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The first time I ever laid eyes on a TurboGrafx-16 was when it was featured it a specialty kiosk at RadioShack back in the late fall of 1989 or early 1990. Every time I went to the adjacent arcade, I'd always stop and play some Bonk or perhaps R-Type (whichever of the two was running in the system on that particular day). At that time I was still in the midst of my Sega Master System and NES years. As kids, we generally don't care about the hardware or controllers as long as it was fun. What really struck a chord in me were the games themselves. Now I won't bore you with the whole "is it 8-bit or 16-bit" thing, but even as a young scrapper I could tell this was a small step forward. Something that fell between the 8-bit systems and the new Sega Genesis that just came out. Twenty some years later, many of my observations still stand. This system has colorful games with large sprites that are easy on the eyes and scroll effortlessly. Most of its titles have aged well and, believe it or not, look extremely decent on a HDTV. Fun music and sounds effects make these games straddle the line between arcade and home console. I find that a rocking home theatre system doesn't add much to 16-bit gaming and very little at all to 8-bit systems, but TurboGrafx-16 games sound great when you crank it. Play a game like Blazing Lazers and you'll see what I mean. On the hardware side of things, I have a more neutral opinion of the system. Looking at the console itself, it seems to be a compact, well thought out package at first glance. However, this comes at the cost of no built-in AV options besides RF and only one controller port. So basically to get the full use out of this system you'll need to fork out some extra coin for bulky add-ons like a TurboBooster (composite AV) or a TurboTap for multiplayer gaming. I realize that milking the gamer through accessories was, and still is, common practice by manufacturers of game system hardware. The reason I mention it here is because the TurboGrafx-16 is on the edge between uncommon and rare as far as finding accessories these days. With only 2.5 million actual systems sold in North America, you can imagine how few of these optional add-ons were even produced. When factoring in attrition (broken, thrown away, unsold stock recycled), it is no wonder that accessories are hard to find. For example, the TurboBooster often sells for more than a loose system with an included game or two. Don't even get me started on trying to find controller extension cords for the ridiculously short TurboPads! Despite my criticism of the TurboPad's cord length (only 4 feet), I really do like the controller itself. Following the D-Pad, two button formula of the 8-bit systems, it feels solid and well constructed featuring rounded edges and built-in turbo actions. Both as a kid and as an adult, I always found it comfortable to use. It is also worth noting that I've yet to come across a worn out controller in my travels. These pads are incredibly durable. |
On October 30, 1987 the first 16-Bit home videogame console was released in Japan by NEC. The PC Engine was clearly a "next generation" system with its amazing specs and wallet sized card games called "HuCards". The PC Engine was immensely popular in Japan, outselling the Famicom by a significant margin. Two years after its Japanese introduction, NEC announced plans to bring the PC Engine overseas. NEC dubbed the US release TurboGrafx-16 and prepared to dominate both Nintendo and Sega as they did in Japan. The console was redesigned several times in Japan (for example the CoreGrafx released in 1989 and CoreGrafx II in 1991). So how is it that a company that produced such state of the art gaming go almost unnoticed by the American gamers? So many factors contributed, but most stems from NEC's lack of marketing. Perhaps their success in Japan made them think the system would sell itself. Whereas you could find commercials and advertisements for Sega and Nintendo, you could not find any for TurboGrafx-16. NEC was also introducing games, titles and characters that American players simply weren't familiar with, and many truly excellent games were either ignored outright, or subject to Nintendo's "exclusive licensing" policy that was in effect at the time. The gist of this policy was, if a game was already available on NES, then game companies could not produce any versions for any other game system. Although this policy was later ruled illegal, it hurt the TurboGrafx-16 a lot in the early stages of its life. Hudson Soft, the primary producer of PC Engine software, was also producing games for the huge NES market. Releasing a game on TurboGrafx-16 exclusively (as they would have to do) would restrict its potential sales (as the NES had a greater installed user base). Soon after... word began to spread that the TG-16 was not a "true" 16-bit system, as its CPU was only 8-bit. (The system used two 8-bit processors)
These factors caused the TurboGrafx-16 to have a small impact in the US. NEC seemed to only focus on their Japanese market. Japan saw many quality games, console redesigns and accessories. This helped the system to remain successful in Japan for quite some time.
FACT: NEC used the "HuCard" technology to produce "System Cards" that boosted the
consoles RAM thus providing better quality graphics. The Arcade Card Pro Card in particular added 16 megabits of RAM, and was used to
play arcade quality games such as Fatal Fury and other SNK hits. Sadly the card was never released outside of Japan. |
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Growing up with the Sega Master System, card-based software was not foreign territory for me since Sega utilized similar technology as HuCards with the SMS. I like that they are compact and come with a protective sleeve that begs to be carried in a shirt pocket on your way to a friend's house. The downside of this format is the lack of battery saves. There are some third party game save devices, but these are pretty pricey. The aforementioned TurboBooster has an upgraded model (TurboBooster Plus) which offers an extremely rudimentary save file system on top of its AV capabilities. In my opinion, these small offerings do not justify the additional investment. Rather than blowing a good chunk of your gaming budget on one of these devices, just grab yourself a notepad and pen to keep track of your high scores and passwords. Use the savings to grab some awesome titles like Bonk, Blazing Lazers and Devil's Crush.
Having read my review up to this point, you've probably pegged my opinion of the TurboGrafx-16 as being a
decent system or an interesting footnote in gaming's history. Not so. In fact, this is one of my all-time favorite game systems
which has permanently earned a place front and center in my living room. Why? Well two reasons. One, NEC and
Hudson developed something special with a character all its own. It has a unique personality in its games, design and aesthetics you won't
find anywhere else. It is almost like they decided to just make whatever games they wanted to, whatever way they wanted. They almost
seem like they did not worry about things like consumer demographics or what everyone else was doing. Some may say that NEC tried to
emulate the Nintendo's success with the Famicom\NES, but my perception of this system suggests otherwise. The
second reason is that overall, the best of the best games for this system are just plain 'ole fun. Timeless, easy to pick up and play,
artistic and with a great controller in hand, this is my go-to system when I want to branch out from the usual selection of classic titles on
the game systems we all grew up with. |
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Various picture\media for this console. This first set shows the standard contents of the NEC Core Grafx. Click pictures to enlarge. |
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| Some accessories and add-ons for the PC Engine \ TurboGrafx-16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Tennokoe Memory Device. This plugged into the expansion port of the PC Engine or Core Grafx and allowed you to save games / data.
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Sample of a System Card. This one was required for the TurboGrafx-16 to be able to utilize the optional CD add-on. There are seven different variations.
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TurboGrafx-16 hooked up to the TG-16 CD via the optional docking station.
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The official NEC TurboTap. This basically is a necessity since the PC Engine only had one
controller port.
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Core Grafx hooked up to the CD-ROM2 via the interface module.
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For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love. The following is for the original PC Engine released in 1987. |
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Games, media format, emulators and screen shots for titles released on this system. |
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One of the questions many gamers have involve the Volume # that is prominently displayed on the front of many PC Engine titles. This identification does not indicate year or part information, but actually refers to the number of the release from the respective developer. There are quite a few pricey games for this system, but the following two games are arguably the Holy Grails. For the TurboGrafx-16, Magical Chase takes home the prize. Surprisingly, this title received a very limited release within the North American market despite its popularity in Japan. Expect to shell out $500+ USD for this gem. For the PC Engine, Darius Alpha is the runaway winner. You could obtain the HuCard version by winning a drawing via a mail-in coupon contained within the SuperGrafx version of this title or through a few magazine promotions. This game routinely fetches in excess of $300 USD. |
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Samples of PC Engine Game Boxes
Samples of TurboGrafx-16 Game Boxes
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NEC PC Engine \ TurboGrafx-16 Game Screenshots |
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1943 Kai
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Aero Blasters
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Air Zonk
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Andre Panza Kick Boxing
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Blazing Lazers
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Bloody Wolf
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Bonk's Revenge
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Burning Angels
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Cadash
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Chase HQ
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Devil's Crush
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Don Doko Don
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Falcon
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Fantasy Zone
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Gunbare! Golf Boys
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Ghost Manor
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Gunboat
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Hit the Ice
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Impossamole
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J League Greatest Eleven Soccer
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Jack Nicklau' Turbo Golf
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Keith Courage
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Legend of Hero Tonma
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Neutopia
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Ninja Spirit
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Operation Wolf
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Power League 93
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Racing Spirits
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Raiden
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R-Type
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Silent Debuggers
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Soldier Blade
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Splatterhouse
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Super Volleyball
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Takin' it to the Hoop
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Turricn
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Vigilante
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World Sports Competition
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Zero 4 Champ
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Additional authorized releases for this console. Click pictures to enlarge. |
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NEC PC Engine 1987 - Japan
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NEC Core Grafx 1989 - Japan
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NEC Core Grafx II 1991 - Japan
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NEC PC Engine Shuttle 1989 - Japan
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NEC TurboGrafx-16 1989 - North America
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NEC PC Engine LT 1991 - Japan
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Sharp X1 Twin Hybrid computer with HuCard built-in. This is definitely a collectors piece. Picture courtesy of Hardcore Gaming 101 1987 - Japan
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PC Engine \ TurboGrafx-16 technology was also incorporated into various other officially licensed
systems including the NEC Duo line (Duo, Duo-R, Duo-RX and the Turbo Duo), the Pioneer LaserActive (PAC Module) and the NEC SuperGrafx. |
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Non-licensed releases (clones). Click pictures to enlarge. |
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Vistar-16 (Korean clone)
The Vistar-16 Logo The Vistar-16 even had magazine advertisements!!
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UFO Super Boy and PowerPlay Galaxy (Chinese clones)
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Jamiko PC Boy Made in China, PAL, but everything is in English. I am not sure what country(s) this was released.
Pictures courtesy of Charles Lee |
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Sodipeng Core Grafx Released in France, this was kind of a grey market import that was basically the Euro release of the PC Engine.
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Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system. |
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Copyright 2008-2011 The Video Game Console Library. This website and the information contained within it is protected by
copyright. Reproduction of part or all of the |
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HANDS ON REVIEW by 
DW FACTS by 
HANDS ON REVIEW
DW FACTS
As a collector as well as a gamer, I have come to realize over the years that the TurboGrafx-16 requires
some compromise in order to collect. New hardware and accessories are difficult to find, which is putting it mildly. Boxed items,
complete or otherwise, are harder to find than you'd think and tend to be more expensive than they should be. The games themselves are
tricky because the packaging consists of a CD-sized case, manual, protective sleeve, styrofoam spacer and cardboard outer box. Later
releases skipped the case in favor of a shaped plastic tray inside the box like those utilized with Game Boy software. The outer
box and spacer are usually the missing pieces when purchasing games. If you can compromise as I have, settling for the case, manual and
sleeve when applicable will make it much easier to find them for better prices. This is rather similar when buying NES games
without the styrofoam spacer or black cartridge sleeve - not technically complete-in-box but close enough.
Software for
the PC Engine \ TurboGrafx-16 was distributed on credit-card sized cartridges called HuCards, known as TurboChips in the
North America market. While the majority of releases for the TurboGrafx-16 games game in multi-component packaging as described
by Tan in his Hands On Review, the releases in Japan were delivered in a standard CD jewel casing with a custom insert which
housed the HuCard.
