Been thinking of buying a Turbografx 16..

[Slate]

I have been thinking of buying a Turbografx 16 lately, And I have been wondering what good games are on it. I know there is Bonk's adventure, But what other games would make it worth buying a TG16?

Also what is a general price range for a TG16 system in good working condition?

[Kid Ice]

Here's a top 20 thread from classic discussions but there wasn't much activity.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1566

If you want to see if the system is worthwhile (I think it is) there is a *really* good emulator for it called the Magic Engine. The free version only lets you play the games for five minutes but that is plenty of time to decide if the games are worthwhile.

[roushimsx]

If you want to see if the system is worthwhile (I think it is) there is a *really* good emulator for it called the Magic Engine. The free version only lets you play the games for five minutes but that is plenty of time to decide if the games are worthwhile.

...and if you're in the mood for something free, lacking any usage restrictions, and better emulation than Magic Engine offers, there's always Mednafen. No GUI, but you can just drag n' drop games onto the executable (or set up a simple batch file for running CDs). But yea, you gotta stare down the command line and let it know that you're not scared of it. Be the CLI Commander!

...I have been having some problems with my gamepad and the most recent version, so I had to roll back one :( At least I was able to play through Dracula X without any graphical issues and didn't have to do anything crazy to get the music to work in cd games :)

...oh, and I love Soldier Blade. It's not a very difficult game, but good lord is it a Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake of Awesomeness. I never would have found out about it if it wasn't for the wonder of emulation and it spurred me to check out the rest of the Star Soldier series (of which is really spotty, including a downright terrible N64 game :( )

[AlexKidd]

yeah dude you should most definitely buy one. I didn't even bother with magic engine. First thing I did was get the TG-16 with a turbo tap and turbo booster. This isn't too expensive and is a great way to check out hucard games.
here's a list of some good american hucards:

blazing lazers
galaga '90
devil's crush
ninja spirit
bloody wolf
bonk's adventure and revenge
cadash
legendary axe
neutopia 1 and 2

then if you like that stuff you should really buy a duo. sure, they're expensive but one the best systems ever in my opinion. the cd games were quite amazing for the time and have held up really well today. they have great music too.

good cd games:

ys 1-4
dracula x
gradius 2
gate of thunder
lords of thunder
forgotten worlds
dragon slayer
last alert
cotton
spriggan

so if you've got any love at all for 16-bit gaming you should at least pick up a hucard system. and then maybe the duo and express as i have.

[Slate]

Right now I am thinking of just getting a good cond. TG16, Maybe with the multiplayer adapter, And a couple of good games, Two of those being the easier to find of the Bonk games.

I was planning to buy one for my collection, But I never found any TG16 stuff. So here I am on the fence between buying one online or waiting until I find one for cheap, Wich may never happen.

I don't want too much because I have other things on my wishlist, Namely a 32" Widescreen HDTV And a Nintendo Wii.

[Kroogah]

It's VERY hard to find Turbografx stuff in the "wild". Over the last 7 years I've seen 2 TG16 systems, and I bought both of them.

Definitely pick up Ninja Spirit and Devil's Crush. Splatterhouse, Blazing Lazers, Space Harrier, Galaga '90 and Air Zonk are all excellent games as well.

[Slate]

It's VERY hard to find Turbografx stuff in the "wild". Over the last 7 years I've seen 2 TG16 systems, and I bought both of them.

Well then my chances of finding one in the middle of nowhere (Where I live) Are close to 0%. LOL

Back to the subject..

I know that i'd buy Bonk's Adventure and Bonk's revenge, And I am curious about Bomberman 93, Dead Moon, Devil's Crush, And Dungeon Explorer.

Let's narrow down the list a bit. I like Adventure games, Sci-Fi Games, (If there are any of those) And games like Double Dragon, Not to mistake with Mortal Kombat.

[ktk0117]

Devil's Crush is an extremely addictive game, and I'm looking for that on too.

If you want my advice get Devil's Crush, Galaga '90, and of course Bonk's revenge. Although Bonk 1 is good, the revenge is ten times better.

[cavein2000]

Dude, get the TG16 in fact get a DUO!! Pick up a PC Engine while your at it!! The discs (TGCD and PCECD,SCD etc.) are region free, so if you get a DUO you can open up the doors to a titanic library of games!! check out www.pcenginefx.com for more info - people in the forums over there will give you all the info you need.

[typeofan01]

I have the US Duo, and it sees more play than any other of my consoles..good games to get are Splatterhouse, Neutopia 1 and 2, Bonk 1,2 and 3, Drac X, Blazing Lasers, Super Star Soldier, Cotton, Beyond Shadowgate, and countless others...But I agree it's nearly impossible to find one in the wild,especially the Duo.I know of a TG-16 for sale now in a gaming store i frequent for seventy bucks.I personally think your best option is Ebay.But beware, a lot of the later super cd games are VERY expensive,no matter where you find them,unless you find someone that is unaware of the rarity.But happy hunting and good luck!

[Parpunk]

hey slate i was like you once. where i never had a turografx and didnt know anythign about them. i was just strictly NES. but i have to say the turbografx is moving right up there in my top fav consoles ever. its awesome man. awesome games, the grpahics look so sharp and colorful. way different than anythign i have seen on other consoles. defintly get one. and yea just spend the 30 or 40 bucks for a nice little bundle off ebay its totally worth it! in fact i have an extra console coming in with 1 controllr and hook ups. i could throw a bonk game in with it to get ya started for around the $40.00 mark or somewhere lke that. lemme know if youd be interested. pure awesome game stuff!

by the way my favorites are NEW ADVENTURE ISLAND, bonk games all three, bloody wolf, side arms, and many many more!

[Nognir]

I would also think it is a good investment. I also have the japanese version of the console, the little white PC Engine, and I'm very happy with it. Unfortunately one of my favourite games is only available for the TG-16. It's called Order Of The Griffon and is a RPG from SSI. Is anyone familiar with this game? Looks like Eye Of The Beholder from the Amiga. But I think it may be very rare in the US, but I don't know.

[6502]

It's VERY hard to find Turbografx stuff in the "wild". Over the last 7 years I've seen 2 TG16 systems, and I bought both of them.

Well then my chances of finding one in the middle of nowhere (Where I live) Are close to 0%. LOL

Back to the subject..

I know that i'd buy Bonk's Adventure and Bonk's revenge, And I am curious about Bomberman 93, Dead Moon, Devil's Crush, And Dungeon Explorer.

Let's narrow down the list a bit. I like Adventure games, Sci-Fi Games, (If there are any of those) And games like Double Dragon, Not to mistake with Mortal Kombat.

I made only one find of the Turbo in the wild about three years ago, but it was a good one. I went to an estate sale with a friend (I normally don't go to estate sales, but my friend goes all the time trying to find stuff to eBay). Found a complete Turbografx-16 + CD setup (including the massive CD box) with System Card 2.0 and all AC adapters (important for the CD attachment), a Turbo Tap, 3 Turbo Pads + 2 sets of extension cables, 1 Turbo Stick (brand new in box), and around 20 HuCards and about 10 CD games all complete. Also included was a Turbo Express (!!) including AC adapter, carrying case, and TV tuner! I was really only interested in the Express since I already had a complete Turbo+CD setup, and the games were nothing special (LOTS of sports games unfortunately), but they would only sell the whole package together. Won the whole shebang for $127. I was a very, very happy camper that day. The CD drive turned out to be a little noisy, but since it's basically a backup for my main Turbo I can't complain.

Back on topic, Bomberman 93 is excellent in multiplayer. I love playing that game with my nephews. Ditto for Dungeon Explorer, which is basically Gauntlet. Dead Moon is okay, nothing special. Both Crush games are great if you like video pinball, but if you're only getting one get Devil's Crush.

When you say adventure games, do you mean like PC-style point and click? There a some great ones, mainly on CD. Loom and Beyond Shadowgate come to mind, although Beyond Shadowgate is really expensive nowadays. There's also a bunch of digital comic Japanese-style adventure games on CD and HuCard, but the language barrier may be prohibitive.

What do you mean by sci-fi games? There's tons of games with a sci-fi setting in various genres.

Beat-em-ups is one area that the Turbo is lacking in. For Double Dragon style games, you could get Riot Zone (SuperCD) a not-so-good arcade port. There's also a SuperCD version of Double Dragon II that has hilariously cheesy cutscenes that must be seen to be believed. DDII tends to be expensive though, and I found the game way too easy (especially with turbofire). Vigilante is strictly side-to-side scrolling (like an enhanced Kung-Fu Master). I loved the arcade game so I was very happy when the Turbo version came out. It's a great port (minus the arcade's thumping sound effects), but it's too short and way too easy with turbofire. There's other games you might consider beat-em-ups like Jackie Chan or China Warrior, but I tend to think of those as more action platformers than beat-em-ups (well China Warrior is a beat-em-up, but it just sucks).

And I'm probably in the minority here, but I always liked the original Bonk better than Revenge (and both much more than Bonk III, which wasn't very good). Revenge is longer and has more variety, but I really missed Bonk's smooth spinning with turbofire on, as well as the bonus points for keeping enemies juggled in the air (like Mario's stomping in reverse).

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I've seen TurboGrafx systems in the wild a number of times, but for some reason it's always just a bare system without any AC adapter or RF or even controller in some cases. They're usually also missing the rear part of the system that covers the expansion port.

I've found card games a couple times, but never anything spectacular.

One time I even found a Turbo CD player, but just the player, not the docking port or system card. I bought that and held onto it for years hoping I'd eventually find a docking port, but never did, so I gave up a while ago and traded the CD player for something else.

I've tried starting a TurboGrafx collection a number of times over the years, but for some reason I never quite manage to really get into it. Perhaps it's partially because the Turbo community online is so painfully otaku.


...word is bondage...

[greedostick]

Well, I think I have owned every turbo grafx usa game there is and I think it is my favorite system of all time next to the neo geo. I would advise you NOT to buy a turbo grafx system. First off if you get the usa system you have to find the cd attachment and even harder to find the super system 3.0 card. If I had to choose I would get a super grafx system and the cd attachment with a RAU30 adaptor. That way you can play all hu card and super cds and super grafx hu's. You would have to get it modded though to play usa hu cards. I could set you up with a guy who can sell you and mod any turbo system. When it comes to the super grafx cd attachment you would have to find that on yor own. A 2nd option would be to get a modded duo. I would suggest getting a modded pc engine though it will be cheaper. However with the duo or turbo grafx system you can not play super grafx games. There were only i think 5 games releases for the super grafx, and only a few of them are good. Ghouls and ghosts for example is a super grafx game and would be enough for me to to buy a super grafx seeing as how I am a huge fan of the series.

You must be extremely careful when buying a turbo duo though. I have been through 4 of them. They like to die on you. The cd system part will have a "sound issue" where the cd sound will go out or only work when it wants to. This is really a pain. As much as I hate to say it duo's are junk.

If you go through the guy i recommend he will sell you a working duo and will fix the sound issue if you have problems. He actually took over the repair jobs for the turbo website. He can also mod the system with a hard mod directly to the motherboard to play all region hu cards, also s video and can install a fan to keep the system cool. His name is D-Lite. You can hunt him down on the neo-geo.com forums. He is pretty much the man when it comes to modding turbo systems and fixing systems.

When it comes to games there are a whole lot. Some of my favorites are

Dynastic Hero (one of the best games ever), Dragons curse, magical chase, dungeon explorer 1 and 2, shock man or also called shubinbin man in japan. Parts 1,2,and 3 are all good. Sapphire, Double dragon 2, Circus lido, beyond shadowgate (have to give it time to grow on you), lords of thunder, gates of thunder (1 reason, bonks revenge is a awesome game and playing it in cd music is amazing), y's book 1 and 2 ( a must have), y's 3 and 4, blazing lazers, legendary axe, spaltterouse, popful mail ( way different then the sega cd version), downtown nekketsu (aka river city ranson), dracula x, valis 3 and 4, super star soldier, chew man fu, tiger road, I could go on all day.

Games i think suck or are overrated

Darius alpha, neutopia (is ok but not great), bonk 3, legendary axe 2,

[ReaXan]

Well, I think I have owned every turbo grafx usa game there is and I think it is my favorite system of all time next to the neo geo. I would advise you NOT to buy a turbo grafx system. First off if you get the usa system you have to find the cd attachment and even harder to find the super system 3.0 card. If I had to choose I would get a super grafx system and the cd attachment with a RAU30 adaptor. That way you can play all hu card and super cds and super grafx hu's. You would have to get it modded though to play usa hu cards. I could set you up with a guy who can sell you and mod any turbo system. When it comes to the super grafx cd attachment you would have to find that on yor own. A 2nd option would be to get a modded duo. I would suggest getting a modded pc engine though it will be cheaper. However with the duo or turbo grafx system you can not play super grafx games. There were only i think 5 games releases for the super grafx, and only a few of them are good. Ghouls and ghosts for example is a super grafx game and would be enough for me to to buy a super grafx seeing as how I am a huge fan of the series.

You must be extremely careful when buying a turbo duo though. I have been through 4 of them. They like to die on you. The cd system part will have a "sound issue" where the cd sound will go out or only work when it wants to. This is really a pain. As much as I hate to say it duo's are junk.

If you go through the guy i recommend he will sell you a working duo and will fix the sound issue if you have problems. He actually took over the repair jobs for the turbo website. He can also mod the system with a hard mod directly to the motherboard to play all region hu cards, also s video and can install a fan to keep the system cool. His name is D-Lite. You can hunt him down on the neo-geo.com forums. He is pretty much the man when it comes to modding turbo systems and fixing systems.

When it comes to games there are a whole lot. Some of my favorites are

Dynastic Hero (one of the best games ever), Dragons curse, magical chase, dungeon explorer 1 and 2, shock man or also called shubinbin man in japan. Parts 1,2,and 3 are all good. Sapphire, Double dragon 2, Circus lido, beyond shadowgate (have to give it time to grow on you), lords of thunder, gates of thunder (1 reason, bonks revenge is a awesome game and playing it in cd music is amazing), y's book 1 and 2 ( a must have), y's 3 and 4, blazing lazers, legendary axe, spaltterouse, popful mail ( way different then the sega cd version), downtown nekketsu (aka river city ranson), dracula x, valis 3 and 4, super star soldier, chew man fu, tiger road, I could go on all day.

Games i think suck or are overrated

Darius alpha, neutopia (is ok but not great), bonk 3, legendary axe 2,

Its really nice to find knowledgable gamers such as the poster here,very good post

[neuropolitique]

Well, I think I have owned every turbo grafx usa game there is and I think it is my favorite system of all time next to the neo geo. I would advise you NOT to buy a turbo grafx system. First off if you get the usa system you have to find the cd attachment and even harder to find the super system 3.0 card. If I had to choose I would get a super grafx system and the cd attachment with a RAU30 adaptor. That way you can play all hu card and super cds and super grafx hu's. You would have to get it modded though to play usa hu cards. I could set you up with a guy who can sell you and mod any turbo system. When it comes to the super grafx cd attachment you would have to find that on yor own. A 2nd option would be to get a modded duo. I would suggest getting a modded pc engine though it will be cheaper. However with the duo or turbo grafx system you can not play super grafx games. There were only i think 5 games releases for the super grafx, and only a few of them are good. Ghouls and ghosts for example is a super grafx game and would be enough for me to to buy a super grafx seeing as how I am a huge fan of the series.

This is why I never got into the Turbo GrafX for a long time. Too f'n complicated.

Do yourself a favor. Buy a Turbo Grafx and a handful of recommended games. Enjoy it. If you decide later that you want to dive deeper into it, educate yourself and open your wallet.

[Slate]

I just realised I won't be able to buy a TG16 this holiday season. I do intend on buying some TG16 stuff (I only intend to buy a TG16 at first with a couple of bonk games) But not yet.

I Thank you all for your input on the TG16, If anyone else has anything to tell me about the TG16, Let me know.

[Necrosaro420]

I always loved the TG16....I ran into money problems about a year back and hadda sell mine+cd player. Kept the turbo express though, it will be mine forever!

[bangtango]

What is so bad about getting just a plain old US Turbografx 16, by itself, without a cd player? If memory serves, the United States card library by itself is still bigger and better than the libraries of the 32X and Atari Jaguar, two systems that people continually make arguments for.