Is the TurboGrafx-16 Worth Playing / Collecting? - Retro Bird

ah popularity something that some of us never achieved but most of at least strived for at one point or another during their lives even if it was way back in their high school days but if you think high school kids care about popularity get a load of video game consoles from the 90s whose aggressive marketing strategies would basically stop at nothing short of saying the other consoles would give you Cooties the ultimate 90s insult so when it came time for the turbo Graphics 16 to launch in the United States which had been called the PC engine in Japan up to that point to decide its name they thought what do kids identify with words like turbo yep Graphics yep misspelling words yep put them together and whatever you got bippity boppity oops didn't sell quite as well as was hoped for geez was it giving people cooties in which case yes who's got cooties so it didn't sell well back in the day in the USA that's okay a lot of consoles don't but lucky for them or lucky for us I suppose these consoles can be given a second chance and if a console is deemed worthy of a second chance Gamers will give it one and when it comes to the turbo Graphics 16 many people have question is should you give it a second chance or perhaps a first chance and yep it should be pointed out that there are some people who have loved it from the very first days for those folks now's your moment to shine but regardless of when fans Started Loving the console these days it's not very hard to poke around online and find that there are plenty of fans of the console in fact not just fans but super fans and dare I say it turbo fans you know they misspelled Graphics but they should have misspelled turbo also that's why why it didn't sell but funny enough when asking these days if the turbo Graphics 16 is worth it most people will say no but the PC engine is at least when it comes to collecting the Japanese version of the console that was actually really popular at the time sold well in Japan had a greater number of games released for it and therefore makes it a lot more friendly to budget conscious collectors which is pretty much everybody right up that's my mistake by the way real quick I just want to say that I'm using the six button controller in this video but any two button controller will do the job for you just fine okay but before you potentially pull the trigger on collecting for this thing just because going the Japanese route is a more affordable option let's try to figure out whether or not yet even like it I mean you wouldn't raid a Capri Sun cell without ever having tried them before would you for starters turbo Graphics 16 is most common suggested for fans of the 16-bit Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis systems but seeing that it also feels like an 8-bit console in some ways because in some ways it is having an 8-bit CPU remember this Hardware originally launched all the way back in 1987 in Japan but regardless of how you would categorize the console in terms of its specs and people certainly will argue about that most of its more notable games clearly look A step above the NES in terms of their visuals additionally once the CD unit for the console rolled around you had a console with Hardware capabilities somewhat similar to what you'd get with something like the Sega CD in fact in Japan it was released three years prior to the Sega CD something it rarely gets credit for by the way and the CD games are generally considered an essential part of the systems Library as opposed to the Sega CD being essential to the Genesis which tends to be more debated this CD attachment could be purchased as an add-on similar to Sega Sega CD or purchased as an all-in-one unit also similar to the Sega CD by the way the games that weren't on CDs came on these credit card sized little doohickeys that were called either Hue cards or turbo chips you can slip them into a wallet but unfortunately you can't use them to pay for your groceries they don't quite fit okay so fans of things like 8-bit games 16-bit games early CD based games you're all curious now so what kind of games did this thing specialize in Shooters oh yes if you're a fan of shoot em ups and 16-bit shoot em ups in particular you're going to love this console of course it could be argued there's some great Shooters on both the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo I would agree with that but if you want want more or are just looking for some different choices there's plenty of bangers to go around this is Lords of Thunder I'm playing here known as Winds of thunder in Japan might be not only one of my favorite shooters ever but favorite games ever I've played through this game so many times I just always find myself going back to it the aesthetic the visuals the gameplay mechanics perfect amount of Challenge and my goodness does the Hard Rock and music make me feel like a bad boy can't say I look as hardcore as I feel though fittingly enough there actually is a Sega CD Port of the game Perfect Right another console most people don't have regardless there are tons of other great shoot em ups on the console and it's to the point that a lot of people will even say it's one of the absolute best consoles or shoot em ups right up there with the ranks of the Sega Saturn great arcade ports in addition to lots of May made for console Shooters but while the console has plenty of great shooter Maps it also has a lot of other great games and the genres vary with everything from pinball games to Platformers of the attack stuff with your face variety Sega Genesis fans will feel right at home with that in this case the character is Bonk quickly identified by the large size of his head for get outsmarting enemies with your big brain just use the girth of your head to smash stuff works great in board games too stops your opponent's momentum every time Bonkers who most would consider to be the mascot for the turbo Graphics 16 at a time when mascot Platformers were all the rage although we certainly can't forget all the pr work Johnny turbo did for the system perhaps the most notable game for the system however would be Castlevania Rondo of Blood oh do that Castlevania fans sure perk up for this one why this wasn't released in the U.S back then has always seemed weird to me it was released in Japan in October of 1993 mere months after the turbo Duo was released in the U.S the all-in-one turbo console that could play the system CD games you'd think that a really great Castlevania Game a series that was popular here in the U.S would have been a great way to help push sales of that console considered by some to be the best Castlevania game it's certainly a unique entry in the series it leans a little more towards the side of the linear Castlevania games which I personally tend to prefer while mixing in some exploration elements including some secrets that come from exploring where you can the fun lies in trying to figure out where you can find New Paths through the stage in addition to a number of other Secrets as well for a long time this game was exclusive to the platform until it was in included as an unlockable and a 2007 PSP release and then made available a few other ways after that so there are certainly options we also can't forget the pinball games most notably aliens crush and Devil's Crush as they were called in the U.S often considered the best in the genre but the game considered the better of the Two Devil's Crush known as Devil's crash in Japan gosh this game art always gives me the creeps but anyways also had a port for the Genesis with some pretty awesome music done by the folks who worked on the Thunder Force Series the super famicom got its own unique game in the same series as well called Jackie Crush but I know what a lot of you are all probably thinking by this point where are the Ninja Turtles games did I guess right I just assume I did and to answer your question there aren't any or many of the other big hyped up Blockbuster type of brand name releases that the gaming audience in the U.S were used to so when looking into the turbo Graphics 16 slash PC engine Library don't expect to find much of that stuff but that's the charm of the console for a lot of its fans despite some of the shared games it had with the Genesis that I've mentioned it really did have a ton of games that were original to the hardware something that entire generation was really good about doing making each system feel different from one another I will say though I think fans of the Sega Genesis are the most likely to enjoy the turbo Graphics 16. it feels like the cousin you never knew about in some ways whether you want to punch that cousin in the face or Embrace with open arms is up to you lots of great pickup and play type games with arcade sensibilities okay but now let's talk about what your options are if you want to actually play or collect for the system by far the easiest solution to recommend least if you're looking for something more official is the turbo Graphics 16 mini or the PC engine mini if you want to save even more money these consoles have a large chunk of the system's most popular games including the CD games as well all built into the system comes with a controller that is a replica of the original and connects to your TV via HDMI cable the most notable games that are missing in my opinion are probably Devil's Crush but it does come with aliens crush the shooter gate of Thunder but it does come with plenty of other Shooters and legendary ax which I'm playing here but even with those emissions it's a great solution and especially compared to how complicated and expensive things can get depending which route you go with original Hardware now maybe you think to yourself I'll just pick up a turbo Graphics 16 a handful a few cards and I'm all set good luck with that that buddy may I introduce you to the turbo Graphics 16 Rabbit Hole first you think to get a turbo Graphics 16 But realize it doesn't even have composite video by default then you realize that Japanese PC engine would be cheaper and has more games but which one there's so many colors and some of them are called different things one of them is called the shuttle and shaped like a shuttle will I like Shadows that's the one for me but then you realize you want the CD games too so you should get the CD attachment but then you realize there's different CD attachments a lot of which aren't reliable then you realize that the CD games require system cards but then you realize the all-in-one consoles have some of these cards built in but then you remember reading that some of these all-in-one consoles aren't reliable due to bad capacitors that need to be replaced and then you remember you're a stupid idiot who got a D Plus in your fifth grade math class why am I thinking about that I got it enough on my mind as it is and what about those super for graphics games I can't make a decision I'm just a little baby who wants to play video games so do you remember when I said getting the mini console is a pretty straightforward solution the other solution if you are worried you'll get sucked down the rabbit hole is to just skip the rabbit hole go all the way to the end of where that rabbit hole likely would have led you and get one of the all-in-one units from somebody who has fixed it up for you and preferably a Japanese unit since the games are much cheaper the list of improvements are pretty well known by enthusiasts so you'll likely get everything you need the capacitors replaced the laser tuned up RGB capability all that good stuff that's the route I went and I've been pretty happy with it I can't really personally recommend going for the US stuff at this point sorry but it's just too expensive so there you go my two solutions for those wanting to get into it a Duo console with all the bells and whistles or one of the mini consoles plenty of folks will be quick to recommend getting things like ever drives for your console as well some of which can even add in CD Game capability for those who do decide to go with original hardware and maybe that way you could go for an American console if you're really determined if you're still on the fence as to whether or not you'd enjoy it I would say it's hard to imagine that most fans of video games from the late 80s and early 90s would not enjoy it but if you feel like you already have enough games from that era then you're probably okay sometimes the thought of another console is just oh gosh here I go again maybe I'll just sit this one out but with that I would of course love to hear all of your thoughts so whether you're a long time fan or somebody who's always been curious or heck somebody who knew hardly anything about it prior to this video I'd love to hear your thoughts oh and if you're curious about some of the other videos I've done covering the system I'll leave some links in the description but with that leave your thoughts down below and I will see you in the next video what he had to say

Channel: Retro Bird

Views: 41,019

Keywords: TurboGrafx-16 worth it, TurboGrafx-16 Collecting, TurboGrafx-16, TurboGraphics-16, TurboGraphics16, TurboGrafx16, Turbo Grafx 16, TurboGraphx-16, PC Engine, Turbo Duo, PC Engine Duo, CoreGrafx, CoreGrafx II, retro video games, video games, retro gaming, 90s consoles

Id: 7UfBNxWyP2k

Length: 14min 26sec (866 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 11 2023