Tips for getting into the Turbografx/Turboduo

[celerystalker]

I don't know if I'd say AES territory, some of those games are fucking insane. I do have a decent amount of disposable income right now (tbh, I got a second job just to add to my collection while being able to put my other paycheck towards more important stuff). I've been looking thru eBay and it seems a PC-Engine Duo would be a good starting point.

Also, to those who said emulate: lolno. I've spent way too much money on my current collection to just start emulating other consoles. TG16 stuff is pretty damn expensive, but we're not taliing about a $1000 for the system, or $1000s of dollars for one game. I can do a $300 system and a few $100-$200 games. It'll take a lot of time, but it's doable for me at this point in my life.

I dunno. With games like Sapphire, Renny Blaster, Fausette Armor, Magical Chase, Beyond Shadowgate, Terraforming, etc., you really are in AES territory. They both get pretty crazy these days. But that's really not the point; just a friendly warning about cost. If you're up for it, a lot of my favorite games are on the Turbo/PCE and the AES, and if you have the means, there are some truly great games to play. Once you take the plunge, I'd be happy to post a bunch of games that give great bang for the buck. Also, I think I already posted this, but read www.thebrothersduomazov.com and videogameden.com (Ikermel posts here, even. They have tons of great reviews and screenshots.

Also, just do yourself a favor and pick up brand new sealed copies of Exile and Cosmic Fantasy 2 for US CD while they're still pretty available at good prices on Amazon or ebay.

[Bozle]

I dunno. With games like Sapphire, Renny Blaster, Fausette Armor, Magical Chase, Beyond Shadowgate, Terraforming, etc., you really are in AES territory. They both get pretty crazy these days. But that's really not the point; just a friendly warning about cost. If you're up for it, a lot of my favorite games are on the Turbo/PCE and the AES, and if you have the means, there are some truly great games to play. Once you take the plunge, I'd be happy to post a bunch of games that give great bang for the buck. Also, I think I already posted this, but read www.thebrothersduomazov.com and videogameden.com (Ikermel posts here, even. They have tons of great reviews and screenshots.

Also, just do yourself a favor and pick up brand new sealed copies of Exile and Cosmic Fantasy 2 for US CD while they're still pretty available at good prices on Amazon or ebay.

The first game I plan on getting is Ys Book 1 and 2, which looking through eBay, doesn't break the bank tremendously. I know very little about the specific games that are must haves for the systems but it seems like an awesome, underrated system on the surface.

I kinda want to get a Neo Geo as well, and the CD-rom model seems somewhat reasonably priced.

[celerystalker]

Neo Geo is pretty great, but the CD is definitely not the way to go. It's pretty easy to either buy an MVS cabinet for less than $300 or consolize an MVS board with 2 joysticks using real arcade parts for less than $150 if you have a little technical know how. I'd be happy to post a brief walkthrough. CD just has worse load times than you'd imagine (more than two minutes in some cases) and the drives are notoriously flaky. AES looks great, and the carts and packaging look great (I have 30 or so), but MVS carts are way cheaper in most cases, and the converters often cost as much as an MVS cab. I'd recommend anyone who wants to play real games on real hardware just build a jamma supergun to use as a consolized MVS, and you can buy othe pcbs if you want that way, or just buy a cabinet if you have room. AES is fun to have and all, but it is definitely expensive. I would only recommend buying one to a wealthy collector or someone who always dreamed of having one as a kid to scratch that itch.

[Bozle]

Neo Geo is pretty great, but the CD is definitely not the way to go. It's pretty easy to either buy an MVS cabinet for less than $300 or consolize an MVS board with 2 joysticks using real arcade parts for less than $150 if you have a little technical know how. I'd be happy to post a brief walkthrough. CD just has worse load times than you'd imagine (more than two minutes in some cases) and the drives are notoriously flaky. AES looks great, and the carts and packaging look great (I have 30 or so), but MVS carts are way cheaper in most cases, and the converters often cost as much as an MVS cab. I'd recommend anyone who wants to play real games on real hardware just build a jamma supergun to use as a consolized MVS, and you can buy othe pcbs if you want that way, or just buy a cabinet if you have room. AES is fun to have and all, but it is definitely expensive. I would only recommend buying one to a wealthy collector or someone who always dreamed of having one as a kid to scratch that itch.

Doesn't the CDZ version cut load times in half?

[celerystalker]

Doesn't the CDZ version cut load times in half?

Nope, but it is definitely faster. However, many late Neo Geo games did not get CD releases, and there are only a couple of exclusives like Crossed Swords II.

[SparTonberry]

I dunno. With games like Sapphire, Renny Blaster, Fausette Armor, Magical Chase, Beyond Shadowgate, Terraforming, etc., you really are in AES territory.

Of those, I think Sapphire was the only version to get a recent-ish re-release. It was a released on a collection for PSP with the Galaxy Yuna VNs. Since it's obscure I was able to get it a couple years ago for like $25 and shipping. Not sure if there's anything wrong with it besides lack of multiplayer but it'll probably be the only cheap way to get the game legit.

[Retronick]

It's been said a million times here, but I would echo the Duo-R and American TG-16 one-two punch if you want to get into this system without emulating. I had the Turbo when people were fighting over Sega and Nintendo so I have a pretty significant collection from way back when to fall back on. Some of the values have gotten insane, but you can still get some good games and not go broke (especially if you buy Japanese).

Bomberman '93 and '94 are good cheap grabs on the PCE side of things, as our Street Fighter II, Gunhead, and Cybercore. You can also get a Duo Tap and a few controllers to round things out. Avenue Pad Six's aren't too insane right now, and a Japanese arcade card will let you play some of the SNK fighters that got ported. I only just started burning games that I wanted to try out (Space Fantasy Zone anyone?), and haven't run into problems yet. The CD on my U.S. TG-16 stopped working, but I never ran a burned game in it. Pretty sure it just threw that blasted gear. Haven't bothered to open it since I have the Duo-R ;P.

I would recommend not getting a PCE with the CD attachment since they have the same flaws as the US CD systems and you would need to pick up a Super System card to play fan favorites like Rondo of Blood and Lords of Thunder.

[Gentlegamer]

I have a Duo-R with region switch, it's the best possible set up.

If I were motivated to help OP, I could direct him where to find such a thing.

But I'm not.

[Bozle]

I have a Duo-R with region switch, it's the best possible set up.

If I were motivated to help OP, I could direct him where to find such a thing.

But I'm not.

Already did, thanks tho.

[Niku-Sama]

sorry Bozle, apparently some of us on here are buttholes.

any way no matter the variant of the system you end up with have you thought of getting a Turbo EverDrive for the more expensive games?
I mean I completely understand having the real deal but some times its a bit cost prohibitive when you weren't able to get them while they were new

trust me
this is coming from the guy who finished collecting the US Mega Man games and is now collecting the Rockman versions of the same games so I understand getting the real deals but if I didn't get some of these new (X2/X3) I wouldn't be able to do it at all and I am not exactly broke either

[Retronick]

sorry Bozle, apparently some of us on here are buttholes.

any way no matter the variant of the system you end up with have you thought of getting a Turbo EverDrive for the more expensive games?
I mean I completely understand having the real deal but some times its a bit cost prohibitive when you weren't able to get them while they were new

trust me
this is coming from the guy who finished collecting the US Mega Man games and is now collecting the Rockman versions of the same games so I understand getting the real deals but if I didn't get some of these new (X2/X3) I wouldn't be able to do it at all and I am not exactly broke either

I see where OP is coming from. Anybody can buy a print of famous artwork and spend very little money. It looks the same from a distance; it's identical compositionally; you can frame it, etc... Through emulation, piracy, legit ports, or any other means we can play pretty much anything that hasn't been lost to the sands of time. But owning a piece that came out of that era is pretty special.

That said, I align mostly with you in that there are some games I simply cannot justify the cost of. Domestic copies of Magical Chase and Bonk 3 CD are two great examples of that. For the former I would own an everdrive just to play it on original hardware, and I own the Hucard for the latter. There are some games that I just prefer having the originals for, and I've paid for 'em myself. It comes down to motivation. Is the motivation just to play, or is the motivation to collect these modern artifacts?

I don't begrudge anyone that emulates. Their motivation is to play, which I respect. I love Neo Geo so I bought a cabinet for very little money and threw a yellow bootleg multicart into it. That's really not too dissimilar from owning a Duo with an Everdrive when you think about it. Did that because I wanted the arcade feel, but even MVS games are getting pricy these days.

[bb_hood]

It's been said a million times here, but I would echo the Duo-R and American TG-16 one-two punch if you want to get into this system without emulating. I had the Turbo when people were fighting over Sega and Nintendo so I have a pretty significant collection from way back when to fall back on. Some of the values have gotten insane, but you can still get some good games and not go broke (especially if you buy Japanese).

Bomberman '93 and '94 are good cheap grabs on the PCE side of things, as our Street Fighter II, Gunhead, and Cybercore. You can also get a Duo Tap and a few controllers to round things out. Avenue Pad Six's aren't too insane right now, and a Japanese arcade card will let you play some of the SNK fighters that got ported. I only just started burning games that I wanted to try out (Space Fantasy Zone anyone?), and haven't run into problems yet. The CD on my U.S. TG-16 stopped working, but I never ran a burned game in it. Pretty sure it just threw that blasted gear. Haven't bothered to open it since I have the Duo-R ;P.

I would recommend not getting a PCE with the CD attachment since they have the same flaws as the US CD systems and you would need to pick up a Super System card to play fan favorites like Rondo of Blood and Lords of Thunder.

US Turbo Grafx systems are junky becuase they dont have AV output. IMO they arent worth owning to play games on.

super cd rom systems are much better than the US & japanese cd rom systems. They are more reliable than regular cd systems and duos and do not need any super system cards.

[Retronick]

US Turbo Grafx systems are junky becuase they dont have AV output. IMO they arent worth owning to play games on.

super cd rom systems are much better than the US & japanese cd rom systems. They are more reliable than regular cd systems and duos and do not need any super system cards.

Definitely looks sturdy. I've heard late model R and RX consoles are just about as dependable though. Is that not the case? Regardless, I've been considering adding one of these to my collection for a while. If for no other reason than to have as a backup.

[bb_hood]

Definitely looks sturdy. I've heard late model R and RX consoles are just about as dependable though. Is that not the case? Regardless, I've been considering adding one of these to my collection for a while. If for no other reason than to have as a backup.

In my experience the super cd rom systems plays backups much better than duos. Ive also heard other people say the disc player is more dependable than that on the duos.