FORGOTTEN TurboGrafx-16 Games That Nobody Talks About | Johnny Grafx

[@AirZonkWorldChamp]

Cool that the cat loved Tiger Road there.

[@Johnnygrafx]

It's hers now

[@BitBoxTurbo]

I'm glad the ol' algorithm decided to show me this video. Your production quality is top notch! And despite being a child of the 80s (thus indulging in the golden 16-bit era a lot), I don't recall ever seeing a Turbo in the wild back in the day. I never saw the console, games, accessories - none of it. This lead me to believe the Turbo was just a thing elsewhere in the world. I was nearly 30 years old when I finally saw a Turbo in person for the first time. Such a shame.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yup I think a lot of people had that experience! I didn't grow up near one of the cities that it released in but somehow my dad found one in a bargain bin somewhere in 1991 or so. I got lucky!

[@catsaregovernmentspies]

My dad found a used one with a few games included in the classifieds around 91 or 92, so that's how I was exposed to the TG-16.

[@jasonangeles3765]

i would add Vegius Tactical Gladiator.. i felt it was misunderstood gameplay wise.. the combat was very unique with 3 weapons you constantly had to be rotating for the enemy patterns and the leveling up system was rewarding for skillful players.. also the graphics and music were way above average for the system.. great video, makes me want to check out Silent Debuggers..

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah agreed! And if you like the depth of Vegius I think you'll probably dig Silent Debuggers.

[@Alex_Valentine]

I found my copy of V.T.C in a pile of garbage in very good condition. That was over 25 years ago and I still own it.

[@iiCkabodcrane]

VTG is a banger!

[@retrobeliever]

Silent Debuggers was one of the first games I ever played on this system! And I think you know how much I love Cratermaze!!! I covered Cratermaze and that Batman game in a couple of my vids too! This was a really great vid, loved the sound effects and you showing yourself doing voiceover lol!

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yup and you covering cratermaze was actually a big part of me getting reacquainted with it and remembering how good it is! 🙂

[@retrobeliever]

@@Johnnygrafx dang, well that’s a fantastic feeling! Thanks for that!

[@ringo8410]

They're probably not all that obscure, but two I like that don't get much attention: Yo Bro!, a middling top down platformer (? I'm not sure how to describe it) but with a decent Beach Boys soundtrack; and Chew Man Fu, a puzzle game. Neither game is among the better plays on the system, but they mean a lot to me because I have great memories of playing them in the hospital.

[@Johnnygrafx]

I couldn't get into Yo Bro, but I love Chew Man Fu!

[@ringo8410]

@@Johnnygrafx Don't blame you on either count! Yo Bro's controls are too slippery, but the game has pretty solid 16 bit rendering of Beach Boys' music. Chew Man Fu is a great puzzle game. I'm not great at it but it's fun.

[@medmuscle]

Yeah I still have my old copy of Yo Bro. I was blown away by the Beach Boys tunes as a kid. I played it quite a bit on my TurboExpress. The game is pretty mediocre, but the tunes made it more interesting.

[@medmuscle]

I still have my childhood TurboExpress, and got a PolyMega recently. Your channel has been great in finding out about stuff that I need to add to my collection. My wallet hates you, though. I love your style. You kind of remind me of Joe from Game Sack with the silly, dry humor, and the fart noises, and putting games in the wrong systems. XD Keep up the good work.

[@MarquisDeSang]

The PC-Engine has a unique feeling, something like what I call 12 bit gameplay. PC-Engine and Saturn are the best consoles.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah I'm a fan of these between-generation consoles like that. They have personality.

[@ats2099]

Another great TG16 video- and again, your production quality is fantastic. You highlighted some great games here, and some that I was pretty fond of back in the day that really don't get talked about much- Tiger Road was a fine game, good challenge, Sinistron was unique for a system with so many shooters and I really dug the art style... but Silent Debuggers still deserves more attention- yeah, it's primitive, but really, once you learned how to play it, there was little like it on a console during that generation, and I still think it was underserved because it came out on the Turbo.

[@dixongalvez-searle8035]

I loved the wild visuals of Samurai Ghost - and felt like the gameplay was miles better than China Warrior, as far as "giant sprite" games go

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yep I'd have to agree with you there.

[@zwallop]

I love caveman golf in Time Cruise. And Ordyne is awesome! The soundtrack is so whimsical and it's fun to play co-op.

[@SoCalBIGmike]

My absolute favorite game on the system was Cadash. It was also the first game I ever beat on my own. I try playing it today on my Mini, but man it seems so hard now!

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah Cadash never quite clicked with me, personally. But the co-op mode is cool!

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

I really love Cadash. I just played through it again the other day and had a lot of fun still. It seems impossibly hard unless you do a little grinding. Level up to at least level 5 before the first boss, and gain about 5 levels between each boss and you'll rip right through it in short order.

[@kurtmager1626]

Silent Debuggers and Ordyne were two favorites of mine. Just thinking about it now brings Ordyne's end music in focus for me. I agree on Sinistron on the same points you made. It isn't a favorite, but it is fun nonetheless. I've never been able to beat it either.

[@bjornh1527]

I’ve always thought the beak in Sinistron looks cool! I’m not good at shoot ’em ups, and since it’s not a cheap game I have yet to try it. Ordyne is one I have nostalgia for the arcade version, love it on Namco Museum 4. And I think Time Cruise is pretty cool, absolutely worth playing. My personal “under the radar” favourite is Gomola Speed. Varied types of levels and a weird feeling overall.

[@urdnal]

Back in the day, I was a total Sega fanboy. I laughed at TG-16 failure. Now I realize how great the TG-16/PCE was. Would've been nice to have both back then if $$$ wasn't always tight, as it was for most kids.

[@Aquahutch702]

Silent Debuggers is one of the best Turbografx games in my opinion. It stands out among the side scrollers and platformers that all start to kinda blend together after a while.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yup exactly. It's super unique and ambitious!

[@DJCGAMESTUDIOS]

Tiger Road is such a weird and Frustrating Game!!! i absolutely love it!!

[@aaronko3480]

I always love retro videos about lesser known games, well edited and entertaining to boot! You can do without the fart sound effects though, it’s unnecessary and just seems so random.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Glad you enjoyed! Yeah I think I'm gonna take a break from the farts.

[@aaronko3480]

@@Johnnygrafx glad to hear it! Combing your back catalog now, loving the TG16 content.

[@GAMECLOSET]

😂 and now you know why my Dreamcast doesn’t work too. 😂 I’d never heard of any of these. Although I’d bet you’re Not surprised. I need to start playing more TG16! You’ve done it again. A great video with tons of humor, lots of education and amazing editing. (Plus that VO… always great.)💜

[@Johnnygrafx]

Glad you enjoyed! Our poor Dreamcasts 😩

[@MadsterV]

In Tiger Road it seems the yellow power-down is also upside-down, unlike the red and blue power-ups.

[@plu_Tony_um]

my first opportunity to play the TG16 was when the mini was released…..prior to that my experience was reading the advertisements in US magazines like EGM and Gamepro as the TG16 was never released in Australia…..now I play them on the Analogue Pocket (thank god for FPGA and emulation)

[@mattmyers9351]

Great video!!

[@IdentityCrisis1581]

Psychosis is a pretty good shmup that no one talks about. It has really creepy visuals that remind you of a salvador dali painting. Basically you're trapped in a nightmare and each level is supposed to represent various fears. As far as silent debuggers. That game needed a sequel. It definately had atmosphere. Especially when there was only one or two monsters left. And you're wandering empty halls only hearing your footsteps and ping of the sound sensor. Use the mega beamer, and only worry about the battery room and sound room. All the other rooms aren't important. Check back in with leon a lot and keep bugging him and he will start giving you new equipment. If your battery room gets cut off he will give you an auto charger that will recharge the battery that you aren't using. After a few rooms are cut off he will give you the teleporter. So you can strategically let rooms with nothing in them cut off to get that, and it makes it easier to keep the rest open. If the sound room gets cut off your sensors will randomly stop working. I don't think there's a secret item that fixes that. But you can still work around it. The monsters in the last floor are invisible and don't show up on your sensors anyway. I never tried it, but if the light room gets cut off, you get night vision goggles. Not sure if those let you see the last monsters. I doubt it thought. They are meant to be hard to hunt down. Not that you have to. they are aggresive and usually come to you. Until there's one left. Then it plays cheap and tries to avoid you and run the timer out.

[@grgmj1980]

Darkstalkers for the original PlayStation is a game that very few gamers talk about. Not so many reviews are available

[@Johnnygrafx]

Oh yeah I love darkstalkers!

[@davidtran9444]

Cuz the sequel came out for the Saturn and is better in every way. Just like X-Men cota for the PS1. Late and forgettable.

[@tomevil6]

Great video!

[@MattKhardankov]

Sinistron is one of those shooters I've never been able to really understand the hype for. I like the "jaws" system, reminds me of the multidirectional system from Hellfire. Maybe the fact that I've never even gotten close to seeing that level you cant get through has something to do with that. Hey, you're a knowledgable PC Engine/TG16 dude - whats that... i guess you could call it a shooter... where you're a slinky moving around the walls? Ive been trying to remember for six months. Edit: that is a morning star (in Tiger Road)! A mace is the head of a morning star (or something similar) on a fixed metal or wood shaft. A morning star is the same but on a chain. I used to get them confused as well until a D&D DM set me straight (and had to prove it with the manual and a wikipedia page. I'm a pain in the arse) Cratermaze is a remake of Heian-kyo Alien! Or Eirien, as apparently the Japanese spell it

[@Robert_Shmigelsky]

I actually really like drop off. I tend to play with my paddle positioned to the side, and I try to get into a groove to get the roller to appear and repair your floor. For sinistron, I would try mixing in some charged shots on stage 5. They'll help with the enemy projectiles. If you can get to the check point you should be able to power up, work your way to the bottom of the screen and then cruise to the boss. I just hang back with my jaws extended.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Noted!

[@joshfacio9379]

Great video! Im always amazed at the pcengine's library and how the games went from nes-ish graphics to games like neo geo ports and my fav Dracula X. Kinda miss the days where systems would be upgradable ie system cards and cd rom drive, and how when the duo came out everyone who still had the older original system could upgrade so they could play the newest games. Twice ive waited years to get the next gen and boom within the year theyll release a better version. Looking at you ps4 and now ps5. So now im learning to wait till the next gens been out for 4 years or so before jumping in, bit thats a problem if everyone starts doing that as companies wont make games for it until enough systems are sold. Same with capcom and their games. Wait 6 months and a better versions out.

[@Gobblin215]

Omg… I live-streamed Sinistron knowing nothing about the game. I love the mechanics of the game.

[@DrJ3RK8]

The Sinistron ship has a BILL! damnit! :) Also, Ordyne is incredible! I prefer the arcade version, but both are great!

[@rafresendenrafresenden.1644]

Cool pics

[@Sinn0100]

I know I already posted but...as cool as Tiger Road looks it appears to have hit-detection issues. If you watch your video and pay attention to the "sword" or marching band batton it looks like you connect with enemies 3 to 5 times before it registers a hit.

[@mekman4]

Great Stuff!

[@crazyoldschool6342]

Cratermaze and Sinistron are one of my favorite games.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Mine too 🙂

[@AsaTheEvilOne]

Bro tiger road was one of my favorite games as a kid

[@randybradley4151]

Cratermaze and Orydyne are arcade ports and are faithful to the source material. Orydyne could have sounded better for sure. As for Crater Maze the point of extending the amount of holes you can dig is to have multiple enemies drop in them in a row. Also putting turbo all the way up, you can just hold the button down creating holes over and over again which will give you a ticket similar to the not killing an enemy in the stage (i forget how much). The one thing I liked to do was collect all the treasure chests and grabbing the key and NEC ticket and then I would start killing enemies. Also killing 20 enemies in a level isn't hard to do. I enjoyed Tiger Road a lot and never knew it was ported from the arcade until about 15 years later. I do not like the arcade version of Open Road. Crater Maze is also available on the PlayStation store as well.

[@MarginalSC]

Crater Maze seems like something Jeremey Parish has talked about at length… Heiankyo Alien

[@DetectiveKarnovJr]

A minor correction. Cratermaze is actually a port of Nichibutsu's arcade game "Kid no Hore Hore Daisakusen" aka "Booby Kids". Hudson just slapped the Doraemon license on the Japanese PC Engine version. The US version is actually more accurate to the arcade original.

[@orlandoturbo6431]

Love your video I enjoy watching it. Too bad the TurboGrafx16 didn't get a lot of 3rd party support to make it really shine.

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

I have all of these, and really like them (save Drop Off... I just don't dig it). I have similar feelings about Tiger Road. I like it, but I don't think it likes me. Silent Debuggers is one that I think deserves a lot more love for sure. It's a pretty brisk playthrough and was really pretty unique at the time. I think that Ninja Spirit, Cadash, and Samurai Ghost all should get more attention (well, I guess Ninja Spirit has a decent following), but for one that gets no love, Tricky Kick is a pretty fun puzzle game. It's odd the way each group of stages has a completely unrelated theme, but the matching pairs in little overhead stages has a Boxy Boy/Boxxle-like element in a good way.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah I respect tricky kick but I'm way too dumb to get anywhere with it. I'm more of a Boxy Boy guy 😅

[@mystacles]

Man several of these games look real interesting! I need to get my TG emulation set up

[@Johnnygrafx]

Let me know if you need any pointers with that 👍

[@hikaruk.981]

Cratermaze wasn't EXACTLY Doraemon first. It was an adaptation of the game "Kid no Hore Hore Daisakusen". Because they weren't willing to play for the Doreamon license, they put the original arcade character back into the game.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

are there any other games like drop off on pc engine? are there any other games like Cratermaze on pc engine?

[@Johnnygrafx]

Like Drop Off? Not really... But Klax is good if you like weird puzzle games. Like Cratermaze? Bomberman perhaps. But it's fairly unique for the system too.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

@@Johnnygrafx I am familiar with all of these mentioned, thanks!

[@alvinward7101]

Where's impossimole? It's like the dream theatre of TG-16

[@iiCkabodcrane]

Thanks, now I need to get droppoff

[@flintironstag2381]

Wow, I dont own any of these. Ive heard of some of them, but never got them. Tiger road reminded me of kid Nikki(sp?) for the NES.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah it's kinda like that!

[@LUCKO2022]

Never heard of this thing called Turbo whatever 16. Nope, never played one when they were new and never wanted one since childhood but has been denied even to this day.

[@Sinn0100]

I have always thought Silent Debuggers was a neat looking game. Had I gone with the TG-16 instead of the Sega Genesis, I may have given it a play. I was a Sega Genesis/Snes kid during the 4th generation. I didn't actually get to play many TG-16/PC Engine games until I got my Core Grafx Mini (that thing is still the best mini console ever released). Having said that...I hate games with time limits. I have stopped some great games because I flatly refuse to deal with them. In most cases they are arbitrary and only exist to pad out a games length. Question- Did you speed up Silent Debuggers somehow? I ask because I don't remember it moving quite that fast the few times I have seen it running.

[@almeidachannel7121]

Nice Video ! Sub & Big Like ! And Love Retro Turbografx-16 Games !

[@ShaFnZAM]

Parasol Stars!

[@inceptional]

I think the issue with most of these games you've shown is that they look stuck half way between the 8-bit and 16-bit generations graphically, so maybe people weren't blown away by them at the time when there were so many standout games on the other 4th generation consoles to pull away people's attention, and they just got lost along the way. They're possibly notable for PC Engine fans, but maybe not outside of that maybe. They look okay to me, but most of them don't really compel me to want to play them to be honest, mostly because the graphics there and even the games seem a bit underwhelming. Maybe that makes me a bit of a "16-bit" graphics ****, but it is what it is. Thankfully, there are some truly awesome PC Engine games that most people do remember, so all is good.

[@Johnnygrafx]

Yeah, it's definitely one of those between-generations systems. Kinda like the Dreamcast, and suffered a similar fate because of it. Thanks for stopping by the video even though it's not your cup of tea though! 🙂

[@robertruffo2134]

Please re upload video with high enough sound levels! Can't hear at all.

[@lunarvvolf9606]

I never liked Tiger Road I have beaten it but it was rather lacking in luster and level design and how cheap the mob spawns were around falling pits you have to jump over.

[@catsaregovernmentspies]

You had my attention as soon as I saw your Dream Theater shirt 🤘