Post by Shinto on May 24, 2020 15:00:33 GMT -5
I had a fascination with NEC's line of video game consoles since my brother pointed one out in a Toys R Us catalog: this weird black machine which came out of nowhere and promised "turbo graphics." I stared at the tiny picture and tried to make sense of it. What IS this thing? The controller looked like the one the Nintendo used, but had some extra stuff on it. Not that we HAD a Nintendo, we were Atari kids, through and through. Nintendo was the villain, and this "Turbo" thing, this was NOT Nintendo, and that made it interesting.
In video game magazines I would see even more exotic Japanese consoles from the same company, with names like CoreGrafx and SuperGrafx and PC Engine. These things were as foreign in concept and execution as they were in origin and availability.
My chance came to get a Turbografx-16 in the mid 90s, when Toys R Us was clearing them out for $50, so cheap that even I could afford one. Before I did, though, I asked the guy at Babbage's if it was worth it. "No way," he said. "It's not even worth $50." So I passed. I didn't buy it, but my fascination with the TurboGrafx-16 and its games did not wane.
In recent years I've looked into getting one on eBay, but it was neither plentiful nor cheap. I didn't feel much like paying $100 for a scuffed-up console without any games, and the games themselves vary considerably in price. The Everdrive runs $80, which I guess isn't bad, but again I look at the battered consoles on eBay and decide that's not really what I want. Besides, I've never felt that great about running ROMs for games I didn't own.
With Bryce's Turbotastic podcast, I used ROMs (for review purposes only, y'see) to play Turbografx-16 games on a Raspberry Pi 3 running EmulationStation and a Logitech F310 USB gamepad. It's OK, it technically works, but felt wrong, and I mostly attribute that to the controller. Playing retro games without a contemporary system-appropriate controller is like watching a movie on your phone: you kind of get the gist of it, but it's kind of a shallow experience.
When I saw that this Turbografx-16 Mini system was going to be released, my first thought was, "FINALLY, a mini system I really want." My second thought was, "wait, a hundred dollars?" The price seemed kind of steep. I thought about just getting one of the controllers and using that on my Raspberry Pi, but there was no way to know for sure that the controller would WORK like that. So I went ahead and ordered the actual system. As time went on and the game library was fleshed out, I became happier with my decision, and anxiously awaited its arrival.
OK, enough of the history, let's talk about the actual Turbografx-16 mini. It comes in a box that's very much like the one for the original Turbografx and would look nice on a shelf. The system itself is a pretty faithful to the original in appearance, and from what I understand just slightly smaller. The power switch on the front even extends a notch to lock the HuCard in place, even though the HuCard slot is totally non-functional. It's very lightweight, and the feel of the plastic could be better, but could also be worse. I pulled off the back cover to expose the HDMI and microUSB connectors (no composite connectors, alas) and this is where things got frustrating.
In video game magazines I would see even more exotic Japanese consoles from the same company, with names like CoreGrafx and SuperGrafx and PC Engine. These things were as foreign in concept and execution as they were in origin and availability.
My chance came to get a Turbografx-16 in the mid 90s, when Toys R Us was clearing them out for $50, so cheap that even I could afford one. Before I did, though, I asked the guy at Babbage's if it was worth it. "No way," he said. "It's not even worth $50." So I passed. I didn't buy it, but my fascination with the TurboGrafx-16 and its games did not wane.
In recent years I've looked into getting one on eBay, but it was neither plentiful nor cheap. I didn't feel much like paying $100 for a scuffed-up console without any games, and the games themselves vary considerably in price. The Everdrive runs $80, which I guess isn't bad, but again I look at the battered consoles on eBay and decide that's not really what I want. Besides, I've never felt that great about running ROMs for games I didn't own.
With Bryce's Turbotastic podcast, I used ROMs (for review purposes only, y'see) to play Turbografx-16 games on a Raspberry Pi 3 running EmulationStation and a Logitech F310 USB gamepad. It's OK, it technically works, but felt wrong, and I mostly attribute that to the controller. Playing retro games without a contemporary system-appropriate controller is like watching a movie on your phone: you kind of get the gist of it, but it's kind of a shallow experience.
When I saw that this Turbografx-16 Mini system was going to be released, my first thought was, "FINALLY, a mini system I really want." My second thought was, "wait, a hundred dollars?" The price seemed kind of steep. I thought about just getting one of the controllers and using that on my Raspberry Pi, but there was no way to know for sure that the controller would WORK like that. So I went ahead and ordered the actual system. As time went on and the game library was fleshed out, I became happier with my decision, and anxiously awaited its arrival.
OK, enough of the history, let's talk about the actual Turbografx-16 mini. It comes in a box that's very much like the one for the original Turbografx and would look nice on a shelf. The system itself is a pretty faithful to the original in appearance, and from what I understand just slightly smaller. The power switch on the front even extends a notch to lock the HuCard in place, even though the HuCard slot is totally non-functional. It's very lightweight, and the feel of the plastic could be better, but could also be worse. I pulled off the back cover to expose the HDMI and microUSB connectors (no composite connectors, alas) and this is where things got frustrating.
The microUSB connector looks rough; just one step up from a manually-Dremeled hole. The HDMI port looked better. Once I got them connected, I couldn't get the back cover back on until I re-routed the power through a different hole in the cover. It looks like it SHOULD work both ways, but didn't, not for me. The whole cable-connecting experience was clunky and frustrating.
The Mini comes with an HDMI cable and a microUSB cable, but no AC power adapter. I guess the logic is that most people would have a few of these laying around, but not me. I recently deployed two more Raspberry Pi devices around the house, which drained my supply of spares AC USB adapters to zero. I had to move some things around to free one up. The little two-language paper manual that came with the Mini says that it requires a minimum of 2 amps on the adapter.
With everything hooked up, I turned on the monitor and flipped the satisfying power switch on the Mini... and nothing happened. Crap. A few seconds later, though, it came to life. Whew. There's no power light or anything on the Mini to let you know it's on, though the bright red sticker behind the power switch is pretty visible.
The interface is dominated by a horizontally-scrolling list of titles, with pictures of the jewel cases that the games came in. These are all the North American releases, but a PC Engine logo in the bottom-right corner of the screen switches to the Japanese selection. This is where I've seen most of the confusion around the Turbografx-16 Mini and its regional peers in Japan and Europe: every system includes the same selection of games. Five games are in both places, North American (Turbografx) and Japanese (PC Engine). Some games (I count at least three) really require Japanese literacy to play, but most of the other PC Engine games either have enough English in them (menu screens, say) or are so straightforward that you don't need to be able to speak or read Japanese. I played a shooter, for example, that had a cutesy female voice announce in Japanese the powerup you just grabbed, but that's not really gameplay-critical information.
There are so many games here, so many solid titles, both from HuCard and CD media. It's a fantastic selection. THIS is what makes the system totally worth $100. Well, the games and the controller. So let's talk a bit about the controller.
I've never played a real Turbografx-16, but from what I've heard, this reproduction is pretty authentic. The plastic isn't as solid as a Nintendo Entertainment system controller, but better than the Euro-style Atari 7800 gamepads. Button action is good, the d-pad is fine, and the turbo switches work as one would expect, with three levels of rapid fire per button (off, low, high). Unlike the original Turbografx-16, the Mini has two controller ports, USB. I had hoped I could plug my Logitech controller in and have it just work, but unfortunately that is not the case. I did some digging, and found out why.
With everything hooked up, I turned on the monitor and flipped the satisfying power switch on the Mini... and nothing happened. Crap. A few seconds later, though, it came to life. Whew. There's no power light or anything on the Mini to let you know it's on, though the bright red sticker behind the power switch is pretty visible.
The interface is dominated by a horizontally-scrolling list of titles, with pictures of the jewel cases that the games came in. These are all the North American releases, but a PC Engine logo in the bottom-right corner of the screen switches to the Japanese selection. This is where I've seen most of the confusion around the Turbografx-16 Mini and its regional peers in Japan and Europe: every system includes the same selection of games. Five games are in both places, North American (Turbografx) and Japanese (PC Engine). Some games (I count at least three) really require Japanese literacy to play, but most of the other PC Engine games either have enough English in them (menu screens, say) or are so straightforward that you don't need to be able to speak or read Japanese. I played a shooter, for example, that had a cutesy female voice announce in Japanese the powerup you just grabbed, but that's not really gameplay-critical information.
There are so many games here, so many solid titles, both from HuCard and CD media. It's a fantastic selection. THIS is what makes the system totally worth $100. Well, the games and the controller. So let's talk a bit about the controller.
I've never played a real Turbografx-16, but from what I've heard, this reproduction is pretty authentic. The plastic isn't as solid as a Nintendo Entertainment system controller, but better than the Euro-style Atari 7800 gamepads. Button action is good, the d-pad is fine, and the turbo switches work as one would expect, with three levels of rapid fire per button (off, low, high). Unlike the original Turbografx-16, the Mini has two controller ports, USB. I had hoped I could plug my Logitech controller in and have it just work, but unfortunately that is not the case. I did some digging, and found out why.
The Mini's controllers do read as standard USB gamepads, but the mapping is weird. The d-pad is on axes 5 and 6, whereas the Logitech (and other USB gamepads) use axes 7 and 8. 5 and 6, in fact are where the Logitech puts its analog triggers! The fire buttons I and II read as 3 and 2, a fairly normal location, but Select and Run are 9 and 10, which is not. So you could get the Mini gamepad to work on a PC or Raspberry Pi or whatever, but not the other way around. I read that the gamepads for the Sega Genesis Mini, made by the same company, will work on the Turbografx-16 mini, though.
I've put together a game list for both Turbo and PC Engine, with some notes on playability and alternate naming. I haven't actually tried most of these, so I may be wrong on occasion.
Playability key, used in the table of games below:
I've put together a game list for both Turbo and PC Engine, with some notes on playability and alternate naming. I haven't actually tried most of these, so I may be wrong on occasion.
Playability key, used in the table of games below:
| - | It's a Turbografx-16 game, definitely playable without Japanese |
| x | Not playable without fluency in Japanese |
| p! | Should be totally playable |
| p? | May be mostly playable |
| d | Duplicate of one of the Turbografx-16 games |
| Name | Players | Genre | Notes | |
| - | Air Zonk | 1 | horizontal shooter | |
| - | Alien Crush | 1 | pinball | |
| - | Blazing Lazers | 1 | vertical shooter | |
| - | Bomberman '93 | 5 | action puzzle | |
| - | Bonk’s Revenge | 1 | platformer | |
| - | Cadash | 2 | platformer | |
| - | Chew-Man-Fu | 2 | action puzzle | |
| - | Dungeon Explorer | 5 | hack & slash | |
| - | J.J. & Jeff | 1 | platform | |
| - | Lords of Thunder | 1 | horizontal shooter | CD title |
| - | Military Madness | 1 | strategy | |
| - | Moto Roader | 5 | overhead racing | |
| - | Neutopia | 1 | action RPG | |
| - | Neutopia II | 1 | action RPG | |
| - | New Adventure Island | 1 | platformer | |
| - | Ninja Spirit | 2 | platformer | |
| - | Parasol Stars | 2 | platformer | |
| - | Power Golf | 3 | shooter (um, kind of) | |
| - | Psychosis | 1 | horizontal shooter | "Paranoia" in Japan |
| - | R-Type | 1 | horizontal shooter | |
| - | Soldier Blade | 1 | vertical shooter | |
| - | Space Harrier | 1 | 3rd-person shooter | |
| - | Splatterhouse | 1 | beat 'em up | |
| - | Victory Run | 1 | racing | |
| - | Ys Book I & II | 1 | RPG | CD title |
| p! | Akumajō Dracula X Chi No Rondo | 1 | action platformer | aka Castlevania: Dracula X, CD title |
| p! | Aldynes | 1 | horizontal shooter | SuperGrafx title |
| p? | Appare! Gateball | 2 | like croquet | some Japanese |
| p! | Bomberman '94 | 5 | action puzzle | |
| p! | Bomberman Panic Bomber | 5 | falling block puzzle | CD title |
| p! | Chō Aniki | 1 | horizontal shooter | |
| p! | Daimakaimura | 1 | action platformer | aka Ghouls & Ghosts, SuperGrafx title |
| p! | Dragon Spirit | 1 | vertical shooter | |
| d | Dungeon Explorer | 5 | hack & slash | |
| p! | Fantasy Zone | 2 | horizontal shooter | |
| p! | Galaga ’88 | 1 | fixed shooter | |
| p! | Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire | 2 | vertical shooter | CD title |
| p! | Gradius | 2 | horizontal shooter | |
| p! | Gradius II – Gofer No Yabō | 1 | horizontal shooter | |
| x | Jaseiken Necromancer | 1 | fantasy RPG | |
| d | Nectaris | 2 | strategy | aka Military Madness |
| d | Neutopia | 1 | action RPG | |
| d | Neutopia II | 1 | action RPG | |
| p! | Ninja Ryūkenden | 1 | platformer | aka Ninja Gaiden, but not like the arcade or Lynx versions |
| p! | PC Genjin | 1 | platformer | aka Bonk's Adventure |
| p! | Salamander | 2 | horizontal shooter | |
| p! | Seirei Senshi Spriggan | 1 | vertical shooter | CD title |
| x | Snatcher | 1 | cyberpunk adventure | CD title |
| p! | Spriggan Mark 2 | 1 | horizontal shooter | CD title, some Japanese |
| p! | Star Parodier | 1 | vertical shooter | CD title |
| p! | Super Darius | 1 | horizontal shooter | CD title |
| x | Super Momotarō Dentetsu II | 5 | dice-based board game | |
| p! | Super Star Soldier | 1 | vertical shooter | |
| p? | The Genji and the Heike Clans | 1 | beat 'em up | some Japanese |
| p | The Kung Fu | 1 | fighting | aka China Warrior |
| p? | The Legend of Valkyrie | 1 | action RPG | unknown amount of Japanese |
| d | Ys I & II | 1 | RPG | CD title |
So by my count, of the Japanese PC Engine side of things:
- 20 games are expected to be fully or mostly playable by English-speakers
- 3 may be playable, depending on how much Japanese there is
- 3 are totally not playable without good knowledge of Japanese
- 5 are Japanese-language duplicates of English versions
I've only logged maybe a half hour playing this thing so far, but there's a lot to like about the Turbografx-16 mini. It's too bad about the intentionally-crippled controller compatibility.
