Insanely lucky TG16 score! Requesting help!

[t8rt00tz]

Hello! I am a 28 year old musician and have been collecting video games for a few years now (I know, I picked literally the least budget-friendly activities) on top of that I work at a brewery here in Ohio. Well, this particular brewery was a pawn shop once upon a time. So one day a few weeks back I walk into work and my boss approaches me and hands me a very dusty and black hardshell case and says "this was sitting in the attic and I thought you might want this" (he knows I collect). On this case it says "Turbografx 16" and feels a little heavy so I'm immediately thinking like "nah there's probably screwdrivers and coal with my luck" so I open it and BAM! TG16 console with a cd add on that is dust free with perfect looking inputs and not a scratch or ding, really looking like it just hit shelves yesterday!

Unfortunately it didn't come with any power/av chords nor a controller, but I didn't care, I've been wanting one of these bad boys for a long time! I dug a little deeper and got directed to this site. I'm hoping someone is able to help me with what I need, maybe more cost-efficient ways to get this thing up and running, because I'm so excited but I don't even know if it works, even though it looks brand new. Any and all help is appreciated! Thank you!

P.s. It came with "fighting street" CD in it, what kind of system cards do I need? It's kind of a confusing console.

[tbone3969]

First off, welcome.

I believe you just need the 2.0 card for Fighting Street.  I bet the TirboGrafx 16 system works fine.  Disconnect it form the CD base and throw a NES power brick Sega Genesis power brick and a NES RF adapter on it and test it.  Do you have any hu-cards to test it with? 

I doubt the CD player works.  I bet it powers on but will not read discs.  You will need to pick up the official TurboGrafx 16 CD power brick off this site or eBay.  Then, once you get power hooked up, hook up the audio video cables (just basic composite cables) and try Fighting Street.  You will need the 2.0 CD Card as well to play it.

Good luck and let us know how it works.

[t8rt00tz]

Thank you! Is there a way (without having to constantly check the internet) to see which kind of system card I need? Also, to get this straight, the cd connector takes its own special adapter that cannot be powered by any other universal means?

[spenoza]

If the game is a CD-ROM(2) game, it needs the System 2.0/2.1 card. If the game is a Super CD-ROM(2) game it needs the 3.0/3.1 Super System Card. Arcade CD-ROM(2) games need the Arcade CD Card. They all say what kind of game they are on them, so it shouldn't be an issue.

[tbone3969]

It's true that the CD unit has a very unique power brick.  Its like 9.5 volts or something.  I have used an old universal Radio Shack adapter in the past that worked but some people say it can fry the system.  If I were you I would only use the official power brick but members with more technical knowledge can weigh in on that.

For the CD games there are 3 categories of system cards.  The regular (2.0) which plays the early CD games, the Super CD Rom Card (3.0) which plays the later CD releases and most of the best game IMO (Lords of Thunder, Drac X, etc.), and the Arcade Card which is Japanese region only and plays the handful of Arcade games (Sapphire being the most desirable).

Honestly, if you really wanted to get into the Turbo CD world, I would ship your system out to Keith Courage (member here) and get it region modded and get your CD unit tuned up.  This will save you money in the end as you can then get the cheaper Japanese version system cards as well as play any region hu-card and CD game.  Just my opinion.  You could also get some video upgrade mods from him as well.

[Lost Monkey]

The gear in the CD rom drive has probably turned to cheese by now.  It will likely need some repairs soon if not now.

[Necromancer]

Welcome aboard!  Neato buried treasure find, but it'll probably need the gear fix and/or cleaning and regreasing, but fear not - there's lots of good repair guys here ready to help.

For a power supply, there's these guys: https://en.retrogamesupply.com/collections/pc-engine/products/power-supply-for-nec-turbografx-16-cd-rom-dock.  I can't vouch for the quality or their service, but it's an option for a new regulated power supply that'd hopefully be more consistent and more reliable than an ancient original.

If the game is a CD-ROM(2) game, it needs the System 2.0/2.1 card. If the game is a Super CD-ROM(2) game it needs the 3.0/3.1 Super System Card. Arcade CD-ROM(2) games need the Arcade CD Card. They all say what kind of game they are on them, so it shouldn't be an issue.

This mostly covers the system card question.  The only outliers are Altered Beast (requires a 1.0 card), the few games labeled as Super CDs that're actually just regular CDs (like Terraforming), and the Games Express games that came with their own customized system cards.

[spenoza]

Do we know what kind of voltage regulator is used inside the CD unit? If it's a good quality one it should actually accept a relatively broad range of voltages. If it's a crappy one, yeah, 10 is as high as you'd want to go.

[Lost Monkey]

Do we know what kind of voltage regulator is used inside the CD unit? If it's a good quality one it should actually accept a relatively broad range of voltages. If it's a crappy one, yeah, 10 is as high as you'd want to go.

Don't have the answer, but I fried two of the multi-voltage adapters when I first got my TGCD with a broken p/s.  I ended up replacing the fuse in the p/s and it has been working for 23 years...

[ginoscope]

Welcome to the forum and what an amazing find.

Another alternative for the CD power supply is retrogamecave.com.  I have their power supply for my genesis, sega cd, and 32x tower and it works great.

http://www.retrogamecave.com/shop/4577155957/psu-tg16-cd-rom2-dock-console-(new-version)/11064428

[Gypsy]

If the game is a CD-ROM(2) game, it needs the System 2.0/2.1 card. If the game is a Super CD-ROM(2) game it needs the 3.0/3.1 Super System Card. Arcade CD-ROM(2) games need the Arcade CD Card. They all say what kind of game they are on them, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Best thing to do is just get the 3.0 card. Though I suppose the US one is probably entirely too much money. But just about every CD game should run with it (obviously not arcade games) except for I believe just Altered Beast which sucks anyway but requires the basic system card.

Someone should correct me if I'm wrong but I think I am right.

[tbone3969]

Actually.....

Just get a Turbo Everdrive for around $100.  A US 3.0 Super System card will cost around $200 while the Turbo Everdrive can act as one and let yo play any and all PC Engine and TurboGrafx Hu-cards.

[Necromancer]

Just make sure it's the correct version.  Not all everdrives can act like a Super System Card.

Someone should correct me if I'm wrong but I think I am right.

A Super System Card won't cut it for Games Express games, and there's a couple games that get picky about the region of the Super System Card.

[Bloufo]

I bet the TirboGrafx 16 system works fine.  Disconnect it form the CD base and throw a NES power brick and a NES RF adapter on it and test it.

You probably know better than me, but an NES power supply on a TG16?
The NES power brick outputs AC, not DC.

[Gypsy]

Ahhhh good old games express. The true gems of the PC Engine. 

Honestly I did forget about those.

Everdrive is probably a great idea.