I just bought a Turbografx 16 and I have a few questions.

[Urzu402]

What would I need to play the Street Fighter 2 port on the system I just bought, and what would I need to use a 6 button controller?
As I understand these are Japanese only things and the system I bought is a North American one. I don't know much about this system.

[todesengel]

You can get a region switch mod done to the system that will let you play imports. As for the controller, there might be some kinda adapter floating around.

[Gameguy]

You could get a converter type card to play Japanese PC Engine games on it, you won't need to get it modded(the converters are hard to find though). There are 6 button controllers available for the Japanese systems, I think there are converter cables so you can use them on US systems but I also think you could just swap the cord with a normal US controller as they just plug into the board. I haven't done this myself but I'm pretty sure it can be done.

[Urzu402]

Is there any way to play it without a system mod? and one more question, Does it output composite? if so where can I get composite cables for the system? all I'm finding on ebay are RF switches.

[todesengel]

For composite video you need to buy the Turbo Booster accessory, composite wasn't stock on the system. Sadly for imports though it's either hunting for a convertor card or doing a switch mod.

[Duke.Togo]

For a cheap composite workaround, you can wire it up yourself from the port on the back. You can google the port pinout pretty easily and here is an example of what someone did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8A7XbuNMhs

[mobiusclimber]

As for playing imports, it's actually cheaper to just buy a PC Engine than mod a TG or buy a converter card. Hell it's cheaper to buy a PCE Duo! LOL So yeah, your best bet is to just buy an import system if you want to play the import games. Not sure why you'd want to spend all that money just to play SF tho.

[Tokimemofan]

Don't bother. If you are serious about this get a Turbobooster plus or a Turbo CD, those are the only "Memory Cards" for the system, and are a must for many games

[Edmond Dantes]

As for playing imports, it's actually cheaper to just buy a PC Engine than mod a TG or buy a converter card. Hell it's cheaper to buy a PCE Duo! LOL So yeah, your best bet is to just buy an import system if you want to play the import games. Not sure why you'd want to spend all that money just to play SF tho.

Seconding this. Also, an unmodded system is more reliable, and a Duo model will have composite (or at least there are composite cords you can get for it). A briefcase PCE can use plain ol' RCA jacks.

And while the PCE version of SFII:CE is a good port, there's nothing that really makes it better than the SNES and Genesis ports.

[o.pwuaioc]

As for playing imports, it's actually cheaper to just buy a PC Engine than mod a TG or buy a converter card. Hell it's cheaper to buy a PCE Duo! LOL So yeah, your best bet is to just buy an import system if you want to play the import games. Not sure why you'd want to spend all that money just to play SF tho.
But can a PC Engine play NTSC-U games?

[Tokimemofan]

Not without a region mod and an adapter. US version cards check the hardware region before running, the mod is easy but a card adapter is still required for either cross region option.
Edit: unless the Supergrafx and or LD-ROM games interest you or Altered Beast is a must have, the best setup is a NA Turbografx 16 and a JP Turbo Duo with an arcade card duo. That is probably the cheapest too.

[A Black Falcon]

As for playing imports, it's actually cheaper to just buy a PC Engine than mod a TG or buy a converter card. Hell it's cheaper to buy a PCE Duo! LOL So yeah, your best bet is to just buy an import system if you want to play the import games. Not sure why you'd want to spend all that money just to play SF tho.

Cheaper to get a Duo than a mod? How much to TG16 mods cost, now?

[Tokimemofan]

Cheaper than the card adapter and the mod. Last I knew those adapters were going for a $100+ for the better ones but a Turbografx 16 in 99% new condition was going for $90. That is unless there is a practical mod that negates the need for one.
Edit: my assumption was also based on playing CDs and Cards from both major regions, no matter what the CD part is going to be more than half the cost of a setup.

[Edmond Dantes]

I have a US Turbo Duo that can play Japanese cards without requiring a card converter. It's modded so that all you need is to flip a switch.

There's someone on PCEngineFX who could do the job for you. You might find more answers there.

[dreamcaster]

When deciding to make the investment into PCE/TG16 I decided to go with a Japanese PCE Core Grafx system. Native composite out + games and accessories are more readily available and cheaper to acquire.

Plus I think the US TG-16 is a little on the ugly side.

[Urzu402]

If I have to pay a shit ton of money to play the Street Fighter II port, I'm not going to bother. but this is the system I bought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150749005724

I got it for 60 dollars exact. I also bought 3 games:
Keith Courage
Dungeon Explorer
Ninja Spirit

Any recommendations would be nice too.

[theclaw]

For just Street Fighter II, the simplest converter should be enough to play. That relatively common (by Turbografx standards) Telegames type is still available in Europe today.
http://www.telegames.ltd.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=7922

Though it of course won't make the 6 button controller fit...

[Urzu402]

For just Street Fighter II, the simplest converter should be enough to play. That relatively common (by Turbografx standards) Telegames type is still available in Europe today.
http://www.telegames.ltd.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=7922

Though it of course won't make the 6 button controller fit...


That adaptor is still too much for me to justify buying it for one game. It would be cheaper for me to buy a Japanese PC engine.

[theclaw]

Yeah Turbografx is one console I don't recommend. Too stripped in features. Sure it CAN be upgraded to match a RGB+region modded Duo, but by that point the hassle is silly.

[todesengel]

This thread has reminded me why I gave up on the TG16 and just got a PCE Duo-R. You can probably get one of the PC Engine Core Grafx systems for cheap if you just want to play import Hu-Cards at the moment. You could also try PMing a member here on DP named Rai, he repaired my Duo for only like $30 about 2 years ago. I'm sure it couldn't cost more than that to throw a region switch on your TG16.

[mobiusclimber]

The thing is, both a mod AND a controller adapter are going to be more expensive than just buying the system. I think owning a TG16 isn't that bad of an idea for the handful of games that require reading ability (the two Neutopia games, the handful of other RPGs) so you might as well get whatever U.S. releases you might like and save up for a decent import machine. I, personally, fell in love w/ the NEC console line, but after owning a briefcase unit PCE for awhile I've decided I really want to upgrade to a Super Grafx w/ Super CD add-on. That's going to be down the road a ways tho.

[theclaw]

It is impossible to play quite everything anyway. They didn't issue a Supergrafx module for Laseractive.

[BlastProcessing402]

Was Street Fighter 2 released on a HuCard? That seems odd to me, especially since Street Fighter 1 (lol Fighting Street) was released on CD.

[dendawg]

Was Street Fighter 2 released on a HuCard? That seems odd to me, especially since Street Fighter 1 (lol Fighting Street) was released on CD.

If you mean an American release, then no. It was released as a Japanese HuCard though.

[Greg2600]

Yes, it's on HuCard for PCE. I recently got a US TG-16, and bought a few games. I've just played it on RF, it doesn't look that bad, just the colors are darker. Not as bad as the old Atari's are.

This isn't coming out until later this year, but Krikzz is making a Turbo Everdrive, which would allow you to play probably all of the PCE/TG-16 HuCard games ever made. Most of his stuff works on all regions, usually via software bypass of region lockouts. Obviously getting a Japanese PCE "Core Grafx" would be ideal then, because it's composite out already.

I love flash carts, but not interested in burning cd-roms to bother with an expensive Turbo Duo, or Turbo-CD add on. The Add-on's were not durable either, very few work nowadays. The bases though can output composite even without the CD attachment, but I think you still need another AC Adapter which are difficult to find. The Turbo Booster is nice, but they go for $100+ normally.

[Peonpiate]

Seconding this. Also, an unmodded system is more reliable, and a Duo model will have composite (or at least there are composite cords you can get for it). A briefcase PCE can use plain ol' RCA jacks.

And while the PCE version of SFII:CE is a good port, there's nothing that really makes it better than the SNES and Genesis ports.


I agree that its not as good overall as the SNES or Genesis versions, just on the basis that its CE only. It is still a great port though, and considering the hardware it was on...Nec had some coding Gods working on it. Thats not to say the PCE was weak but it was older tech than the SNES or Genesis. If they had made the game Turbo and bumped the megs to 24 it is possible it could have topped the other versions but thats speculation.

[c0ldb33r]

I adore the PCE SF ii port. Simply amazing. I like it more than the genesis port.

I agree that getting a converter doesnt make any sense. Just buy a coregrafx. I had my coregrafx region modded by bluebmw at pcenginefx. he did an amazing job. it wasnt expensive at all.

[BlastProcessing402]

The bases though can output composite even without the CD attachment, but I think you still need another AC Adapter which are difficult to find.

Correct, the CD base came with a larger adapter, with the suggestion that you use the adapter that came with the TG16 to power the CD unit removed from the base as a stand alone CD player.