The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[str0m]

16 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

Turbo Everdrive Pro is back in stock over at Krikzz.com, if anyone here is interested. 

 

I missed a recent chance to get one and doing a search to see if I could find it in stock anywhere, I saw a LOT of gripes n' grumbles (probably reddit) about how quickly they went out of stock, so nice to see them back.  

Doesn't look like there is any update on his expansion board thing so still only mono CD sound for now

[roots.genoa]

3 hours ago, akator said:

I disagree that most Atari, Sega, Sony, and NEC fans are Nintendo haters.  I'm not sure how you reached this conclusion, as I have found that not to be the case at all.  The majority of classic gamers I know enjoy many systems from many companies and publishers and very few of those people hate anything broadly — they may hate select games, but rarely an entire system.

Good for you then. 🤷‍♂️

[Tanooki]

That's because those Nintendo haters are grown children.  Unless you have a valid reason, not because they protected IP, not because you hate they exist, but have a real valid reason and can be backed up...you're being a man/woman-child about it and deserve and flack you catch.  There should be good reason to be anti-them, or whatever other company maybe because something that actually did happen they were the cause of.  It oculd be repeated faulty hardware, squeezing too much money out of a product, maybe the design of some product(s) drives you nuts, could be the companies behavior towards games/gamers/the hobby itself.  Have some valid reasons, not just because F them...but haha I can play your stuff elsewhere so haha f u.  That's petty, stupid, childish and explains all that needs to be said.  I'm speaking of this to his experience, maybe his area of hobby or location of country where such things happen.  Easily one could pop out N and put M or S in the spot instead of the big existing three.

 

Personally I won't touch an xbox, if gifted, I'd sell it.  But that goes into two decades of annoyance over practices, genre preferences, what bad things they normalized into home console gaming, and so on so I want nothing to do with it, and would never want to give them a dime on that format.  But, of the few games they do make I did/do care for, I don't blackball I'd just use it on PC instead because that's a different sphere.

[+jeremiahjt]

There are really not that many Nintendo haters, yes there are some. Most of the time you say something slightly negative about Nintendo and all the Nintendo fanatics show up and call you names for not realizing that Nintendo had the best console and best games of every generation. It even happens here on AtariAge.

 

I think Super Mario Bros. is a better game than Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, but by 1989 and 1990 nobody I knew was still talking about the first Super Mario Bros. game. The sequels and other new NES games were talked about though.

 

This could be due to the place video games held among my friends and I. We played outside as much as possible. Video games were usually played after darkness descended upon us. Maybe among the hard-core gamers they still played games all day and then prayed at their NES altar before bed.

 

On to the topic of the Everdrive, I bought one. I really think I am done with this collecting thing outside of Atari. It is time to get some flash carts and maybe start selling some stuff.

[SlidellMan]

I'm going to be honest, I think Keith Courage could have used some tweaks to its gameplay to make it more playable. This is coming from someone who considers Alien Crush and Devil's Crush were the superior titles. Now who's up for Lords of Thunder:

Enjoy!

[turboxray]

Wow.. some of you guys are idiots. I'm a Nintendo hater? NES is literally one my favorite retro systems. I owned a NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, GB, GBC, GBA, DS, 3DS, wii, switch - all of them in their era they were released. But sure, I'm a Nintendo hater. Nice dismissive hand waving.

 

 One more time for people that fail to understand a simple concept. Logical time line: SMB original US release.. amazing game at the time, pack-in sold systems, becomes a cultural icon... no one debates that.  Couple of years later.. NES is booming, games advance way beyond SMB 1... no one cares about SMB 1 - other games easily surpassed this 48k mapper less game that everyone and their mother had; if you got the NES without it, you could easily borrow it from anyone as no one cared.

 

 Fast-forward: the 8bit era is dead, years later appreciation and nostalgia bring the popularity of SMB 1 back into the light (also gets immensely popular in the hacking scene early on because it's one of the easiest games to hack)... etc.. etc.. etc. But in late 1989 and early 1990.. no one gave two shits about SMB 1. No one.

 

 So in THAT context, again.. THAT context.. with Nintendo STILL bundling SMB 1 with the system, by comparison KC is an adequate pack-in. NEC followed the standard at the time. As did Sega. And gamers expectations were aligned with what the console market was doing at the time. It does NOT matter what game holds up NOW, years after, how popular it is now, who has nostalgia for what, etc. What matters is then, at that point in time. The pack-in game at the time, didn't really matter as long as it was a general audience pick-up and play game and attempted to show off some system features, then it fit the bill. And easy platformers definitely fit that bill back in '89-90.. in the US. Look at Altered Beast; that was definitely not a killer app like SMB 1 when it was first bundled, and yet Sega went on to dominate. You can fault NEC of America for not going above and beyond or thinking outside the box, I guess, but they didn't go below the bar with KC.  

 

 The whole point of this is to setup context, because the retro gaming scene loves to fucking re-imagine gaming history, wear three pairs of rose-tinted glasses backed by a few beers, and propose all these poor thought out theories and crap because "it sounded good in my head when I thought about it, so it must be true". So when people say, XZY pack-in failed.. should have had a better game, etc - context is key. You cannot use SMB 1 as an example of "should have had a killer app, look at what SMB 1 did for Nintendo", in 1989-1990, for the TG16 or even the Genesis. In 1986, Nintendo was doing everything they could to distinguish themselves from everyone else in the gaming market in the US. The whole kitchen sink, including top tier title like SMB 1 pack-in. The following generation didn't need that - the graphics, sound, capability of the new systems clearly stood out on its own compared to the dominating but aging NES (go ahead and lump SMS in there. 7800 isn't even on the map). What truly mattered, and gamers were already wise to this by this point in time, was the system's library. Nintendo got lucky with the NES - they didn't exactly know it was going to work. Nintendo got smart with the SNES (SMW pack-in) - they knew exactly what they were doing. In that context, given the market and competition (mostly Sega) - they did need a solid packin; the SNES wasn't simply a next-gen system compared to the Genesis, or lesser TG16. Sega even followed Nintendo's lead on the pack-in only after the SNES was released, with Sonic. Hell, so did NEC with the Duo (and I *think* Bonk might have even got a pack-in later for base TG16). But '89-90 is not the same as post-SNES launch, and original NES SMB 1 pack-in/launch/whatever. Same reason you can't use SMW and Sonic as pack-in examples, for the TG16 release pack-in.

 

I've seen people make this same argument for Altered Beast. "They should have bundled a better pack-in". No. It was fine. My favorite one has to be "the TG16 failed specifically because it only had one controller port" <- that's a spectrum test.

 

 Does that clear anything up for you guys? 

[DragonGrafx-16]

And your assumption that no one cares about SMB 1 is false cause a lot of people do... myself included!

[turboxray]

3 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

And your assumption that no one cares about SMB 1 is false cause a lot of people do... myself included!

So in 1990, SMB 1 ruled your life and was the driving force for purchasing an NES over a TG16? Congrats on being the exception.

[DragonGrafx-16]

2 minutes ago, turboxray said:

So in 1990, SMB 1 ruled your life and was the driving force for purchasing an NES over a TG16? Congrats on being the exception.

No, that was literally the year I was born. lmao

[turboxray]

7 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

No, that was literally the year I was born. lmao

Ohh.. so you have zero experience and real understanding of that era. So when I said, "in '89-90.." - that obviously didn't apply to you haha. Unless you were born with the appreciation of SMB 1. Probably go back and re-read what I wrote. I didn't say "no one cares about SMB 1". I said no one in '89-90 cared about SMB 1. I mean, I probably should have hedged my statement with "nearly" or "almost".. but I figured it was implied. I'm sure you can find a couple of exceptions.. but they're just that, exceptions and not the rule. Point still stands.

Edited May 24, 2023 by turboxray

[DragonGrafx-16]

6 minutes ago, turboxray said:

Ohh.. so you have zero experience and real understanding of that era. So when I said, "in '89-90.." - that obviously didn't apply to you haha. Unless you were born with the appreciation of SMB 1. Probably go back and re-read what I wrote. I didn't say "no one cares about SMB 1". I said no one in '89-90 cared about SMB 1. I mean, I probably should have hedged my statement with "nearly" or "almost".. but I figured it was implied. I'm sure you can find a couple of exceptions.. but they're just that, exceptions and not the rule. Point still stands.

Yet, I still have memories going to buy NES games. Sure I was young, but SMB1 was literally the first game I ever played.

[Razzie.P]

1 hour ago, turboxray said:

 

 Does that clear anything up for you guys? 

Yes, it definitely makes something quite clear, but probably not what you had intended.

 

54 minutes ago, turboxray said:

So in 1990, SMB 1 ruled your life and was the driving force for purchasing an NES over a TG16? Congrats on being the exception.

I'm not sure I've ever had any game "rule my life."  That's interesting, I suppose.  Could be a neat topic.

[Tanooki]

1977 and no it didn't rule my existence.  I got the (pre/unmarked as) Deluxe Set Christmas of 85, and it with Hogan's Alley were 2 spares picked up along with the pack-ins and they got heavy use through 86, 87, and as SMB2 came that fell off, but I still came around to it again for fun, context, and not to fall out of practice through Mario Madness and into the global Mario, Wizard, etc spam bomb #3 got.  Sure it looked dated, sounded fantastic still all things considered, but it still key point played well and was compelling to mess with.  I was jazzed when All-Stars came out, again when it hit the GBC too, once more with the Classic NES GBA release as well.  I've had periods I've fallen out of practice, I'd question finishing it at this rate, but it never at any time felt utterly pointless, dated, or some easily dismissed archaic turd worth shelving.  Even to date I go through old stuff, some I've had since the period and if it ages out, it goes out...it's not going anywhere.  You're being too black and white to make a pretty sad point that really isn't perfectly fit into (your) reality.

[Austin]

My take:

 

- Keith Courage was mediocre at best, even for the time, and Legendary Axe as a pack-in would have done the system far more favors. Blazing Lazers also could have been a good choice, as shooters were popular at the time and it's one of the more beginner-friendly ones out there.

 

- The idea that Super Mario Bros wasn't "special" after a while, does in fact make sense if you were a kid living through it, like many of us were. Everyone had it and the NES library as a whole was advancing at such a rapid clip that it felt outdated just a few years after its release. Also, like NE146 said, a lot of us had also mastered it to the point where it became boring. That's an unfortunate downside to being stuck with it as your only cart for a while. 🤷‍♂️

 

- It's also true that people stopped talking about it as much on the streets/playgrounds/whatever. That's because they were talking about the sequels and other "hot" releases instead. Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 in particular were huge deals for the console, so of course people weren't going to talk about the original as much as, say, some middle-aged men do on forums today, heh. The fact is, any early game from a console generation is going to eventually feel old-hat to the die-hard fans later on in that generation. They want the latest and the greatest, and like with any other generation, when the NES was current, SMB's original "WOW" factor eventually wore off.

 

- None of this means the original SMB wasn't or still isn't a good game, it's just that peoples' interests were moving with the times. Now that we're nearly 40 years on, we can look back on from a different angle and appreciate it for what it is. The way we perceived it at the time was and should be different than how we see it decades later.

 

One thing I will say is, unlike a lot of other launch-window releases from future generations, Super Mario Bros has aged like a fine wine and is still worth playing and talking about today. It was most certainly groundbreaking, and I probably enjoy and appreciate it more now than I did when the NES was at its peak from '88 - '91, when I and others were hooked on other games (like Super Mario Bros 2 and 3, Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2, Double Dragon II, Startropics, Contra and Super C, Punch-Out, Zelda II, Final Fantasy, TMNT The Arcade Game, Battletoads, the Castlevanias, the Mega Mans, etc).

Edited May 24, 2023 by Austin

[MrTrust]

2 hours ago, turboxray said:

Fast-forward: the 8bit era is dead, years later appreciation and nostalgia bring the popularity of SMB 1 back into the light (also gets immensely popular in the hacking scene early on because it's one of the easiest games to hack)... etc.. etc.. etc. But in late 1989 and early 1990.. no one gave two shits about SMB 1. No one.

 

Yeah, you stupid morons.  All those 30 million people who bought SMB1 weren't still excited about it 4 years later after 2 huge sequels and a slew of other big titles.  Therefore, nobody cared if they got a sucky pack-in game with a brand new, just-released, supposedly state-of-the-art system.  Duh.  What's so hard to understand about that?

 

3 hours ago, turboxray said:

So in THAT context, again.. THAT context.. with Nintendo STILL bundling SMB 1 with the system, by comparison KC is an adequate pack-in.

 

The difference is that in THAT time, and in THAT context, SMB1 was STILL A GOOD GAME, as it was in '86 AND STILL IS.  Keith Courage, on the other hand, WAS NOT GOOD.  Not in that context OR IN ANY OTHER, and is WORSE TODAY.  What's so hard to understand about THAT?

 

3 hours ago, turboxray said:

The following generation didn't need that - the graphics, sound, capability of the new systems clearly stood out on its own compared to the dominating but aging NES (go ahead and lump SMS in there. 7800 isn't even on the map).

 

And TG-16 certainly has the units sold to show for it, right?

 

[roots.genoa]

To be honest, the NES wasn't that successful in Europe until 1989-1990, so it was indeed not thanks to SMB, but rather to TMNT (that was bundled with the NES at the time) even though it was a bad game. But kids wanted it. 🤷‍♂️

[Reaperman]

Been playing Final Lap Twin on the treadmill the last 3 days.

Here's a code in case anybody wants to roll around in Quest Mode with max stats and all the upgrades up to the final(?) boss. 

No, I can't beat that boss yet. 🤦‍♂️ Sail to the island with the big white arena if you want to try.

 

Yes, that's how I do my password-games, with a 'KidiZoom Printcam'

(or I do memories-screenshots if on the analogue pocket).

 

(embiggen)

This is here as much to remind me of the password as anything else.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Reaperman

[+jgkspsx]

I ended up with an extra Meteor Blaster DX (which includes two bonus games, Implode Caravan Version and Loop v2) so if anybody skipped it and decides they want it please let me know.

[+GoldenWheels]

12 hours ago, Reaperman said:

Been playing Final Lap Twin on the treadmill the last 3 days.

Here's a code in case anybody wants to roll around in Quest Mode with max stats and all the upgrades up to the final(?) boss. 

No, I can't beat that boss yet. 🤦‍♂️ Sail to the island with the big white arena if you want to try.

 

Yes, that's how I do my password-games, with a 'KidiZoom Printcam'

(or I do memories-screenshots if on the analogue pocket).

 

(embiggen)

This is here as much to remind me of the password as anything else.

I always loved this game when I found it (in emulation bitd) and appreciated that it would let you build a completely BORKED car. Want to go for all engine upgrades, and be unable to stay on the track at all? GO FOR IT!

 

 

[NE146]

13 hours ago, Reaperman said:

Been playing Final Lap Twin on the treadmill the last 3 days.

Here's a code in case anybody wants to roll around in Quest Mode with max stats and all the upgrades up to the final(?) boss. 

No, I can't beat that boss yet. 🤦‍♂️ Sail to the island with the big white arena if you want to try.

 

Yes, that's how I do my password-games, with a 'KidiZoom Printcam'

(or I do memories-screenshots if on the analogue pocket).

 

(embiggen)

This is here as much to remind me of the password as anything else.

Wow, I totally remember getting invested into the quest mode which since I was in a frat house in college had to have been 1989/1990. Thing is.. the game seemed really bare bones even then!   

 

I can't imagine playing it today. But now I'm intrigued! I might have to give it a fresh try again, but using save states or something to ease the pain lol

[Hwlngmad]

5 hours ago, NE146 said:

Wow, I totally remember getting invested into the quest mode which since I was in a frat house in college had to have been 1989/1990. Thing is.. the game seemed really bare bones even then!   

 

I can't imagine playing it today. But now I'm intrigued! I might have to give it a fresh try again, but using save states or something to ease the pain lol

The quest mode is really what makes the game.  Otherwise, it is not that great imo.

[Reaperman]

So the youtube algorithm finally caught on that I'm on a pce/tg16 kick and recommended me one of the best youtube videos I've ever seen: Shmup Junkie's 3+ hour coverage of every Shmup on the platform.  Holy jeez.  I'm almost all the way through--down to the letter T currently. 

 

Well worth the view. Sorry if it's been posted already, I did a search, but being a vid it probably wouldn't come up.

I can't even imagine the work it took to make this, since a lot of the footage is clearly from deep into these games.

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Reaperman

[+GoldLeader]

14 hours ago, Reaperman said:

So the youtube algorithm finally caught on that I'm on a pce/tg16 kick and recommended me one of the best youtube videos I've ever seen: Shmup Junkie's 3+ hour coverage of every Shmup on the platform.  Holy jeez.  I'm almost all the way through--down to the letter T currently. 

 

Well worth the view. Sorry if it's been posted already, I did a search, but being a vid it probably wouldn't come up.

I can't even imagine the work it took to make this, since a lot of the footage is clearly from deep into these games.

 

 

 

 

So surprised he picked DEEP BLUE as the BEST Shmup ever!  That really surprised me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah,  Just kidding hahahahaa!

[SlidellMan]

If I ever made a shmup for the Turbo, it would be in the vein of Zaxxon, Future Spy, Desert Falcon, or Viewpoint as a means to stand out. (I would be focusing on platforming and run-&-guns.)

[+GoldLeader]

1 hour ago, SlidellMan said:

If I ever made a shmup for the Turbo, it would be in the vein of Zaxxon, Future Spy, Desert Falcon, or Viewpoint as a means to stand out. (I would be focusing on platforming and run-&-guns.)

You see,  That would be Damn Awesome IMO!

 

I Always loved Zaxxon and Viewpoint!  I used to imagine a game like that,  but with branching paths and exploration...Imagine if you had to pick a path, at a certain point, will it be a Lava Level?  Or Cave Floor where you dodge stalagmites and geysers popping up out of the floor?  ...