The BEST of the TurboGrafx CD | Johnny Grafx

[@ThunderSmell]

My father, Ass Fall

[@comradestannis]

We can all relate.

[@MarquisDeSang]

WTF! I am in you video!!!! Woooooooooooow I am so happy with my Jailbreak Analog Duo that I may even buy another one, just because I don't want to live without it, ever. PS : today was my first time playing Lords of Thunder, after 30+ years of drooling over screenshots and youtube videos. I lost my Lords of Thunder virginity today and it feels good.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Welcome to real manhood my friend! LOT is an absolute gem.

[@DieselJT]

Best game ever! On the best console ever!

[@MarquisDeSang]

@@DieselJTAmen

[@comradestannis]

Lords of Thunder virginity?

[@avenuePad]

I'm loving these videos! Thank you! Valis I (The Legend of a Fantasm Soldier) was not released in North America. It was only released on the PC Engine. For whatever reason several sites list it under "Turbografx CD", so I get the confusion. Valis I was actually released for the PC Engine nearly a year after Valis IV. It's pretty heavy remaster of the 1986 original. It might be my favourite of the series. It certainly was when i was playing the Valis series more religiously years ago. I should revisit them and see if that opinion still holds.

[@ROMBomb001]

Came here to say this. I just discovered PC Engine Valis 1 and it is my new favorite!

[@jmccain22090]

These production values are ridiculous for your subscriber count. Love it dude. I subbed.

[@comradestannis]

Me too.

[@mystacles]

Dude great list!! I love your videos because I know so little about the turbo graphics alot of these games look very interesting

[@Johnnygrafx]

It's definitely worth exploring! 🙂

[@ats2099]

Your content is so good- editing, audio and video quality, writing and presentation... excellent! Why you no have more likes and subs!?!?

[@Johnnygrafx]

The channel is growing slowly but surely! Glad you enjoy the content 🙂

[@GAMECLOSET]

A fun video all the way around! I need to play some of these. Could your editing be more awesome? And you know I was giggling throughout! 😂

[@BubblegumCrash332]

I'm not that big of a music nerd but I'm proud of myself for knowing what Liquid Tension is.

[@phychmasher]

Acid Rain is one of my favorite tracks.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Same! It would be right at home in Gate of Thunder.

[@ParanoiaDragon]

Fun fact, it's games like Ys 1-4, Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder that got me into Dream Theater which got me into Liquid Tension Experiment, as well as other stuff like Vinnie Moore and Joe Satriani.

[@BubblegumCrash332]

@@ParanoiaDragon crazy connection. I only know who Dream Theater is because my uncle from NY went to high school with the guitarist from D.T.

[@sailcat662]

The "Giant Bonk" @8:40 was definitely a flex at the time at least for 9 year-old me when I saw it advertised. I saved up my newspaper delivery money all summer to buy one only to realize it didn't come with a second controller :(

[@comradestannis]

Autism moment

[@ScruffyLookinRGB]

Great video, man. I'll have to check out Riot Zone for that 90s nostalgia. You deserve way more subs my friend❤🎉👍✨️✨️✨️

[@arcadeages3917]

Pretty sure it was Duran Duran who made the music under a pseudonym for “Gate of Thunder”. Excellent video. Subscribed.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Wow I've never heard that but it definitely makes sense

[@howitusedtobe]

yea never a huge dream theatre guy but liquid tension had a few jamz I can spin now and again .

[@ParanoiaDragon]

Only Valis 2 & 3 got localizations for the Turbo CD. Valis 1 was actually the final release of the series for the PC Engine after Valis 4.

[@joshfacio9379]

All true. Theres a fan dub for valis 4 but its very amateurish, lol. In a way it kinda fits in with cd games voice overs of the time.

[@ParanoiaDragon]

@@joshfacio9379 Yeah, I talked to the guy who worked on it. Sounds like it was mainly done as an experiment more than anything else.

[@mattb8075]

Good video, you could make 1 more or even 2 more :) Also PS the reason Gate of Thunder feels so much like a Thunder Force game is because a lot of the original team left Techno Soft to make it and Lords.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Ahhh that makes perfect sense! And yes, one more on this topic is definitely in order.

[@ParanoiaDragon]

I've heard the same goes for Sapphire as well. I haven't heard where that team one after that.

[@triniborn76]

I love Gate of Thunder! I had a turbografx CD back in the days and I only had the Gate of Thunder/ Bonk collection. Never beat any of the games though. 😂 Great video👍👍

[@retrobeliever]

Absolutely fantastic vid! I hope to be on this level one day!

[@Johnnygrafx]

Glad you enjoyed! 🙂

[@Igorkonoha]

i would like to point it out that castlevania rondo of blood ( the og version ) is hidden inside the Psp remake, making also a great another plataform to play ( on the legal way of things that is ) cause its a good emulation ( i think even better than the requiem kinda poor job ) and it runs on a psp so, rond of blood on the go.

[@BraxonGG]

As a side note, emulating the PSP game to try the og one doesn't really work. The audio gets wonky and the cutscenes don't play lol It's probably due to being two layers of emulation at that point (PC to PSP to PCE) Just wanted to leave this here in case anyone had the same idea I did!

[@Gobblin215]

Such a underrated system!

[@Johnnygrafx]

We can change that! 🙂

[@jeffdavis6657]

I don't remember the music being drowned out in Gate of Thunder. But it has been a long time since I played it on my system. I also had it on the 3(4) in 1 CD. Maybe that was different? Riot Zone had a glitch my friend discovered. If you get rid of all your health, and land a hit, (i think the turbo switch must be on) your enemy will remain in contact with your fist until his/her health depletes.

[@SomeCanine]

The voice acting in Last Alert genuinely made me laugh out loud.

[@arcadeages3917]

if you double-tab the gun button in “Gate of Thunder” you can spin your options to shoot backwards

[@9ElevenGamer]

Just what I need, I love to see recommendations from people who've actually paid for the games, nothing worse than paying a fortune for a game that someone's played through once on an emulator praised it's fun gameplay but has neglected the replay value, rendering it a bad purchase once completed. And no I am not against emulation these games are expensive, hench when I purchase one I like it to be worth the £50 to £150 I've been spending on them.

[@DrJ3RK8]

Some of the Tunder Force III devs worked on the Thunder games. (that's probably why they remind you of it) :)

[@unrequited8200]

Fun fact: The order of release of the Valis games on the CD system was 2 - 3 -4 - 1. The first Valis game, Fantasm Soldier, was a remake of the original PC-88/98 game, and was released after part 4 on the PC-Engine CD in Japan only. It is also the only one of the four Valis games on the system to require the Super CD-ROM RAM expansion. That's probably why part 2 seems like a noticeable step down from part 1, and the roughest of the entire series.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Ah, yeah that makes sense!

[@waydem1]

Last alert is literally the Rambo game on sega

[@garage2track]

Check out the voice acting in Fighting Street. "What strength. But don't forget there are many guys like you, all over the world."

[@rgm4646]

now i feel old I had a 8x cd player lol

[@Roland_Volpahart]

As for me last alert has pretty good graphics !

[@SirKibble88]

Damn, a Liquid Tension Experiment reference, you really a nerd lol. As an aside, why didn’t you call yourself Johnny Turbo? What a great piece of gaming PR history he was haha. I’m digging the content brother, keep it up

[@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama]

13:36 Holy crap, is the hostage dude here Barney from the Simpsons??? Sure sounds like him. Who knew he was privy to government secrets...

[@acem7749]

Kind of left out a few bigger details one Sapphire requires an arcade card also Bonk 3 is two-player co-op and god damn bonk 3 has some big as sprites on screen that was impressive for the day..

[@hidarimak]

Thanks for the great list. I now have a few new games to track down. One minor nitpick though. At the start of the video, you defined the TurboGrafx CD as filling the gap between the 16-bit and the 32-bit systems. But the system had an 8-bit CPU and a 16-bit graphics chip. And going by memory, I believe that the TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine came out before the Super Nintendo. Although this NEC system was powerful for its time and had some great games, saying that it falls between systems such as the Super Nintendo or Genesis and the PlayStation (through your statement of saying it fell between 16-bit and 32-bit) is misleading. Parallax scrolling was a rarity, and there really weren't any big polygon games that I can recall for this console.

[@DragoonMS]

Asuka 120% on the PC CD should be a blast to play for anyone familiar with the games on PSone & Saturn.

[@JetScreamer_YT]

I had a TG-16. I found a PCE interface with the PCE, and a broken CD for $150. I got the CD fixed. I sold my TG-16 console (recapped), and made a profit! Great list. I needed suggestions!

[@Johnnygrafx]

Cool! I'm still not sure what to do with mine. After dumping my ISOs to my PC and getting the analogue duo, I fear it'll just collect dust. But at the same time I can't bear the idea of selling it 🤷

[@leeartlee915]

“Dominated by the PS1 and Sega Saturn: …. If only that were the case.

[@travissmith8017]

Nexzr, the levels are difficult but fair, it also has great music! You also don't have to restart the whole game from losing your powerups on one death. YIs book 1 & 2 is another banger, its a simple but great rpg.

[@Johnnygrafx]

I feel like I've played Nexzr, but maybe on Playstation or Saturn? I definitely need to get acquainted with the TGCD version!

[@VGMFan20XX]

Props to bring LTE into the discussion XD Now time to listen to Acid Rain.

[@Johnnygrafx]

I'll take any excuse to talk about LTE 🙂

[@jeffdavis6657]

Also, using the Turbo Stick slow-mo in Fighting Street, the CPU wont fight back.

[@TheAlphaOmegaX3]

You forgot to mention on Gate Of Thunders options/satellites can shoot in reverse by tapping the the button to shoot backwards.This comes in REAL handy at times. On Bonk 3 I prefer the hucard and there are differences. I want Last Alert! Still haven't added it to my collection, but cant wait to hear that ridiculously famously bad voice acting, lol. Love the old Turbo-Engine!

[@Johnnygrafx]

Ah! Yeah I definitely forgot that about GOT. Oh well I always forget something lol. And yes, definitely get your hands on last alert at some point. Just maybe have a guide handy for those levels where you have to find stuff with a time limit.

[@MisterMcbizzo64]

Lords of Thunder needs some love

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah I'll definitely mention it in part 2

[@chrissmith-rv5ro]

Definitely better than my Sega CD.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah, overall the TGCD library is much better than the Sega CD's. Certainly in terms of western releases at least.

[@OnePathTraveler]

That's a good point sega cd could have done so much more it's a travesty 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@DieselJT]

I definitely need to pick up Asuke 100% for my collection! Looks like a great 2d fighter!

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah it's really fun! There's more to it than I gave it credit for I think, but I'm relatively new to it myself. Still figuring it out. It reminds me of "Rival Schools" a bit from the PS1.

[@DieselJT]

@@Johnnygrafx I'm all about it! Excited to play it!

[@lorddeimos3129]

Not bad but the Playstation and sega Saturn versions the grafx it's very Best of the PC-ENGINE version.....

[@stephenmontgomery5807]

Awesome !

[@24tommyst]

what a great video!

[@Johnnygrafx]

Glad you liked it! Probably the video I've enjoyed making the most thus far.

[@nickburnette5572]

There's only ONE reason to include Last Alert on a best list, it's GUY KAZAMA and then also the Voice Acting!!!!

[@AshRiot81]

13:36 Barney from Simpsons???

[@alexward42069]

MEMORIES!!!

[@mscottjohnson3424]

18:10 I have Asuka 120% and a 6 button controller. I can confirm that it doesn't work with it. It is, unfortunately, a 2 button game. The Sega Saturn version is 6 buttons, and has better graphics, so I usually play it there.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Okay thanks for the confirmation 👍

[@shiningphantasy1393]

In regards to what you were mentioning on Last Alert about the fair at best graphics and being a little underwhelming for a CD format, pretty much all of the early CD games had merely decent or good enough visuals but not attention grabbing. The draw was definitely the music and intermissions for the first couple of years. It wasn't until the Super Card was implemented that the aesthetics were elevated across the board with beauties like Lords of Thunder. Now having said that the only glaring exception to this was Spriggan which was not a Super CD game, but that's just Compile pushing the limits on any system that they made games for. The arcade card on the other hand was very underutilized besides a small handful of exceptions like Sapphire and some of the Neo Geo fighting game ports, and in some cases all it did was reduce loading times.

[@ParanoiaDragon]

I was thinking the same thing. Spriggan is well done for a 2.0 card game, as is Shubibinman 3. They could get away as being Super CD. Macross 2036 & Terraforming are bi-compatible. They're listed as Suoer CD, but they run with the 2.0 card. I'm guessing there's only a difference in load times. There's probably a few other games I'm forgetting that really seem to push the 2.0 cards limits.

[@scejntjynahl]

Sapphire also boasted 3d polygonal graphics thanks to the use of the Arcade Card in order to play it.

[@braillynn]

Ah, Asuka 120% I really enjoy the gameplay and the music. Also, Asuka does not support the 6 button controller. It will only use buttons 1 and 2.

[@TalkingDonkey2]

🔥🔥🔥

[@CasperEgas]

Great video. Shame the games are so expensive.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Glad you enjoyed! Thankfully duos play burned games pretty easily though 😉

[@CasperEgas]

@Johnnygrafx I am not really into piracy.

[@hildasoriano9007]

Could the life span of pc engine dúo become another handheld classic touch screen duo-uhhh ahhh

[@Sinn0100]

Rondo better than Symphony? I don't think I agree with this take at all. Symphony took the series to new heights while still retaining the games soul. My only complaint with Symphony of The Night is the difficulty was far too easy.

[@agamaz5650]

omg Rondo of Blood is exactly what I need since I do not like RPG and open world, give me my action

[@Johnnygrafx]

Same!

[@agamaz5650]

@@Johnnygrafx what is the best way to emulate it please? Windows 10 and Onion OS (will play it on my Miyoo Mini Plus as well)

[@Johnnygrafx]

@@agamaz5650 I've had good luck with Retroarch running all pc engine/TG-16 games pretty well.

[@agamaz5650]

@@Johnnygrafx which core? the first didnt work for me (probs didnt get bios so downloading them all) crazy rondo of blood only got released on such obscure console, symphony of the night is so overflooded everywhere yet rondo of blood is fairly hard to emulate and ridicolously almost impossible to play on real hardware and CD thx to the price

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yep you need the bios for CD games to work. The beetle PCE one tends to work for me. But yeah. I'm glad we finally have modern ports of it though!

[@TalkingDonkey2]

🎉🎉🎉

[@TalkingDonkey2]

❤❤❤

[@jsttv]

As a side scroller beat em up fan, I was extremely disappointed w/Riot Zone. I had high expectations, because it was marketed as a super CD. The graphics are a cheap rip off to Final Fight. For a super CD, I find the sound below average w/very little voice overs, and the music mediocre. The gameplay makes the game worse, because it’s only one player! Moreover, there are no weapons to use, and I find the levels repetitive at times. Not to mention the challenge was almost non existent, because I beat the game in one sitting. I own Final Fight CD and Streets of Rage 2, and they are way better in terms of graphics, gameplay, music, and challenge. If, this was in turbo chip format I would give it more credit. Riot Zone had so much potential, and could have been better, if the developers had put more time and effort into development.

[@npcentertainment123]

🤘

[@Sesomi3601]

I hate to break it to you, but Lords of Shadow is NOT castlevania... They are simply an alternate reality set of garbage that should never have been realized. I'm quite ashamed to admit that I have beaten the first one and it has no real connection to the real lore of castlevania.

[@hildasoriano9007]

Look at sp pspgo could nec make hand-held touch screen 4.0 scroll yeaaaa

[@ErinYoung-xq9ep]

Asuka Maxima Burning Fest 120% unfortunately is NOT compatible with the 6-button controller, despite what is claimed elsewhere online. Also: Those are supposed to be high school girls. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Johnnygrafx]

First part: Good to know! 👍 Second part: wish I didn't know 😔

[@hildasoriano9007]

Could youtube and youtube comp. Have sound effect smileies uhhh-ahhh [ crowd] yeahhhh

[@aaronko3480]

Yes. College level. Yup. *deletes browser history*

[@hepwo91222]

Dracula X, Sapphire, and Gate of Thunder are good picks, but the others? Not so much. Also TG-16 CD had Ys1-3 in th west and 4 was Japanese only. Legend of Heroes Dragon Slayer (precursor to the Trails series). Shadow of the Beast was pretty good too. Want fighters? Neo Geo ports were on the PC Engine CD through Arcade Card (playable game son Analogue Duo and Polymega). Also Lords of Thunder was a good game too. Spriggan 1 was great, Spriggan2 not so much.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Oh yeah I adore Lords of Thunder and Spriggan. Why don't you like the Spriggan Mark 2? I haven't played it much but I thought it was largely considered a decent follow up?

[@hepwo91222]

@@Johnnygrafx first Spriggan was overhead and awesome, didn't mind the sequel went sidescrolling, but the loading of some Japanese voice acting while levels were in progress for no reason broke up the action for me too much.

[@hildasoriano9007]

Will vita let psp vita give extra life by giving rights to tg-16 dúo games - [ guy thinking] hmm

[@MrSolidtiger]

The sound effects on Sapphire are horrible. Game play is excellent though.

[@KronStaro]

looks worse than SNES, although colors are not bad, but pixels are just too large