The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[fdurso224]

If you like turn-based strategy like Advance Wars and have a TurboGrafx-16 or Turbo Duo, you'll enjoy these two games, from 1989 and 1994 respectively.

 

 

Hey Parallax.

 

Well done as always sharing your archive material here on Atariage. Military Madness and Neo Nectaris articles are amazing. Excellent work as always bro.

 

Why not start, "The Official Video Game Archive Thread" here on Atariage. I would love to be part of that for sure!

 

Anthony...

[NE146]

I am actively playing Military Madness right now, and plan on diving into Neo Nectaris afterward (although I've already played a few levels).

 

Funny thing about Neo Nectaris.. I have 2 different supposedly full ISOs of the game that have been floating on the internet, but burning them leads to a buggy disc! The disc WILL work in emulators, but on a Turbo Duo it freezes in the beginning and the only way to start a game is to enter in a password. This isn't really a problem because you can enter in the password for the 1st level and be on your way.. but it annoyed me enough I had to go get an original one on ebay. Now it works great.

 

 

 

[+thegoldenband]

I have the following:

• region-modded CoreGrafx II
• Turbo EverDrive 1.x
• Arcade Card Pro (got a few months ago)
• Art of Fighting original CD (got a few months ago)
• burned copy of Wonder Boy III (burned today, Taiyo Yuden media burned at low speed)
• CD-ROM² with IFU, recapped and regeared (got today)

If I load the Turbo EverDrive with the BIOS for System 1.x or 2.x, I'm able to play Wonder Boy III with no problems, and to see the little cutscene that tells me the Arcade Card is required for Art of Fighting.

 

However, if I use the Arcade Card Pro, it boots with the Super System screen and plays audio CDs, but both WBIII and Art of Fighting fail with a "DATA READ ERROR". Art of Fighting usually fails after 5-10 sec., but once it tried to work for a while (30-45 sec.) before failing. I cleaned the contacts and it made no difference; the Art of Fighting disc itself is 100% clean. Meanwhile, Wonder Boy III fails immediately (after 2-3 sec. of loading) with the Arcade Card Pro inserted.

 

Clearly the CD-ROM itself works, so does this suggest that the region mod is interfering with the Arcade Card Pro's operation? If so, is this a known issue? I guess I may need to get another, unmodified CoreGrafx unit.

[Eltigro]

Ah Military Madness... one of the few times my best friend and I nearly came to blows...

 

Looking back, I was in the wrong. Was a sore loser.

[Parallax Scroll]

My brother and I played tons of Military Madness in late 1990 early 1991. Very addictive.

[Black_Tiger]

The full game of Military Madness/Nectaris is included on Neo Nectaris.

[Parallax Scroll]

 

 

 

 

[Prosystemsearch]

What did the PC Engine Shuttle have other than a differently designed outer shell and/or casing from the original, Core and supergrafx and a movable clear plastic lid?

Edited January 2, 2017 by Prosystemsearch

[CatPix]

It also have a shorter External connector, meaning that you cannot connect standard PC-Engine expansions on it. The Shuttle have it's own Tennokoe bank, and if I recall right, you can't conenct a CD -COM unit on it as the connector lack some needed pins.

The pad have a different design too but it's just aesthetical change.

[Eltigro]

What did the PC Engine Shuttle have other than a differently designed outer shell and/or casing from the original, Core and supergrafx and a movable clear plastic lid?

 

It's more aerodynamic so you can play better in high wind situations.

[Parallax Scroll]

This came up in a google search I was doing for something else related. Capcom calendar for the coin-op arcade version.

 

 

Now perhaps someone here could help me out.

 

I've been looking for (without any success) an issue of DieHard GameFan magazine that has 'The Graveyard" article on Daimakaimura (Ghouls 'N Ghosts) for the SuperGrafx.

 

I'm pretty sure it was in a 1993 or 1994 issue and if I recall, it's two pages with a lot of screenshots. The Graveyard was GameFan's section for older games they considered worth playing.

 

Obviously I've found & posted the GameFan Graveyard articles on SuperGrafx Granzort, Aldynes and 1941 Counter Attack,

but the one with Ghouls 'N Ghosts seems to be a real tough cookie to find.

 

GameFan magazine - The Graveyard (i.e)

 

 

(HappyConsoleGamer on GameFan's Graveyard section) https://youtu.be/okV_l4nHL_s?t=13m33s

 

Retromags.com won't host GameFan issues, and what few issue are scanned elsewhere online are not sorted for easy searching. It's hit & miss and many issues are not scanned.

 

So if anyone has a collection of GameFan from 1993 through 1994-95 and could take a look for me, I'd so greatly appreciate it.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Parallax Scroll

[fdurso224]

Hey guys,

 

Fellow Atariage member and TG-16 contributor made a great video (as always) celebrating his 500 subscriber mark onto his channel. Were glad that our members and guest enjoy his amazing and informative content that he has to offer.

 

To show his appreciation, he's offering a content for his viewers. Here's what he has to say!

 

From the description,

"I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone that has subscribed to my channel. As YouTube continues to get bigger, it gets harder to be noticed, so for 500 people to give me a chance to provide them with content that I enjoy producing, is a nice milestone. As part of the giveaway contest, please leave a question in the comments section for a future Q&A video. Only subscribers as of 1/2/17 are eligible."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEwsYkvvxVI

 

Anthony...

Edited January 3, 2017 by fdurso224

[Trooper Galactus]

Wow, a TG-16 thread in Atari Age! Who knew? Feel kinda late to this party, but TG-16 has been, along with the Jaguar, one of the focal points of my video game collection the last year or so. Have about 80% of the US releases for the TG-16/CD/Duo thus far, but admittedly have only played about half the games I own (2016 was not a banner year for me, so I've fallen quite behind on retro gaming). Just added Magical Chase (no box), Soldier Blade (complete), Neutopia II (complete), Legend of Hero Tonma (no box), and Lords of Thunder to my collection in the last couple months. Only really big hurdles remaining now are Bonk's 3 (CD and Hu-Card), Dynastic Hero, and Super Air Zonk. Most of the rest I'm missing shouldn't be too difficult to acquire.

 

That said, I REALLY need to try Military Madness again. I loved Advance Wars, and I bought it immediately for my GBA when it came out. At the time, I thought it was a groundbreaking game, but lo and behold it took its cue from MM released all those years before! The one time I gave MM a shot I wasn't able to use my console (TV was shot) so I loaded it up on my TurboExpress. Needless to say, there's just no playing it on that small screen at all.

[Black_Tiger]

Military Madness was one of my most played TurboChips on my TurboExpress bitd, particularly during car rides.

 

It's cool how the cursor becomes a rainbow.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Wow, a TG-16 thread in Atari Age!

Yeah Atari fans play other game systems. Shocker I know. Nothing wrong with double and triple dipping by collecting the best games from competing consoles each generation...

[Black_Tiger]

I have the following:

 

• region-modded CoreGrafx II
• Turbo EverDrive 1.x
• Arcade Card Pro (got a few months ago)
• Art of Fighting original CD (got a few months ago)
• burned copy of Wonder Boy III (burned today, Taiyo Yuden media burned at low speed)
• CD-ROM² with IFU, recapped and regeared (got today)

If I load the Turbo EverDrive with the BIOS for System 1.x or 2.x, I'm able to play Wonder Boy III with no problems, and to see the little cutscene that tells me the Arcade Card is required for Art of Fighting.

 

However, if I use the Arcade Card Pro, it boots with the Super System screen and plays audio CDs, but both WBIII and Art of Fighting fail with a "DATA READ ERROR". Art of Fighting usually fails after 5-10 sec., but once it tried to work for a while (30-45 sec.) before failing. I cleaned the contacts and it made no difference; the Art of Fighting disc itself is 100% clean. Meanwhile, Wonder Boy III fails immediately (after 2-3 sec. of loading) with the Arcade Card Pro inserted.

 

Clearly the CD-ROM itself works, so does this suggest that the region mod is interfering with the Arcade Card Pro's operation? If so, is this a known issue? I guess I may need to get another, unmodified CoreGrafx unit.

Sounds like it must be the Arcade Card. You should post this in the Repair/Mod section of the pcenginefx forums.

 

I don't think that there is any problem that hasn't been sorted out on the past.

[+thegoldenband]

Sounds like it must be the Arcade Card. You should post this in the Repair/Mod section of the pcenginefx forums.

 

I don't think that there is any problem that hasn't been sorted out on the past.

 

Already done:

 

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=21823

 

I'm hoping it's the region mod and an easy fix for Keith Courage (who's kindly offered to help).

[Andromeda Stardust]

Sounds like it must be the Arcade Card. You should post this in the Repair/Mod section of the pcenginefx forums.

 

I don't think that there is any problem that hasn't been sorted out on the past.

Arcade Card does not work with any Everdrive model, and Super System 2 requires a V2 Everdrive and hacked System Card BIOS I think.

[+thegoldenband]

Arcade Card does not work with any Everdrive model, and Super System 2 requires a V2 Everdrive and hacked System Card BIOS I think.

 

This is an original Arcade Card Pro -- I'm not trying to run the Arcade Card via the Turbo EverDrive.

 

Nor am I trying to run Super System 3.0, which the EverDrive 1.x can't do -- but it can run the System 1.x and 2.x BIOSes, which are what I used to confirm that the CD unit was working.

 

The question is whether (a) the region mod is somehow incompatible with the Arcade Card Pro, (b) my Arcade Card Pro is just borked, or © there's some subtle problem with the CD unit that doesn't appear with games that don't need added RAM. Of those options, (a) is the best, (b) the worst, [c] wouldn't be great but could be solved.

[Parallax Scroll]

So, let me ask once more, if anyone has a collection of DieHard GameFan magazines from 1993-1995, could you please look for their Graveyard segment that has the SuperGrafx version of Ghouls n Ghosts / Daimakaimura?

 

Thanks again.

[Black_Tiger]

So, let me ask once more, if anyone has a collection of DieHard GameFan magazines from 1993-1995, could you please look for their Graveyard segment that has the SuperGrafx version of Ghouls n Ghosts / Daimakaimura?

 

Thanks again.

 

I have it, but won't be able to scan it any time soon.

[Parallax Scroll]

 

I have it, but won't be able to scan it any time soon.

 

Ah cool, could you tell me what issue it's in so I could maybe locate a copy?

[Parallax Scroll]

GamePro issue #2 (June/July 1989) The Cutting Edge on PC-Engine / TG-16, Genesis, general info on the new 16-bit and handheld systems.

 

 

 

 

 

[Eltigro]

GamePro issue #2 (June/July 1989) The Cutting Edge on PC-Engine / TG-16, Genesis, general info on the new 16-bit and handheld systems.

 

Love seeing these. I'm certain I had that issue back in the day.

[fdurso224]

Hi guys,

 

I found this on Twitter. I also posted this on the Neo-Geo thread as well.

 

http://retro-daze.org/site/article/id/9203

Hoju Koolander ‏@hojukoolander Jan 12

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We're you down with #NeoGeo or #TurboGrafx16 in the #90s ? Read about the battle for 3rd place here http://retro-daze.org/site/article/id/9203 … #RETROGAMING

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Retro-Daze

Failed 90's Video Game Console Wars

By: Hoju Koolander

Video game enthusiasts know that the main event of the “Console Wars” in the 80’s and 90’s was fought between Nintendo and Sega. Insults were hurled in TV and print ads, neighborhoods were divided based on choice of video game system and in the long run Nintendo won the war. But there was also a battle for third place during this time with Neo Geo and Turbo Grafx 16 squaring off for our gaming dollars. What follows are my memories of these fringe gaming systems and their legacy.

I remember noticing the ads for Turbo Grafx 16 on the back of comic books around 1991 and thinking they were the edgiest kind of advertising I had seen. That kid had a gaming screen fused to his face, there were broken shards of other 16 bit adventures blasting out of his head. It was totally extreme. I saw the strange new logo, but everyone I knew was still stuck on Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Then a kid named John moved into the neighborhood and introduced me to punk rock in gaming form.

I ha gotten to know John over the years en he came to town to visit his Grandparents, a sweet, old German woman named Elfie and a thin, harp playing gentleman named Victor, who were my neighbors. Since I was the only kid in the neighborhood they knew by name, I was invited to over to be John’s friend. He was cool guy, with a mischievous side, that for the purposes of this article will be represented by the late Brad Renfro.

During previous visits John had always brought along the latest in video gaming technology. In 1989 it was the Power Pad for the NES, where we raced each other in World Class Track Meet. In 1990 I remember being dazzled by the 3-D graphics of Marble Madness and thinking he must have had some special connection to the gaming industry to score such hi-tech equipment.

On one summer visit in 1991, John revealed that he and his family were going to be moving the grandparent's house permanently. Even more exciting, he was going to be in my class at school during the next year. Soon I was coming over after school every day to play video games and on one weekday afternoon John revealed a black machine I had never seen before, with a logo that identified it as Turbo Grafx 16. It was that “thing” from comic books! Based on the ads I had thought it was some black market device that only older, high school kids with drug habits had the guts purchase and now it was in front of me.

Looking at the system itself, the controller was similar to the Nintendo style, but the black color scheme made it seem so dangerous. Plus, the games weren’t cartridges, they were flat plastic cards that you slid into the front of the console. It was alien technology as far as I was concerned and I didn’t dare touch it for fear of being infected with “trouble”. Then John chose a game, Splatterhouse.

If you’ve never heard of Splatterhouse, it was like Double Dragon meets Friday The 13th with a whole lotta bloody, supernatural mutants. You played as a guy named Rick with an evil mask attached to his face who tore his way through a haunted house and ripped monsters to shreds with 2x4’s, meat cleavers, shot guns and other implements of destruction. The kicker was that the dying demons did indeed splatter against the walls and you bled if you got attacked! This was in the days before Mortal Kombat, so this kind of gratuitous violence was totally unheard of.

In this one afternoon, John basically confirmed everything I ever imagined about Turbo Grafx 16, it was bad news. My curiosity was satisfied and my stomach turned. I never even asked to play the thing again, just winced through scenes of ultra-violence and waited for him to plug the NES back in. John actually got over the Turbo Grafx 16 pretty quickly as well. I don’t remember him hooking it up much as the years went on, opting mostly to play NBA Jam for the Super Nintendo where he showed me how to unlock P-Funk and President Bill Clinton as playable characters. Yes, the Turbo Grafx 16 experience was short lived, but another mysterious gaming system showed up in the neighborhood shortly after in an attempt to get my loyalty.

My neighbor Andy lived directly across the street from my childhood home. He was a first generation American of Chinese descent, which really just meant that I had to take off my shoes off when I went over to his house to play. He had an awesome collection of M.A.S.K. figures, including the Boulder Hill base playset and was my first introduction to Dragonball Z comics. Then one day in August, after a summer trip visiting his extended family in China, Andy returned with the most exotic video game system I had ever beheld, Neo Geo.

It wasn’t really the look of the system itself that was special. After all it was just a black box with standard cartridge games, but it was the library of games that made it awesome. The main game I remember was King of the Monsters. It was a fighting game with a twist, you were gigantic monsters battling each other in the middle of a city. I always chose the giant super hero Astro Guy, but there was also a Godzilla like lizard named Geon, a King Kong wannabe name Woo and more to choose from. It was basically professional wrestling for monsters, but the awesome thing was that the buildings around you would crumble and blow up as you kicked your opponent around.

The other thing that made Neo Geo special was the rumored compatibility to the arcade games. According to Andy, the home console had a removable memory card that you could plug into the Neo Geo cabinet at the arcade. I was always suspicious of this claim, since we used to go to the local arcade a lot together (after digging in the couch cushions for loose change) and I never saw him bust out the card to play King of the Fighters. Still, it added to the mystique of the system and the fact that those bright red cabinets did have the slot for your memory card always gave me some hope to see this feature in action.

2 factors kept Neo Geo out of my home and everyone else I knew besides Andy. One, it was over $1,000 to buy and as a result, I never saw it for sale on store shelves. You were getting arcade quality graphics, but I think most kids would rather spend $5 in quarters at an actual arcade than make Neo Geo their only Christmas present for the next decade. Two, there was no mascot for the system that made an impact. They seemed to have mostly fighting games with generic character designs, none of whom had the charm of Sonic or Mario. Ultimately, some people might have heard of Neo Geo as a home console, but would be have been hard pressed to choose a favorite game.

Speaking of mascots, I should mention that Turbo Grafix 16 did have one icon who tried to give Mario a run for his money. Who was this pretender to the crown? Just a little bald Caveman called BONK! Imagine the mutant hybrid love child of Fred Flintstone and Charlie Brown in the body of Stewie from Family Guy bashing prehistoric obstacles with his cro-magnon cranium. That was BONK!

For a while there the little guy was getting some good press. 2 page comic strips featuring BONK were regularly inserted into my issues of Spectacular Spider-Man in order to raise awareness of the apparent heir to the Italian plumber’s throne. It didn’t happen, but he did get 2 games, BONK’s Adventure and BONK’s revenge out of the deal, which were pretty fun.

Well, that’s it. Who knew I would have so much to say about a pair of failed video game systems that I barely played. Perhaps the weirdness that kept them from being fixtures in our household was what made them memorable.

Did you ever get a chance to mash buttons on Turbo Grafx 16 or Neo Geo? What were your favorite games?

 

 

Anthony..

Edited January 22, 2017 by fdurso224