Early on when I had a Genesis, before I got my TurboGrafx-16, the lack of games wasn't as big a deal to me as was the lack of next-gen
console games. Arcade ports were neat, but they got old fast. Which is why Phantasy Star II (
or even Sword of Vermillion) was such a big deal when it came out and I was quick to forgive all its flaws.
The more I learned about the TG-16, the more I envied what looked like NES-style replay-friendly console games with 16-bit aesthetics. When I saw Keith Courage on display at a trade show before the TG-16 was even for sale locally, I wished that the Genesis had come packed with a platformy game like that, with nice colorful shading.
One big turning point for me came when I visited an acquaintance at his house and watched him play Dungeon Explorer and Neutopia. At first I was like, "who wants to play a questy Gauntlet clone?" But Neutopia was
exactly what I wanted the first time I saw it.
In the weeks that followed, I couldn't get those two games out of my mind and soon realized that I
really wanted to play Dungeon Explorer, let alone Neutopia. I loved the original Zelda on NES(
I got speed runs down to 20-something minutes), but had always wanted a game very close to that with graphics that were at least
NES quality. Most pre-16-bit Zelda clones were quite a bit different than Zelda.
I finally got a TG-16 as an early birthday/X-Mas gift about a year after it was released in the U.S. Not long after, the guy who showed me DE and Neutopia advertised the games for sale in the local newspaper and I snatched them up.
Dungeon Explorer in particular had been built up in my imagination based on a couple hours of viewing months earlier, but both games exceeded my high expectations. I regretted not getting a TG-16 sooner.
Early on one thing that hooked me was the sound. Particularly the type in games like Keith Courage, Neutopia and JJ & Jeff. They have that cool kinda effect that Contra on NES has, (
I don't know how to explain it, back then I called it "electric") only way better. I really liked the Genesis sound, but the TG-16 sounded even cooler to me.
Another thing that made the Turbo my favorite console from then on was the controller. Once again, it seemed as though it had been designed specifically for
me. I've never liked the original Genesis pad, the NES was a good but crude start, but the Turbo Pad was the perfect size and shape. With a d-pad and buttons that I couldn't imagine being any better than. Plus variable turbo switches on top of it all.
My friends and I had been interested in seeing what we called "glowy" graphics like on arcade games. Basically, nicely shaded graphics with colorful gradients. Many early Genesis games had visuals blurred out that looked similar, but the TG-16 had many games with sprites in particular that looked like my favorite arcade games, while still appearing sharp on screen. Even before we saw a TG-16 in my home town, one of the games we'd site as an example of "glowy" graphics in the arcade was Side Arms. When it made it to the TG-16 apparently fully glowy and intact I couldn't believe it.
The main reason I got hooked on Turbo and its remained my favorite platform, of course, is the games. But aside from how cool the games themselves were, the one final thing that made the TG-16 so awesome was Turbochips/HuCards. I really liked SMS game cards and had wished there were more. Turbochips were even cooler and every game used them.
I don't know how things would've turned out if the CD-ROM hadn't been released. But ever since I saw early images of Ys I & II and Valis II, I decided I
had to get it. I loved Ys on SMS and the updated visuals (
that early screenshot of the pillars in Zeptic Village really stood out) combined with cinemas (
the portraits and minor cinemas in PSII had a huge impact on me and my friends, as did the early "Japanimation" videos we'd special order) convinced me that that single game would
alone make the Turbo-CD worthwhile.
And it really did. Although I was disappointed that there weren't cinemas throughout the game, Cosmic Fantasy 2 would eventually fulfill that expectation as I had imagined CD RPGs would/should be. Valis II turned out to have even more glowy graphics than I thought, although it was quite a bit different than I had imagined.
As much as I loved the TG-16 early on, it was the CD games and PC Engine imports that cemented it as my favorite system right through the 16-bit generation and surprisingly up until this day.
Topic: So ... why the turbografx, anyway? (Read 866 times)
