Turbo Duo vs. TG16

[RCM]

I'm at a point where I pretty much own every console I'm interested in-- besides rare stuff like Hi-Navi Saturn and Divers Dreamcast. I own a Turbo Grafx 16 and a Turbo Express, but have not yet taken the plunge on a Turbo Duo.

Are Turbo CD games worth it? I was thinking of just modding my TG16 to play PC Engine stuff.

Thanks

[Ze_ro]

Depends what you're into I suppose. The North American CD lineup is pretty small, though it does have some nice RPG's. There are also a lot of Japanese games that are worth importing such as Castlevania and all kinds of shooters (Spriggan, Star Parodia, etc), all of which work perfectly fine aside from a bit of Japanese text.

Thing is, if you settle for a TG16 now, you'll have a very hard time getting a CD add-on later if you decide you want to expand, as they're basically the same price as the Duo itself. Unless you're 100% sure you won't want any CD games, I'd recommend looking for a modded Duo-R/RX.

It's also worth pointing out that Duo's are known to have lots of problems with bad capacitors that can cause severe audio problems.

--Zero

[Spazmonkey]

Also, there's a chance that the caps won't even be the source of the sound problems! There have been people who have switched out the caps, with no dice, although this number is very small. If your handy, snag one for cheap with sound problems and just replace the caps.

If not, you might want to splurge for a Japanese unit, like the duo r, or the rx even though people charge more it, ignoring the fact the two are the exact same unit.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I play the CD games more than the card games. The two shooters, Lords of Thunder and Gate of Thunder are spectacular. I also enjoy playing Splash Lake with my wife, even though she tends to drown me a lot.

My setup is a regular American CD add-on with an American Turbografx. I use a PC Engine converter card to use a Japanese System 3.0 card for the CD unit.

[mobiusclimber]

It's definitely easier and cheaper to get a Japanese CD of some sort. I own the briefcase model, but a Duo, Duo-R or Duo-RX work great (especially the last two as they don't seem to have as many problems).

I too play the CD side of things a lot more than the hucard side. But then I'm heavily into RPGs and dont mind playing them in Japanese. (Tho there were some great ones for the US, like Ys I & II and Cosmic Fantasy 2.)

[duo_r]

I second the Duo-R, don't worry about the RX, it is basically the same unit as the R but with a 6 button controller (which you could just buy the Avenue 6). It's reliable, and sexy as hell!

[Soviet Conscript]

i'll suggest the Duo-R as well. you can always have it switch modded for US HU card compatibility.

[Rai]

I think there are enough CD titles to warrant having a system for sure. Not 100 games or anything, but once you play games like YS I&II, Lords of Thunder, Castlevania, Kaze Kiri, etc it's hard to think about selling it off. So I'd say if you have the money get one.

I'd also highly recommend a Duo R or Duo RX. They are worlds more reliable than the standard model Duo and/or CD add on. The later mentioned consoles have tons of capacitor issues, as others have noted, and are a serious pain to get to work properly again.

The only issue the R/RX have is the laser eventually needing to be replaced. That's about a $22 part shipped.

Avoid the standard model Duo and TG-CD like the plague. You might get them to work with a total overhaul of all the parts...but it's just soooooo much easier to buy a nice R or RX

[A Black Falcon]

I think there are enough CD titles to warrant having a system for sure. Not 100 games or anything, but once you play games like YS I&II, Lords of Thunder, Castlevania, Kaze Kiri, etc it's hard to think about selling it off. So I'd say if you have the money get one.

I'd also highly recommend a Duo R or Duo RX. They are worlds more reliable than the standard model Duo and/or CD add on. The later mentioned consoles have tons of capacitor issues, as others have noted, and are a serious pain to get to work properly again.

The only issue the R/RX have is the laser eventually needing to be replaced. That's about a $22 part shipped.

Avoid the standard model Duo and TG-CD like the plague. You might get them to work with a total overhaul of all the parts...but it's just soooooo much easier to buy a nice R or RX

Hey, the original CD doesn't have the capacitor problems of the Duo. It has its own issues that do make the R or RX better, but it's not bad caps... it's the old, often questionable disc drives, really, and that some of the gears sometimes strip and are nearly impossible to replace. But as far as consoles go, bad caps are really only found (on a wide scale) in the Turbo/PC Engine Duo, TurboExpress, and Game Gear (original Sega model, not the Majesco re-release).

But yes, provided you import, some kind of Super CD system really is required to get the most out of the Turbografx.

[Tron 2.0]

I second the Duo-R, don't worry about the RX, it is basically the same unit as the R but with a 6 button controller (which you could just buy the Avenue 6). It's reliable, and sexy as hell!

Agreed.

[MrRoboto19XX]

I too would like to chime in and praise the Duo-R.

That is all.

[XYXZYZ]

i'll suggest the Duo-R as well. you can always have it switch modded for US HU card compatibility.

You mean... Turbo Chips!

[jperryss]

Another vote for the Duo-R here, especially since you already have a US TG16 to play American hueys. You can get a Duo-R cheaper than a US Duo, and you likely won't have to worry about sound/cap issues.

And it's sexy.

[Tron 2.0]

You mean... Turbo Chips!

Please don't say turbo chips every time i hear it i think of a snack such as potato chips.NEC of jpn got it right calling it hucards

[A Black Falcon]

You mean... Turbo Chips!

If they're "Turbo Chips", then why does it say "HuCard" on them on both the front and back of every US card? No "Turbo Chip" to be found on the cards themselves...

I know the manuals say "Turbo Chip", but then they still left "HuCard" on the actual cards... kind of funny.

[Kid Fenris]

I think there are enough CD titles to warrant having a system for sure. Not 100 games or anything, but once you play games like YS I&II, Lords of Thunder, Castlevania, Kaze Kiri, etc it's hard to think about selling it off. So I'd say if you have the money get one.

I agree. The TurboDuo's best games are all on CD, though I'm really not an Ys fan.

To be honest, I just replied because your avatar was my favorite card in Cardfighter's Clash.

[mobiusclimber]

Please don't say turbo chips every time i hear it i think of a snack such as potato chips.NEC of jpn got it right calling it hucards

You could always do like a certain Youtuber and call pronounce it cheeep!

[RCM]

Thanks to all who replied. I'm uninterested in RPGs, but dig nearly everything else like shooters and platform titles. So is Turbo Duo still the right way to go? Thanks

[Soviet Conscript]

Thanks to all who replied. I'm uninterested in RPGs, but dig nearly everything else like shooters and platform titles. So is Turbo Duo still the right way to go? Thanks

yes. again i would spend the bit extra for a japanese duo-r and have it modded to play us HU cards purely for its better reliablity

[XYXZYZ]

HuChips