Such a great console. I had an NES back in the day but I was always blown away by the TG-16 every time I saw it on a store display. Even against the Genesis and SNES it stood out with CD-ROM, it's gorgeous color palette, and fantastic arcade ports. I was so happy when the mini came out and I went with the PC-ENGINE mini since I prefer Japanese versions. Quite a number of gems and the fact Konami was behind it made it even better. It did the best job with including 3rd party titles. Having a dozen CD-ROM games made it a winner. Also a few arcade ports I prefer over arcade versions that have on my Super Retrocade. My introduction to 16 bit consoles was when my cousins had a Sega Genesis. But I continued to stare at the TG-16 on display still convinced that it had advantages over it's rivals. CD-ROM was a huge deal and even revolutionary back in 1990!

It's amazing how this system is more popular now in the west than it was over 25 years ago

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

It really is. Back in the late 80s this was a cult system but as time has passed many have come to love it. Kind of like the Saturn. . As far as I know the PC Engine only got a sort of official release in France.

@candlewax122

6 жыл бұрын

Thats the power of youtube reviews

@Konuvis

4 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore It's possible but I'm French and I don't recall it getting much coverage.

@toromei

3 жыл бұрын

I had a TurboGrafx 16 growing up in the US. It was definitely not popular there. But it was very popular (as the PC Engine) in Japan. Hence the variations. :)

@lunsj

3 жыл бұрын

I remember it being advertised here in the US but I and no one I knew had one. I wanted one when the CD peripheral came out.

I’m glad you recommend me these videos! Very informative, if someone ever asks me questions about PC Engine I will most likely share this video. Override is a game I did not know about, it looks good! Excellent video Retro Core!

@RetroCore

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I've recently been picking up many PC Engine CD titles which I will show in the next gaming pick ups video in a week or so.

@Astrotech1054

2 жыл бұрын

Will check it out when it comes out. I am looking forward for that!

The TG16 should've stuck with the original PC Engine's form factor and just made it black. The American console was really lightweight and seemed like it had a bunch of unnecessary plastic. These were the "bigger=better" days, so I guess they had to fluff up the size of the console to make it seem more powerful.

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

I agree. The US console is also ugly as hell and stupid in design with its duel power switches once you have a CD system attached. As you said, they should have went black and sold it as an amazing feat of Japanese tech packing so much in to a small form factor.

Another great video! Do have to mention, the Supergrafx only had 5 games made specifically for it, 1941, Aldynes, Ghouls N Ghosts, Madou Granzort, and Battle Ace. The others were PC Engine games that had slight improvements if played through an SGX console.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Ah, yes, that is true. I though 7 was a little more than I originally remembered.

@AngryCalvin

2 жыл бұрын

At least it was backward compatible like the Atari 5200. I didn't even know about it until more recently. The CD-ROM was the center of attention during that period. At the same time it was really expensive. I only knew of 1 person who actually had a TG-16 and that was before the CD-ROM was available.

I just commented on the feature on PC Engine CD, but I wanted to come and say something here as well, as I have come to love the PC Engine in a short span of time. This video was my introduction to Retro Core, outside of a Battle of the Ports on Twin hawk. As for the hardware differences, there actually is a minor hardware difference between the different core models. When I say minor, I mean it's extremely minor and I share it as merely an interesting bit of trivia and not as any kind of criticism. The Core Grafx 1 was brought out around the same time as the Supergrafx and they share a color scheme. They also share a CPU revision(Supergrafx having the same CPU as the regular PC Engine) the HuC6280a. This corrected an audio issue which I've only ever encountered in Image Fight during a menu screen. On the other models that use the original HuC6280, there's a popping sound during a menu screen, I think the difficulty select. Oddly enough, the Core Grafx 2 went back to the original HuC6280 and not the revised chip so it also has the audio glitch. Aside from Image Fight, I have no idea what games are affected, and noticing the problem in that game was just luck as I played the game two consecutive says on two different machines. Anyway, great work on this video and the other system features along with the Battle of the Ports series, which is what I've seen of your channel so far.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Wow, I never knew about the chip revision having any difference. It is minor as you say but a very interesting bit of PC Engine trivia for sure. About 10 years ago I was lucky to own a massive PC Engine collection of around 150 so games but like an idiot I sold it for less than half of what it's worth now :(

@yohkom.7988

6 жыл бұрын

"Oddly enough, the Core Grafx 2 went back to the original HuC6280 and not the revised chip so it also has the audio glitch" This is indeed odd! Great info anyway.

This might be the best PC-Engine video on KZread. I appreciate all the games previewed (most of which I am not familiar with) and also appreciate that you didn't do the "usual KZreadr" thing and feature Bonk since everyone's grandmother already knows that game.

@RetroCore

3 жыл бұрын

Lol, thanks. I hate all videos that show the typical games. It's so boring. Who cares to watch about bonk, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, sonic and so on. I'm all about the good games that popular western KZread channels know nothing about. Thanks for watching! Please help the channel grow by recommending it to others.

@lunsj

3 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore Thank you Mark for making such quality content (I just learned your name from a recent video.) You could probably have twice the subscribers and twice the ad revenue if you made the lowest common denominator junk that those other channels make. But you seem to have more integrity and real love for the games and machines you show us. That really comes through. I enjoy the "slice of Japan life" you sometimes show us too. Take care.

Excellent, thank you for this great video. Looks like alot of work went into this one and it shows.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Yep, this video took quite a while to do but it was worth it.

Splatterhouse and Ninja Spirit were my favorite Turbographx16 games.

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

They're both classics for sure. It's a shame about the censorship on the US version of Splatter House though.

I loved this game list. Great video as always dude 😎

@RetroCore

Жыл бұрын

Thanks man,

Thank you so much for recording the gameplay showing the correct interlaced picture! So many people show them with a filter to show them as upscaled progressive-scan removing the scanlines, and make them look bad since they weren't designed for such a display! And you touched on the one area the PCE/TG-16 most often disappointed me...the lack of parallax backgrounds! It was one of the things that kept a lot of games from feeling "Next-Gen" back in the day. I always felt it was lazy developers since occasionally others would pull it off, although I know it was a hardware limitation that required workarounds.

Most comprehensive video I have seen about the matter. Thanks 👏👏👏

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

You're welcome, Lior. The world of PC Engine can be very confusing.

I love the PCE! Glad you decided to do an episode on it.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

There's more to come with the CD episode.

Excellent video, glad you covered Override. This is a really great game that gets overlooked for whatever reason. But the gameplay is near perfect, and it's got stunning graphics and intense turbochip music.

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

Indeed. Override is a true classic game. Tough but fun.

Very good show, I like the PC engine a lot, and the fact that was the most japanish console of its time at some point like you said. I look forward for the PCE CD special. Also that Doraemon game looks pretty cool, reminds me of bomberman and lode runner. Thank you, good job and nice shirt! :D

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Haha, I was waiting for someone to comment on the shirt. I filmed those live sections just after I'd come home from work. It was too hot and I was too sweaty so I didn't feel like putting on new clean clothes just for an hour.

@leonardoantonio8756

8 жыл бұрын

Retro Core haha ok man!

Thanks for including the list. I will definitely be trying quite a few of these. :)

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

no problem.

I was busy watching Game Sack SNES video when I saw this video coming. Good thing that you show some games that not many people review except for Ninja Spirit & Bubble Bobble 3. Metal Stoker is my favorite of the bunch. Can't wait for PC-Engine CD add on episode. NEC PC-FX later used that TurboDuo RX 6-button controller design as the default controller. It's too bad that PC-FX didn't achieve a greater success as the predecessor.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I saw the Game Sack SNES special but I wish they didn't cover all the mega common stuff. That's just boring having to see Mario, Donkey Kong, Metro I'd and so on. I know they are good games but I don't want to watch them. Still, great show.

aha, I found a note on my hard drive, it's my top 20 PCE/TG16 hucard/turbochip SHMUP. 1.Blazing Lazers 2.Gradius series (3 in total) 3.Soldier series (3 in total) 4.Raiden 5.R-Type 6.Image Fight 7.Dragon Spirit series (2 in total) 8.Aero Blasters 9.Terra Cresta II 10.Magical Chase 11.Galaga '90 12.Cyber Core 13.Psycho Chaser 14.Override 15.Final Blaster 16.Dead Moon 17.Aldynes 18.Psychosis 19.Sinistron 20.Aldynes

Watching some old PCE videos to get excited for the coming mini console. This was such a great list of games. As you said, it ignores most of the games that get all the attention to highlight lesser known games. Sadly, I don't see most of these having a chance of making the final mini console list.

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

I think the PC Engine mini will be awful. Simply because Konami are behind it.

Hey, I didn't know Metal Stoker! Looks pretty neat, thank you for sharing it.

I just started playing these games, and really enjoying them especially super cd games

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Ah, so you are new to the world of PC Engine? You've got so much fun ahead of you.

Great episode. I have the original white PC engine with the interface and CDRom attachment. I really love the classic look of the two pieces in the interface unit. I have gotten it whitened and RGB modded. The PC engine has quickly grown on me and is now in my top five consoles of all time. Too bad you don't care much for the Nintendo Entertainment System. So many amazing titles. It's my second favorite console. Keep up the great work!

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

The PC Engine sure is a classic and great system, especially if you have the CD add-on. I really do like it.

China Warrior(Who doesn't love big beefy sprites?) and Bloody Wolf(with its fantastic Engrish) are probably my favorite games for the system.

As a huge PCE and TG16 fan, I really enjoyed this episode. Keep up the good work!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Cheers. It took a long time to put together :)

The turbografx was the shit! I was lucky enough to have the turbo cd in 1990. Let me tell you Y's book 1 and 2 was mind blowing!!

@RetroCore

4 жыл бұрын

They are but the scrolling was kind of annoying.

@Exlee-dq9uo

4 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore You mean on like 3 to 4 games total lifetime? In Y's book 1 and 2 it's for me a non issue. But wih all the amazing parts of Y's book 1 + 2 it seems like an abasurd nit pick!! Amazing music, voice acting, bosses, colors and story in Y's 3 is a little more prominent and I will I agreee it's can be annoying there and a little bit in Ninja Gaiden. The reason it occurs is because the turbografx/pc engine can stack 4 layers of tiles on each other and scroll them at different times to create parallax. Even though it didn't have a dedicated second layer, the pc engine could easily do parallax as Air zonk, gate of thunder, kaidan and dead moon prove. It was just slightly harder to program. That's why a few of the early games have that stutter. But it doesn't really bother me much, especially not in Y's book 1 and 2.

Great episode, always a treat to watch a new Retrocore. The original and best

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks man. I just wish I could pump them out more often.

Parasol Stars encourage throwing things in empty spaces on the tages. This is how one can earn more continues, in the form of a 100 yen coin. Those take awhile of throwing things at empty spaces (the game has an order of things that appear when you do so), first you'll get food items of small value, then larger value, then you'll start getting drink items, then crowns, then the blue yen coin pops up. Collect it, and you'll earn a continue. Now every 77 stages will earn you a rainbow necklace, collecting it, and finishing a world and it's boss nets you a silver door. Enter said door, and inside is a 99 continue coin, do it again and you might get an orange ball, which serves one purpose, it finishes the true last boss's first form instantly. Leaving you only to have to fight it's second form. The game has a lot of secrets, pretty much expected of the Bubble Bobble series.

Awesome video as always!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Cheers.

Another excellent video!

I have never seen the portable GT...wow. Thank You for showing that!

7:24 You'd think the Japanese PC Engine games would have cardboard sleeves, but no, apparently that was only a thing for North American TubroGrafx-16 games.

Fantastic episode. Probably the best one to properly cover the various version of pc engine which most do not bother doing when covering the system, especially game choice that features games not usually covered by system. Will also say interesting choice to only cover the hu-card.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

That ks for you comment. The main reason to cover all the systems is because when I first got in to PCEngine I was so confused. There must be many people out there like I was so I wanted to provide a simple rundown of what each machine was. Hu-cards only is part of my plan as some people don't want to go the CD rout. I'll be covering the CD games in a future show :)

@shwink

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core I was confused too which is why I went the pic engine duo route myself.

This was an enjoyable watch, cheers

@RetroCore

4 жыл бұрын

And thank you for watching.

ParaSOL Stars ;) Nice video - one of my favourites of yours.

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

Hehe, I think I may have said Parallel Stars during this video.

Really like Metal Stokers as well i did a 1cc of it on my channel a few months ago takes about an hour to finish cool game, and yeah reminds me of Granada as well another game i like.

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

Yep, I saw that. Hoof work on the 1cc. I cant 1cc many games these days. My reaction time has slowed down.

@RetroTuna

5 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore you got to keep in training to keep the reaction sharp lol,

Thanks that was a great episode.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

No worries. I hope you will enjoy the PC Engine CD Rom special coming is a few weeks.

Parasol Starts is SO amazing. My favourite game with Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Island. Taito was a great developer.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

It sure does seem to be a fan fav'. I'm not sure why it was never an aracde game. It would have done so well.

@ShallRemainUnknown

6 жыл бұрын

Amazing that the game was developed for the home console yet has the very rare distinction of really FEELLING like a arcade game from Taito, with all the smooth gameplay, original novel mechanics, and graphical nuances of a Bubble Bobble series arcade game. All in a paltry 3 megabits!

3:48 I think the Shuttle was just a budget revision of the PC Engine meant to appeal to younger audiences or something along those lines.

Thank you for your video, i really like pc engine, not so many videos like this on youtube, they always focus nintendo nes snes or sega master system megadrive.

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

I don't mind Sega but the NES, I have no interest in that. Being from the UK the NES wasn't that popular. We liked the Master System more. It's a shame we never got the PC Engine as I think it would have been popular.

wow i remember the adds in mean machines for the pc engine, the gt portable especially, would love to get one

Rewatching your video for game inspiration for my turbo ever drive. I've mostly got my PC engine working. Waiting for the last parts finish the rgb amp.

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

Good luck installing the RGB Amp. One you have that installed you PC Engine will look fantastic.

@James-fo8rf

6 жыл бұрын

Retro Core, yes the picture is really dim and not very great! But it does work though. I've also ordered some sync cleaner chips to play with.

The HuCard region copy protection was simply a pin swap between a few of the connectors. You could get around this by buying an inexpensive(at the time) converter that re-routed the pins from the Japanese configuration to the U.S. one.

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

Yep, this is true.

At 10:30 that boss is clearly pro wrestler and hep c carrier Abdullah the Butcher.

Love my PC Engine. My recommendation, get any original model (not a Duo or Shuttle, must have expansion port) and a Super SD System 3 from Terra Onion. It does two things. First, it works like an Everdrive, but it also emulates the CD drive, so you can play CD ISO files off an SD card, no CD add on or system cards needed. The second thing it does is allow RGB out over a Mega Drive 2 cable. I have an RGB SCART and an HD Retrovision component cable for my model 2 Genesis (I'm American) and both output amazing quality from my original model white Japanese PC Engine. A TruboGrafx-16 will cost you, but a PC Engine can be picked up for about ¥7000 and the Super SD System 3 is about £240. Not cheap, but well worth it for a complete PC Engine library, Hu Card and CD, and RGB output.

Your vids are amazing and informative. Would love to have a beer with you and just game it up.

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

Well, if you ever find yourself in Yamaguchi or Kitakyūshū let me know.

TurboView has done a great job.. its was his goal to review every US TG16 game released. he is getting there. Great Job on the video! PCE/TG16/DUO can be very hard to understand and get into. collecting can be expensive these days

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

Tell me about it. When I first got in to the PC Engine I was so confused at to what all the different models were.

@xaer0knight

6 жыл бұрын

Retro Core what's worse is the system cards... There is like 5 of them and which one goes with with game. Like the System Arcade Card is for Sapphire and I think Street Fighter 2. The US version is ugly! Especially when you add a Turbo CD or a Turbo Booster. But you can't use them both at the same time.. so your stuck at RF for CDRom and RCA for HuCards...

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

Actually the system cards are basically more memory or at least that's how the Arcade card and a super CD system card work. They're the PC Engine equivalent of the Saturn's RAM cartridges. The Arcade cart works with pretty much every game. Street Fighter 2 is a cartridge game so it doesn't require any system card. Basically, Neo Geo ports on CD require the Arcade System card and a few other games use it as well. Games such as Dracula X use the Super CD System Card but will also work with the Arcade System card. I think the Super CD System card adds 2 mbit of memory while the Arcade card adds 4mbit. I agree on the US machine. It's so ugly and way to big and very stupid when you connect a CD drive. It needs both switched on separately.

Looks real nice, I've seen the krizz ones but they look kind of raw, good work sir

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I've seen those. NOt very nice IMO. I did buy an official Krizz card though. Support those who make the ideas come true. Not the Chinese rip offs. Talking of which, some Chinese rip off store on Aliexpress is using MY artwork for one of their knock off mega drive titles!

@MRSTU1210

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core naughty rip offs

@MRSTU1210

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core it's would be really cool if you did a video overview of your pc engine ever drive, I think it time I brought one soon, but want a nice looking and hard wearing one such as your's dude

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Stuart J 1210 Maybe in the future but at the moment I'm two videos behind :( I have two items here that I should have made videos on a while back.

@MRSTU1210

8 жыл бұрын

Retro Core Ok dude,thats cool,look forward to see your next video's peace.

11:30 is that Mr. Potato Head cosplaying as Abdullah the Butcher spraying you with blood from his forehead?? i'll take 20

My favourite show together with Game Sack. I´ve been watching your stuff since before youtube. The original Retro Core run. I always loved your style and how you used to be very anti Playstation and Snes. Of course you toned it downed now so it´s more professional but I can´t help to miss some parts of that Yakumo. Hehe. Anyway, these episodes when you cover systems are truly amazing! Thanks a lot and please keep them coming!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Anti PlayStation, yes but anti SNES? Oh well, I remember those old shows well. Actually I'm quite embarrased about those these days :p

@settingbros

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, you were pretty hard on Snes as well when comparing multiversion games (you were right about the sound quality even though some people prefer the snes reverb). Anyway, you gave me and some friends countless hours of fun and I discovered so many games thanks to you. The only thing I could never understand was your disliking of Treasure. Of course I can see some people over praising them but they really did now how to make the best of the systems they developed for. Anyway, I love when you can hear someone´s opinions is not just like everyone else´s and that you cover games which are not covered everywhere else is what makes your show so great!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

settingbros I still don't really like most Treasure games , hehe. I really don't know why. I don't like most Mario games either but will admit to enjoying Mario 64 :p

@settingbros

8 жыл бұрын

I prefer the 2d Mario games and Alien Soldier is probably the best game I´ve ever played. So much fun. Don´t remember if you talked about that one though...

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

settingbros I have Alien Soldier but it doesn't work :(

I was grown up with PC Engine and it's my fav till now! and dat's why I'm so zeal about SHMUP. unfortunately I didn't have the CD addon...

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Oh man, you need the CD add on. It will triple the amount of games available.

@tempestararat1792

8 жыл бұрын

but Neo Geo is for the rich xD, anyway I ever tried some NGCD games, my neighbor had one.

@tempestararat1792

8 жыл бұрын

Ys Book I & II is pretty good, I enjoyed it a lot even tho I'm not a fan of RPG.

@tempestararat1792

8 жыл бұрын

***** ugh... thx for the remind.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

It's just called the DUO. :)

The Western Version of Doraemon Meikyū Daisakusan is just basically a localized version of Kid no Hore Hore Daisakusan Arcade game only released in Japan by Nichibutsu in 1987. The gameplay of the Arcade version is similar to this game...

@RetroCore

3 жыл бұрын

I see. I've never played any western version of a PC Engine game. They always seem compromised is one way or another.

@anunknowninvididual2005

3 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore the only real difference between the Japanese Version and the Western Version which is Doraemon replaced with the titular character Opi, while Opi's friends are replaced with another Doraemon Characters.

@anunknowninvididual2005

3 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore The name of the Western Version of this game is Cratermaze released in 1990 on North America.

@anunknowninvididual2005

3 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore you should probably play the Arcade version just a bit...

Great video been waiting for this, i love the Pc engine its my Favorited console its got fantastic games and some amazing shmups. I have owned loads over Pc engine consoles over the years and i have a fair collection of them now its a shame it didn't get a official release in the uk it would have done really well. Your right about the duo's people ask me what Pc engine to get and i always tell them get a duo R and explain way but know one takes my advice and they buy the duo and then it stops working, so if anyone is going to buy a duo make shore its had a full recap before you go anywhere near it also the duo has no error correction so if a cd skips the music will cut off until the next load and when there RGB modded the picture will have jail bars and the fix for it does not work but there are only noticeable on bright screens. I have had to recap 2 duo's so fair the last one was a week ago its a big job and takes a bit of time and if you pay someone to do it for its going to cost be warned buy a duo R or duo RX. A few recommended games games Winds of thunder Pc kid 2 Dungeon explorer Valis series Mr heli or any thing by Irem YS 1 and 2 Soldier blade or any of the star soldiers games

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Some good advice right there. It's such a shame because the DUO looks really nice. I think the DUO R and RX look fat.

@RetroTuna

8 жыл бұрын

Yea the duo is the best looking out of the 3 but your much better off going for the duo R or duo RX, one other problem with the duo is the cd lens can get stuck after moving to the far right mine does it now and then and my mates one does as well and it you force it back you will damage the gears just another reason to get a duo R or RX.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I know. They are really poorly built.

very good video!

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks. That video took quite some time to make. Glad you liked it.

Great vid , great system :)

Great selection of games some of my favorites listed can't say I would had changed any title.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Seems we have a similar taste in games.

great video and great channel Retro Core! u got at least one fan from Trinidad!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Hi! Nice to know I have fans in Trinidad too! Glad you are enjoying the show.

Nice episode, those are some obscure games even for PCE standards lol. Metal Stoker is a lot like Granada

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yes, and if you like Granada you'll love Metal Stoker.

great episode! voice audio levels were a bit low on the talking to camera bits. still great though!!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I had the aircon on because it was 32 degrees in the house that day. Any louder and the mic would have picked up the sound from the aircon. One of the downsides of Japan in summer. It's bloody hot.

I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I really like Double Dungeons. There's nothing else quite like it that I've found (similar games like Eye Of The Beholder are less action oriented and much slower paced in comparison) and I feel that its simplicity is one of its best aspects. It's a great dungeon crawler for people who are just getting into that genre and I feel it deserves more respect for that reason.

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

I think for me, Dungeon crawler type games are boring. Kind of odd when as a kid I loved reading books such as Deathtrap Dungeon and Forest of Doom.

Too bad this system is so hard to find in Europe (and it's as expensive as it comes). In fact, I've never seen a Japanese PC Engine physically and only twice I've spotted a Turbografx. Playing its games by emulation, I have developed a soft spot for this little wonder.

The issue with the original Duo, at least the US version Turbo Duo, isn't so much the CD-rom drive as the capacitors, which affects the sound, the CD drive, eventually everything as the board loses capacitors. Those HAVE to be replaced as soon as humanly possible. I got mine re-capped in a region mod, and it's a HUGE difference. On a side note, I always found it odd that the Knight Rider game never came over to the US, as the show was fairly popular here. Still, for the most part, the TG-16 had a litany of amazing titles, on HuCard and ESPECIALLY on CD. Just a fantastic console with amazing titles! Just don't go wasting your time on Yo Bro.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, the PC Engine was so underrated.

Aah, you're doing a little Game Sack thing there with that Echo, eh? :)

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

I guess you could say that since Game Sack also does it but it wasn't intended to be :)

I love the PC Engine. I wished the console had more run n gun and beat em ups on it. It could have used a couple of Contra games, maybe a port of Midnight Resistance and Metal Slug or something like it. I always wished Double Dragon came out on it as well as a proper port of Double Dragon 2. It's odd since the PC Engine came out in 87 and so did Double Dragon. I feel it could have used a couple more arcade beat em ups as well like TMNT and Final Fight. It would have balanced out the library a bit more since there were so many shoot em ups. Even still it is a great console with great unique titles on it. I always thought it was cool to see an 8-bit console with 16-bit graphics and very colorful/colourful visuals. One of my favorites/favourites along with the Genesis, SNES and the Neo Geo.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

It is strange the way there are very few beat'em ups on the PC Engine. It could be due to the fact that it was more of a japan only system (does look like NEC really cared about the US release) and at the time shooters, text adventure and platformers were big in Japan.

@yohkom.7988

6 жыл бұрын

+Deadly Gaming LV As I've just explained in another response here, the PC Engine is quite limited to handle run 'n guns or beat 'em ups. Both genres are very demanding in terms of processing and sprites engine and the PC Engine is quite limited in these regards. Same for racing games, if you compare the PC Engine library with the Mega Drive or SNES, there's a significant gap. In comparison, shoot 'em ups are simpler games to handle which is more likely why the PC Engine has so many of them! Also something I wonder is why the PC Engine doesn't have a light gun?! This was a rather common feature back then, plenty of others consoles had one so was it due to another technical constraint? Light gun games are pretty cool, it sucks that the PC Engine has none of them :( Anyway still a good console, as you said, with some cool exclusive games but now that I dig the 4th gen as a whole, the PC Engine feels a bit lackluster in addition to be rather messy (I mean, it requires you to buy a multitap even for 2 players gaming and you also need the CD add-on cuz most of the library was released on it...).

@ShallRemainUnknown

6 жыл бұрын

Haha, interesting comments! Don't believe everything you read (especially here, apparently!) Do you have any idea just how many ARCADE games have 8-bit main CPUs, even into the late 80s, most of which have considerably better graphics abilities than ANY of the major 3rd generation mass-market hone consoles (such as all the ones being discussed here)? How about the arcade versions of... Double Dragon and Contra, for instance??!! Oh, and the Mattel Intellivision was a 16-bit system, don't you know? (Not kidding!) While the PC Engine is clearly able to push lots of sprites around at high speed (arguably larger sprites, and better animated ones,too, than it's competition, if you do a detailed analysis) to create ANY GENRE of 2-D scrolling playfield, sprite-based games of the era with aplomb, the truth of the matter is that likely cultural and market forces drove PC Engine developers in Japan to produce fewer run & gun games in favor of many cutesy, slower platformers and shooters. Nothing at all to do with the PC Engine's capabilities...

Worth waiting for. Thanks Mark. So many great games on this system. One of my favourite systems, if not the favourite. I have a Turbo ED too but you just have to buy the real hucards for some titles. Have you ever cleaned your CoreGrafx? I'm interested in a quick teardown,not too nuts and bolts,in order to give things inside a good cleaning. You ever done this? cheers.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I've had my Core Grafx open a few times (it's RGB modded after all). You have to be careful as there's a pretty thick cable attaching the card slot to the main board. Apart from that it's quite an easy tear down.

The Ninja Spirit falling part = :( :( :( .. I have still never made it past to this day

@rayforceaddict

8 жыл бұрын

btw I am happy you're also showing some lesser-known games. Like Hana Taka Daka and Son Son 2 are good stuff :) and Metal Stoker is one of my all time favorites.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I really like Metal Stoker. It's a simple blaster which is why it's so much fun.

@RetroTuna

8 жыл бұрын

If you fall of the ledge give it about half a second and push left until you get to the wall and then fall down hovering just off the wall and you will dodge all the ninja's, and I love the game but that pit of ninja's is a right game breaker it just there in the arcades to take your money.

Splatter house ! Blazing Lazers !!! :D

As the self-proclaimed "Turbo-Guy 16" I enjoyed this video but no bonk or j.j and jeff?

@RetroCore

7 ай бұрын

I tend not to show the obvious games. Glad you enjoyed the video though.

Great review Mark! How hard are to find these consoles and games on Japan?

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

PC Engine consoles are very easy to find in Japan but they are not cheap if you want one with a CD Unit. Just a Hu-card player can be had for 5000 yen or less. A little more if you want it RGB modded and a lot more of you want it boxed.

yakumo , thanks again...

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

You're welcome.

lol, Knight rider!

Excellent video to clarify the hardware versions and revisions. It almost seemed logical, thanks to your explanation... Are you looking forward to the Konami PC Engine mini, slated March 2020?

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

I do have the Core Grafix model on order but I'm not actually that interested in it. I don't think it will look that special since the original PC Engine is tinny anyway.

@Mindboggle100

5 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore Yes, I'm hoping it won't be very much smaller in size than the Core models. It will be a opportunity to get a good approximation of the system, without so much expense. Hardcore collecting isn't for everyone I guess :-)

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

These days it's only for those with deep pockets unless they live in Japan.

like for Metal Stoker! what a soundtrack

Best PcEngine review! Btw a much more interesting console, than the NES.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, the NES is dull iMO. Maybe that's because it's covered by everyone and always the same games. I'm sure there are hundreds of cool Famicom titles we don't know about.

Hi I would like to ask about Pc Engine Turbo Duo power supply. Is that will be okey if I use 9V adapter instead official 10V ?

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

Hmm, I wouldn't like to say. I mean too little is better than too much. Check to make sure the polarity is correct before you connect the unofficial PSU.

I actually had a turbo graphics in high school. I wish I knew what happened to it.

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

My brother borrowed one from a friend back in the day. We thought it was amazing. Quite a bulky system but so cool.

@reagandow850

5 жыл бұрын

Retro Core - everything is bulky compared to this bad boy.

@MVC2fan1

3 жыл бұрын

Is TurboGrafx-16.

the video with scanline is nice. what to you use for capture ? frame meister + ?

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Yes, I use RGB from the PC Engine in to the Framemeister then in to my Capture card.

The Core Grafx 2 and original Duo where the best.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Why do you say that? Do you mean the design of the console shell?

@GYRUSS

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core the Core 2!was the prettiest.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

GYRUSS ah, I see.

Ok so... no 1 - Hana Taka Daka - a PCE shooter I don't own and haven't heard of!!? no 2 - what makes Knight Rider so special? no 3 - override is underrated IMO had a good blast on it the other night and enjoyed it lots. Pretty tough tho as its relentless.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

What makes Knight Rider special? Hmm....... Maybe because it was a US TV show but only had a game with a Japanese release?

@wrena79

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core I'll go with that lol - good answer

Hey dude where did you get that overdrive looks real nice any chance you could add a link please cheers.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

I've had it on my hard drive for years. But you could try places such as EMU Paradise

There is another port of Ninja Spirit that isn't a PC version, to a handheld, the Gameboy oddly saw a port to it.

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

Oh, I've not heard of that. Should look in to it because Ninja Spirits is coming up on Battle of the Ports soon.

@Bloodreign1

7 жыл бұрын

Indeed, and it's not a bad port, just simplified a bit.

The more I think about, the more infuriating NEC's mismanagement of this console in the states was. We were denied really good games like 1943 Kai, and Operation Wolf, but given utter crap, like that localized version of Kato and Ken. What were they thinking?!

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

At least you guys got an official release. In Europe it was onky available from one store and in France only. From what I understand it was a semi official release. NEC gave their blessing but didn't suport the release at all. The machines were Japanese consoles converted to SECAM.

@SomeOrangeCat

5 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore It's almost like the only territory they were wholeheartedly concerned with supporting their console in was Japan. To make the US market situation even worse, their American arm TTI was going full in on what I like call "Aggro advertising", talking all kinds of smack about the competition. Sega was their favorite target. But they had nothing to back up their talk with. They loved raising a stink that the Sega-CD was just an addon, where as the Turbo-Duo was an all-in-one. Gamers here didn't care about CD-Based consoles at the time though, because most of what was getting released were gussied up cartridge ports and very bad FMV games.

in your opinion which version of the pc engine would be the best if I want to do cards and cd's? something with a good video output

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

All PC Engine consoles have shitty video out by default. You will need to RGB mod them. That is unless you are happy with composite video. In all honestly the first DUO is the best looking (IMO) but it's notorious for poor built quality. If you buy one of those you'll need to replace all the caps in it because by now they'll be all dead or on their way out resulting in very poor audio and CD drive read issues. They also have poor CD Drives that tend to break. The unit to get without all the fuss is the DUO-R or the DUO-RX. They are both basically the same system but the RX came with a six button controller. Both will plag all games without the need for expansion cards apart from the Arcade CD Rom titles. They will need the Arcade Pro DUO card to run.

@StevenCusic

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core awesome info I'm going to pick up a dou r or rx

@StevenCusic

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core oh btw did you see that Ben heck got his hands on the Nintendo Playstation? Did a tear down and everything

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

stevacus Yep, saw that. Been a subscriber to his channel for a few years now. It was really cool to see and even though he never officially said, I believe he got the unit running as he dropped a few hints in his round up of this weeks show.

Do I need a Core Grafx instead of the normal white model for the RGB mod or can I mod the normal white model too with RGB?

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

From what I understand it is possible to mod the white console but it's meant to be more tricky. Best to ask on a PC Engine forum.

I bought a Duo-R several years ago but I only own CD games, I've yet to buy a single HuCard.... I actually think it's modded to play all regions iirc.

@RetroCore

4 жыл бұрын

Pc engine CDs are region free but the Hu Cards are not. I also own only CD games for mine. All hu card games I play from a Turbo Ever Drive.

@Konuvis

4 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore Yeah I saw your everdrive in the video. It looks really cool.

Did you use an external or internal RGB mod?

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Internal because my Core Grafx is connected to a CD Interface.

@AvalancheReviews

8 жыл бұрын

Ah, I see. Nice! If ya don't mind me asking, what kit did you use? I've been looking into RGB mods for the PCE.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

I have a THS7314 installed. Wonderful clean image.

I have a PC Engine Core Grafx 2 and a Turbo Everdrive. I have found many great shooters are on the console.

My understanding is that the Core Grafx has a revised CPU that addresses certain bugs

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

Oh, I didn't know that. I was always under the impression that only the video out was improved. Good to know there was a little more to it.

Where did you get that cover for the everdrive? I could really use one of those!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

I got the 3D print design from the net the had it locally 3D printed. I can't remember where I got the design from now but I'm sure a Google search would throw up the results. The actual label on the everdrive is my own design.

@Mindboggle100

5 жыл бұрын

@@RetroCore I also noticed your Everdrive cover and how functional it looked protecting the exposed components. Ideally such a cover should be included with the Everdrive.

Turbotastic!

Another thing that you may know as well. Is it hard to find a Wondermega 2/ X'eye /SEGA CDX or any other MEGA DRIVE + SEGA CD Combo? Any idea of price and when I could find one?

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Anything Mega Cd is expensive in japan. Boxed Wondermega is going to be around 30,000 yen. Unbox about 15,000 yen. Wondermega 2 about the same price! Mega CD 1 in working order about 8000 yen loose or 20 boxed. Mega CD 2 about 15,000 yen boxed or 6000 lose. The Multimega (CDX) was never released in Japan so when one does show up it's always over 150,000 yen!!

@HPLins

8 жыл бұрын

I still have a Brazilian Mega CD 2, and it works super well! The only down side is the amount of wires and so on. Because of this I'm looking for a combo device. My idea is to buy in Japan a Famicom + FDS (yes! this one is one of my dreams since I was a kid :D) and a PCE Duo R (RX is more expensive and the difference is basically the gamepad, so I can maybe buy it separately), and maybe if I find a Wonder Mega 2 for about 15,000 yens I would buy one as well. A Brazilian SEGA CDX was extremely expensive back in the day. A friend of mine has one and it is still working super well. But it's pretty, small and doesn't take much space. It's great!

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

ArcadeKid good luck on your buys adventure. But be away that a CdX is very hard to find in Japan.

The Doraemon game looked good.

@RetroCore

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah, surprisingly it's not that bad.

So I'm guessing TG-16/PCE runs at 60 fps instead of 30 fps interlaced?

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Sure, just like a Mega Drive and SNES do.

I traded in my Game Gear with 20 games for a Pc Engine GT with Street Fighter 2 on it. I also got Vigilante and some horrible Bruce Lee game, but Having such quality street fighter 2 in my hands was worth it, even with the crippling 2 buttons.

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

Man, you got a good deal.

@sloppynyuszi

5 жыл бұрын

Retro Core it was 1995, it was before collecting. I’m not sure what the value was then. It was super rare to find a PC engine in Australia, and I saw it at a Pawn shop, and just traded in my stuff for it. Kinda wish it was easy to find games for it, after emulating the system, the PC engine had a lot of good games.

Hey, I'm planning of buying a PC Engine DUO or DUO R. What system cards do I need to run all CD games? There is a specific ARCADE Card for the DUO (the ARCADE PRO card), do I need to have this one or just the normal Arcade Card will work? Also, do I need any other system card to play Super CDs? I'm a bit confused with the compatibility regarding to the DUO/DUO R system cards.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

Super CDS will play fine without any cards but you will need the Arcade Card to run Arcade CD titles. Don't get the Arcade Card Pro as that is for the normal stand alone PC Engine connected to a CD Drive.

@HPLins

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks! So I just have to buy an Arcade Card to play Arcade ports for the DUO? Is there also a generic Cards or just original ones? I'm going to Japan in December, and I'm going to buy it most likely at Super Potato retro store. Is it hard to find the Arcade card? Do you recommend any other retro store to buy it? Once again, thanks! Not only for the hint, but also for the awesome job you have been doing all this time. As a 30s years old gamer, I've been playing since the NES age, and I really enjoy your channel.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

ArcadeKid Sadly there are no generic cards. I just splashed out 15,000 yen on an Aracde Card Pro for my set up. That is cheap too! Often they go for 30,000 yen. For your system you just need the Arcade Card Duo. Don't buythe one with the orange looking label. That's the wrong one for the Duo. Also, try not to buy from Super Potato. You'll be paying well over the standard Japanese price.

@HPLins

8 жыл бұрын

Do you recommend a good store with better prices?

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

ArcadeKid sorry I don't use stores for stuff like this. I mostly buy from Yahoo Auctions Japan and Amazon Japan. Normal games I buy in store but thingsike PC Engine accessories are always over priced in stores. Maybe check out Trader or Softmap.

How rare is the PC Engine Duo R? I have the regular PC Engine Duo and i'm kinda tempted to trade it to the Duo R version

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

The DUO R isn't rare but it is very expensive.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

The DUO R isn't rare but it is very expensive.

@TerporFIN

8 жыл бұрын

Is regular Duo any rare? I mean i'm prob gonna buy another one, if this breaks etc.

Which model would you mostly recommend?

@RetroCore

7 жыл бұрын

The 2nd mode, the gray one you can see in this video. It can be RGB modded and much cheaper than the following models which offer nothing new in terms of specs.

@oskarrandall

7 жыл бұрын

Retro Core Thanks

Have you ever thought about making a Custom PC engine?

@RetroCore

5 жыл бұрын

Nope. They're pretty expensive for one in as good condition as mine, especially the CD drive system. My PC Engine is RGB modded mind you.

@DanielAyy

5 жыл бұрын

I see. It would probably cost even more to customize it aswell.

Shame about the Duo's reliability as it's certainly the best looking all-in-one solution to get into PC Engine collecting.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

I agree but they are total rubbish in the reliability department. Such a shame as I would rather have one of those than a duo R

@xanafalgue5184

8 жыл бұрын

The japanese market saved many great systems - so the Saturn too! Dont like the westernized market of today - wish the good old japanes console market back ;) xanafalgue.wordpress.com/

why didn't you use your other weapons in ninja spirit? Picking the right weapon for each section allows you to do ridiculous speed runs. Like if you have 2 clones and powered up your bomb weapon, you can beat the first boss almost the instant he pops up if you line your guys straight up with a jump first.

@RetroCore

8 жыл бұрын

I'm just lazy :) I was only playing the game for the sake of the video. When playing for further I would use different weapons.

@DeAthWaGer

8 жыл бұрын

+Retro Core haha gotcha. It was my first game for my TG16 so I played it a lot, then it was packed with the TurboDuo as well. Doing 360 motions with the rope/scythe kills the forest boss easily. Great vid as always, sir!

At 23:24 this game is similar to nokia snake