What game led you to buy a Turbo Grafx 16?

[MrFulci]

I was thinking about this the other day, since I haven't posted here in a while.

When I was younger, early 90s, there was someone nearby who had a Turbo Grafx 16, and one of the games I really enjoyed was Bloody Wolf. He didn't like it much, or he'd had his fill of it, so it didn't get played often.

I already had an NES, Atari 2600. For that new group of 16-bit consoles, I got a SNES first. So, early on, if I played TG-16, it was at Toys R Us, Children's Palace, or this guy's house.

Sometime later, I bought a used Bloody Wolf Turbo Grafx 16 game for a reasonable price at that time - $6? $10? something like that. I bought it knowing in the near future I'd get a system for that game.

I remember, at the time I bought that Bloody Wolf game, I had already had a Sega Genesis for a while. I'd say no less than 3 months, no more than 12 months after getting that Bloody Wolf game, I bought a TG-16 system and some games for it. So for the "16-bit" consoles, I first had a SNES, then the Genesis, and lastly the TG-16.

So, while I was familiar with Bonk, that did not sell me on the system as much as when I played Bloody Wolf.

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[Necromancer]

Getting all six games as pack-ins is what really sold me on getting a Duo, but it was Ys that I was most interested in.  Falcom's sold me two systems so far, and I'm looking to get the third (Vita) sometime soonish.

[ifkz]

It was really two games for me.

When the TurboGrafx was new and being sold, a kid down the street had one and Alien Crush, and that one really stuck with me over the years.

Much later, as an adult, I went to a flea market with friends and spotted Blazing Lazers.  It had been so long since I had seen anything to do with the system, and I figured it would be a good purchase (even though I did not know if it was a good game or not and I had no system to play it).  I must have bargained too hard, because the bargaining went from "$10-$7-it is not for sale now for you, leave."  I'm still PO'd about that, but I went home and bought a TurboExpress with a few bundled games and a CIC Blazing Lazers right afterwards (both online).  Jerk stall owner.

[vestcoat]

I had never played one before purchasing a TG16 in 1992, so for me it was screenshots, advertising, and the aura of mystery. The dark, gritty, mature look of Ys, Legendary Axe, Dungeon Explorer, Double Dungeons, Bloody Wolf, and Alien Crush really appealed to me. The games looked more serious than the SNES and more vibrantly colorful than the Genesis. The low price point and fact that no one I knew had one was a plus. Also, the hucards and CD's formats were intriguing. The 1992 EGM Video Game Buyer Guide finally sold me:
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=11213.msg212115#msg212115

Later screenshots and reviews of Loom, Dragon Slayer, DEII, Beyond Shadowgate, and Prince of Persia finally convinced me to get a Duo in 1997.

[Black Tiger]

I got a Genesis at launch and loved the SMS and already had an NES. I was disappointed by the lack of next gen console games on Genesis, as everything was arcade oriented. I also thought that the Genesis had a unique type if color, kinda like the NES. It seemed kind of monochromatic when it came to shading in early games and the sound was kind of soft and unique as well. I appreciated it for what the games were at the time, but I had wanted vibrant colorful shaded "glowy" graphics like nicer arcade games had and more importantly, I wanted to play RPG/adventure and misc home system style games with next gen aesthetics.

I was jealous that the TG-16 had more games as well as ports of arcade games I was actually interested in, but what sealed the deal was getting to try Dungeon Explorer and Neutopia one night at a friend's house. They were everything I knew I wanted and didn't know that I wanted. The sound really sealed the deal and I loved the aesthetic and functionality of the Tap and Pads. Keith Courage was the perfect (exciting!) tech demo that only pushed evetything that much further over the top and I got a TG-16 as an x-mas/birthday gift that I chipped in for in 1990.

[MrFulci]

Vestcoat, it's funny you mention mystery. When the system was new, NEC did seem to push the system as more of a teen, adult system. That Orange system box also stood out. I saw the promo displays first, before actually playing any of the games.

I didn't get into the 16-bit systems until the SNES system launched. So any genesis gaming or TG-16 gaming was at someone else's place. It was all OK though, the 2600 and NES are 2 nice systems.

I was allowed to choose a game system for X-mas 1991 as a gift. I chose the SNES. It was for a few reasons. It was the newer system, the control pads had more going on for them, and Mario World was an awesome pack-in game.

Early 1992 I enjoyed the SNES, then I picked up the other 2 systems as they became cheaper. Someone bought me a Genesis as a x-mas gift. Same goes for the Sega CD, which was probably a birthday or x-mas gift. That was sometime from 1993 onward.

Tg-16 I struck out on my own for, once the system became really cheap, and was about to be discontinued, or had just been discontinued.

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[Flare65]

A good friend of mine bought the Genesis at launch and we both already had NES systems.  I was intrigued by Military Madness so I ended up buying the TG16.  With each of us having different systems, we had access to both librarys of games and would routinely exchange systems and games for a week or so.

[Dicer]

Blazing Lazers playing in a Child World Kiosk....once I gazed upon that it had to be mine.

[xelement5x]

The Working Designs games.

I was like in my late 20s  :O

[tggodfrey]

Splatterhouse.  Saw this game and got to play it at Hades haunted House in Villa Park IL.  Had to have a TG16 at that point.  Duo was just an desire to upgrade to the CD games and still be able to play the TurboChip games I had on the Duo.

[vestcoat]

The Working Designs games.

The screenshots and art to CF2 and, to a lesser extent, Exile, turned me off, but I was eager to play Cadash, Parasol Stars, and Exile 2.

[Gentlegamer]

I knew one person growing up who had a TG-16, a friend of a friend of a friend type situation. He had every game system and tons of games, he even had the Turbo CD. The only game I ever remember seen played was Keith Courage. Otherwise, my experience was vicariously through magazines, but even then, the TG-16 quickly dropped off the radar in coverage after 1990 or so, and my attention was turned towards Genesis and SNES.

Years later I discovered emulation, and somehow obtained a "cracked" version of MagicEngine in the late 90s, so I finally was able to play for myself. It was during a time when emulation was new and exciting, and finding ROMs was a treasure hunt online. I don't remember being particularly impressed by the Turbo games I tried, but it was also a time when I was binging on MAME dumps and reliving games I had loved through NESticle and Genecyst. Anyone remember the site Emulation Excitement? Harry Tuttle's The Dump?

About 2006, I started collecting real hardware and games, and TG-16 was kind of an afterthought, emulation seemed to fill my needs (I particularly loved playing the SuperGrafx Daimakaimura). For years, I had only three HuCards: Keith Courage, Dungeon Explorer and Neutopia. They didn't get played a lot due to having most of my retro stuff packed up, but Dungeon Explorer and Neutopia are great. A few years later I poked my head into TG-16 prices on ebay and was astonished at how much more expensive things had become, and this put my off obtaining any more games for a while.

It's only been in the past six months or so that I renewed my efforts, and thanks to some good forum buys and finding some good auctions (not BINs), I have greatly expanded my collection, and have been enjoying Splatterhouse, Ninja Spirit, and Blazing Lazers recently. There really is no substitute for the real thing.

[galam]

I got on board when i was 13 during my NES days and saw china warrior in a tv commercial. Other games were in the ad, but CW just really stood out.

[o.pwuaioc]

Galaga 90 and all the beefed up ports of 8bit games.

[Desh]

I honestly don't even remember seeing Kiosks or commercials or anything when I was a kid.  At the tender age of 5 for Christmas of 89' I got an NES.  I was late to the 16-bit party and finally got a Genesis in 93'.  Over the years I would pick up a game or two and even an SNES used but didn't seriously get into collecting until about 3 years ago.  Around that time I researched anything retro online and learned about the TurboGrafx.  I was intrigued but didn't seriously look for NEC stuff because there virtually is none of it that pops up in my area.  One night/early morning I was stalking EBay auctions and stumbled on an auction for a boxed TG16 that I ended up winning for $80.00.

 I always kind of wanted one and I couldn't pass up on the deal.  Of course my first game was the packed in Keith Courage and I was not impressed.  The first game I decided to seek out was Splatterhouse because I loved the sequels on Genesis.  That game hooked me in and I started buying games here and there when I would find them in my travels to Cleveland and Ft. Wayne Indiana.

Recently, I joined this forum and by the grace of the great people here I've more than doubled my TG16 collection and even added a few PCE games.

Now, the game that made me invest in a CD add on was 100% Drac X.  I played it at my buddy's house on VC and suddenly the resentment of the cost of CD hardware melted away.