No, he's fun funny, MR. ROGERS didn't have funny jokes. The intro of this video with his flip flops and popularity 🤣 No woman wants a guy looking that nerdy, not even female nerds. That image was so funny and his voice tone added to it😆
Mister Roger's asked us to be his neighbor. Bird asks us to get on his lawn and I never heard him say don't build a hut while your at it. Retrobird solving the homeless problem and retro gatekeeping at the same time. Hunger too with all them bananas to boot. Retrobird for President
I was the only kid in my neighborhood who had one. The nostalgia I have for the TurboGrafx-16 is off the charts. I eventually got the CD add-on and Turbo Duo. Needless to say that the TG-16 Mini was a day one buy for me.
@@RetroBirdGaming The gears eventually went on the CD add-on, that cost about $150 to fix. And now I’m having sound issues with the Turbo Duo. It’s gonna need a capacitor replacement. The life of a TurboGrafx collector.
I have the MINI and still have a card for SIDEARMS from the early 90s. Cant play Sidearms which has dope graphics and the music blows the Arcade version away
Just checked the prices and the price gap between the PC Engine mini and the TurboGrafx-16 mini is even bigger than I thought. So, would definitely recommend the PC Engine mini as a cheaper option. Also, I accidentally called Alien Crush "Alien's Crush" instead. Can you all forgive me?
I came here for this comment. lol Totally forgiven, but what about Ys Book I & II, and Neutopia I & II and Dragon’s Curse and Last Alert and Batman and Jackie Chan, and Ninja Spirit, and Star Parodier, and AND…!!!??? OK. There’s a rabbit hole for all theses new fans to fall in. I was lucky to be there for it all when it happened and I’m still in love with the system over 30 years later.
I love everything about these videos. The style, the content, the great information and the hilarious cutaways. Retro Bird you are essential "feel good" viewing. You have brightened many a down days for me. Thanks man
Oh, don't forget that US games and Japanese games are physically wired differently, so you either need to mod your system or use a flash cart to play them on opposite consoles. And if you DO get a US console and want to play genuine games on it... hahaha... well, d'ya like Saturn game pricing?
@@worsethanhitlerpt.2539 The PCE was a contemporary, albeit slightly newer of the Famicom/NES, and was ranked 1st in sales in Japan by a respectable margin. It's only in the U.S. where it was released two years later and that every gaming mag tried to lump it into the same generation as the SuperNES and Genesis.
I was one of the cool kids that got a Turbografx 16 for Christmas in 1989. It was a Magical Chase to collect all of the HuCards that took 30 years to complete.
Now 38 years old and having been into gaming for my whole life it may or may not be a surprise that I've never played Turbo Grafx 16. Love the channel. Always looking forward to whatever else you want to talk about.
Forgot all about the TurboGrafx16. Never met anyone who had one back in the day. I just knew about it in gaming magazines. Glade they have a Mini as I have to have it now. Always wanted to play it! Thanks for spreading your bird seeds as the trail ends with a Mini console at my house!
Retrobird! I been binging all your videos. Your kind and friendly demeanor took me out of a funk, retro games and other hobbies included. The world needs more Retro Bird :)
Very happy to still have my TurboGrafx from 1989! The BEST way IMO to play Bomberman (Bomberman '93 w/ 5 players). SOOOO many great memories playing R-Type, Blazing Blazers, Super Star Soldier, Military Madness, Bonk's Revenge, Ninja Spirit, etc.! Still have all my games too! I do have the TG-16 Mini too, and it is also great! Great video as always!! :)
I really wish I had kept my games. Do you know how expensive it is to buy Bonks Revenge, Raiden, Ninja Spirit, Blazing Lazers and China Warrior are these days???
Sounds like you were well-informed when making game purchases back then. Did you read reviews from magazines? I can’t imagine word of mouth was plentiful regarding TG16 games.
I find it kind of sad that most manufacturers stopped producing their mini consoles. For example the turbografx 16 mini, but also the sega genesis mini, snes mini,... are now all very expensive to buy on the second hand market. Otherwise they could be a great way to experiences these consoles
I always wanted to own a Turbo since I was a kid and I think I got lucky deciding to break down and finally buy one about 10 years ago, before the market went completely bonkers. I've loved it. It certainly feels very unique to the SNES or Genesis, with its particular sound chip, graphics style and just the kinds of games available on it. Sadly, I don't have the capability to play the CD games (except for what's on the Turbo "Mini", which I also bought) but even just having access to the Hu Card games has been a lot of fun.
I have the mini and it really is awesome, my kids even gravitated towards it. Also it does seem that being to add games to it is coming later this year. Definitely adding devil's crush and Legendary axe. Of course more shmups too.
Awesome video as always! I'm pretty new to retro gaming and have never heard of the Turbografx or many other things you've covered in previous videos. Thanks for creating content that's both informative and super entertaining!
I got a Turbografx-16 for myself for my birthday a few years ago. It wasn't long after that that they announced the Turbografx mini so I felt kinda dumb. But I have both and picked up several games that weren't on the mini-console. No regrets. I love the Turbografx. I just buy games for it very infrequently because of the prices of most of them. On a different note: just wanted to say that I discovered your channel recently and powered through your back catalog of videos. I love the videos and laugh a lot! Keep it up!
I never had one growing up, but i selfishly talked my neighbor and best friend into buying one. That gave me access to all three 16-bit systems, my snes, his tg-16, and my cousins genesis. I now have my own tg-16, as well as a pc-engine and a core grafx
Can we just take a moment to recognise the writing and the comedy here; I honestly think I’d watch you review the most mundane of things and still be entertained! (The Castlevania fan wall grab did me in 😂) As for the console: I’m on the market for one and have been for a while but not yet delved into the rabbit hole so thank you for highlighting the variables. Honestly thinking of a mini as a solution now but my god I can’t shake my love for the form and function of the Hue Cards!
You always make me laugh. Thank you. I picked up a PC Engine CoreGraphx about a year ago and I love it. I have Die Hard, Hani in the Sky, Dragon Spirit, R-Type 1 and Splatterhouse.
Picked up the PC Engine Mini and a matching wireless 8bitdo controller a year or two ago and cannot recommend that route enough. These games had always been a blind spot for me, but there are so many great ones included here. I think the PC Engine Mini may be the most user friendly mini console out there as well, so you really can't go wrong.
Man, you are hilarious 😂 I was never aware of the rabbit hole. I just play TG16 games on my hacked Vita. Cool library it has. Played Shadow of the Beast... It was bruuutal. And sorta fun (with save states). I like its ost
I picked up my Turbo in the late 90's from a game shop I worked at (for next to nothing as the retro boom hadn't happened yet), so it wasn't anything I grew up with apart from seeing the games in magazines. Love it, though. Had tons of fun with it and still play it from time to time.
The voice acting is phenomenal in that game too. Especially for the time and when compared to other Turbo CD games like Dragon Slayer, Final Zone 2, and Last Alert.
I've got the mini and it's the perfect solution for me. I don't need another console to hunt for games for and it has almost every game I'd want to find anyway.
The TG16 Mini (or the Coregrafx Mini in my case) is without a doubt one of the best gaming purchases I’ve made over the last few years. I never played a TG16 before (only ever knew one person who owned one) so I took the plunge out of curiosity….and I was blown away. Lords of Thunder very quickly became by favorite shmup ever, with Blazing Lazers, Soldier Blade, and Seirei Senshi Spriggan close behind. Alien Crush, Neutopia, Castlevania Rondo of Blood, Galaga ‘88… totally worth the aftermarket price (as long as you shop around and do your research. I went with the Coregrafx Mini because it’s cheaper like the PC Engine Mini but includes the western game list and turbo controllers).
I had all of the 3 major consoles growing up and the TG-16 was by far my favorite. While everyone else was playing monochrome Tetris on their game boy I was playing Street Fighter II on my Turbo Express. Playing a full blown D&D game on the Express was so much fun even if the text was tiny. It did eat batteries like nothing else. I remember buying packs of 30 batteries for long road trips. Bomberman 93 was perfect for parties and Rondo of Blood was such a good Castlevania game. I loved the CD games too! Cosmic Fantasy 2 was such an underrated masterpiece in the role-playing genre. Dead Moon was a great, underrated shooter. I had the tennokoe bank converter to play PC-Engine games. At one point I even had the PC-Engine LT and cd-rom2. I enjoyed the SNES and Genesis games too but the sheer diversity of games and peripherals from NEC will likely never be surpassed.
I bought a pc engine mini online last fall and have loved playing games on it. Very fun games that I missed out on as a kid as a SNES owner. Just fun gameplay. Great content! Thanks Retro bird!
My introduction to the TurboGrafx16 I must have been 7 or 8 and I'm 38 as of this writing and my uncle owned one. Being a kid and raised on Nintendo I was familiar with the Sega Genesis, or at least heard of it on numerous occasions, all I knew was that when it came to video games that was the console the "grown-ups" played. The TurboGrafx on the other hand I had never heard of this thing or since until the release of TH-cam. My uncle had 3 games that I can remember, he might have had more but I don't remember, he had Keith Courage, one that my brother played a lot of was Best of the Best, he created a fighter and thought the sprite face looked like Ed O'Neil and named him Al Bundy, and the third game one that I played a lot of was Devil's Crush. I thought the graphics on this thing blew the NES out of the water. And the cards seemed more high-tech mainly because of how small they were compared to the NES cartridges. Nintendo's got them beat on that one now. I had no idea that it was older than the SNES at the time it seemed more futuristic. Now when I look at it it looks like it came straight out of the 80s and the SNES looks more modern in comparison, even the NES. Well that's my experience with the TurboGrafx16
I'm one of those people who loved the Turbo the first time around! It was so colourful and uniquely Japanese, and the sound chip was absolutely hypnotic. Its smaller library meant that it was best suited as a second system though. My OG is long gone, but during lockdowns I got back into it with a Duo-R which I got RGB modded. The hardware has aged sooo well! The advantages the SNES & Genesis had at the time seem pretty small 30 years later, and it's not saddled with out of tune bad reverb SNES sound + slowdown or blah Genesis colour display. I have decent (35-40 games) Mega Drive & Super Famicom collections and legit love them all, but the Duo has been what's stayed plugged into the OSSC the most, along with my Saturn.
Personally I’m on the RGB modded Japanese Duo team, not because it’s cheaper than an American console, because the reality of the matter is that you’ll spend way more on its games because there are simply 10 times more games that came out in Japan, but for the superior library.
Nice video Bird! I'm an old guy who got the Atari 2600 as a kid in the early 80's. After that I didn't Game much until I got back into it in the late 90's. Since the pandemic I'm headfirst back into gaming and collecting. I wasn't all too familiar with the Turbografx-16. I started buying all the classic mini systems from Nintendo and Sega. Heard about the Turbo grafx mini and had to get one. Paid a lot but love it. I was hoping it could be soft modded to add additional games, but apparently it can't be done. I wanted to add if you have a Sega Genesis mini it is possible to add turbografx games. So that's an option as well.
I've dabbled a bit with TurboGrafx-16 when the games were on the Wii and Wii U. My first experience with the system was buying Rondo of Blood from the Virtual Console. I absolutely adore the game and is probably my favorite "Classicvania"! Also, one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time! I also bought some TurboGrafx-16 games on the Wii U's Virtual Console back in the day! There weren't a ton of TG-16 games on it, but the ones I purchased were excellent! A good variety of games! I love shmups, so it was an excellent way to play a "new" batch of them from the fourth generation of video games!
Had a TurboGrafx-16 and then upgraded to the Duo the year it came out. Had a ton of games, worked on a couple of the recentish homebrew games. Love this system. Unfortunately my system grew unreliable, so I sold it off. No real regrets but I did miss playing the homebrew titles on OG hardware. So, I purchased the TurboGrafx-16 Mini and am very very happy with it. While I agree it’s missing a couple of titles the one I miss the most is Gate of Thunder. Such a great game. Awesome video and I encourage anyone with even a passing interest in this system to pick up a mini. The OG Hardware is great, there are tons of great games to collect for it, but man is it pricey.
as someone with a collection that most turbo fans would drool over in terms of owning all released original hardware/3rd party add-ons/games/post death home-brews etc, I suggest the mini only. Unless you have the drive to hunt games at garage sales, flea markets etc. That also needs to be location based, due to the horrible roll out and small number of sales in America. Overall great system but there is nothing on here that people rave about that cant be found in some form elsewhere for less money. Lastly, it gets really hard to justify having a set where a larger than normal percentage of the set command over $500 per game and are so hard to find even with the internet.
I was the only kid that had one of these when they came out. Me, and and one more kid in my school. We used to trade games. Not that you could even really find anything good most of the time. Toys r us had a small section. I got sancho panza kickboxing as a birthday gift. My most hated game ever. Don’t know what happened to my TG16. But today I use a pc engine core grafx with the terraonion super hd system pro. Took care of the RGB/hdmi, and games in one swoop. I have a lot of great memories with it. Glad to see it’s getting some love.
This was my first video I've watched from your channel. HILARIOUS!!!! What a piece of comedic perfection! I couldn't stop laughing! Gonna see if I can find one of these turbografx minis. Wish me luck! Ps subscribed and liked!
Glad you enjoyed it and welcome to the channel! I would suggest looking for the Japanese "PC Engine Mini" version instead. Much cheaper and essentially the exact same thing.
My stepbrother had the Turbo Grafx 16 while I had the Genesis and I had a blast with his system when I was at my dads for the weekends. To my 12 year old self it felt very advanced with the cd add on. He also had the turbo express which was the handheld version and the fact that it could play the actual games from the system and not games made only for it like the game boy blew my mind.
Never had one of these as a kid but always thought they were cool. I went the emulation route on my Raspberry pi to get some experience with the games. Absolutely loved it I am currently looking for a modded Duo to start collecting.
Always wanted a TurboGrafx, but as a kid I couldn't get one because they weren't in retail stores anywhere near where I lived. My dad said if we couldn't buy it nearby, it was a no go. So I ended up with the Genesis instead. Glad I own one now, however, and very glad I bought it 15 years ago before the prices got out of hand. Another great option for people that don't want to go down the original hardware rabbit hole is the MiSTer FPGA, which I think you mentioned in a previous video. PC Engine/TG-16 runs amazingly on that setup, and it supports CD games as well.
Back in the summer of 1990, I spent a few weeks at my cousin's house. He'd already had an NES for a few years, and gotten a Genesis by this point which had prime positioning on the living room tv, , but I discovered - while playing some NES games on a basement tv - that he had a TurboGrafx-16 on a different tv which I'd never seen or heard of before. We hopped on our bikes one afternoon and went to rent some games, and this store rented out TG16 titles, so he picked up a few. My cousin was a spoiled brat and was used to getting his way (and a couple of years older than me), so when we got home, I wasn't allowed to play; I could only watch...and dream. Flash forward a couple of years later, and a Consumers Distributing catalogue came in the mail, and that's when I saw...the Turbo Express...and the price tag, lol. I remember having that circled and keeping the catalogue in my room for years' I was poor, so it was a pipe dream, and when I worked, the money went to helping out the household. For the 90's and the 00's (college and living on my own), getting anything Turbo was a pipe dream. Then one day in 2015, it finally happened! I came across someone selling a new Turbo Express on a forum that they'd found in a shop near the US base in Okinawa (for practically nothing a few years prior), but were selling their collection in favour of going the Raspberry Pi route. I got it for a ridiculous deal (friend pricing on forums when you've built up time is a sweet 'icing on the cake' benefit of being a part of a vg community) and then decided to get a Turbo Everdrive to go with it. My dream of having a Turbo Express had finally come true! Then, in 2018 - as I started to learn more about the CD library - I picked up a PC-Engine Duo and started getting the CD games specifically: Rondo of Blood, Nexzr, Kiaidan 00, Gate of Thunder, Rayxanber III, CD Denjin, Cotton...there are just so many awesome games, and this system gets a heavy amount of play in my house. My journey with NEC's systems has been a long and bizarre one, but it's certainly been worth it!
The TurboGrafx had the rare honor of being a console none of my friends had growing up, so I've never had the sense of missing out on it that I had for many other consoles. I eventually did get a chance to snag some of its games from the online Wii Shop, although I don't know if they're still available on the modern Switch eShop since I haven't really gone looking for them there.
Been a Turbo fan from the beginning. First time I saw one was Christmas of 89 at my cousin's place. He got one with a bunch of games. Played Keith Courage In Alpha Zones, Alien Crush, Military Madness, China Warrior, Legendary Axe and Blazing Lasers that day. I'm not even sure if we ate Christmas dinner with our family. I think we were just glued to the TV for about 10 hours straight. I started to collect for it a couple of years ago and have 22 games for the system. Five of those are complete with the cardboard box. Two of them are PC Engine titles: Rondo of Blood and Marchen Maze that's a pretty good and original Alice In Wonderland game (I got it after looking into good Alice games after playing Alice: Madness Returns). I am eagerly awaiting the release of Analogue's (who have made the Mega SG, Super NT and Analogue Pocket) upcoming console: The Analogue Duo! A truly all in one Turbografx/PC Engine and CD unit with no need for system cards or adapters with HDMI out! For $199! I'm being patient as due to the Pandemic and Chip Shortages they've had to delay it twice, but they've come through with everything else they've promised so I'm very hopeful.
Loved the video! If I was someone looking to collect the NEC Universe systems, I'd grab the Analogue Duo. It plays HuCards/TurboChips, CDROM2, SuperCD ROM2, Arcade Card, as well as SuperGrafx games. You don't have to worry about your old hardware conking out on you. If you're dead set on playing OG hardware, then go to it. I have OG hardware and I picked up the Analogue Duo.
I came into this thinking "What kind of silly question is this?" My family had one when at the time, probably got it on clearance since we didn't have much money and we only had two games, Bonk 1 and Super Star Soldier, aside from the pack in. I loved those two games and I've loved rediscovering the library.
Awesome vid, it's great to see the TurboGrafx get some attention. I always wanted one, but my parents made me choose between that or a Genesis back in the day. I know I made the right decision, but seeing all those awesome games in EGM I couldn't sucked lol. I always meant to pick one up, but by the time I came back to it prices were crazy. I was able to score the Turbo mini and the Wii/Wii U eShop had a decent selection of games too. I wish I could have grabbed an Analogue Duo, that really seems like the best solution. It doesn't make the games any cheaper though 😅
I used to own a Turbografx with the add-on CD-Rom drive. I later got a TurboDuo then found out a few weeks later that NEC was pulling out of the US market.
Another good option for hardware is the Analog Duo. Hardware emulation that can work with all regions, all the system cards and Supergrafx games working as well. All this and it is new hardware rather than stuff that has been kept who knows how for decades.
I remember as a kid around 1990 the family house got robbed while we were on vacation. They took everything of any value from my room. My parents let me use some of the insurance money to replace stuff and I used it to get a TG-16 and turbo express. It was like the last express at toys r us, the display model. I was the only person I ever knew to have one. My friends thought it was cool :)
I am a long time fan. I drove to another state in order to purchase the TG16 way back then from a Toys-R-Us. I remember ordering the CD add-on from the back of a game magazine ad. They made a mistake and sent me the Turbo Duo. I was a happy gamer. I also have the PC Engine, Turbo Express, and the Turbo mini. It is my favorite gaming console mainly because I am a shmup fan. I also have a hucard with all of the games on it. I am the only one in my area that has ever had one of these things! I live in that rabbit hole!
I'm a genZer who didn't experience the turbografx16 until after I got into my retro gaming faze in the pandemic and felt like I had already tried most of the great snes and genesis games and I liked it, sure it doesn't have as many hits as those 2 did but some of my favorites are new adventure island, the bonk games, Galaga 90, Raiden, and the remake of Ninja Gaiden.
My mom had to a little out of town once for a work project and brought me and my younger brother along on the drive. I was maybe 7 years old and we had an NES in our house that got a lot play. That fateful day though, as my mother got to the worksite, she dropped my younger brother and me off at a daycare near there that had some jungle gyms and stuff, that i felt too old for so i explored a little bit and found the video game room. They had an NES in there, that i was pretty familiar with and then some futuristic black consoles that i never saw before. The one that blew my mind the most was a crazy console that played games off of cards smaller than baseball cards. And the games looked and sounded twice as good as SNES games. When got home, i told my older siblings and their friends about the amazing gaming machine i saw and they dismisssd it as they thought it might have been the Sega Master System, as my neighbor had one, but i knew it wasnt, because the power on i witnessed was unparalled at the time. I the next year I saw advertisements for the Sega Genesis, and thought the machine and games looked similar to the ones on that fateful day, but was wondering why they played on cartriges instead of cards. It was many years later when i actually saw another Turbografx 16 and the memories flooded my mind again.
I actually was pretty lucky. As a child, I didn't receive many consoles or games, but around February of 1990, I traded with someone at my school for a Turbo Grafx 16. I don't remember what I traded sadly, but it was nowhere near what the console was worth. Since that time, I've always had a blast playing the Turbo Grafx 16, and today, I need 8 more US realeased Turbo Chips.
Wii + Homebrew + WiiMednafen = Turbografx/ PC Engine and even SuperGrafx fun... All in lovely 240P with some Wii component cables and a CRT with component in. Best way to enjoy the library with high quality visuals and for the least $money$
My Dad worked for NEC back in the day so TurboGrafx was my first game console! Loved games like Alien Crush and yes JJ and Jeff! I got a mini a few years ago and found a CoreGrafx II at a local store a few months ago! Love the game library!
Very satisfying episode. For the classic consoles, the best option these days is to get a CoreGrafx and an EverDrive. Then omw of those things that plugs into the back to allow CD games. Or of you're serious, a modded Duo-RX. But the vast majority of folks will just benefit from the PCE Mini.
How is this a question? The PC Engine is easily the top 3 of video game consoles. Absolutely legendary classic games. If you like video games of any kind, you *have* to play the PC Engine, no matter how you do it. I got a Turbo Grafx 16 for Christmas in it's release year, and was fortunate enough to get the CD player in the early 90s. Playing Cosmic Fantasy 2 and Rondo of Blood blew my mind back then. I also took the CD player to school and played music CDs on it, I was so cool to everyone in class.
Thanks for letting me know I should sell my original USA console as it has value. Games were good for the period but have not played it for a long time.
Been a fan from the beginning. I had a Genesis (with Sega CD), but my step-brother had a TurboGrafx-16 with a few games. I have one now with a TurboBooster-Plus and about half the US TurboChip library.
Rondo of blood is how I learned about the pc engine (turbo graphix) as I was talking to a coworker about my collection. He wasn't much into games but was atleast interested in the conversation from nostalgic standpoint. It ended with either him or me looking something up about castlevania and having this mystery game pop-up. My mind was blown how did I not know of this....I had to have. I actually had a copy of the game a whole year before I would actually pursue forking the cash for a console to play it. Tried getting a standard duo but had the sound issue on arrive. I ended up forking even more for the duo R. It was well worth it. As a obscure console it probably one of the better ones to collect with plenty of "good" games.
Growing up I always got the newest console. My family wasn’t rich but I was smart to read up on them beforehand. I never had the Turbo Grafx but got a PlayStation on launch day before anyone heard of it. I made a lot of friends that year lol.
Oddly enough it was my dad who introduced me to Turbo as a kid. He got me the Turbo Express and I was literally the only person around who had one. I've always liked Turbo stuff, the games have a certain look and appeal to them for that era of gaming
Love the Turbografx! Wanted it as a kid, bought it as an adult! I've got a ton of the original games; bought before prices went into the stratosphere and also have the EverDrive. Absolutely love the shooters - Blazing Lazers, Super Star Soldier, Solder Blade, etc. and the adventure games - Neutopia, etc. Great system/games to add to your collection. Highly recommended. Enjoy!
Definitely the oddball one compared to SNES and Genesis but in a way it's like a combination of the NES and Genesis. Never knew anyone who had one until much later on in life. I think the Wii shop helped introduce more people to the system which is why the games are more sought after.
As I recall. Didn't the WiiU eShop also have TurboGrafix games as well? Hope all is well with you. I was telling Reteo Reminiscence that I've actually been contemplating selling off my NES and SNES collection. I've been wanting to make a video addressing that and the possible future of my channel, but I've been so busy with work and trying to get my bathroom remodel finalized that I just haven't had the time. Plus I think I'm suffering from TH-cam burnout.
@@backintheday3097 I believe so. I'm doing well. That's sad to hear as I really enjoy your videos. Burnout is definitely a real thing and taking a break seems to be the best cure for it. I do have a few simple videos in the works. So who knows, maybe that will get me more motivated again.
I would say I am one of those so called "Turbo Fans" Having "Loved TG-16 From the Start" I even left doodles and mentions of the TG-16 in my high school year book. IMO the best way to enjoy the TG-16 currently is a Core Grafx II paired with a Super HD system 3 Pro (SHDS3P) You get real hardware paired with RGB or HDMI out Plus the ability to enjoy all of the Super Grafx games. Let me know if you want to pretty up your PC Engine controller. Happy to send you out some samples.
you should do a cross over with shmup junkie where he tries to coach you through a game. i would love that video but also i just think you two would be funny together edited for comedy but also good gamer talk
I remember back in the early to mid 90s when the TG-16 used to be sold for super cheap at pawnshops. I remember shops that used to have boxes and boxes full of them. You could pick up the system with a controller and a few games for $25. If only I could go back in time.
I would say my top five from #1 - 5 are SNES, GameCube, PS1, Dreamcast, Xbox 360. I do love the OG Nes and atari 2600, but the top 5 I named I enjoyed way more.
Awesome video! But you didn’t mention the TurboExpress!! I remember having that when it came out and Street Fighter 2 and you couldn’t pry it from my little fingers. Years later, I was digging through some boxes and found my Bonks Adventure Hu-card…that’s all I have left. Now what do I do??
I bought a TurboGrafx 16 back in 1991. I had it for about a week, and then I took it back to Electronics Boutique and exchanged it for a Sega Genesis. Obviously that wasn't a terrible decision as the Genesis brought me many hours of gaming entertainment, but I did like the TG. It's just that back then most of us couldn't afford to own multiple consoles, so I had to choose the one that seemed to have the best game library. Fortunately I got a TG mini, so I can enjoy them both now. Side note: If you get a TG mini, make sure you use the proper voltage power brick, otherwise you'll fry the USB controller ports on it. It's very finicky about that for some reason, and I suspect that might be part of the reason why those are starting to become even more rare and expensive.
I'd definitely consider the mini TurboGrafx 16 if it wasn't selling for inflated prices. Dang. Pretty much my solution for the time being was scooping up the games I wanted on the Wii U eShop while I still had the chance.
Games played: Bonk 3 (0:00), Air Zonk (0:08), Legendary Axe (0:30), Parasol Stars (1:00), Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1:25), Lords of Thunder (1:40), Bonk's Revenge (6:25)
Saw that sales tag above the Capri Sun. You haunting a Tom Thumb per chance, Retro Bird?
Good stuff.
This guy is literally the Mister Rogers of retro gaming.
"It's A Beautiful Day In The Bananahood!"
No way, Mister Roger's was lame. This guy is funny.
No, he's fun funny, MR. ROGERS didn't have funny jokes. The intro of this video with his flip flops and popularity 🤣 No woman wants a guy looking that nerdy, not even female nerds. That image was so funny and his voice tone added to it😆
Mister Roger's asked us to be his neighbor. Bird asks us to get on his lawn and I never heard him say don't build a hut while your at it.
Retrobird solving the homeless problem and retro gatekeeping at the same time.
Hunger too with all them bananas to boot.
Retrobird for President
Mister Rogers is boring & for kids. Retro bird is intersting & for everyone.
I was the only kid in my neighborhood who had one. The nostalgia I have for the TurboGrafx-16 is off the charts. I eventually got the CD add-on and Turbo Duo. Needless to say that the TG-16 Mini was a day one buy for me.
Nice! Got all the cool stuff for it back then :)
@@RetroBirdGaming The gears eventually went on the CD add-on, that cost about $150 to fix. And now I’m having sound issues with the Turbo Duo. It’s gonna need a capacitor replacement. The life of a TurboGrafx collector.
I have the MINI and still have a card for SIDEARMS from the early 90s. Cant play Sidearms which has dope graphics and the music blows the Arcade version away
I could barely even buy games for it since Nintendo forced the big toy stores not to stock them.
Just checked the prices and the price gap between the PC Engine mini and the TurboGrafx-16 mini is even bigger than I thought. So, would definitely recommend the PC Engine mini as a cheaper option. Also, I accidentally called Alien Crush "Alien's Crush" instead. Can you all forgive me?
FORGIVEN. Always Bird.
We may forgive you, but the aliens are far less merciful.
Thumbs down for adding 's to absolutely ANYTHING.
You were forgiven before you ever erred my friend.
I came here for this comment. lol
Totally forgiven, but what about Ys Book I & II, and Neutopia I & II and Dragon’s Curse and Last Alert and Batman and Jackie Chan, and Ninja Spirit, and Star Parodier, and AND…!!!??? OK. There’s a rabbit hole for all theses new fans to fall in. I was lucky to be there for it all when it happened and I’m still in love with the system over 30 years later.
I love everything about these videos. The style, the content, the great information and the hilarious cutaways. Retro Bird you are essential "feel good" viewing. You have brightened many a down days for me. Thanks man
I appreciate that. Glad to hear the videos make people feel better :)
As someone who has seriously thought about picking up a TG16 for a while, your description of “the rabbit hole” is stunningly accurate 😂
Yeah, I think it's something many have gone through :)
Oh, don't forget that US games and Japanese games are physically wired differently, so you either need to mod your system or use a flash cart to play them on opposite consoles. And if you DO get a US console and want to play genuine games on it... hahaha... well, d'ya like Saturn game pricing?
I like TUrbo Grafx but multi-scrolls are MANDATORY for a post-NES system and Turbo doesnt deliver
@@worsethanhitlerpt.2539 The PCE was a contemporary, albeit slightly newer of the Famicom/NES, and was ranked 1st in sales in Japan by a respectable margin. It's only in the U.S. where it was released two years later and that every gaming mag tried to lump it into the same generation as the SuperNES and Genesis.
I took a brief look down that rabbit hole and decided the mister core with original controller adapters was good enough for me.
I was one of the cool kids that got a Turbografx 16 for Christmas in 1989. It was a Magical Chase to collect all of the HuCards that took 30 years to complete.
I see what you did there.😁
13yrs here, and completed before the prices were even close to today. I remember turning down MC at $650 saying that was way too high
I got my TG16 in summer 1990 and got the last game last year to complete the US set of hucards and cd
Now 38 years old and having been into gaming for my whole life it may or may not be a surprise that I've never played Turbo Grafx 16.
Love the channel. Always looking forward to whatever else you want to talk about.
Forgot all about the TurboGrafx16. Never met anyone who had one back in the day. I just knew about it in gaming magazines. Glade they have a Mini as I have to have it now. Always wanted to play it! Thanks for spreading your bird seeds as the trail ends with a Mini console at my house!
Retrobird! I been binging all your videos.
Your kind and friendly demeanor took me out of a funk, retro games and other hobbies included. The world needs more Retro Bird :)
Thank you Chuck! Glad to hear you're enjoying the channel :)
Very happy to still have my TurboGrafx from 1989! The BEST way IMO to play Bomberman (Bomberman '93 w/ 5 players). SOOOO many great memories playing R-Type, Blazing Blazers, Super Star Soldier, Military Madness, Bonk's Revenge, Ninja Spirit, etc.! Still have all my games too! I do have the TG-16 Mini too, and it is also great! Great video as always!! :)
I'm giving this a "like" just for mentioning Military Madness alone. One of my favorite games ever. First Turbo game I ever beat.
I really wish I had kept my games.
Do you know how expensive it is to buy Bonks Revenge, Raiden, Ninja Spirit, Blazing Lazers and China Warrior are these days???
Sounds like you were well-informed when making game purchases back then. Did you read reviews from magazines? I can’t imagine word of mouth was plentiful regarding TG16 games.
I find it kind of sad that most manufacturers stopped producing their mini consoles. For example the turbografx 16 mini, but also the sega genesis mini, snes mini,... are now all very expensive to buy on the second hand market. Otherwise they could be a great way to experiences these consoles
I haven’t ventured into that market but has it really gone up that much for the mini systems?
I always wanted to own a Turbo since I was a kid and I think I got lucky deciding to break down and finally buy one about 10 years ago, before the market went completely bonkers. I've loved it. It certainly feels very unique to the SNES or Genesis, with its particular sound chip, graphics style and just the kinds of games available on it. Sadly, I don't have the capability to play the CD games (except for what's on the Turbo "Mini", which I also bought) but even just having access to the Hu Card games has been a lot of fun.
Hey RB, awesome video as always.
Thank you!
I have the mini and it really is awesome, my kids even gravitated towards it. Also it does seem that being to add games to it is coming later this year. Definitely adding devil's crush and Legendary axe. Of course more shmups too.
4:26 imagine being the cashier at the grocery store watching him capture that B roll.
Awesome video as always! I'm pretty new to retro gaming and have never heard of the Turbografx or many other things you've covered in previous videos. Thanks for creating content that's both informative and super entertaining!
Thank you and I hope you're having a great time dipping your toes into the hobby!
I got a Turbografx-16 for myself for my birthday a few years ago. It wasn't long after that that they announced the Turbografx mini so I felt kinda dumb. But I have both and picked up several games that weren't on the mini-console.
No regrets. I love the Turbografx. I just buy games for it very infrequently because of the prices of most of them.
On a different note: just wanted to say that I discovered your channel recently and powered through your back catalog of videos. I love the videos and laugh a lot! Keep it up!
Glad you found the channel and happy to have you here!
I never had one growing up, but i selfishly talked my neighbor and best friend into buying one. That gave me access to all three 16-bit systems, my snes, his tg-16, and my cousins genesis. I now have my own tg-16, as well as a pc-engine and a core grafx
Dude where have you been all my life. You crack me up unreasonably.
Glad to hear it and happy to have you on the channel!
its officual. youre my fav retro channel. ty for this episode man!
-edit
i cant believe you mentioned johnny turbo. you really know your stuff!
Haha can't forget ol' Johnny!
Can we just take a moment to recognise the writing and the comedy here; I honestly think I’d watch you review the most mundane of things and still be entertained! (The Castlevania fan wall grab did me in 😂)
As for the console: I’m on the market for one and have been for a while but not yet delved into the rabbit hole so thank you for highlighting the variables. Honestly thinking of a mini as a solution now but my god I can’t shake my love for the form and function of the Hue Cards!
You always make me laugh. Thank you.
I picked up a PC Engine CoreGraphx about a year ago and I love it. I have Die Hard, Hani in the Sky, Dragon Spirit, R-Type 1 and Splatterhouse.
I'm so glad I was introduced to this system with the TG16 mini - probably my fave mini system. So many great shooters on this console!
Picked up the PC Engine Mini and a matching wireless 8bitdo controller a year or two ago and cannot recommend that route enough. These games had always been a blind spot for me, but there are so many great ones included here. I think the PC Engine Mini may be the most user friendly mini console out there as well, so you really can't go wrong.
I love just how goofy your videos are, keep it up!
The vulnerable sincerity of the skits is so great 😂😂😂
Man, you are hilarious 😂
I was never aware of the rabbit hole. I just play TG16 games on my hacked Vita. Cool library it has. Played Shadow of the Beast... It was bruuutal. And sorta fun (with save states). I like its ost
I picked up my Turbo in the late 90's from a game shop I worked at (for next to nothing as the retro boom hadn't happened yet), so it wasn't anything I grew up with apart from seeing the games in magazines. Love it, though. Had tons of fun with it and still play it from time to time.
i played through ys books 1 and 2 for turbo cd this summer and it's one of the most accessible and charming early rpgs i've ever played
The voice acting is phenomenal in that game too. Especially for the time and when compared to other Turbo CD games like Dragon Slayer, Final Zone 2, and Last Alert.
I've got the mini and it's the perfect solution for me. I don't need another console to hunt for games for and it has almost every game I'd want to find anyway.
The TG16 Mini (or the Coregrafx Mini in my case) is without a doubt one of the best gaming purchases I’ve made over the last few years.
I never played a TG16 before (only ever knew one person who owned one) so I took the plunge out of curiosity….and I was blown away. Lords of Thunder very quickly became by favorite shmup ever, with Blazing Lazers, Soldier Blade, and Seirei Senshi Spriggan close behind. Alien Crush, Neutopia, Castlevania Rondo of Blood, Galaga ‘88…
totally worth the aftermarket price (as long as you shop around and do your research. I went with the Coregrafx Mini because it’s cheaper like the PC Engine Mini but includes the western game list and turbo controllers).
You are truly an entertainer, thank you! If you and Game Dave did a collaboration series, I think my sides would actually spill out from laughter.
I had all of the 3 major consoles growing up and the TG-16 was by far my favorite. While everyone else was playing monochrome Tetris on their game boy I was playing Street Fighter II on my Turbo Express. Playing a full blown D&D game on the Express was so much fun even if the text was tiny. It did eat batteries like nothing else. I remember buying packs of 30 batteries for long road trips. Bomberman 93 was perfect for parties and Rondo of Blood was such a good Castlevania game. I loved the CD games too! Cosmic Fantasy 2 was such an underrated masterpiece in the role-playing genre. Dead Moon was a great, underrated shooter. I had the tennokoe bank converter to play PC-Engine games. At one point I even had the PC-Engine LT and cd-rom2. I enjoyed the SNES and Genesis games too but the sheer diversity of games and peripherals from NEC will likely never be surpassed.
I bought a pc engine mini online last fall and have loved playing games on it. Very fun games that I missed out on as a kid as a SNES owner.
Just fun gameplay. Great content! Thanks Retro bird!
Thank you as well!
Just discovered Retro Bird and he’s instantly a new favorite! Love the content and constantly cracks me up 🤣 love the jokes and info
My introduction to the TurboGrafx16 I must have been 7 or 8 and I'm 38 as of this writing and my uncle owned one. Being a kid and raised on Nintendo I was familiar with the Sega Genesis, or at least heard of it on numerous occasions, all I knew was that when it came to video games that was the console the "grown-ups" played. The TurboGrafx on the other hand I had never heard of this thing or since until the release of TH-cam. My uncle had 3 games that I can remember, he might have had more but I don't remember, he had Keith Courage, one that my brother played a lot of was Best of the Best, he created a fighter and thought the sprite face looked like Ed O'Neil and named him Al Bundy, and the third game one that I played a lot of was Devil's Crush. I thought the graphics on this thing blew the NES out of the water. And the cards seemed more high-tech mainly because of how small they were compared to the NES cartridges. Nintendo's got them beat on that one now. I had no idea that it was older than the SNES at the time it seemed more futuristic. Now when I look at it it looks like it came straight out of the 80s and the SNES looks more modern in comparison, even the NES. Well that's my experience with the TurboGrafx16
Blazing Lazers, R-Type, and Gate of Thunder FTW!!
P.S. Dungeon Explorer 1 and 2 and Neutopia 1 and 2 were dope AF as well.
I'm one of those people who loved the Turbo the first time around! It was so colourful and uniquely Japanese, and the sound chip was absolutely hypnotic. Its smaller library meant that it was best suited as a second system though. My OG is long gone, but during lockdowns I got back into it with a Duo-R which I got RGB modded. The hardware has aged sooo well! The advantages the SNES & Genesis had at the time seem pretty small 30 years later, and it's not saddled with out of tune bad reverb SNES sound + slowdown or blah Genesis colour display. I have decent (35-40 games) Mega Drive & Super Famicom collections and legit love them all, but the Duo has been what's stayed plugged into the OSSC the most, along with my Saturn.
Personally I’m on the RGB modded Japanese Duo team, not because it’s cheaper than an American console, because the reality of the matter is that you’ll spend way more on its games because there are simply 10 times more games that came out in Japan, but for the superior library.
Nice video Bird! I'm an old guy who got the Atari 2600 as a kid in the early 80's. After that I didn't Game much until I got back into it in the late 90's. Since the pandemic I'm headfirst back into gaming and collecting. I wasn't all too familiar with the Turbografx-16. I started buying all the classic mini systems from Nintendo and Sega. Heard about the Turbo grafx mini and had to get one. Paid a lot but love it. I was hoping it could be soft modded to add additional games, but apparently it can't be done. I wanted to add if you have a Sega Genesis mini it is possible to add turbografx games. So that's an option as well.
I've dabbled a bit with TurboGrafx-16 when the games were on the Wii and Wii U. My first experience with the system was buying Rondo of Blood from the Virtual Console. I absolutely adore the game and is probably my favorite "Classicvania"! Also, one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time!
I also bought some TurboGrafx-16 games on the Wii U's Virtual Console back in the day! There weren't a ton of TG-16 games on it, but the ones I purchased were excellent! A good variety of games! I love shmups, so it was an excellent way to play a "new" batch of them from the fourth generation of video games!
Had a TurboGrafx-16 and then upgraded to the Duo the year it came out. Had a ton of games, worked on a couple of the recentish homebrew games. Love this system.
Unfortunately my system grew unreliable, so I sold it off. No real regrets but I did miss playing the homebrew titles on OG hardware.
So, I purchased the TurboGrafx-16 Mini and am very very happy with it. While I agree it’s missing a couple of titles the one I miss the most is Gate of Thunder. Such a great game.
Awesome video and I encourage anyone with even a passing interest in this system to pick up a mini. The OG Hardware is great, there are tons of great games to collect for it, but man is it pricey.
Bro you a straight up legend👍
Thanks for the laughs and games
Thank you for watching!
Turbo Grafics 16 has a lot of great shooters. Hily recommended.
this was one of your funniest videos, i burst out laughing multiple times lol, love the turbo cd! specifically
as someone with a collection that most turbo fans would drool over in terms of owning all released original hardware/3rd party add-ons/games/post death home-brews etc, I suggest the mini only. Unless you have the drive to hunt games at garage sales, flea markets etc. That also needs to be location based, due to the horrible roll out and small number of sales in America. Overall great system but there is nothing on here that people rave about that cant be found in some form elsewhere for less money. Lastly, it gets really hard to justify having a set where a larger than normal percentage of the set command over $500 per game and are so hard to find even with the internet.
Great video man! Keep it up
Great video man 👍 I don’t know how I’ve never heard of this system.
Never played one and have always wondered about TG16
Fun video
I was the only kid that had one of these when they came out. Me, and and one more kid in my school. We used to trade games. Not that you could even really find anything good most of the time. Toys r us had a small section. I got sancho panza kickboxing as a birthday gift. My most hated game ever. Don’t know what happened to my TG16.
But today I use a pc engine core grafx with the terraonion super hd system pro. Took care of the RGB/hdmi, and games in one swoop. I have a lot of great memories with it. Glad to see it’s getting some love.
You just saved me from the PC-Engine rabbit hole. I owe you a glass of refreshing cold milk!
I remember seeing TurboGrafx-16 mini consoles in stores recently It's price good. Cool video. ^_^
This was my first video I've watched from your channel. HILARIOUS!!!! What a piece of comedic perfection! I couldn't stop laughing! Gonna see if I can find one of these turbografx minis. Wish me luck! Ps subscribed and liked!
Glad you enjoyed it and welcome to the channel! I would suggest looking for the Japanese "PC Engine Mini" version instead. Much cheaper and essentially the exact same thing.
My stepbrother had the Turbo Grafx 16 while I had the Genesis and I had a blast with his system when I was at my dads for the weekends. To my 12 year old self it felt very advanced with the cd add on. He also had the turbo express which was the handheld version and the fact that it could play the actual games from the system and not games made only for it like the game boy blew my mind.
Brilliant video, thanks for posting 🙂
Never had one of these as a kid but always thought they were cool. I went the emulation route on my Raspberry pi to get some experience with the games. Absolutely loved it I am currently looking for a modded Duo to start collecting.
Always wanted a TurboGrafx, but as a kid I couldn't get one because they weren't in retail stores anywhere near where I lived. My dad said if we couldn't buy it nearby, it was a no go. So I ended up with the Genesis instead. Glad I own one now, however, and very glad I bought it 15 years ago before the prices got out of hand. Another great option for people that don't want to go down the original hardware rabbit hole is the MiSTer FPGA, which I think you mentioned in a previous video. PC Engine/TG-16 runs amazingly on that setup, and it supports CD games as well.
I bought the Turbo Duo from Turbo Zone Direct back in 2002. It was definitely worth it.
Back in the summer of 1990, I spent a few weeks at my cousin's house. He'd already had an NES for a few years, and gotten a Genesis by this point which had prime positioning on the living room tv, , but I discovered - while playing some NES games on a basement tv - that he had a TurboGrafx-16 on a different tv which I'd never seen or heard of before. We hopped on our bikes one afternoon and went to rent some games, and this store rented out TG16 titles, so he picked up a few. My cousin was a spoiled brat and was used to getting his way (and a couple of years older than me), so when we got home, I wasn't allowed to play; I could only watch...and dream.
Flash forward a couple of years later, and a Consumers Distributing catalogue came in the mail, and that's when I saw...the Turbo Express...and the price tag, lol. I remember having that circled and keeping the catalogue in my room for years' I was poor, so it was a pipe dream, and when I worked, the money went to helping out the household. For the 90's and the 00's (college and living on my own), getting anything Turbo was a pipe dream.
Then one day in 2015, it finally happened! I came across someone selling a new Turbo Express on a forum that they'd found in a shop near the US base in Okinawa (for practically nothing a few years prior), but were selling their collection in favour of going the Raspberry Pi route. I got it for a ridiculous deal (friend pricing on forums when you've built up time is a sweet 'icing on the cake' benefit of being a part of a vg community) and then decided to get a Turbo Everdrive to go with it. My dream of having a Turbo Express had finally come true!
Then, in 2018 - as I started to learn more about the CD library - I picked up a PC-Engine Duo and started getting the CD games specifically: Rondo of Blood, Nexzr, Kiaidan 00, Gate of Thunder, Rayxanber III, CD Denjin, Cotton...there are just so many awesome games, and this system gets a heavy amount of play in my house.
My journey with NEC's systems has been a long and bizarre one, but it's certainly been worth it!
The TurboGrafx had the rare honor of being a console none of my friends had growing up, so I've never had the sense of missing out on it that I had for many other consoles. I eventually did get a chance to snag some of its games from the online Wii Shop, although I don't know if they're still available on the modern Switch eShop since I haven't really gone looking for them there.
Been a Turbo fan from the beginning. First time I saw one was Christmas of 89 at my cousin's place. He got one with a bunch of games. Played Keith Courage In Alpha Zones, Alien Crush, Military Madness, China Warrior, Legendary Axe and Blazing Lasers that day. I'm not even sure if we ate Christmas dinner with our family. I think we were just glued to the TV for about 10 hours straight. I started to collect for it a couple of years ago and have 22 games for the system. Five of those are complete with the cardboard box. Two of them are PC Engine titles: Rondo of Blood and Marchen Maze that's a pretty good and original Alice In Wonderland game (I got it after looking into good Alice games after playing Alice: Madness Returns).
I am eagerly awaiting the release of Analogue's (who have made the Mega SG, Super NT and Analogue Pocket) upcoming console: The Analogue Duo! A truly all in one Turbografx/PC Engine and CD unit with no need for system cards or adapters with HDMI out! For $199! I'm being patient as due to the Pandemic and Chip Shortages they've had to delay it twice, but they've come through with everything else they've promised so I'm very hopeful.
Loved the video!
If I was someone looking to collect the NEC Universe systems, I'd grab the Analogue Duo. It plays HuCards/TurboChips, CDROM2, SuperCD ROM2, Arcade Card, as well as SuperGrafx games. You don't have to worry about your old hardware conking out on you. If you're dead set on playing OG hardware, then go to it. I have OG hardware and I picked up the Analogue Duo.
I came into this thinking "What kind of silly question is this?" My family had one when at the time, probably got it on clearance since we didn't have much money and we only had two games, Bonk 1 and Super Star Soldier, aside from the pack in. I loved those two games and I've loved rediscovering the library.
Awesome vid, it's great to see the TurboGrafx get some attention. I always wanted one, but my parents made me choose between that or a Genesis back in the day. I know I made the right decision, but seeing all those awesome games in EGM I couldn't sucked lol. I always meant to pick one up, but by the time I came back to it prices were crazy. I was able to score the Turbo mini and the Wii/Wii U eShop had a decent selection of games too. I wish I could have grabbed an Analogue Duo, that really seems like the best solution. It doesn't make the games any cheaper though 😅
I used to own a Turbografx with the add-on CD-Rom drive. I later got a TurboDuo then found out a few weeks later that NEC was pulling out of the US market.
My local game store had a core graphics that was RGB modded and came with an RGB to HDMI retrotink, for 150 a year ago. Such a good deal
Never even knew anyone who had one when I was growing up, but I love it now
Another good option for hardware is the Analog Duo. Hardware emulation that can work with all regions, all the system cards and Supergrafx games working as well. All this and it is new hardware rather than stuff that has been kept who knows how for decades.
I remember as a kid around 1990 the family house got robbed while we were on vacation. They took everything of any value from my room. My parents let me use some of the insurance money to replace stuff and I used it to get a TG-16 and turbo express. It was like the last express at toys r us, the display model. I was the only person I ever knew to have one. My friends thought it was cool :)
The Turbo Grafx Great Times In The 1980s And 1990s Amazing Memories With Family And Friends
I am a long time fan. I drove to another state in order to purchase the TG16 way back then from a Toys-R-Us. I remember ordering the CD add-on from the back of a game magazine ad. They made a mistake and sent me the Turbo Duo. I was a happy gamer. I also have the PC Engine, Turbo Express, and the Turbo mini. It is my favorite gaming console mainly because I am a shmup fan. I also have a hucard with all of the games on it. I am the only one in my area that has ever had one of these things! I live in that rabbit hole!
Wow. That's amazing they sent you a Turbo Duo!
I'm a genZer who didn't experience the turbografx16 until after I got into my retro gaming faze in the pandemic and felt like I had already tried most of the great snes and genesis games and I liked it, sure it doesn't have as many hits as those 2 did but some of my favorites are new adventure island, the bonk games, Galaga 90, Raiden, and the remake of Ninja Gaiden.
My mom had to a little out of town once for a work project and brought me and my younger brother along on the drive. I was maybe 7 years old and we had an NES in our house that got a lot play.
That fateful day though, as my mother got to the worksite, she dropped my younger brother and me off at a daycare near there that had some jungle gyms and stuff, that i felt too old for so i explored a little bit and found the video game room.
They had an NES in there, that i was pretty familiar with and then some futuristic black consoles that i never saw before.
The one that blew my mind the most was a crazy console that played games off of cards smaller than baseball cards. And the games looked and sounded twice as good as SNES games.
When got home, i told my older siblings and their friends about the amazing gaming machine i saw and they dismisssd it as they thought it might have been the Sega Master System, as my neighbor had one, but i knew it wasnt, because the power on i witnessed was unparalled at the time.
I the next year I saw advertisements for the Sega Genesis, and thought the machine and games looked similar to the ones on that fateful day, but was wondering why they played on cartriges instead of cards.
It was many years later when i actually saw another Turbografx 16 and the memories flooded my mind again.
If Tim Robinson had a retro game review channel, this is would be it.....
I actually was pretty lucky. As a child, I didn't receive many consoles or games, but around February of 1990, I traded with someone at my school for a Turbo Grafx 16. I don't remember what I traded sadly, but it was nowhere near what the console was worth. Since that time, I've always had a blast playing the Turbo Grafx 16, and today, I need 8 more US realeased Turbo Chips.
(Before wathcing) Worth playing? YES! Just emulate.
Wii + Homebrew + WiiMednafen = Turbografx/ PC Engine and even SuperGrafx fun...
All in lovely 240P with some Wii component cables and a CRT with component in. Best way to enjoy the library with high quality visuals and for the least $money$
I do recommend a Duo R with caps replaced, new CD lens and RGB modded. Then this thing is a beast. Great video, you covered everything and had fun too
My Dad worked for NEC back in the day so TurboGrafx was my first game console! Loved games like Alien Crush and yes JJ and Jeff! I got a mini a few years ago and found a CoreGrafx II at a local store a few months ago! Love the game library!
Oh yeah? Well, my uncle - and some of my friend's uncles, worked at NINTENDO!
Very satisfying episode. For the classic consoles, the best option these days is to get a CoreGrafx and an EverDrive. Then omw of those things that plugs into the back to allow CD games. Or of you're serious, a modded Duo-RX. But the vast majority of folks will just benefit from the PCE Mini.
How is this a question? The PC Engine is easily the top 3 of video game consoles. Absolutely legendary classic games. If you like video games of any kind, you *have* to play the PC Engine, no matter how you do it. I got a Turbo Grafx 16 for Christmas in it's release year, and was fortunate enough to get the CD player in the early 90s. Playing Cosmic Fantasy 2 and Rondo of Blood blew my mind back then. I also took the CD player to school and played music CDs on it, I was so cool to everyone in class.
Being able to play music CDs on that thing at that time was pretty novel too!
Thanks for letting me know I should sell my original USA console as it has value. Games were good for the period but have not played it for a long time.
Been a fan from the beginning. I had a Genesis (with Sega CD), but my step-brother had a TurboGrafx-16 with a few games. I have one now with a TurboBooster-Plus and about half the US TurboChip library.
Rondo of blood is how I learned about the pc engine (turbo graphix) as I was talking to a coworker about my collection. He wasn't much into games but was atleast interested in the conversation from nostalgic standpoint. It ended with either him or me looking something up about castlevania and having this mystery game pop-up. My mind was blown how did I not know of this....I had to have. I actually had a copy of the game a whole year before I would actually pursue forking the cash for a console to play it. Tried getting a standard duo but had the sound issue on arrive. I ended up forking even more for the duo R. It was well worth it. As a obscure console it probably one of the better ones to collect with plenty of "good" games.
Growing up I always got the newest console. My family wasn’t rich but I was smart to read up on them beforehand. I never had the Turbo Grafx but got a PlayStation on launch day before anyone heard of it. I made a lot of friends that year lol.
Oddly enough it was my dad who introduced me to Turbo as a kid. He got me the Turbo Express and I was literally the only person around who had one. I've always liked Turbo stuff, the games have a certain look and appeal to them for that era of gaming
Way to go Dad!
Love the Turbografx! Wanted it as a kid, bought it as an adult! I've got a ton of the original games; bought before prices went into the stratosphere and also have the EverDrive. Absolutely love the shooters - Blazing Lazers, Super Star Soldier, Solder Blade, etc. and the adventure games - Neutopia, etc. Great system/games to add to your collection. Highly recommended. Enjoy!
Definitely the oddball one compared to SNES and Genesis but in a way it's like a combination of the NES and Genesis. Never knew anyone who had one until much later on in life. I think the Wii shop helped introduce more people to the system which is why the games are more sought after.
As I recall. Didn't the WiiU eShop also have TurboGrafix games as well?
Hope all is well with you. I was telling Reteo Reminiscence that I've actually been contemplating selling off my NES and SNES collection. I've been wanting to make a video addressing that and the possible future of my channel, but I've been so busy with work and trying to get my bathroom remodel finalized that I just haven't had the time. Plus I think I'm suffering from TH-cam burnout.
@@backintheday3097 The Wii U eShop had a few (also the Japanese 3DS eShop) but not as much as the original Wii store.
@@backintheday3097 I believe so.
I'm doing well. That's sad to hear as I really enjoy your videos. Burnout is definitely a real thing and taking a break seems to be the best cure for it. I do have a few simple videos in the works. So who knows, maybe that will get me more motivated again.
I would say I am one of those so called "Turbo Fans" Having "Loved TG-16 From the Start" I even left doodles and mentions of the TG-16 in my high school year book. IMO the best way to enjoy the TG-16 currently is a Core Grafx II paired with a Super HD system 3 Pro (SHDS3P) You get real hardware paired with RGB or HDMI out Plus the ability to enjoy all of the Super Grafx games. Let me know if you want to pretty up your PC Engine controller. Happy to send you out some samples.
I've never heard of this. But im glad I do now
you should do a cross over with shmup junkie where he tries to coach you through a game. i would love that video but also i just think you two would be funny together
edited for comedy but also good gamer talk
I remember back in the early to mid 90s when the TG-16 used to be sold for super cheap at pawnshops. I remember shops that used to have boxes and boxes full of them. You could pick up the system with a controller and a few games for $25. If only I could go back in time.
I would say my top five from #1 - 5 are
SNES, GameCube, PS1, Dreamcast, Xbox 360. I do love the OG Nes and atari 2600, but the top 5 I named I enjoyed way more.
PC Engine is definitely a must have 4th gen console. A lot of great exclusives you wouldn't find on SNES or Genesis.
he literally went to a store at a check out line for a .02 second joke dedication lol
Awesome video! But you didn’t mention the TurboExpress!! I remember having that when it came out and Street Fighter 2 and you couldn’t pry it from my little fingers. Years later, I was digging through some boxes and found my Bonks Adventure Hu-card…that’s all I have left. Now what do I do??
Haha there's always more goodness to mention! Having one of those puppies with a modded screen would be pretty sweet these days :)
I bought a TurboGrafx 16 back in 1991. I had it for about a week, and then I took it back to Electronics Boutique and exchanged it for a Sega Genesis. Obviously that wasn't a terrible decision as the Genesis brought me many hours of gaming entertainment, but I did like the TG. It's just that back then most of us couldn't afford to own multiple consoles, so I had to choose the one that seemed to have the best game library. Fortunately I got a TG mini, so I can enjoy them both now. Side note: If you get a TG mini, make sure you use the proper voltage power brick, otherwise you'll fry the USB controller ports on it. It's very finicky about that for some reason, and I suspect that might be part of the reason why those are starting to become even more rare and expensive.
I'd definitely consider the mini TurboGrafx 16 if it wasn't selling for inflated prices. Dang. Pretty much my solution for the time being was scooping up the games I wanted on the Wii U eShop while I still had the chance.
Set up an account on Amazon Japan and buy a pce mini. The games list is almost identical. It functions normally on a USA TV.
Yeah, the PC Engine minis are significantly cheaper. You can even just get them on eBay (make sure the seller has good feedback of course).
Another alternative is getting a PS3, most of the good PCE games are still being sold at the Japanese PSN Game Archives.
0:02 Nice............looks like you shop in the same kinda places I shop.