If you'd been in charge of NEC U.S./TTI what would've been your ideal TG-16 set?

[Bardoly]

All of this talk about complete sets has gotten me to thinking a bit.  Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I thought that this would be an interesting idea to discuss.

If you could take today's knowledge of the entire TG-16/PC Engine libray to the past and had been the CEO of NEC Home Electronics and T.T.I., which games would you have released INSTEAD OF the games which were released in the U.S.  And no, you can't simply just say, "I would have released the entire PC Engine library in the U.S."  For purposes of discussion, I would like to propose the following 'rules':

1.  Only licensed retail-released HuCard, CD, and Super CD games may be discussed (since the Arcade Card was never released in the U.S.).  This means no Laser Active, demo games, or unlicensed homebrew/girlie games for this topic.

2.  Only substitutions may be made.  No additions.  (For every PC Engine game ADDED to the TG-16 list, a TurboGrafx-16 game must be REMOVED from the list.)

3.  You may substitute CD/Super CD games for Hucard games, or vice versa, but your list must keep a minimum of 60 HuCard games.

4.  To keep the TG-16 release list from getting too unbalanced, participants should strive to substitute games within the same genre if possible, or at least do not remove a genre entirely.  (i.e. Don't just remove all sports titles and replace them all with RPG titles.  You must remember that you are the CEO, and so you must appeal to America/Canada as a whole and not to a small niche market.  Your goal is to beat Sega/Nintendo out and maintain a presence in the U.S. rather than closing up shop.)

5.  Since it is simply a label variant, Champions Forever Boxing (red label variant) may be substituted for by anything.

6.  For easy reading and discussion's sake, simply post similarly as follows:
i.e. - (For example only, these are not my selections)

Aero Blasters -> Salamander
Bloody Wolf -> Marchen Maze
China Warrior -> Doraemon: Nobita's Dorabian Night
Gunboat -> anything  

The official TurboGrafx-16 list of 95 licensed retail-released HuCard games:

Aero Blasters
Air Zonk
Alien Crush
Andre Panza Kick Boxing
Ballistix
Battle Royale
Blazing Lazers
Bloody Wolf
Bomberman
Bomberman '93
Bonk's Adventure
Bonk's Revenge
Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure
Boxyboy
Bravoman
Cadash
Champions Forever Boxing (black label variant)
Champions Forever Boxing (red label variant)
Chase HQ
Chew Man-Fu
China Warrior
Cratermaze
Cybercore
Darkwing Duck
Davis Cup Tennis
Dead Moon
Deep Blue
Devil's Crush
Double Dungeons
Dragon Spirit
Dragon's Curse
Drop-Off
Dungeon Explorer
Falcon
Fantasy Zone
Final Lap Twin
Galaga '90
Ghost Manor
Gunboat
Hit The Ice
Impossimole
Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
JJ & Jeff
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
King of Casino
Klax
Legend of Hero Tonma
Legendary Axe, The
Legendary Axe II, The
Magical Chase
Military Madness
Moto Roader
Neutopia
Neutopia 2
New Adventure Island
Night Creatures
Ninja Spirit
Order of the Griffon, D & D
Ordyne
Pac-Land
Parasol Stars
Power Golf
Psychosis
R-Type
Raiden
Samurai Ghost
Shockman
Side Arms – Hyper Dyne
Silent Debuggers
Sinistron
Soldier Blade
Somer Assault
Sonic Spike Volleyball
Space Harrier
Splatterhouse
Super Star Soldier
Super Volleyball
Takin' It to the Hoop
Tale Spin
Tiger Road
Time Cruise
Timeball
Tricky Kick
Turrican
TV Sports Basketball
TV Sports Football
TV Sports Hockey
Veigues Tactical Gladiator
Victory Run
Vigilante
World Class Baseball
World Court Tennis
World Sports Competition
Yo Bro

The official TurboGrafx-16 list of 44 licensed retail-released CD & Super CD games:

Addams Family
Beyond Shadowgate
Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure
Buster Bros.
Camp California
Cosmic Fantasy 2
Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes
Dungeon Master: Thayer's Quest
Dungeon Explorer II
Dynastic Hero, The
Exile
Exile: Wicked Phenomenon
Fighting Street
Final Zone II
Forgotten Worlds
Gate of Thunder / Bonk's Adventure / Bonk's Revenge (3-in-1 CD)
Godzilla
It Came From the Desert
J.B. Harold Murder Club
Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf
John Madden Duo CD Football
Last Alert
Loom
Lords of the Rising Sun
Lords of Thunder
Magical Dinosaur Tour
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra
Monster Lair
Prince of Persia
Riot Zone
Shadow of the Beast
Shape Shifter
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Vol. 2
Sim Earth: The Living Planet
Splash Lake
Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise
Terra Forming, Syd Mead's
Valis II
Valis III
Vasteel
Y's Book I & II
Y's III: Wanderers From Ys


Of course, most of us are not familiar with the entire PC Engine library, but just put in your thoughts.  I'll post mine up later after I think about this a bit more.

[Otaking]

Hana Taka Daka

[Tatsujin]

I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu.

[retroguy]

I don't know enough to make a full list, but here's a few that come to mind immediately:

Darkwing Duck -> Batman

Tale Spin -> Die Hard

Deep Blue -> Coryoon

Magical Dinosaur Tour -> Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego

[Bardoly]

I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu.

Well, I'm sure that something similar to this topic was probably discussed 5-6 years ago, but since you and 3 others are the only ones still here who were involved in that discussion, I figured that this would be fun for all of us forum newbies to discuss.  You are welcome to join in though, oh learned one.   :-"

[Bardoly]

I don't know enough to make a full list, but here's a few that come to mind immediately:

Darkwing Duck -> Batman

Tale Spin -> Die Hard

Deep Blue -> Coryoon

Magical Dinosaur Tour -> Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego

I really like these choices.  Thanks for participating!

[Necromancer]

I don't think I'd change all that many, really.  Most of the Turbob library is pretty solid, and most of the stinkers could only be replaced by very different types of games or swapped for some other mediocre title, especially if you look at what games were available at the time (waiting years for a better title wouldn't have helped matters).  The sports games* are bleh, but so are the ones for PCE; and I'd much rather have improved versions of US exclusives like Addams Family, Tailspin, and Darkwing Duck than dump 'em all together for something generic.  

In short: it needed more games not just different games.

* - I generally don't like the genre, but they do sell here.

[Arkhan]

I would have released everything Japan got.

f*ck this "oh noones going to like it" horseballs. 

Necromancer would've been here.  Outlive.  Brandish. 

the FIRST COSMIC FANTASY INSTEAD OF JUST THE SECOND HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN. 

Marchen Maze, Legend of Valkyrie, I mean just bring everything.  It would've butt-jammed all the other systems.

[Black Tiger]

I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu.

Well, I'm sure that something similar to this topic was probably discussed 5-6 years ago, but since you and 3 others are the only ones still here who were involved in that discussion, I figured that this would be fun for all of us forum newbies to discuss.  You are welcome to join in though, oh learned one.   :-"

Within the past year there was an "If you were charge of NEC/TTi bitd, what would you do different?" thread. But this one sounds like more fun. It's still very much in the realm of fantasy if yoh aren't going to make people micro-manage releases to have them swap out for games from the same time period. But if you are changing history with knowledge from the future, then you could bankroll development to speed up various release dates. Like I said, this is much more fun since it's not as serious and hopefully won't devolve into "nothing could have changed the Turbo's fate! So don't participate!" kind of negativity.

[Bardoly]

I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu.

Well, I'm sure that something similar to this topic was probably discussed 5-6 years ago, but since you and 3 others are the only ones still here who were involved in that discussion, I figured that this would be fun for all of us forum newbies to discuss.  You are welcome to join in though, oh learned one.   :-"

Within the past year there was an "If you were charge of NEC/TTi bitd, what would you do different?" thread. But this one sounds like more fun. It's still very much in the realm of fantasy if yoh aren't going to make people micro-manage releases to have them swap out for games from the same time period. But if you are changing history with knowledge from the future, then you could bankroll development to speed up various release dates. Like I said, this is much more fun since it's not as serious and hopefully won't devolve into "nothing could have changed the Turbo's fate! So don't participate!" kind of negativity.

This is exactly the attitude that I'm looking for!

I'm going to get my thoughts together on this and post up my list of suggested changes hopefully this weekend.

[SignOfZeta]

Sorry, I only participate in forum threads predicated on incredibly intricate and restrictive rules.

[DarkKobold]

Anything -> Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. The TG16 needed a "killer app." While it may have had a strong library, and way lower ratio of stinkers:classics, it really lacked any one game that made the system a "must-have." In a universe where DracX only came out on TG-SCD, and not SNES, I think it might have changed the TG's fate. It would be another 4 years until SotN came out... giving the chance for the TG to take the market. Just as the Xbox became the HaloBox, the TurboDuo could have been the DraculaDuo.

The other thing the system needed was a really strong jRPG franchise. I don't think any game released for the PC Engine would really qualify. Cosmic Fantasy 2 was OK, but not as strong as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest/Warrior, or Phantasy Star. I'm woefully ignorant on any strong PC Engine-only jRPG.

[Arkhan]

The other thing the system needed was a really strong jRPG franchise. I don't think any game released for the PC Engine would really qualify. Cosmic Fantasy 2 was OK, but not as strong as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest/Warrior, or Phantasy Star. I'm woefully ignorant on any strong PC Engine-only jRPG.

http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Seiya_Monogatari.htm
http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Tenshi_no_Uta.htm
http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Startling_Odyssey_2.htm
http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Legend_of_Xanadu_II.htm

I could do this for awhile

http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Emerald_Dragon.htm

[Black Tiger]

The other thing the system needed was a really strong jRPG franchise. I don't think any game released for the PC Engine would really qualify. Cosmic Fantasy 2 was OK, but not as strong as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest/Warrior, or Phantasy Star. I'm woefully ignorant on any strong PC Engine-only jRPG.

http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Seiya_Monogatari.htm
http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Tenshi_no_Uta.htm
http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Startling_Odyssey_2.htm
http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Legend_of_Xanadu_II.htm

I could do this for awhile

http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Emerald_Dragon.htm

See the disclaimer at the end of his post.

What the system really needed was really strong shooters. I don't think any game released for the PC Engine would really qualify. Legion was OK, but not as strong as Gradius III, Axelay or Thunder Force IV. I'm woefully ignorant on any strong PC Engine-only shooters.

[Otaking]

Simply if US NEC/ T.T.I had released Dracula X, Street Fighter II CE Dash, Spriggan, Rainbow Islands and the Arcade Card with Neo Geo port games plus Sapphire, I then think history and the fate of the TG16 would have been very different.