The 20 Greatest NEC PC Engine / TurboGrafx Games Of All-Time

[@TheLairdsLair]

The full Top 50 PC Engine games list: 50 - Son Son 2 49 - Bonk 3 48 - Lords of Thunder 47 - China Warrior 46 - Adventure Island 45 - Moto-Roader 44 - Dragon's Curse 43 - Mr. Heli 42 - Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu 41 - Final Lap Twin 40 - Twin Cobra 39 - Forgotten Worlds 38 - Shinobi 37 - Valis 2 36 - Power Drift 35 - Vigilante 34 - Neutopia 33 - Strider 32 - Cotton 31 - Alien Crush 30 - Bloody Wolf 29 - Cadash 28 - Parodius 27 - Street Fighter II 26 - Salamander 25 - Space Harrier 24 - Dungeon Explorer 23 - After Burner 22 - Volfied 21 - Air Zonk 20 - Legendary Axe 2 19 - Blazing Lazers 18 - Parasol Stars 17 - Legendary Axe 16 - OutRun 15 - Military Madness 14 - Bonk 2 13 - Star Parodier 12 - Ninja Spirit 11 - Gate of Thunder 10 - Galaga '88 9 - Star Soldier 8 - Soldier Blade 7 - Devil Crash 6 - R-Type 5 - Bonk 4 - Splatterhouse 3 - Bomberman '94 2 - Ys Book 1 & 2 1 - Castlevania Dracula X

[@totophi]

Nice, but… shouldn’t that be Galaga ‘90?

[@RetroGamingNook]

I never realized it, but OMG, I'm in a cult! Always love seeing TG-16/PC Engine content... so don't complain, make your own list on KZbin and I'll watch it.

[@Derecuda]

Nice, thanks for using my comment for Bonk's Revenge. It was one of the first titles I got for my TG16. I've played the others, but Revenge always sticks out to me.

[@ut4321]

Was ecstatic to see my comment in the video. Many an hour spent with my brothers playing the TG-16. So many great games, and many of them multi-player! Fantastic, fast, fun, colorful system. Wish I still had it. Thanks to @Lairds Lair for these memories!

[@TheLairdsLair]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rockandrollmachine]

4/5 of mine made it. Good to see Star Parodier there, but very surprised Lords Of Thunder is absent.

[@AFFL1CTED1]

I'm liking your channel and content. Though one critique... you should really work on your audio mixing. I can barley hear you most of the time so I turn the volume up only to be blasted with game audio when you switch from voice-over to gameplay. Example: @3:30-3:40

[@TheLairdsLair]

Well, the volume level on my talking and the game music that comes after is EXACTLY the same. When I stop talking I switch the game audio over to the other channel make it louder. I do the same thing in all videos of this type and have never had a complaint before, and to be honest it sounds good to me, but I can look into it more and see if I can improve it.

[@AFFL1CTED1]

@@TheLairdsLair No worries. You do what seems right for your channel... obviously. I was just trying to offer constructive criticism. I happen to watch a lot of KZbin, mostly gaming related content, and I just happened to pick that out. I never notice such things when watching videos from GamesSack, for example, as I know Joe is obsessive (like me) when it comes to audio. Was just trying to offer some friendly advice.

[@TheLairdsLair]

I appreciate the feedback, I really do, just giving my side of things. It's funny you mention Game Sack, I haven't watched them for years (for a number of reasons), but when I did I always found their audio to be too quiet. Perhaps it's because I'm partially deaf in one ear, I don't know.

[@AFFL1CTED1]

@@TheLairdsLair That's completely fair. Oh, that is interesting. I've never really noticed that to be honest with you. I usually put on a Game Sack or Gaming Historian episode (something around a half-hour in length) to play in the background while I fall asleep. That is to say, I've watch a lot of their episodes lol. Everyone has different tastes and tolerances for audio preferences, I suppose.

[@drewamongstus]

@@TheLairdsLairit’s not the same loudness even if it’s the same level on the volume meter because your voice is recorded from a microphone and the music is recorded direct from the source. Try putting some compression on your microphone recording. Love this system thanks for the video.

[@wizzgamer]

How can Dragons Curse be so low it's one of the greatest games of all time.

[@jay1177]

I would have included neutopia 1 and 2

[@hammerheadms]

If we are including CD game, then Lords Of Thunder should definitely be in this list.

[@thedrunkmonkshow]

Side note: I kept wondering where the intro song to your videos came from and while watching someone's game collection video I recognized the song. The woman speaking in the beginning should have been a clue when she says, "Welcome STUN Runner!" but because of the echos and audio compression in the original game of Atari's Lynx port of STUN Runner it's not easy to tell lol 😁

[@TheLairdsLair]

I get asked at least once a week! It always amuses me what people think it says, some are just so bizarre!

[@frankbrodie5168]

AW Devil's Crush! I have a BRILLIANT anecdote about that game. (if not this particular release.) I owned a SNES back in the early 1990's. And was a P.O. delivery driver. Parcelforce before it was all sold off basically. I liked the look of the game 'Jaki Crush pinball.' But hadn't got around to playing it yet. Well.. One day in Cantley in Doncaster I was walking to a front door to do a delivery, and as I passed what would be the living room window I caught sight of the game through the window, playing on the TV. A young woman answered the door etc. And as she was signing for the item, I asked if that was Jaki Crush pinball she was playing. And if it was any good? She told me it was that game in a way. But the Megadrive version (Devil's Crash was it on the Megadrive? Dunno, never owned it.) And... As for if it was any good.. She asked if I wanted to come in and try the game out.. lol Well... I was busy. You know how it goes.. So I politely declined. I was telling the lads about the incident that night in the pub. And one of them commented that imagine if I had gone in to play the game, me being a total game addict. Sitting there on her sofa with a cup of coffee, still playing the game hours later, and the husband arrives home from work to find a massive P.O. Lorry blocking his driveway.. Wonders wtf is going off.. Haha..

[@TheLairdsLair]

Yes it's on the Mega Drive too, slightly enhanced too. It's easily a top 10 game for me on the MD.

[@GCSoundArtifacts]

Thanks for putting here my comment about R-Type! Yeah, I do agree with you that Blazing Lasers really deserved a better place on this list. Really curious to know why Lords of Thunder isn't here on the Top 20 (and I could have voted for it)...! Was Ghouls'n Ghosts even remembered by another person than me? Or even Street Fighter II...? There's also an incredible River City Ramson here in this system, but it isn't here due to the fact that it was Japan-exclusive. Either way, I believe that PC Engine (with or without the CD add-on) is still a huge world to be discovered by the West, which received such a little portion of it... that's why some of the games of the CD variant are on here as well. The list covered the popularity such games, after all. But I congratulate the fact that the first two in preference of this list are also mine own...! (A note: I believe that Bomberman '93 was the most remembered because it has some of the best chip music made for the system.)

[@TheLairdsLair]

SF2 just missed out on the top 20, I think it was 22nd, Lords of Thunder didn't get many votes at all. I think one other person voted GnG, but that's it.

[@robertwilson3866]

Ghouls n Ghosts was on the Supergrafx not the PC Engine. This is why no one voted for it! :)

[@sonicmania9993]

These are all good games, not a bad list! Like a few others, Gunhed/Blazing Lazers would be my #1. The shmups on offer here are all S-tier or A-tier, which is cool!! Other S-tier shmups for me are: Gradius 1, Gradius 2, Salamander, Magical Chase, Tatsujn, Nexzr, Air Zonk/PC Denjin, and as several people have mentioned Lords/Winds of Thunder. A+ tier shooters for me include: Seirei Senshi Spriggan, Super Raiden, and Sapphire. As for other game genres, besides the games others have mentioned in the comments already, I'd like to shout out Legend of Valkyrie, Legend of Hero Tonma, Dungeon Explorer, Metal Stoker, and Cadash!

[@TheLairdsLair]

Always love to see other people mention Metal Stoker, I featured it in my PC Engine exclusives video, it's one of my favourite games on the system.

[@afriend9428]

*I have the Mini and happy to have these games for FREE* ⭐️

[@HarriHaffi]

Sweet! Seems like the best one of all the minis

[@jamesmelody]

Looking forward to this :)

[@Laserdreamz]

Greatest videogame system of all times, you could fill the top 20 alone with shooters. From my personal favorites I would have Download in there for sure.

[@robertwilson3866]

If the top-20 is just shooters - that makes a case for it not being the best videogame system of all time.

[@alimohammedabd]

Ever had a turbographics. I do have a few games on Wii. Blazing lasers. Final soldier. China warrior chase HQ and a few others.

[@shotgunl]

I can't argue with any of the top-20: all are great games. While I restricted myself to only Hucards for my list, I knew there would a healthy dose of CD titles in the final top-20, and it was no surprise at all that Ys 1&2, Rondo of Blood, Gate of Thunder, etc made the list. If I had included CD games, I would have certainly at least had put Rondo in my top-5, maybe also Ys Book 1&2 though maybe that'd be farther down but still top 10. I am quite glad to see Galaga '88/'90 make it in the top-20. What I am surprised not to see in the Top-20 is SF2: Champion Edition. Yeah, it's not great to play with a 2-button controller (and the Avenue Pad 6 that I have isn't the best 6-button controller around, at least in terms of the shape and d-pad); however, it still fairs very well against the Genesis Special Champion Edition and SNES SF2' Turbo. The sprites are all similar-looking; the PC-Engine's backgrounds are more colorful than the Genesis port; it plays well (with a 6-button controllers); and, the music is not as nice and sound effects are just okay, but the voice samples are extremely good, much better than SNES and Genesis. It's not the best port of SF2, was a Japanese-only release, and really requires a 6-button pad, so I can see why it didn't make the list, but I'm just surprised it's not there. I'm not at all surprised Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf did not make the list, and I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only one who threw it a vote. However, even with slow screen redraws, terribly ugly colors pulled straight from the EGA version of the DOS game, just 1 course on the Hucard (though the CD version makes up for that), and bad sound and no in-game music for the Hucard release (decent stuff in the CD version though)...it plays just as well as the DOS Jack Nicklaus games, and with the 10-segment swing meter, that's the best way to swing in video golf, IMO, prior to the introduction of analog swinging with a mouse and then analog thumbsticks (and then motion control, though for me the pinnacle of motion-control golfing was John Daly's ProStroke Golf on PS3 with the Move).

[@yungsamus6662]

Sprites looking so good on this one better than Nintendo

[@hatdude5138]

Why does it skip from 17 to 14? Is this some new math?

[@TheLairdsLair]

It doesn't, the second 17 is a typo - it should be 15.

[@TheRealJPhillips]

I'd swap out Bomberman with alien crush. No Air Zonk?? Great list tho.

[@vandammesque]

I've never played Castlevania but will give it a go on this system! Bonk is great, only played it on the Amiga, prob top 3 platformer competing with Robocod and Great Giana Sisters. Always wanted a PC Engine as a kid, seeing it in the likes of C + VG mags, and R-Type being as two games sold separately was a gimmick akin to the price of a NEO GEO game so must have been very close to the arcade!

[@HarriHaffi]

Played through thunder force 3. How is thunder gate compare to thunder force 3?

[@9ElevenGamer]

Have you re-made this? I could have sworn you'd already covered this phenomenal console a while back, probably me and all the drugs I am on.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Nope, this is new!

[@businesscat380]

No Lords of Thunder is a surprise ommission. As is the excellent Street Fighter II Champion Edition port Spriggan and Sapphire also could've made the list, but it would make the list very shoot-em up heavy I also have a soft spot for Jackie Chan Action Kung Fu If you were including SuperGrafX titles, Ghouls n Ghosts should make the list too

[@Memememe-is1yn]

Neutopia 1 and 2 were great ARPG games.

[@AirZonkWorldChamp]

Cool list, I wish Zonk made the list though.

[@lailanitaganap6314]

Street Fighter 2, Netopia, Lords if Thunder not on list?

[@smallmj2886]

Most of these games made it on to the PC Engine Mini. I guess the manufacturers agreed with you. I wish the Playstation Classic makers had done so well with their picks.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Not me, this was a community vote!

[@MunkiZee]

Solid list. However I'm quite passionate about Bomberman '94 being the better version, mostly because I grew up playing the Mega Drive version, but largely because of the Louies/Roois. On top of this the PC-Engine version has better AI and slightly improved graphics compared to the Mega Drive/Genesis titles of the same name. I love to have a match against the CPU whenever I have a spare few minutes, although despite having clocked in a huge amount of hours on this game I have failed to pick up any advanced strategies for it, just lay as many bombs as you can against the CPU as they always make a bee-line straight for your player

[@2kBofFun]

The MD version is so bad compared to the PC Engine one. No idea what they did to the music and why it could not deal with the animations. You would guess the 68000 had enough power for it. But maybe Hudson just ordered it to be cripled not to affect PC Engine competition too much.

[@danielespeziari5545]

I wish I had a lot more exposure to this system, as it deserves its place alongside my 8 and 16-bit Sega and Nintendo consoles. It's my biggest gaming regret, but I hope I will find a way to explore this amazing library

[@ralphjb]

MiSTer FPGA is a great way to do so!

[@jimbotron70]

@@ralphjb It's fine but on the overkill side. Software emulators are equally good for playing PCE games.

[@Bootyhunter1971]

Mod a wii, the games play great on it!

[@waylonoconner9121]

It always happens Bonk's Adventure placed higher than Revenge. Probably just me. Legendary Axe II could also be a higher than the original. Gate of Thunder to me is the best shooter on the system so it was way too low for me and I would have actually put Lords of Thunder in the top 20. Great list with some really great games on it

[@bubbythebear6891]

Of all the consoles that didn't go very far worldwide, this is the one that I see having the most potential at an honest shot for success, but a collective weight of poor decisions held it back. First, it NEEDED to have two controller ports. The fact that multiplayer cost extra was unacceptable. Second, a better pack in title would have helped, although Altered Beast didn't exactly set the world on fire for the Genesis. Legendary Axe would have been more appropriate. Ideally Bonk should have been out by Christmas of 89, a mascot to give the console an identity. And most importantly, BETTER EXPOSURE! Comic book ads only go so far. It's a very poor sign when kids of the time didn't know you even existed. It's also a bad sign when the people that want to get one couldn't even find where to get one! My dad was interested in Splatterhouse after seeing it advertised in a Batman comic, but couldn't find the TurboGrafx anywhere (though bizarrely his science teacher had one with Splatterhouse, and was showing it off in class. Odd, but ok.) If the people that want your product don't know where to find it, you're already screwed. A shame. And this is from an American, albeit rural perspective. I don't think it released in the UK at all, and only France in Europe. Very much a missed opportunity.

[@TheLairdsLair]

It did actually get a very limited release in the UK and Europe and I have one of those PAL models, see the links in the description for more info!

[@elgo3556]

It actually did great in Japan.

[@joesshows6793]

Pretty much right on

[@Pon3TorLord]

I can't for the love of god find that exact comment I wrote that appeared in this video.

[@FightingWarrior]

Great system and games, but in my opinion the weak point in most games were the sound fx's, too much 8bit-ish

[@Mk-k86]

Final match tennis

[@dwightdixon8508]

As much as I enjoy Military Madness Vasteel is 10x better especially in 2 player mode…..Beyond Shadowgate is also an incredible title

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

Nutopia?

[@Bloody-Butterfly]

Makyou Denetsu is great!

[@Stonebrek]

I'm only 4 minutes into this video and I don't even know if I can take this list seriously.. Blazing Lazers at 19? Excuse me? I'll watch the rest, but.. Wow...

[@TheLairdsLair]

Blazing Lazers would be my no.1, but this is voted for by the community.

[@Stonebrek]

@@TheLairdsLair ok... You are absolutely forgiven. Lol. I may have missed that detail... My bad!

[@StrigoiVampire]

Dungeon explorer

[@MarquisDeSang]

Keith Courage should be #1

[@retropalooza]

Damn I missed punch n cookies

[@DrunkDudley]

whats the difference with Super Star Soldier and Soldier Blade?

[@TheLairdsLair]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Soldier

[@e.o.1991]

I don't get why a 16bit console has 8bit era sound 🤔

[@TheLairdsLair]

It doesn't. But that said it's not a true 16-bit console anyway as it has an 8-bit CPU.

[@e.o.1991]

@@TheLairdsLair wow, for an 8bit CPU these games look amazing!

[@jenshan5693]

Oh yeah i played a Lot on the consol x3 Manny retro stuff but today Not fun peopel Stick online Play different aera lol

[@2kBofFun]

Kuddos to any PC Engine promotion, but I did have some issues with the video. If this was the kind of TV people in the US had, then it is double-sad. Not only was the TG16 obnoxious, this TV is blasphemia to the PC Engine. How on earth is this piece of junk able to show RGB SCART output from the ExtBus? Sony TRINTRON it shall be, black, with STEREO speakers! The video has a very small peek of the game because of this, and you ruin it extra by putting all subtitles OVER the gameplay. Then there are some big holes in your selection, it was probably again limited by US TG16 available titles, but the video has PC Engine all over it, not TG16. If there is 1 reason to get a PC Engine, it is Bomberman 94. It goes so much further than 93. It is the best Bomberman ever, on ANY console. Then the best Soldier shooter misses as well, again probably as it had no US release: Final Soldier. Again, Final Soldier+Trinitron in stereo, is asthonishing! Then I miss the greatest Zelda Nintendo never made: Neutopia 2. Again magnificent music, great game. It was released in the US although one could play the JP version albeit all the japanese talk by characters. I also miss the real nice Sega ports like After Burner II or Space Harrier. And where is the Doreamon platform game? Probably again missed as only "Cratermaze" got to the US, you show it, but it is absolute rubbish compared to the Doreamon version. How could anyone remove a cute blue robot cat for an export version?

[@TheLairdsLair]

"Then there are some big holes in your selection" It's not my selection . . . . talk about missing the whole point of the video before you've even got half way through your rant.

[@2kBofFun]

@@TheLairdsLair Sorry, I should not have watched, I like curated lists, not "voted" ones. Now I see it in the description, it wasn't clear in the video itself.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Erm, the intro to the video literally explains the whole voting process and how it was put together . . . . . .

[@2kBofFun]

@@TheLairdsLair I'm one of those lousy viewers who skips to most watched if the video is long... I watched the intro, and when I heard both Facebook and you observation they picked from a very small selection, I started wondering if you perhaps captured 95% TG16 users, not PC Engine users. Facebook is no big thing outside the US and US wannabe states like Canada, UK, Australia. Countries that had the TG16, and thus a much smaller library.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Well, the poll was posted in 3 separate Facebook groups - one more UK based, one more American and one with a real mix of people from everywhere. Plus the question was put to ALL my subscribers, of which I have over 12,000 and they are a real mix from around the world.

[@jenniferhunter5433]

Welcome💙 🌟💗