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Description
NEC had a hit on its hands in Japan with the PC Engine in 1987, a console that regularly outsold the Famicom (the Japanese NES) and wanted to replicate that success in America. So it turned to a marketing company to repackage the underpowered 16-bit machine and go head-to-head with the dominant players in America: Nintendo and SEGA. Perhaps it was the lack of third-party support. Perhaps it was the absolutely goofy inter-capped name TurboGrafx-16. Whatever the culprit, the Turbo just never made a dent in the American market.

It did not help that NEC marched right into a perfect storm. The Turbo was released in August of 1989, just as the hype wars between the SEGA Genesis, the NES, and incoming Super NES were at a fever pitch. The pack-in game, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, was an unknown compared to Altered Beast for the Genesis, which was a port of a popular arcade game that looked remarkably close to the coin-op version. Though the launch library had a couple of gems, like the pinballer Alien Crush, there was just no shaking the competition. The Turbo did not benefit from early realization that the machine was just straight-up underpowered compared to the Genesis. It didn't even have a second controller port; you needed to buy a peripheral so two people could play at the same time. It's no wonder the Turbo quickly fell to fourth place behind the NES, Super NES, and Genesis -- and stayed there.

But a lack of sales does not necessarily mean the console is without merit. The TurboGrafx-16 is home to a solid catalog of games worth playing, such as NEC's attempt at a Mario-like mascot with Bonk's Adventure, the top-down shooter Blazing Lasers, and Namco's side-scrolling horror classic Splatterhouse. These are games worth playing. The Turbo was also the first system to have a CD-drive attachment, the $399 Turbo CD, which was grossly overpriced at $399, but was recognition that the days of cartridges were coming to a close as the new disc medium offered vastly superior storage.

My back story was in 89 after getting the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive I got the TG-16 at the last min after seeing the TV ad on Bonk's Adventure and still love playing that game to this day.

On top of Keith Courage in Alpha Zones a total of nine games came out on US launch day.

Alien Crush
China Warrior
Dungeon Explorer
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (Pack-In Game)
Legendary Axe, The
Power Golf
R-Type
Victory Run
Vigilante

Launches Video Games.

Description
NEC had a hit on its hands in Japan with the PC Engine in 1987, a console that regularly outsold the Famicom (the Japanese NES) and wanted to replicate that success in America. So it turned to a marketing company to repackage the underpowered 16-bit machine and go head-to-head with the dominant players in America: Nintendo and SEGA. Perhaps it was the lack of third-party support. Perhaps it was the absolutely goofy inter-capped name TurboGrafx-16. Whatever the culprit, the Turbo just never made a dent in the American market.

It did not help that NEC marched right into a perfect storm. The Turbo was released in August of 1989, just as the hype wars between the SEGA Genesis, the NES, and incoming Super NES were at a fever pitch. The pack-in game, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, was an unknown compared to Altered Beast for the Genesis, which was a port of a popular arcade game that looked remarkably close to the coin-op version. Though the launch library had a couple of gems, like the pinballer Alien Crush, there was just no shaking the competition. The Turbo did not benefit from early realization that the machine was just straight-up underpowered compared to the Genesis. It didn't even have a second controller port; you needed to buy a peripheral so two people could play at the same time. It's no wonder the Turbo quickly fell to fourth place behind the NES, Super NES, and Genesis -- and stayed there.

But a lack of sales does not necessarily mean the console is without merit. The TurboGrafx-16 is home to a solid catalog of games worth playing, such as NEC's attempt at a Mario-like mascot with Bonk's Adventure, the top-down shooter Blazing Lasers, and Namco's side-scrolling horror classic Splatterhouse. These are games worth playing. The Turbo was also the first system to have a CD-drive attachment, the $399 Turbo CD, which was grossly overpriced at $399, but was recognition that the days of cartridges were coming to a close as the new disc medium offered vastly superior storage.

My back story was in 89 after getting the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive I got the TG-16 at the last min after seeing the TV ad on Bonk's Adventure and still love playing that game to this day.

On top of Keith Courage in Alpha Zones a total of nine games came out on US launch day.

Alien Crush
China Warrior
Dungeon Explorer
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (Pack-In Game)
Legendary Axe, The
Power Golf
R-Type
Victory Run
Vigilante

Launches Video Games.