The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine - Review - Game Sack 

This is the first time we covered a specific system. We didn't know what we were doing. Instead we just picked a few games to talk about and called it a day. We'll talk about the Turbo again someday and Bonk as a series will also likely get his own episode. Or at least half an episode.

When I was a kid, the only thing I could afford was a TurboGrafx 16 which was $99 (after it had failed). It came with Keith Courage and a really fun golf game. It was great for me!

Dave added so much with his unique delivery... Thanks for the memories, Dave.

I finally found a Turbo just 2 weeks ago, having a blast with it. Got Legendary Axe, Galaga 90, Kieth Courage, Ninja Spirit, Chu Man Fu, Fantasy Zone, Bonk 1, and Victory Run.

Depends on who you ask. The sound capabilities are purely technical, 6 channels vs 8 for the SNES and 10 total for the Genesis. Some argue that the Turbo is PSG or a PSG/PCM hybrid. SNES is pure PCM and Genesis has 6 FM with one channel doubling for PCM and 3 PSG and one noise channel. Explaining this in a video isn't as easy as explaining the number of colors, for instance. I love the way the Turbo sounds. I don't necessarily think it sounds "better" but I still love it.

I was lucky to find a TG16 bundle last spring (2012) and that's what got me into this system. Great forgotten console!

When I was a youngin, for some reason, I actually wanted this system over every other one on the market. It was when it first came out and I guess it was because it WAS so different thats why I wanted it. I loved it and hung on to it , defending it until the end lol ....cool to see it get SOME props!😁

Nothing but love for YS 1+2. My favorite pc engine/TG16 game back in the day and today as well.

man im glad i held on to mine. I still remember i bought this one too. Toys R Us back in the early 90s had an incredible deal for the turbo. I remember buying this system for 50 bucks and NEC was running a promo where you would get a mystery game included with the system. So thanks to good grades, dad bought this bundle and he threw in Bonk's Adventure as an extra. I got Final Lap Twin as mystery game. The RPG mode in Final Lap Twin made me lose hours on end. I loved it. I still have my turbo hooked and will play games of Moto Roader or Bonk's Adventure on it.

Super System Card just came in and just played the hell out of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, amazing game and playing it on the original system for the first time just makes it that much sweeter.

I'm here in 2017....The Sack rocks

This video is 10 years old but as usual you're my go-to guys for finding games on obscure (to me) systems. I'm on a roll with retro games at the mo and I'm always down for your recommendations. So glad you're still doing your thing, GameSack.

a very underrated system! I had a lot of good times with the awesome games it had! I still have the Turbo I bought in 1989 and the CD rom setup I got around 1990. I remember being blown away by Ys books 1 and 2 back then and Dracula X in 1993 and of course when I got Gate of Thunder with the super system 3.0 card in 1992. Gate of Thunder's sound track is still one of the best I ever heard in a game.

Joe and Dave, great video. I just did one myself a few weeks ago. I hope you can take a look at it. The TurboGrafx was vastly underrated and I was one of the very few people in school, during my junior high and high school years, to own one. I'm always glad to see videos made by those who are truly huge fans of the system.

One of my al time fav systems.Still have my original I got back in the day when I was 10 years old.I have a modded duo that I still use almost daily and my original tg-16 sits on my shelf.

Based on rising prices I think that too many people appreciate it a little too much

I really regret selling my Turbo. I used the cash to buy a 3D0. Stop don`t look at me, I`m dirty! My favorites were Ninja Spirit and Alien Crush.

As always, I love your show. I am one of the lucky ones that saw the writing on the wall and purchased one years ago. It's a good console and has some excellent titles on it, sadly it did not do well in the US. Growing up I was a diehard Sega fan and almost completely wrote the console off completely. When the Playstation made it's debut and was vying for the number one spot against the Sega Saturn. I was completely and totally lost trying to decide which system to buy. I was so lost that I purchased both on the same day (I continue to do this today). When I was leaving the store I noticed a Turbo Grafix 16 sitting all by itself covered in dust out of box. I inquired about the machine (it had a controller port stuck in the socket, apparently someone broke it off inside the console). They sold it and 10 games for $100.00, I even got Splatter House with it in box...Score. ;)

The FMV between Ys I and Ys II is one of the best sequel links I've seen. I&II are pretty much one long game.

I got my tg-16 in 1991 and it still works like a charm.Great system with some fun games.

Keep in mind these games can be burnt so easily and pop in and play. Like he said just buy the Turbo Duo if you’re going to collect for these. Mine is region free and you may want to get one that has been refurbished bc they have a flaw. Some type of capacitor they used will break and leak over time so be aware of that huge one flaw with the system.

I bought a TG-16 just because of this video! Thanks guys!

I’m so addicted to TG16 right now that I am watching everything!

I find it amazing that the TurboGrafx's HuCards, or TurboChips, could hold games during that time.

What no Devil's Crush? Sacrilege!!! Hands down one of the best console pinball games I've ever played. I love my turbo grafx 16.

When I first saw the TG16 I was about 9 and it was running in demo mode at a Fred Meyers store. The game that was running....Splatterhouse. I was like HOLY HELL

Now with Konami about to release a mini, it will get it's due appreciation.

So awesome that the Japanese version of Rondo of Blood/Dracula X is still available on the wii VC.

The production value of the show has drastically increased since this episode. And Dave got much better at voice overs. This is still one of my favorite episodes and I've watched it multiple times

@onetunafish The FM Towns Marty came out in 1993 in Japan. The TurboGrafx-CD came out in the US in 1990 and even earlier in Japan. I believe even the Duo came out before the Marty.

People don't realize how powerful this console was! It has a advanced 8 bit cpu running at 7.16 MH with a 21 bit address bus!! And had two 16 bit graphics processors capable of 512 available colors and 482 on screen colors, 241 for backgrounds and 241 for sprites, and 16 colors for each sprite! Although only one background layer but it can put sprites in front or behind that background layer! They could put multiple sprites connected together behind the background layer and multiple sprites connected together in front of the background layer and and pull of a convincing parallax scrolling effect along with line scrolling that could easily match the two layers of parallax scrolling of the genesis and four layers of the SNES!!!!! All in all even though it is a 8 bit console it could easily make games to match any 16 bit console of that generation!!!! It's really a 8/16 bit console! U can call it a really powerful 8 bit console or a 8 bit console capable of producing 16 bit graphics!!!! What ever you call it it is and was awesome!!!!!!!!

It'll be worth the wait. I hear Super System cards are hard to come by. I guess you could always get a JP version of the card but the converters are getting expensive these days as well. See that everybody? Because the Turbo was ignored when it was current, there's not enough stuff to meet demand so now it's all crazy expensive!

I paused the video at 1:58 to look at all the calender entries out of curiosity, and when I saw the entry "Pooty tang all up in here" on Oct 9th I couldn't help but grin. I became a fan after I happened upon the Neo Geo X video and have watched all your videos since. Keep up the great work, you two!

I agree. It's so underrated. It was my first game system and I have very fond memories of this system and it's games.

This is for Joe Redifer: Have you ever heard of PC-FX? It was the successor to TurboGrapx-16 and all their 62 games have been released only in Japan...

holy crap 2011 how did i just find your channel......FUCKING awesome now i have your whole library to watch.

Rondo of Blood... 2011: "Around the $100 range." 2015: Over $250 -_- sighhhhhh....

This reminded me of those Johnny Turbo ads that use to run in the gaming magazines. The ones that were like comics where some guy would go around and beat up the people who worked for FEKA, (SEGA), and would get the kids to play the Turbo Duo.

Damn guys, your delivery really improved a lot over time. It was like watching a different video!

thank you so much for mentioning splatterhouse! it is a true gem on the console

Watching you 2 talk about games reminds me of my buddy from school! We talked,traded and sold games with each other from 4 th grade to 12

Joe & Dave, thank you for an enjoyable and interesting episode, as always.

How did I miss this video until now?! Great!

Great video! This console is DEFINITELY underrated!

Thanks for the information on JB Harold Murder Club. I have this added to my Super Nintendo classic edition and haven’t gotten around to seriously playing it.

@gamesack, I loved my TG-16 when I had it! Thank you for paying homage to this under appreciate machine! Could you guys do an episode dedicated to all of the NEO GEO ports that went to all of the different systems and the difference between all of the various versions? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, watching this old video, you guys have come a long way in quality.

I like how the part 2 is only 189 episodes away! Awesome! I had to come back to watch this one first!

I loved my TG16 back in the day.

I just found one of these at my local pawnshop for 10 bucks!!

Great video guys! I love the TG-16. Please make more videos of TG-16 & PC Engine games!

I just bought my second turbografx this was my favorite console

I've gotta get me one of these for my collection.

I think I'd have a real shock if I met these guys in person. Every video I watch is at least 8yrs old lol. I've got so much to catch up on!

What people don't understand is the great technological leap that 16-bit sounds and graphics are from 8-bit. Switching from 8-bit to 16-bit was just an incredible experience and the games show it. Of course today that gets lost, I went through that leap and the memories I have of the 16-bit TurboGrafx are amazing.

I remember my idiot dad asked my brother and I if we still played our Turbo. At the time we were playing the Dreamcast and said 'nah'. We later found out that he dismantled it and threw it in the trash. *facepalm*

This is and will be one of my favorite system awesome!

NEC acquired a license for those games from Sega, it allowed NEC to port games like OutRun, Shinobi, After Burner II though NEC's own NEC Avenue for the PC-Engine. Similarly, Telenet Japan got a license to port Golden Axe to the PC-Engine.

I once saw one of these with Fantasy Zone at my local thrift store for seven bucks. To this very day, I regret not buying it. Gawd I was a cheap and stupid kid.

Would love to see you guys revisit the TG16. Still lots of great games to check out.

I hear some of the most memorable game music on game sack and the a few month later it just pops up in my head and I wonder where it came from and then I watch an awesome Game Sack episode and then I remember, which is cool.

I have all the 8bits & 16bits system and I have to say that turbografx-16 is my favorite system and still is. Thanks for the nice video guys. Looking forward for more:)

That guy might lead a dull life, but he sure as hell doesn't have a dull voice.

Ys is considered to be a Legendary Game in Japan, along with Dragon Quest. If they had released a single Dragon Quest on PC Engine, NEC would have sold about 50 million units on that, alone.

@dave4shmups You'll have to mod your Turbo for video and stereo audio without it or the TurboBooster Plus. The CD unit acts as a TurboBooster Plus as well. We think this was a big mistake not to include composite video and stereo out on the basic system. At least they learned by the time the Duo came out.

This was the best review of the TurboGrafx16 I ever seen on the internet! Great job guys!

Thanks for video, I do have some catching up to do on the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine

Would love another TurboGrafx episode ;)

Turbografx-16 games are now on the Wii U Virtual Console eshop, starting with Bonk's Adventure, New Adventure Island & R-Type! If you haven't tried Turbo games, you're running out of excuses!

I was the only kid in my neighborhood to have one..... My pops bought me the TG-16, bonks adventure and Splatter House for Xmas. I remember they had tons of Tg-16's stacked up in videogame isle at Toys R us.

3:02, just for some advice, when you guys are firing off a long Japanese title like Ginga Sapphire, could you put the text up on the screen that would help. Thank you for making this video, the production, sharing your knowledge, the research and game play footage. It's always nice watching your videos.

I have the t-16,but not the CD attachment. I grew up with the Genesis, but my cousin had the t-16, and I had fun times spending the night with him playing it. Bonks Adventure, Keith Courage, Military Madness, Splatter house, and Legendary Axe bring back fond memories. I had to get one for my game room , if not just for those titles.

I randomly found an original model Turbografx 16 in great condition at a local used game store. It was bundled with three games for $100 and had apparently been sitting there for almost a year. I impulsively bought it knowing almost nothing about the system and now I’m planning on modding it for RGB as soon as the kit I ordered from eBay from the seller RetroRGB recommended comes in.

Man loved my TG-16, you guys overlooked the Valis series and Exile series though...

A Game Sack so early on in the week? I approve of this!

I'm fairly certain that the original English soundtrack for the game was produced in Japan several years earlier when the game was available on PC. I think it is amusing that a lot of the dialogue that the parking lot attendant says in Japanese is played straight while the English track seems to have been produced by a person who watched "48 Hours" and assumed the game needed a vaguely Eddie Murphy-sounding character.

my friends did too, and turned out that system was awesome and i have unforgettable memories from it.

My favorite game console of all time (Neo Geo 2nd), 3DO (third). What can i say, i'm a sucker for the rare. I Had the Turbografx16 first, i bought it in early 1990. all my friends had Genesis and Razzed me for buying this,yes there were some gay games... But, Games like Ninja Spirit, Blazing Lazers, Legendary Axe I&II, Splatterhouse, Bonk, Valis III, Gates and Lords of thunder and DraculaX changed those haters minds. Later when i got the Duo, they all wanted to borrow my old system w/CD add on

@MrGameSack The Fm Towns Marty came out in 1991, but I stand corrected, the pc engine had the first CDROM in 1990, but as an add on, the FM Towns Marty was the first console with a built in CDROM.

a great system I totally overlooked back in the 90s. I remember seeing the turbografx releases on magazines and thinking they were rubbish because they didn't have snes graphics... what a nintendork brat. The best shoot em up library on 8 and 16 bit gen.

Thanks for watching!

I thouhgt you weren't going to mention Jakie Chan's Action Kung-fu. That's one of my all-time favorites. I'm glad you put it on the credits. Good job you guys, this video was AWESOME. I'm going to buy one right away.

Welcome and we love the Turbo! Be sure to check out episode guide (link in the description) and you'll see that we talk about Turbo games A LOT.

I'm shocked that Bonk wasn't mentioned!

_Ys Book 1 & 2_ is, hands down, my favourite Turbografx game.

The TG-16 was the first video game console I bought with my own money. One of my favourites rarely talked about was Shockman. It was hard as hell and to date, I've never been able to finish it without using the code to refill your life meter at anytime, but one of these days I will beat you Shockman. One of these days!!!!! lol

awesome video, i sure do hope you guys make a video that focuses son the game gear

You guys are so young! Look at baby Dave!

I was a Genesis and later SNES guy, but always secretly earned for a Duo, drooling over all of the increasingly desperate soundings ads in EGM in the early 90s. Never had a chance to get one though. However, Magic Engine emulator came out in the late 90s and I got a chance to catch up on this library of games, some of which ended up among my 16-bit favorites. Definitely a great system with a very nice library of games. The games had their own unique look and sound, distinct from the Genesis and SNES. The system didn't really do parallax and line-scrolling that well, so most games are a bit flat looking. However, it made up for it with very large spite size and on-screen colors rivaling the SNES. Some of my favorites not mentioned here: Blazing Lasers (Gunhead), Gradius, Raiden, Soldier Blade, Bonk 3, Air Zonk, Spriggan Mark 2 and Ninja Warriors.

It takes much more processing power to render polygons than it does to display sprites and other pre-rendered assets. Essentially it's the difference between meticulously re-typing a 20-page term paper and just scanning, copying, and turning in a three-pager. Not only is it a lot more work because there's a lot more information involved, but it has to render the polygons based on instructions from the game rather than just displaying the assets which are programmed to interact in specific ways.

Oh wow... I had no idea that Micheal Bell was in Y's I and II. I LOVE him as a voice actor! Thanks for letting me know!

thanks you two are the best!!! now I know what to buy: A TURBO DUO!

I found a TurboExpress at Goodwill. $5.00 "as is" with tv tuner. It worked for a couple of seconds, then the screen would white out. I replaced a couple of capacitors, and BOOM. Perfectly good system for under $10.00 total. Easily my best deal of all time.

This is the 1st episode where the Game Sack that we know, found it’s form. What a jump in production and pacing! But man, there’s something oh so sweet about those raw doggin’ early episodes.

Him: Good luck finding this at your local store. Me: Finds 3 Turbo Grafx 16 in one store.

I'm thinking of shelling out some cash for a PC Engine Turbo Duo-R. You guys' videos make me want to collect PCE and TG-16 games so badly.

TG16 is a great console... Probably my favorite console-based pinball game ever is Alien Crush on the Turbo. Just a great library of games for that one... it's a shame that you can't find any at reasonable prices anymore.

HappyConsoleGamer brought me here as he share a link through he's channel. I must say... Awesome review my friends. Actually, the TurboGrafx16 has been the only console I have ever owned. Oh, and the Turbo Express which I still have with a few games. Please make more TG16 Game reviews.

4:28 bear striking similarities to a game called Carnage Heart. I'm reading online that it was used as an inspiration for several games so I'm betting CH was one of them

i love your show no mather what!!! game sack rocks!!! keep the episodes coming!!!