90s 👍
Neo Geo's soul crushing prices back then.....now its as if the grim reaper himself are setting the prices for NG carts.
This was my fave 16-bit system. The CD attachment was mind-blowing at the time. The first time I booted up Ys, I just sat there in awe, watching the introduction over and over.
I bought a PC Engine a decade ago to play Splatterhouse after seeing it in an AVGN video. Since then it's become my gateway into shmups, the Ys series and making me a diehard Castlevania fan. The Far East of Eden series is also amazing, with those games really taking my Japanese language studies to a next level. It has become my favourite system to collect for.
I really like this longer more serious talk .. still love the wacky stuff too
Happy to hear it. I always try to blend those two elements together :)
Happy to hear it. I always try to blend those two elements together :)
The most underrated undermarketed system ever
Totally. I had a handheld GT and the Duo both from Japan. GT was the best handheld by mikes until GB colour came along many years later.
Hardly anyone here in UK knew about it.
The Neo Geo Pocket suffered from the same problems. Never had a chance the way it was marketed.
I still have my original TG16 with the Turbo booster plus. It was the first console i was able to buy on my own.
2nd console I purchased after Sega Genesis. It was different but I loved it so much that I have 2 TG-16's, 4 TurboDuo's & a Turbo Express. Some of my top 10 games of all time are on Turbografx. I'd say try Vasteel, Military Madness, Bonk 1,2,3, Air Zonk, Bomberman 94, Gate of Thunder, Beyond Shadowgate, Neutopia 2 & SM Terraforming
got my mini for $75 off amazon right before they got scarce and the price went way up. I mostly only use it for Blazing Lazers. That game is incredible.
The shmups on the mini are amazing. Other than Bonk the shmups are the system's only real selling point.
I got brand new at toys r us for 30 dollars new and games were like 5 to 10 dollars in clearance back then love it 🥰.
Rondo of blood is great in playing it on the mini. On the castlevania note, still haven’t played SOTN, but I have played the GB games and I love those.
I remember seeing ads for the system in videogame magazines and in Disney Adventures magazines, some television ads, and of course some in-store displays. Never owned it, as I was a Tiger Electronics kid, and would not get a home console until Christmas 1992 with my first NES. Never knew anyone who had it, and never saw it show up at garage sales or Goodwill. Just sort of always thought of it as the console that time forgot, unless you could buy it at the time it came out.
I got one at a yardsale in 94. I loved it but I had a very hard time finding games for it back then.
Back in my teenage days my friends and I were big eight bit Nintendo players. But as soon as I could graduate to 16 bit, I got the Sega genesis the first Christmas it came out. One friend of mine was waiting for the new super Nintendo to come out, but he did buy the TurboGrafx 16 because he couldn’t wait to get to the next level of video game playing. We played four or five different games that he had but he ultimately sold the system when the super Nintendo came out and purchase that one. But I did enjoy the bright colorful graphics that the TurboGrafx 16 had.
had one, also had turbo express. i had at least 12 games. loved them
pcengine portable rocked!
For the longest time the TurboGrafx 16 was my unicorn system. Always wanted one but never seen one. Don't even remember seeing one as a kid. While visiting a friend earlier this year I went retro hunting and found one and brought it home. I also picked up the Everdrive for it. No regrets.
The CPU was 8 bit, but because it was clocked about twice as fast as it's competitors at release, it was able to perform most workloads pretty well compared to true 16 bit processors at the time. The reason it is considered a 16 bit system is because it has two 16 bit video chips. A 16 bit VDC and a 16 bit Color Encoder chip. It could only have a single background plane, but with line scrolling and other tricks like animated background tiles, it could simulate two background planes. It had the same total colors as the Genesis, but could display up to 240 colors on sprites, and another 240+1 colors for the background plane. I remember it didn't do as well as Genesis and SNES because it was a bit more expensive to get started (composite out and 2nd controller and turbo tap). Another big reason was that all the cool games were coming out for Genesis and SNES. Needed more "Killer" games. Having 2 action buttons only was a bigger deal then you may first think.
The way you voice your videos now is so much better than here. You still seemed to care in this video. The thick layer sarcasm in your new videos is so good.
I bought one of these at a yard sale with some games for $30 and made over $500 reselling them. Best find I've ever made - I didn't even know it was valuable just thought it was cool.
Got the Genesis in 92 to replace the NES. All my friends were Sega kids too. Only knew 1 or 2 kids that had a SNES instead. Never met anyone with a TG16, but those Gamepro magazines had me wanting one. At least I got the mini now!
Bonk and especially Bonk’s Revenge were great, unique platformers. AeroBlasters and Blazing Lasers were two of my favorite shooters ever. Loved playing Splatterhouse as a kid. And Dragon’s Curse was one of my personal faves for the system.
I never had the cd-Rom. So these are all Hu-Card games. I even loved that format. No clunky cartridges (although they were possible to lose, like a debit card or something, if you didn’t put them away in their modified jewel cases after playing).
Nothing but good memories of TG-16.
Took your advice to check out the music for Alien and Devils Crush. Did not disappoint!
All right!
I only knew one person who had a TG16 when it released and it was a friends older brother, so we didnt get to use it much.
Keith Courage was my favorite on TurboGrafx-16. Then Bonks adventures. I remember baseball was fun on this too. O yeah vigilante was on this too. Great game.
From what I remember from my adolescence. Unlike NeoGeo, Turbo Graphix 16 had a full page in the Sears catalog. Like NeoGeo, I never played it, never knew anyone that had it.
You forgot to mention the Turbo Express, which was the first (as far as I know) portable game system to be able to play the same cartridges as its full-size counterpart. Of course, it couldn't play the CD games, only the card thingys.
I remember seeing Bonk ads as a kid and thought the turbografx looked cool, but no one had it. I plan to get the mini when it is available to the US
Shouldn't be too much longer for the mini to release on the US Amazon. I've been hearing mumblings it should be soon.
Or just emulate. Bonk is fun as heck played it for the first time yesterday.
I loved the TurboGraphics 16!! People forget TG 16 also had the first and only handheld game boy type that was in color (before game gear came out) and the games were able to be used with both they system and handheld
It was the Sega Nomad BEFORE the Sega Nomad 👌😂
It wasn't just any color screen, it was a TFT active matrix LCD (also backlit) that was miles better than the passive matrix, blurry, poor viewing angle LCD of Game Gear and Lynx (and later Nomad). It was expensive to produce TFT displays (the best tech at the time) , and the Turbo Express price reflected that, but the performance was excellent. I don't think any other handheld had a backlit TFT LCD until the Nintendo DS or a later revision Gameboy Advance, well over TEN YEARS after the Turbo Express was released!
I loved playing the turbografx as a kid. My favorite game was final lap twin.
That was one of my favorite games on the system too. So unique! Racing car RPG games are a very rare breed. :D
I grew up in it's era. Had NES and SNES during those days. Never knew one kid with one. So weird. Funny video! Great information
Second system I ever owned as kid ( nes was the first ). Loved it! Splatter House, Blazing Lasers, Bonk and Bonk 2 were my favorites.
Had almost every console ever made. Even gx4000 and jaguar
But really regret missing this gem
The marketing was it's main problem. I was oblivious to the consoles existence back in the early 90's. I knew what a Jaguar, Neo Geo and 3DO was, but I always viewed them as super expensive consoles. However, the discussion was dominated by Sega and Nintendo back then.
In Arkansas, the TG16 was a myth we only read about in magazines or on TV shows. They *might* have sold it somewhere in Little Rock, but certainly nowhere else. We were NES/SMS/GEN/SNES all the way.
I was in Southern Illinois and one Christmas went to a big city. Never saw these, but I remember the Jaguar & 3DO, but they were crazy expensive
@@BeeHatGuy I was one of only two people I ever knew that owned a 3do. Wish I'd never gotten rid of it.
@@jhousdan I owned a 3DO. It was and still is a POS. I only ever played Star Control and Street Fighter on mine.
Most games on it were shovel ware.
@@jhousdan I had a 3DO and it was a POS system. I only played street Fighter and Star Control on mine.
When it was being blown out you could go into Best Buy and buy games for like 5 bucks. I bought a bunch and they were almost all complete garbage that I played for a few minutes and never played again.
@@Vichedges star control, wing commander III, Doom II, I owned a lot of cool games for my 3Do. I loved it
It's overlooked and underrated, but we just didn't get enough of the games in the west. Of the games we did get, too many of them were vertical/horizontal shooters. More variety certainly would have been nice. And yeah, the fact that they made you buy a multi-tap for 2-players was a dick move. No other home console I know of did that.
I was to poor to afford a TURBO GRAPHIX, but loved watching others play☆
Please do more turbografx 16 videos! I loved this 16 bit alternative!!!!!
Like a lot of kids back then, my parents only let me have one console and I was on Team Nintendo. I managed to get a Genesis once used ones became available pretty cheap, but the prospect of a third console from the same generation was unthinkable, which meant I got no Bonk and had to make do with Chuck Rock to get my caveman fix (not that I didn't enjoy that game).
I love this channel so much. Thanks!
Thank you for that!
Great video! As someone who only started gaming on the GBC/PS2, I learnt so much lol. Subscribed.
This is a great video, you did a wonderful job with his. I loved the the joke where you were writing out the various spellings of ‘grafx’.
Hahah, that was a fun part to do. Thanks!
Just subscribed dude. Cracked me up with the funny faces.
Happy to have you on the channel :)
Awesome video! Loved hearing your perspective. It's funny how we were so tribal about which system was better when we were growing up but now recognize that they were all great and for very different reasons. Each console had personality, unlike nowadays.
I wonder about the screen resolution on the Turbo it looks great sometimes (Alien Cush) and terrible other times (almost every other game)
Growing up in the 90s my cousin had a TurboGrafx and Bonks adventure was great game that could have reviled Mario and Sonic. I was able also able to play Street Fighter 1 which was called Fighting Street and doing special moves was impossible. and splatter house was Gory and fun.
TG16 had some WILD games. Like Bravo Man, Keith Courage, Klax, Tricky Kick. Games that may never see the light of day again but were timeless bangers.
You forgot to mention that the HuCard game could also be played on there handheld system, so you only needed 1 library of games. I remember that Christmas morning we got our Turbo Grafx 16 with the shooter Ordyne. It was night and day difference to the NES. I loved that system.
I'm glad you covered Bonk. One of my favorites of all time. It's sad how bad the turbografx did in the states.
Hidden gem of a channel!
Great summary of the system! Growing up I only hd one friend that had this system, and I always wondered how it compared to SNES and Genesis.
First console a bought for myself and loved it. Money worth spent.
It's a total must-have console if you are into shooters and arcade ports. There are also some great exclusives of other genres but those 2 reasons I mentioned are the biggest ones. I mean, there are more than 110 shooters for the console, like a 1/6 of the whole catalogue. Great console indeed.
A good chunk of those shooters are quality games too. There's a bit of filler, but still so many solid options.
I have been intrigued by the Turbografx
I had one. It was legit awesome. I sold everything i owned to afford it.
Keith courage is one of my favourite turbo graphx 16 games its a platform action game for the people who never played it play it its pretty good i love it
Never had the system back in the day, but picked up the Mini version and it is my favorite now!
What was the song you used from? It was pretty kickin
Haha, love the bonk "swimming up a waterfall" sprite.
I have never owned one but I remember initially wanting it as an upgrade to nes. A older family friend talked me out of it and I got a Genesis instead.
It's great you used actual footage from a old tv because it looks even more beautiful! I consider myself lucky to have grown up with a turbo grafx 16. Ninja Spirit, Splatterhouse, R type, Bonk's adventure, Bloody Wolf, Dungeon Explorer, Legendary Axe, are all great games that I still love playing. In fact I probably like more games on turbo than genesis although obviously the Sonic series is amazing in every way and am a huge old Sonic fan
Turbo graphics are bright and colorful and also it has a very cool distinct sound
This vid shows Lords of Thunder a lot, which is an upgrade from the TG16. Also it never did a screen comparison of Devil Crush vs. Dragons Fury
He’s using an upscaler on a modern tv.
I use to do googly eyes at the pictures of the PC Engine games in EGM and other gaming mags back when it released. The graphics looked way more advanced than what the other systems were offering and I remember thinking that the PC Engine looked so tiny and advanced in comparison to the NES and Genesis. Unfortunately, it never released in Australia where I am from. All these years later and I might have to finally go buy the mini to see what I missed.
I was looking for a video that would basically explain to me what the PC Engine/TurboGrafx was, and you delivered. Thank you :)
For Christmas I had a choice between Genesis or Turbografx I seen that commercial with blazing lazers & legendary axe had me sold I never looked back or regret my purchase still have the system til this day 👍
I wish I still had mine. I loved that system.
@@frankhdz yeah I almost got rid of it as well as my SNES when I moved into my new home but I had a feeling to just keep them in my collection now I'm glad I did