The Turbografx16(PC Engine in Japan) is a little known system, but among those who are “in the know” recognize the Turbografx16 as a shooter powerhouse. The system had shooters from companies such as Konami, Irem, Red Company and many more. Hudson Soft had a line of three 1st party shooters on Hu-card/Turbochip dubbed as the “Soldier series” who are highly thought of horizontal shooters in the Turbografx16/PC Engine community. I played all three of and this is what I think of them!
Continue reading The Soldier Series Review (Turbografx16/PC Engine)
Tag Archives: Turbografx/PC Engine Review
Review: Horror Story (PC Engine/Turbografx 1993)
Horror Story is a fantastic arcade style game on the PC Engine. It is a co-op run and gun game developed by Toaplan (Batsugun, Zero Wing) and is clearly inspired by Ghostbusters in many ways. Here we get the Japanese take on ghostbusting as most of the enemies in the early stages are spirits from Japanese folklore.
I was thrilled when I discovered that the PC Engine had a sideview run and gun game like this, and I was very happy with the experience.
Continue reading Review: Horror Story (PC Engine/Turbografx 1993)
Review: Kaze Kiri (1994 PC Engine)
Kaze Kiri is one of those rare late PC Engine CD games that is ridiculously overpriced (150-200$). The Play Station, Sega Saturn and PC-FX were just around the corner and an action game like Kaze Kiri had some big shoes to fill because the game would be compared to games such as Shinobi 3, Hagane and Rondo of Blood.
Kaze Kiri might not outperform any of these games but it is certainly worth playing if you emulate it or get a repro cd from PCE Works.
Continue reading Review: Kaze Kiri (1994 PC Engine)
Ninja Gaiden (Ryūkenden) (1992 PC Engine) vs. The NES Version
Hey ho! Did you know that the PC Engine had some pretty good NES ports? I have already mentioned the Double Dragon II port, the Nintendo World Cup port and the River City Ransom port briefly in the Top 10 Turbografx16/PC Engine co-op games list but there is more! Ninja Gaiden also got ported and it caught my attention for its updated graphics and more balanced difficulty. I have never been a big Ninja Gaiden fan and always felt the game was difficult in an unfair way so this prompted me to go play both games and provide the world with what can be expected of the PC Engine port vs. the NES original.
This article will assume that you know the basic premise of Ninja Gaiden.
Continue reading Ninja Gaiden (Ryūkenden) (1992 PC Engine) vs. The NES Version
Valis III + series overview (Turbografx16/PC Engine CD 1990)
Ever since i started my PC Engine adventure in May last year the Valis series had intrigued me. Being a huge Castlevania/Mega Man fan it was very interesting to see a female, anime styled protagonist jumping around and slashing foes in a skimpy suit of armor.
The games are 4 in total and some released on other system, but I would always recommend the Turbografx/PC Engine version of these games. Right off the bat the order in which I like the games goes like this: 3>4>1>2.
That being said, I might end up not reviewing the others in the same amount detail as Valis III but this review should give you an impression on what you are expecting if you get into the Valis series.
Valis II and III got released in the US but the other two were unfortunately Japan only.
Continue reading Valis III + series overview (Turbografx16/PC Engine CD 1990)
Ys IV: Dawn of Ys (1993 PC Engine/Turbografx16)
Ys book 1 & 2 was ported to the Turbografx CD in 1989 and was received very well by most, even as a masterpiece by some. Because of Ys 1 & 2 being regarded that highly, people were a bit disappointed with the sequel. Ys III: Wanderers From Ys which departed from the first game in similar ways Adventure of Link departed from the 1st Original Legend of Zelda game. Even though Ys III has a phenomenal soundtrack the rest of the game failed to live up to its predecessor and has since often been called the “black sheep” of the series.
People were livid when they saw that Ys IV: Dawn of Ys was going to go back to the originals’ roots (Much like “A Link to the Past” did) and were starting to get hyped only to find out that the game would not be released outside of Japan. This was because of the Turbografx16 and its CD peripheral not doing very well in the western markets and were close to discontinuing the system.
Ys IV and the PC Engine did great in Japan though, so the game was released with critical acclaim. Many years later a fan dub/translation was done so us westerners could finally enjoy the game.
I speak fluent Japanese so i played the game like 50% in Japanese and 50% in English just for comparison. Read and see how I felt about Ys IV!
Continue reading Ys IV: Dawn of Ys (1993 PC Engine/Turbografx16)
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