I earmarked China Warrior for this column because of its prominence in the manga Hi-Score Girl. However, while it holds some sentimental value to the main characters, they don’t actually say? if the game is good. I?? will intervene: It is not.

While a North American copy of China Warrior would run me $40 or so (with case and manual), I got the Japanese version, The Kung Fu, alongside Genpei Tōma Den and Susanoo Densetsu for roughly the same price because nobody wants The Kung Fu. Okay, that’s n?ot actually true, it probably has more to do with the fact that it was one of the first titles released for the PC-Engine and, therefore, most likely had a massive print run, so supply greatly outweighs demand.

The North American price mostly relates to the fact that the Turbografx 16, the North American analog to the PC-Engine, crashed and burned in North America, leading to a low print run?. Maybe. The collector’s market prices are pretty dumb over here.

One thing I can tell you, though, is that it’s not because i?t’s good.

China Warrior puts you in th?e shoes of a kung-fu guy named Wang, who stands stiff and erect at all times. Wang must journey to the right side of the screen, punching and kicking his way through rocks, sticks, and non-violent protestors. Three times in a stage, he faces off against someone who can defend th??emselves and must cheese them to death.

I said this about Zombie Hunter a while back, but China Warrior doesn’t look like a real game. It looks like a �?0s TV show’s interpretation of a video game; like something you’d see in the earlier seasons of The Simpsons. Wang stands impressively tall, literally as tall as half the screen, and the obstacles you battle against are?? so laughably ineffective it just doesn��t se?em real. It is a spectacle, if nothing else.

Giant sprites of man-beef were a big draw in �?0s video games. Hardware at the time was rather limited when it came to the size of sprites it rendered, so having big, detailed muscles on screen was something of a flex. It led to some pretty awful experiences like Altered Beast and the “Big Mode�?levels in Genpei Tōma Den and Predator. As I mentioned, China Warrior was released close to the launch of the PC Engine in 1987 (it’s actually branded as Vol. 1 on the c?over), so the best way to sell the hardware was to show it rendering a massive slab of man-beef.

So, the priorities for the development of China Warrior had “ma??ssive shirtless dude�?at the top of the list and then nothing below it. Everything?? that couldn’t flex just happened because they needed to make a game out of it.

There are four levels in China Warrior, and they all involve punching your way from left to right. The only underlings you run into are these robed cultist dudes who just walk towards you. Their hands are crossed in front of them, so they’re no??t even trying to attack you or de??fend themselves. You just kick them aside because Wang is a hammer, and everything looks like a nail to him.

Three times each level, you have to fight a boss. In the first level, it’s Sgt. Slaughter, Sgt. Sl??aughter, and Sgt. Slaughter with a severe sunburn. These battles become a bit more varied, but by my count, there are only five unique bosses, and one of them is just Wang with different severities of skin damage. But no matter who you’re fighting, it’s mostly just a matter of finding the best way to cheese them. 

Sgt. Slaughter, for example, doesn’t do well if you just ram yourself against the l?eft side of the screen and kick him whenever he gets close. The ballerina lady in the second level can’t really defend herself if you just push her to the edge of the screen and punch her to death. The cheesy strategy changes from boss to boss, but there’s always some way to overcome them with a cheap tactic.

Getting through the ??actual walking part of the levels, however, sometimes comes down to reactions, sometimes relies on memorization, and always requires you to spam your fists. It’s not too difficult to get through a stroll through a level, but if you ??want enough life left over to cheese the bosses with, it helps to know what’s coming up.

Wang gains more life by kicking what are apparently boxes of oolong tea(?) but look to me like cartons of cigarettes. However, you can also gain extra health by punching very specific projectiles. Sometimes, this is a rogue arrow that zooms by overhead, but other times, it’s one moth in the middle of a line-up of 20 or so. In later levels, it’s important to try and find these and remember their location so?????????????????????????? you’ll be able to stand up to your opponent’s feeble attempts to overcome your cheap tactics.

This is especially important because China Warrior doesn’t give you all that many lives and no continues. Or so I ori?ginally thought. As it turns out, it’s one of those games where you need to know a special input to continue. In this case, it's holding any direction on the D-pad at the title screen and pressing Run.

Even with that, you’re going to be repeating levels quite a bit. While you’re inevitably going to cheese the bosses because the combat sucks, it will probably take you a few attempts before you figure out the right way to do it. And while it took me a mere hour and a half to get through China Warrior, I quickly wanted to clock out and turn it off. I thought to myself, “Maybe if I was paid hourly, I’d put in the effort to get through this.�?Then my dog fell asleep on me, so I was trapped with China Warrior.

By the time he woke up and went off to sleep elsewhere, I was on the last level. I figured, at that point, I’d play until I lost all my lives again, then call it a night. However, the Gods of Completionism heard my ?despair and chose to prolong my suffering. I managed to somehow finish the game on that continue, at which point, the cave you’re in collapses on Wang as he stands in defiance of death. He manages to survive, at which point it starts up “Act 2,�?which is just replaying the game but harder.

I wound up clearing a full two levels of Act 2 on my rema??ining lives, at which point I finally relea??sed myself from my self-imposed torture.

China Warrior is kind of interesting from the fact that it’s prolifically bad. It drew people in with its towering, legally distinct Bruce Lee. If you played it at the time, you’d probably remember it as the most mind-blowing graphics ever depicte?d on your TV screen. Nowadays, if you know it at all, it’s probably as the game that everyone made fun of when it came out on Wii Virtual Console. Either way, I just hope today we can all look upon Wang and laugh.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post China Warrior on PC-Engine s??uggests the best way to sell your console is to show off an impressive Wang appeared first on Destructoid.

Before they offered to send me a unit for revi??ew, I had the Analogue Duo preordered. It would have been the first of the company’s consoles that I ponied up for. That’s because, beyond just being a very nice boutique console, it solves a few problems for m?e.

The Turbografx-16 is a nightmare to collect for. Sketchy capacitors mean that a lot of them just die on the shelf, and the typical price of a Turbografx game is ridiculous. Pricecharting has the average price of a game for the console at over $?100. Forget the best games the console has to offer; if you want anything aside from sports titles, you’re paying out the nose. And that’s not even taking into account Turbografx-CD games.

Because of this, the Analogue Duo is a pretty strange console to produce. Someone who is curious about collecting for the console is probably going to get ?discouraged quickly. This is alm?ost a “who is this even for?�?situation, but there’s an answer to that we’ll get to. It’s extremely niche. The niche-est console Analogue has taken on.

“It isn't really financially viable in terms of development investment,�?Analogue CEO and founder Chris Taber told?? me. Analogue didn't make the Duo to bring in a pile of money, they did it because they love the platform, and you can easily tell.

I have a modest stack of Turbografx-16 games already in my collection, but that isn’t the reason I wanted an Analogue Duo. I want to start collecting for the PC-Engine, which is the Japanese equivalent to the TG16. While the Turbografx was a tremendous flop here in North America, the PC-Engine was a huge success. NEC was able to comp??ete with Nintendo, initially outselling the Famicom before holding a firm second place in the market next to the Super Famicom.

As such, a lot more games were published in Japan, and the market, a??s a whole, is a lot cheaper. It’s still kind of pricy if you want the case they came in, but it??’s not as galling as the North American prices.

But the TurboGrafx-16 and the PC-Engine are both region-locked. I spent?? a lot of time considering how I was going to start collecting. Was I going to buy a core PC-Engine console and build from there? Was I going to spring for the PC-Engine Duo that comes with a built-in disc drive (and is also where the Analogue Duo takes its aesthetic)? I couldn’t decide on an elegant solution that would cover all my needs.

Then, the Analogue Duo came along and provided that. It can play all the games that the TG16, the PC-Engine, and their attachments can. Plus, if I was planning on springing for the PC-Engine Duo, I would alread??y be putting myself in the price range of Analogue’s offering. More than just a convenient upgrade, the Analogue Duo is exactly what I was looking for.

Out of the box, the Analogue Duo is a slick piece of kit. It’s slightly less wide than a TurboGrafx-16, but it has a lot less height. It’s flat enough that if I turn around and look at the shelf it’s on, I can barely see it. There’s also much less junk in the trunk compared to a TG16 with a Turbo-Booster. It feels sturdy, it looks modern, and I don’t want to touch it too much and ruin i?ts pristine look. Speaking of which, it comes in TurboGrafx black and PC-Engine white. I went with the black because I hate white electronics. They just don’t age as well.

If there’s one downside to the design, it’s that the controller port is on the side of the unit rather than the front. Also, it uses the PC-Engine miniDIN port, so if you have TurboGrafx controllers, you’re going to need an adapter to plug them in. That’s kind of a bummer because those ada??pters aren’t particularly easy to find.

It’s also worth noting that the TurboGrafx-16 supported 5 players. It only had one controller port, but using a TurboTap, you could plug five controllers in. You can still do this with the Analogue Duo, but there’s a caveat: it only supports 4 wireless controllers. If you want a fifth player for something like Bomberman '93, you need to plug a controller in alongside the 4 wireless ones or plug in a TurboTap and connect all five controllers the old-fashioned way. You can’t have, say, two wireless controllers and three original through a TurboTap. You either have?? one classic controller or five. There is no in-between.

Analogue shipped two 8BitDo 2.4G PCE controllers alongside my unit. These controllers are (very) slightly smaller and sleeker than the stock TG16 controllers while maintaining the same form factor. The biggest differe??nce is an easily missed home button and turbo buttons rather than switches. The downside to that is there is no way to control the speed of the turbo unless there's a setting that can be tweaked with 8BitDo's software. Unfortunately, t??he TG16 controller isn’t very ergonomic. The d-pad is small and crammed in the bottom-left of the controller, too close to the edge. My thumbs would always cramp up during long sessions.

Thankfully, you can sync quite a range of Bluetooth and 2.4G controllers, as well as some USB. I have built quite a collection of 8BitDo controllers, and everything from my M30 to my Arcade Stick works great. I also tried a RetroBit Sega Saturn Pro controller, which connected without complaint. The documentation also lists common controllers like the Switch (and Wii U) Pro and DualSense. You might lose some of the authentic feel, but your thumbs w?ill thank you.

Booting into the console gets you a quick walkthrough of the features of Analogue OS. I read the instructions, then promptly forgot them. I only know that Select+Down takes you to the home menu because I keep mistakenly hitting it, leaving me wanting to disable the button combo. Which I couldn't find a way to? do so in the OS settings.

The Analogue OS is a pretty neat slice of cheese on the retro console. ?It keeps track of games you’ve played and for how long. You’re also able to change settings to alter the visuals to suit whatever version of the console you want. There are filters that emulate the Sony Trinitron (a CRT screen), as well as the Turbo Express and PC-Engine LT handhelds. Analogue says these aren’t “Filters�?since they’re created on a hardware level through the FPGA, but I really don’t know what else to call them. They also say FPGA isn’t emulation, but really what they mean is it’s not software emulation. I understand why they want to make the distinction clear, because it really isn’t the same thing, but it’s hardware emulation, which is still emulation.

The “filters�?are convincing. Anyone who feels that old games only look right on CRT screens will probably appreciate them??. Whether I personally prefer sharp pixels or soft glow varies with my mood. I find that the Trinitron mode sucks a lot of the color out of the screen. Other people working with FPGA for this sort of thing have been using HDR to boost the color, but that’s not an option right now. Perhaps it can be patched in with firmware u??pdates, but if not, it's not a huge problem.

Speaking of firmware, the Analogue Duo touts the feature of allowing save states, but it’s not implemented yet. Chris T??aber says that the reason is because CD games are proving to be a challenge, but it’s supposed to be added through a firmware update sometime after launch. Likewise, sleep mode is not yet implemented, which I imagine is due to the same complication.

If you don’t want to deal with the OS, there is the option to just boot directly to the HU Card or CD when i?t’s detected. I think it’s pretty neat, though, even if?? there’s room for improvement.

In terms of running games, however, it’s flawless. The image that you get is bright and sharp at 1080p, and the screenshots here don't really do it justice whatsoever. Compatibility is also perfect, as far as I know. I have eight TG16 games, so I can only test to that ex??tent. Upon getting offered a review un?it, I ordered some PC-Engine and CD-ROM² games in hopes that they’d arrive in time for this review, but alas, they didn’t make it.

However�?/p>

The CD-ROM² and TurboGrafx-CD weren’t exactly picky about what kind of disc you put in them. It was a problem with early disc consoles and one of the reasons Nintendo stuck to cartridges for the N64. So, I put together a Little CD-R and, bam, we’ve got Super Air Zonk. The OS even recognized the game. I then tried Tengai Makyou: Ziria with the f??an translation patched into it, and while the Analogue Duo just referred to it as “CD,�?it ran just fine.

While we’re on the subject, Analogue states that the Duo will run anything the original hardware would, and this includes Everdrives. I feel like buying a console for this is most valuable for people who like collecting th?e physical software, but I’m not going to judge if you stick an Everdrive in there. It would at least he?lp with running fan translations.

The Analogue Duo is my first console by the company, and I am imp??ressed. It effortlessly does everything it says on the tin with potential to do more in the future. Save states have yet to be implemented, but the store page doesn’t list them as a feature, so I’m not certain if they were ever even announced.

You probably need to be a very specific type of person to really find value in an Analogue Duo. It’s a weird crossover of a retro-loving, TurboGrafx-appreciating, import-willing gamer. It’s such an incredible niche thing, that it’s amazing that Analogue went to such efforts? to reproduce the console in such luxurious depth. I’m deeply impressed. I’m also thankful, because it’s exactly the console I was looking for.

There’s only room for improvement because Analogue allowed it to be there. I’d still be recommending the Analogue Duo to my fellow niche-goblins even if there weren’t still forthcoming firmware improvements. It’s a slick modern v??ersion of the TurboGrafx 16/PC-Engine that brings the retro platform into the present with a 1080p HDMI output and other modern comforts. You can tell the team was passionate about the project because they were clearly insistent on getting it right on the first try.

The post Review: Analogue Duo appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking for an RPG you probably haven’t played before? Maybe check out Tengai Makyou: Zirai, a 1989 PC-Engine CD-ROM² game that just got a fan translati??on.

The TurboGrafx 16 was an impressive flop in North America. A console failing is interesting enough, but the fact that it was the localized production of a very popular Japanese console makes it even better. The PC-Engine was huge in Japa?n. It took a sizeable chunk of Nintendo’s market dominance and outdid the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in North America) overall. We only saw a small fraction of what the Japanese market got, especially when it comes to the CD attachments.

Tengai Makyou: Zirai is the first in the series, sometimes called Far East of Eden over here because that’s the name it was given on the occasions it came so close to being released Westward. Also, it’s subtitled on the disc and title screen. The series is a trilogy of RPGs that were remade a few times, as ??well as spin-offs covering other genres.

While I’m not intimately familiar with the series, according to the developers behind the translation, the series is “an elaborate joke based around foreigners' misperceptions of Japan.�?Tengai Makyou: Zirai is a somewhat humorous warping of Japanese folklore. It doesn’t seem to be on the same level as Ganbare Goemon, but it’s not entirely straight-faced, either.

Being on a CD platform, there’s voice act??ing, cutscenes, and more elaborate animations. More importantly, it kicked off a popular RPG series that we didn’t really see much of over here in the West.?? 

The translation of Tengai Makyou: Zirai is the work of user Supper and TheMajinZenki and can be found over here. If you want more, 1995’s Tengai Makyou Zero on the Super Famicom received a fan translation back in 2017.

The post PC-Engine CD RPG Tengai Makyou: Ziria get fan translat??ed appeared first on Destructoid.

You Fool!

I’m not looking to start a fight here. When The Genji and the Heike Clans was released in Japanese arcades by Namco in 1986 as Genpei Tōma Den, it was generally well-respected. However, here at the Destructoid Institute of Critiquing Kusoge (DICK), we have a saying: If it walks like Kusoge, quacks like Kusoge, and smells like Kusoge, it’s definitely Kusoge (crap game). So, are you going to take the word of Japan, the experts on Kusoge? Or would you rather be daring and li?sten to the brash, upstart?? DICK?

I don’t know why I’m so hesitant to talk about The Genji and the Heike Clans with the perspective of it being a bad game. If someone trots in with Altered Beast, I’d be the first one to stand up and tell them how much it sucks. It’s perhaps because, culturally, I understand Altered Beast. The Genji and the Heike Clans shows me that I understand Japan as much as I do deep space. I may th??ink I know a lot, but then ??I see all sorts of things I don’t understand.

[caption id="attachment_389859" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Big Bushido

You play as the resurrected Taira no Kagekiyo, and you’re kind of pissed off that your clan lost the Genpei War, so you’re off to take Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first Shogun. It’s all right. This isn’t just revenge; the guy is more evil than the history books let on, so there are demons and stuff. Kagekiyo must travel across feudal Japan to Kamak?ura to get their revenge.

The Genji and the Heike Clans boasts three different modes of play. There’s side-scroller platforming, “big mode??,�?and a top-down view. You’re most often going to find yourself in the normal side-scroller view, with the other two peppered in.

Big mode presents Kagekiyo in huge detail as he traipses across the screen. It reminds me of my old nemesis Predator on the NES. It might actually have been influenced by The Genji and the Heike Clans, since I think it called it big mode there, as well. They both present the protagonist as impractically big, showing off some nice detail but not moving much room for maneuvering. As such, it’s as clumsy as a newborn deer on an?? escalator. It gets even funnier when Kagekiy?o picks up a scroll and just starts swinging his sword around like a windmill.

[caption id="attachment_389860" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Orgy in a tumble dryer

None of the modes work particularly well. The Genji and the Heike Clans�?approach to enemy placement is to just stick a bunch of spawners around and have them dumping bad guys on you. You take so much unavoidable damage as you make your way to the exit and the hit detection is just t??erri??ble, so it’s more chaotic than an orgy in a tumble dryer.

The worst part is the platforming. There are a lot of moving platforms that you have to traverse, and Kagekiyo just doesn’t stick to them. If there’s one that goes up and down, he has trouble jumping because he’s technically falling the whole time. Whenever a platform moves horizontally, he doesn’t move with it, which is just so, so strange. If you land on one, you have to physically keep moving with it to stay on top, otherwise, it just slides out from underneath Kage??kiyo.

If you fall in a hole, you don’t die instantly. You fall into Yomi, where you then have to fight your way to a circle of crates. You open the crates, and you’ll either be killed instantly or respawned at the last level you were on. I’d rather it just kill me outright. This probably made more sense in the arcade, where lu??ck of the draw would spare you a quarter, but playing it on a console just highlights it as a nuisance.

[caption id="attachment_389861" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

One last Heike

I first learned about The Genji and the Heike Clans from Game Centre CX. The host, Shinya Arino, played the PC-Engine version, which is considered to be a pretty faithful conversion of the game. He failed to clear it so hard.

Part of the problem is that, after you hit th?e mid-point of Kyoto, you start back there whenever you die, rather than the last level you made it to. He came nowhere near Kamakura, and having played it now, I can abs??olutely understand why. It’s brutal, and that is completely uncalled for.

For starters, it has a mystifying health system. It’s measured in candles that get burnt down, and you can increase the maximum number of them. However, you get a certain number restored each time you start a new level, but I couldn’t tell you why it gives you that amount. I’m also not totally clear on how much each pick-up gives you in terms of extra health??. Gen?erally, this was just a game of trying to blast through a level as quickly as possible before I died.

Your sword also has health, and this gets depleted by hitting “hard�?enemies. What constitutes “hard�?is less clear. Skulls are pretty soft. Caves that are clearly made of stone don’t weaken your sword. But?? when Benkei blocks your atta??ck, that’s hard. What a block looks like, that’s another matter. However, there’s a lot of importance put around strengthening your sword. Not only does this make it more powerful, but if your sword gets depleted, it gets bent and can’t do much damage at all. It’s just�?ugh, it’s so dumb.

Part of Arino’s strategy was to just focus on building up his sword gauge. This makes bosses a lot easier, but you can also lose your entire gauge by falling down a hole and getting a bad pull in the lottery. S?o, really, I'm not sure if that actually makes the game any more beatable. It’s just so slapdash.

[caption id="attachment_389862" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Culture shock

I think a lot of the praise toward The Genji and the Heike Clans is aimed at its graphics and sound. There are a lot of voice samples mixed in there. For a 1986 release, yeah, it looks pretty good. I just can’t explain why it plays so badly. Castlevania also came out in 1986, and it had figured o?ut platforming just fine.

It does have a unique visual style, I’ll give it that. It draws heavily fro??m ?Japanese history and folklore. You’d need to be pretty deeply familiar with both of those things to understand half the references found mixed in here. Even still, it’s pretty trippy and nightmarish. Especially when a towering Minamoto no Yoritomo pops up in the background and smacks you with his powerful spoon.

There are also multiple routes you can take to Kamakura, which kind of makes the fact that it changes the rules of continuing past the game's mid-point. It’s still going to suck the quarters out of kids, and there is a decent amount of replay value that comes from plumbing it for secrets, so why go to the extent of making it impossibly difficult. It just makes The Genji and the Heike Clans feel even more slap-dash.

[caption id="attachment_389865" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Indispensible crap

It first got released over here as an unusual inclusion in Namco Museum Vol. 4 on PS1. It was rather perplexing to contemporary critics at the time. However, nowadays, you can get it on PlayStation and Switch platforms as part of Hamster's terrific Arcade Archives series. There was also a sequel released on PC-Engine/Turbografx-16 called Samurai-Ghost. It only included big mode, and I’ll have to rep??ort back on that when I finally pick up a PC-Engine. I��m not paying the hundreds of dollars for a TG16 copy.

As I said in the beginning, The Genji and the Heike Clans was well-received when it came out in Japan. I think this has to do with the palate of Japanese arcade gamers at the time that just didn’t translate in?? the West as we recovered from the Great Video Game Crash of 19??83. Playing it today as a North American, though. Oof. It is just so bad.

But it’s also the good kind of bad. It’s ?an absolutely loveable bit of suffe??ring to endure. It’s this painful mess of poor execution and culture shock. I sort of love it.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post The Genji and the H?eike Clans is a lovable bit of suffering appeared first on Destructoid.

Woe is me

The Coronavirus pandemic really did a number on the already out-of-control video game collector’s market. I always say that I used to buy retro games because I was poor, but now I’m too poor to buy retro games. I’ve got a lot of complaints about it. Don’t get me? started.

There are exclusions. Did you know that the Sega Game Gear is both cheap and awesome to collect for? You just need to find someone to?? replace the exploded capacitors on a dead model, and bam, you’ve got yourself a welcoming library to dip into.

Then there are the systems that are a nightmare to collect for due to various reasons. Mostly price. It’s easy to point at systems like the Neo Geo AES that has a median price point north of $500 for a game, but have you considered getting a full MVS setup instead? Below is my list of the worst systems to collect for that ??are still worth owning. It�??�s hardly comprehensive, but something to keep in mind when you’re picking a library to focus effort on.

The prices here are pulled from pricecharting.com. As far a??s I know, we’re not even remotely affiliated with them, but they are a great resource to ensure you aren’t getting viciously ripped off when you visit your game store of choice.

TurboGrafx 16

When the PC-Engine was first released in Japan, back in 1987, it became a huge hit as well as a major threat to Nintendo’s market dominance. However, when developer NEC brought it over to North America as the Turbografx-16, it was a massive dud? f??or myriad reasons.  When all was said and done, only about 94 games were ever released for the console before it was canned in the U.S. in 1994.

The list of games that average for less than $10 today is almost non-existent. At the time of writing, the median price is around $50. Prices for beloved games like Air Zonk are hovering around $150, while the mascot platformer, Bonk’s Adventure, is a steep $60.? These prices are for loose cartridges; the games came in CD-like clamshell cases, so getting them c?omplete with case and instructions can raise prices significantly.

Let’s not even get started with the CD attachment, which pushes prices past all logic. It’s unfortunate because there are some great ??games in the library and multiple console iterations to play them on, ??but the collector’s market prices make it a domain for the brave.

Nintendo Gamecube

While the median price for Gamecube games is a reasonable $12, let’s be real, you don’t just want any Gamecube games; you want the platform’s big hitters. Well, get ready to pony up. You can still get million-sellers like Super Mario Sunshine for $35 with a case and manual. However, that logic doesn’t hold true for titles like Super Smash Bros. Melee ($65) or F-Zero GX ($85). If you want some of my personal favorite titles like Chibi-Robo or Eternal Darkness, you’ll be ponying up?? something north of a hundo.

And that’s exactly what makes the? Gamecube painful to collect for. There are games that are ubiquitous to the console, and most of them cost at least as much?? now as they did when they were new.

Sega CD

It would be easy to argue that the Sega CD didn’t have that many games worth collecting, to begin with. Much of its library is populated with misguided FMV titles. But there are a few gems that would be must-haves if it wasn’t for the fact that you’ll be trading your car to get them. I’m talking about games like Snatcher ($1300) and Shining Force CD ($300, which seems like a steal when I put it next to Snatcher).

But the real reason that the Sega CD is awful to collect for is its games cases. Sega was obviously trying to appeal to the American consumer by packaging their games in these awkwardly large plastic clamshells. If that wa??sn’t bad enough, the plastic is both hard and brittle, meaning it would break before it bent. And oh-so-many of them broke, making them even harder to find in decent condition.

Sega Saturn

The Sega Saturn is a mix of the Gamecube and the Sega CD’s problems. Want the most prominent games for the system? I guess Daytona USA is reasonable, but if you want The House of the Dead or Panzer Dragoon Saga, then you’re going to be shelling out.

Then they went an??d put the games in the same stupid ca??ses they used for the Sega CD. The good news is that the two consoles�?libraries can be set side-by-side on the same shelf. The bad news is that if that shelf collapses, then you’ve got a lot of broken plastic to sort through.

Neo Geo Pocket Color

The Neo Geo Pocket Color was a great system that should have been a bigger contender to Nintendo's Game Boy. Unfortunately, it died a very early death. Only 31 games were released for the little handheld, and the cheapest today are just short of $20. To be fair, there are no four-digit monsters hiding among them. The shallow library ends up being a bit of a blessing from a collector’s standpoint since you can grab them all up without selling your house. But $80 for a loose copy of Shanghai Mini? Yeesh.

The post The five?? best consoles that are the worst to collect game?s for appeared first on Destructoid.

This game may result in tooth decay

The Turbografx-16 is a frustrating system to collect for. A lot of the library is ports, either from arcade or other systems. Almost any game worth playing is going to set you back quite a bit, and if you want to play anything on the CD add-on, good luck. I once offered to swap out the capacitors in a guy’s TurboDuo console, and it was like performing open-heart surgery on the king of the moon. More capacitors than I had ever seen on a retro ??console, all tightly packed. I did it, though, and immediately regretted only charging for the parts.

I have a bit of fondness for the little console that totally couldn’t. If I had to pick a favorite game out of the eight that I own, it would be Air Zonk. I was going to say that’s probably because I’m not a huge fan of shoot-’em-ups, which is the corner of the TG16 library most people love the most, but then I realized Air Zonk is a shoot-’em-up.

Technically a spin-off of Hudson’s homegrown Bonk series, the relationship actually makes things weirder. The Bonk series was this quirky little game about a hardheaded caveman, but Air Zonk takes things into the future. Zonk?? is like some sort of futuristic, robotic version of Bonk??. But, like, cooler? I’m having a tough time describing this game.

It’s basically as if Mad Magazine wanted to make fun of Astroboy. Zonk flies around with jet boots, shoots out of his hands, and wears shades. The proportions are exaggerated in a grotesque way and there are lots of visible veins for some reason. The power-ups? come in these little capsules shape?d like the stereotypical meat on a bone that is common in caveman cartoons.

Outside of the aesthetic borrowed from Bonk, the game is sickeningly colorful. Don’t mistake that as criticism, however �?the art style is incredible. The bosses are weird mo??nstrosities that look like they belong in a Fleischer cartoon. The backgrounds are detailed and flashy. They’re incredible, chaotic, and detailed. Better yet, they change throughout the lev??el, giving more opportunities for visual treats.

The main draw for Air Zonk is easily its partner system. You get to choose from a frankly ridiculous se?lection of weirdos. They range from a cow, a bulldozer, something that looks like a mole crossed with a gumball machine, and a missile. All of them wear sunglasses because it was the �?0s,? and it still gets better.

Your partner shows up when you collect enough happy faces and cap ??it off with one wearing sunglasses (you can probably see something thematic developing here), and they go to w?ork helping you out. But then, if you continue collecting faces, you can merge with your partner in a disgusting amalgam. You’re temporarily invulnerable after which you’re still paired with an awesome weapon.

Even without the partners, as stupidly awesome as they are, Air Zonk still has it where it counts. There’s a lot of different weapons you can grab. All of them have unique charge attacks and developing a stra??tegy with them can make a big difference. Charge long enough and Zonk will just drop this huge warhead that blows up the screen and, listen, it’s amazing. It’s a spectacle.

If this wasn’t sweet enough, the music is excellent. It’s quirky and energetic, just like everything in Air Zonk. It’s hard for me to describe a soundtrack as ??being anything more than awesome. It’s like the musical equivalent of Sour Patch Kids. It’s sweet, then sour, then your tongue feels like it’s covered in fuzz. I don’t know, j??ust listen to it.

It’s not all sunglasses and fuzzy t??ongues, however.

The biggest downside is that Air Zonk is short. Like, demo short. It’s five levels, and yeah, maybe you�?�ll have to retry them whe?n you run out of lives, and yeah, maybe the final boss rush might leave you in severe pain, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s not a whole lot there. You’ve seen it in under an hour. That or you’re spinning your wheels retrying the same levels, which isn’t much fun either.

?There are three different difficulty modes, and you can try for the coveted no-continue run, but�?I’m not about that l??ife.

To sum it up, Air Zonk is an incredible sugar rush. You feel great during? the brief period that it’s happening, but then it’s time to chug another energy drink or take a nap.

It really feels like a demo. It’s like I’m playing a pre-rel?ease preview version of the game. There are so many par?tners and power-ups, and then there isn’t enough length to get off the runway. It’s bewildering. It’s amazing, yet unsatisfying, like if someone gives you a single two-bite brownie.

There was a sequel, Super Air Zonk, for the Tur?bo CD. Because of its format, I haven’t played it, so I can’t really give an opinion �?but the people I’ve spoken to say it’s disappointing. They seem fixated on the lack of parallax scrolling in the backgrounds, and maybe the music isn’t as good. Again, I can’t really comment, that’s just the ground vibrations.

What I can comment on is Zaku, a homebrew game on the Atari Lynx of all platforms. It was heavily an homage to Air Zonk, though it brought its own personality to the table. I’d like to see it ported to something that people actually ow?n since it’s a pretty effective callback to my precious TurboGrafx game.

For other retro titles you may hav??e missed, click right here!

The post Air Zonk is the video?? game equivalent of a s??ugar rush appeared first on Destructoid.

This one's not so mini...

Unlike most modern "mini" pack-in play consoles, the TurboGrafx-16 Mini has neither become impossible to find nor has it seen drastic price-drops. It's the very definition of a middling success, which is more than the original iteration of the system could say for itself. Due to a variety of reasons, the system never took off outside of Japan, though it's still home to a litany of classics: Bonk's Adventure, Snatcher, and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, to name a few. 

My guess is the modern "Mini" version of the console has fared better so far due to years of passionate word-of-mouth praise from TG-16 obsessives such as myself. If it were up to me, it would be Bonk, not Sonic, battling Mario at the Olympics, palling around with James Marsden at the movies, and eating chili dogs in the dreams of many a millennial. He's my favorite 16-bit baby boy. 

That said, the TG-16 Mini wasn't truly the best vessel for him, and the TG-16 library, to make its return. It's missing so many classics: Bonk 3, Valis 2, Legendary Axe 1 & 2, Bloody Wolf, Keith Courage, and Far East of Eden. Sure, yo?u could just hack the thing to add the ROMS of those titles to the console, but for those that want to play the original software sans tampering, Analogue has the solution.

Today the boutique c??onsole develope??r announced the Duo, a new emulation-free piece of hardw??are that runs everything from the TG-16/PC Engine family, including the SuperGrafx, TurboGrafx CD, PC Engine CD-ROM², and Super Arcade CD-ROM. The console doesn't release until next year, but you may want to sign up for the mailing list now. Perhaps due to issues around FPGA board availability, consoles from Analogue tend to be produced in extremely limited quantities, so if you want in on this higher-energ?y game system, you better work. 

The post The Analogue Duo brings the TurboGrafx-16 back wit?h a vengeance appeared first on Destructoid.

May 22 is the revised release date on Amazon

Konami's TurboGrafx-16 Mini missed its original March 19 release due to coronavirus-related production issues, but the mini console is back on track. It's now scheduled to release in the United State??s on May 22, 2020, so you can stop checking the Am??azon page for a hopeful shipping update.

You might've already heard, but if you're looking to pick up a second controller for the console (since it only includes one!), you may want to turn to 8BitDo – it's releasing a wireless gamepad on May 20.

It feels like Chris broke down the TurboGrafx-16 Mini for us forever ago. I went from w?anting to impulse-buy the console to realizing that I could wait for a discount to now wanting it ASAP again.

The Mini has 57 games – some of which are repeats, and many of which are only in Japanese – from the TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine library. We're talking Bomberman '93, Neutopia, Splatterhouse, Snatcher, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, R-Type, Cho Aniki, Alien Crush, and Bonk's Revenge.

It's ??not a definitive collection by any means, but it's an enticing slice of retro life. I'm so tempted.

The post The TurboGrafx-16 Mini is shipping next wee??k in?? the US appeared first on Destructoid.

They're $25 a pop and they work on Switch too

I'm not in the market for a TurboGrafx-16 Mini – not yet. But something tells me the novelty-fueled mini console will end up at my place eventually, and when that time comes, I'll want a secondary controller for Bomberman. As Chris noted in his review, the $100 system only comes with one gamepad.

If you're thinking of getting another TurboGrafx-16?? controller??, you should consider the 8BitDo line.

We made wireless controllers f?or all 3 TurboGrafx-16 mini consoles. Plug and play wireless, zero lag - 2.4g. It even has turbo functionality and instant hom??e menu access.

Pre order yours on Amazon now for $24.99: //t.co/9QeCrwKB4t pic.twitter.com/5nlusyWsmb

— 8BitDo (@8BitDo) April 21, 2020

The company is coming out with three wireless controllers – one styled after the TurboGrafx-16 Mini, one for the PC Engine Mini, and one for the PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini. They'll be available on May 20, 2020, for $24.99 each on Amazon. You can take your pick. Mix and mat?ch if you want to be wild.

These designs aren't exact replicas of the official Konami-made gamepads that are bundled with the regional mini consoles, but they aren't necessarily out of place, either. They'll fit right in – and t?he added functionality is hard to resist. Nintendo Switch compatibility is a nice (on-brand for 8BitDo) bonus.

I've seen people start to ask for a TG16 / PCE wireless Retro Receiver. That'd be?? a good next step.

Have any of you gotten your hands on a TurboGrafx-16 Mini yet? I was planning to wait until the price went down even slightly, but with shipping delays, it could be a l?ong tim?e before any discounts hit.

The post Need another TurboGrafx-?16 Mini controller? 8BitDo has wirel??ess gamepads appeared first on Destructoid.

Finally, another way to play Bomberman '93

There is no shorta??ge of mini or micro-consoles on the current market, as publishers look to the ??past to try and package nostalgia.

There's the NES and SNES "Classic Editions" from Nintendo, the Sega Genesis Mini, the Neo Geo Mini, and the PlayStation Classic, just to name a few. But in 2020, amid a global pandemic, another very curious contender has entered the r??ing: the TurboGrafx-1?6 Mini.

It's hard to compete against those titans I just mentioned, but the TurboGrafx-16 Mini has a l?ot going for it for a very specific type?? of audience.

TurboGrafx-16 Mini
Manufacturer: Konami
Released: March 19, 2020 (Japan) / TBA (Worldwide)
MSRP: $99.99

The setup:

Here's what you get in ?the ?TurboGrafx-16 Mini box:

• The TurboGrafx-16 Mini
• One Gamepad
• One HDMI cable
• One microUSB cable

Notice that it does not come with an AC adapter. I know the common response to that ?is "everyone has one," but when nearly every micro-console lacks it, hooking up multiple units is annoying as hell if you have to buy adapters for them. I will fight this to my grave: it's the new "batteries not included!" for gaming hobbyists.

The actual unit houses a "back cover," which needs to be removed to actually slot the HDMI cable and the microUSB power cable into it. The latter is a bit finicky, as you need to slot the USB male end in just right since there's a protective shell around it.

Other than that, installation is straightforward.

The console:

As? you can see in our comparison image, the TurboGrafx-16 Mini isn't so mini relative to the other micro-consoles. Clocking in at roughly half of the actual dimensions of the source console, the TurboGrafx-16 Mini is not winning any aesthetic awards, but it is sleek and convenient to lug around, with the cover on or off.

Sadly, the base package only sports one controller: you'll need to buy more as an add-on. As a mini collector, this has become a huge pet peeve of mine, as casual fans will no doubt pick it up and be unable to play multipl??ayer out of the box. Also, years down the line when this product is no longer for sale, well-worn remotes will become mere fairy tales as folks try to track them down on eBay.

That annoyance aside, the controller itself more than gets the job done, as it feels authentic and has a lengthy nine-and-a-half-foot cable that puts most micro-consoles to shame (and two turbo settings is a nice touch). Oh, and by the way: if you hook up your unit and can't control anything, note that the first player slot is on the top of the console. The TurboGrafx-16 Mini comes with two controller ports? by default: you'll need to buy a multitap accessory (specific to the Mini) to handle more.

The UI is absolutely adorable, as little cartridge mascots adorn the menus, which are easy to read and feature cute little animations for when a game "loads." Pressing "run" [start] and select at the same time during a game br??ings up a universal menu with four save slots, on top of any ??in-game save functionality a title might have. Swapping between menus is near-instant and you can skip the cart insert animation (thanks!) to get into a game quickly.

The TurboGrafx-16 Mini boasts six languages out of the box, as well as five display options (four aspect ratios, one cute "screen within a screen" effect), a CRT filter, four wallpaper selections, and two menu designs. As is customary, manuals are found online via QR codes. Games can be sorted alphabetically, by format and re??lease date.

Speaking of games...

The games:

Let's start with a primer first.

The TurboGrafx-16 is actually a combination of two collections: US releases (TurboGrafx-16) and Japanese releases (PC Engine). There are 57 games total in the western r??elease ??of the mini. Here's the full rundown.

TurboGrafx-16 list:

• Air Zonk
• Alien Crush
• Blazing Lazers
• Bomberman '93
• Bonk's Revenge
• Cadash
• Chew Man Fu
• Dungeon Explorer
• J.J. & Jeff
• Lords of Thunder
• Military Madness
• Moto Roader
• Neutopia
• Neutopia II
• New Adventure Island
• Ninja Spirit
• Parasol Stars
• Power Golf
• Psychosis
• R-Type
• Soldier Blade
• Space Harrier
• Splatterhouse
• Victory Run
• Ys Book I & II

PC Engine list:

• Akumajo Dracula X Chi no Rondo
• Aldynes
• Appare! Gateball
• Bomberman '94
• Bomberman: Panic Bomber
• Cho Aniki
• Daimakaimura (Ghouls 'n Ghosts)
• Dragon Spirit
• Dungeon Explorer
• Fantasy Zone
• Galaga '88
• The Genji and the Heike Clans
• Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire
• Gradius
• Gradius II - Gofer no Yabo
• Jaseiken Necromancer
• The Kung Fu (China Warrior)
• Nectaris (Military Madness)
• Neutopia
• Neutopia II
• Ninja Ryukenden (Ninja Gaiden)
• PC Genjin (Bonk's Adventure)
• Salamander
• Snatcher
• Seirei Senshi Spriggan
• Splatterhouse (PC Engine)
• Spriggan Mark 2: Re-Terraform Project
• Star Parodier
• Super Darius
• Super Momotaro Dentetsu II
• Super Star Soldier
• Valkyrie no Densetsu
• Ys I & II

Notice just a few repeats? Also, keep in mind that the PC Engine games are still in Japanese — so you're not getting a magically translated version of Snatcher, folks.

It's going to be a deal-breaker for some, but Konami knows its audience. A large swath of people (myself included) are going to want to pick this thing up and don't mind playing imported games or seeking out fan-translated menu walkthroughs. In fact, the opportunity to play original Japanese releases in a legal fashion is tough to come by?, as "mini or micro-console" manufacturers typ??ically just leave them out of production entirely.

Regardless of those aforementioned hangups, there are some real classics bundled into this mini. Bomberman '93 and Bomberman '94 are pretty much universally beloved, and still hold up today as Konami constantly tries to chase what made the original run so special. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood needs no introduction (even if it has no shortage of systems that run it at this point), and the same goes for Fantasy Zone, Gradius, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Ninja Gaiden, R-Type, and Splatterhouse.

Konami also isn't afraid to deliver a few completely bizarre offerings, like JJ & Jeff: an adventure platformer that features literal toilet humor and cartoony physical detective comedy. On the flipside, there's games like the hidden gem Lords of Thunder — a shoot 'em up (shmup) with a heavy fantasy theme and RPG elements — or Parasol Stars, the often forgotten third game in the Bubble Bobble series that features Bub and Bob as humans.

There's a lot to work with here and there's a great selection for pretty much every retro enthusiast. At the end of the day ??you just need to realize thi?s console was released in Japan in 1987 as the PC Engine, and came westward as the TurboGrafx-16 in 1989. If old games aren't your thing, very few of these entries are going to completely convert you.

Is it worth it?

Grievances against the hardware pack-ins asi??de, if you're a collector, the TurboGrafx-16 Mini absolutely ??worth adding to your collection.

In terms of UI aesthetics and functionality, this is one of the most fun micro-consoles I've experienced. Everything is lightning fast and not annoying to sift through in the digital realm. There's also a lot of potential for retro parties (once this whole pandemic thing is over) with the separate multi-tap accessory that allows for three to five players for specific games (Dungeon Explorer, Bomberman '93, Bomberman '94, Bomberman Panic Bomber, Moto Roader).

If you want it, the console is exclusive to Amazon and will you run $100 for the system and one controller. It currently does not have a worldwide release date ?due to the pandemi??c situation.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the hardware provided by the manufacturer.]}

The post Review: TurboGrafx-16 Mini appeared first on Destructoid.

The mini console is 'delayed until further notice'

The Tur?boGrafx-16 Min?i console will miss its March 19 release date due to ongoing issues with the coronavirus, and Konami doesn't have a replacement release window in mind. It's delayed indefinitely.

"Regarding the PC Engine Core Grafx mini console and its peripheral accessories, the manufacturing and shipping facilities in China have encountered an unavoidable suspension due to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak," Konami said in a statement posted to the console's official website.

"As a result, the delivery of al?l PC Engine Core Grafx mini products, which was originally scheduled for March 19, 2020, will be delayed until further notice. We deeply apologize to our customers for the significant inconvenience, and we humbly ask for your understanding and patience while we keep our close attention on the situation. We are investing all of our efforts to deliver the PC Engine Core Grafx mini as soon as possible, and will provide further details on the delivery timing once confirmed."

I honestly hadn't realized how close the mini console was to release – it snuck up me – but I'm sure collectors were counting the days. Unlike other mini consoles released in the past few years, this would've been a largely new experience for me. I never had this system. And I never played Snatcher!

The impact of COVID??-19 will continue to be felt for quite some time in the video game industry – in man?ufacturing, events, and even day-to-day work, which is starting to go remote. You can count on it.

Konami Europe [Twitter via GamesIndustry.biz]

The post TurboGrafx-16 Mini won’t ship in March due to the coronavirus appeared first on Destructoid.

Including some genuine obscurities

Konami has released a trio of trailers detailing each and every game that will arrive preloaded on its TurboGrafx-16 mini console - alternately releasing as the PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini in Europe and PC Engine Mi?ni in Japan - when it launches in March 2020.

The video features included classics such as Fantasy Zone, Space Harrier and Bonk's Revenge, alongside curiosities such as Appare! Gateball and J.J.& Jeff. While the retro console boasts 57 games it should be noted that the International editions of the Mini include 25 English games and 32 Japanese games, with some titles - such as Splatterhouse - being double-counted.

You can check out the three trailers for each respective Mini console below. The?? TurboGrafx-16 Mini / PC Engine Mini will launch on March 19 at an expected price of around $100/£100.

Ch?eck out the TurboGrafx-1??6 Mini's line up of games [Siliconera]

The post TurboGrafx-16 Mini trailer details retro console’s games appeared first on Destructoid.

Doubling down on the splatter

Of all of the brands jumping on the "mini nostalgia console" bandwagon, easily the most surprising was the announcement of the PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Mini. A console that only the most hardcore - and wealthiest - kids had back in my day, the PC Engine hardly has the same ?global "childhood memori?es" factor as the NES or Sega Mega Drive. But still, that doesn't mean I don't welcome this particular piece of quirky gaming history.

Konami has released the final additions to the 50 games that will come bundled with the cute little device, though it should be duly noted that some of the titles are double-counted, appearing in both their Japanese and English forms. The newly-announced titles include the 1990 English release of Splatterhouse, along with the following six Japanese games:

• Dragon Spirit (1988)
• Galaga ’88 (1988)
• The Genji and the Heike Clans (1990)
• The Legend of Valkyrie (1990)
• Seirei Senshi Spriggan (1991)
• Spriggan Mark 2 (1992)

The Japanese edition of the console will also get 1992 role-playing adventure Tengai Makyou II: Manji Maru. You can check out localised trailers for these new games below. The PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Mini launches ??exclusively at Amazon on March 19, 2020, at a c??ost of around $100 / £100.

The post PC Engine / Tur??boGrafx-16 Mini announces its final game ??lineup appeared first on Destructoid.

As DJ Khaled would say, another one

Running out of room on your TV stand for all these mini consoles? Well, throw that PlayStation Mini into the closest, because just revealed on Twitch, the TurboGrafx-16 Mini is coming yo?ur way. Originally released in 1987, the TurboGrafx-16 was overshadowed in its prime by the powerhouses at Nintendo and Sega. Now, it's getting a chance to show what a wonderful little console it was in a form littler than ever before.

The TurboGrafx-16 will feature quick save ??on any title, multiple display modes, and support up to five-player gaming with a multitap that is sold separately. The full game list has yet to be revealed, but here ar??e the six titles confirmed for it so far:

• R-Type
• New Adventure Island
• Ninja Spirit
• Ys Book I & II
• Dungeon Explorer
• Alien Crush

Hopefully, Bonk's Adventure will ma??ke it into the final product as Destructoid's Da??rren Nakamura has warm memories of playing it at his grandmother's house.

The post The mini console craze continues wit??h TurboGrafx-16? Mini appeared first on Destructoid.

Getcha freak on

The SNES Classic pre-orders have come and gone and the dregs left behind without one will be forced to scramble wildly, clawing desperately at one another like a depiction of hell in a Hieronymus Bosch painting for the scraps. I don’t want to make any wild predictions, but shit’s gonna be hard to get, and just like last year with the NES Classic, renewed nostalgia is going to introduce a whole new wave of people to retro game collecting (not to mention put more money into the pockets of Raspberry Pi manufacturers.)

One of the most important features of just about any devices these days is the video output. RCA is dead, long live HDMI, and just about every new TV is either not going to take the input of old devices at all, or is going to make it a miserable experience. The resolution doesn’t upscale properly, so without proper (and expensive) equipment, if you try to play an old SNES on a new TV, you are likely gonna ?have a bad time.

The Retro Freak by Cyber Gadget is a very capable solution to playing a wide variety of different game cartridges adequately and with a few excellent features to make it a strong experience, and certainly the best of its kind among a very small group of competing products.

First and most important is compatibility. Apart from the broad range of games you can actually play, 11 systems in total out of the box, including SNES, Genesis, NES, Turbografx-16, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance and the overseas equivalents.I f you get the package with the included NES adapter, most everything you throw at the Retro Freak will be playable. Things such as Master System and SG-1000 will also require additional adaptors such as the Power Base Converter. I put every single cartridge I own to the test across a few different consoles without any issues save one particular extremely picky cartridge that also fails to work on every piece of hardware I have tested it on (Dreamworld Pogie for NES) and everything worked great.

Retro Freak is emulation based, recognizing your cartridges as you plug them in and dumping them for use on the system. It will also transfer your save file over from battery backed cartridges, a feature I didn’t have any issues with, while also supporting save states and the ability to permanently save ROM data to memory so that you don’t have to plug t??he cartridge in every single time in order to use it. An added Micro SD port allows you to store ROM files, which you can presumably use for more nefarious things...such as legitimate homebrew, of course! Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Anyways, you get a wide variety of options but the specific app??eal is that you can pop your carts into this thing and it will recognize and play the vast majority of them. And it does a very good job of this. I didn’t have any notable issues with sound or graphic emulation. You get a variety of graphical filters you can play with, and can add things like scanlines for a more authentic experience, but in general this unit outputs a lovely 720p video quality all on its own without the window dressing; it's absolutely superb especially when compared to other clone systems on the market today.

The included contr?oller is a wired Super Nintendo-styled device with decent buttons and a dpad that while a little loose felt comfortable and responsive. The pin connectors on the main consoles grip cartridges pretty tightly, but not alarmingly so like on other clone consoles where you feel like it’s going to break your game. Build quality is solid, the power button feels out of place on the back of the console and feels cheap, and personal opinion here -- the system is kind of ugly. Not offensive, just that there isn’t much to it on an aesthetic level. It’s a single color lump of grey plastic that probably should have been black, though there is a version of it with a red face plate available if that’s your thing.

The package I was sent from Funstock Retro in the U.K. came with the NES adapter and a controller adapter. The Retro Freak is a Japanese product, so by default it has a Famicom slot and not an NES slot. Every game I put into the system brought up the name for the Japanese version of said game, but with the adapter you can at least put your NES carts in and play those. The Super Famicom/SNES and Mega Drive/Sega Genesis ports won’t have an issue taking either cart, since it was additional plastic t??abs in the western release of those systems that prevented the cartridges from physically going in in the first place. NES games sit pretty high out of the top of the system with the adapter which is a pain in the a??ss in a small space, so it isn’t a perfect solution, but at least it was addressed in box. And the included controller adapter will allow you to use a wide variety of different controllers from the supported consoles, so that’s a bonus as well, though it only supports one at a time from each of the major systems.

Being from the U.K. the system's default boot language was English, as is all the packaging. But the adapter which came in the box did not have a U.S. plug included, so I had to use a travel adapter to get it going. It has a switching power supply so I did not need a full on converter, but this is something to be aware of. It's also pretty pricey at around $260 US, not ??including s?hipping for the Premium edition, which is what most people are likely going to want to go with.

I have very little negative to say about the Retro Freak. Apart from bland aesthetics and the necessit?y to use additional adapters to play some of the mentioned supported consoles such as the Sega Master System and the NES, it’s a winner overall. If you are an ?enthusiast who wants to collect for one specific system, it might be overkill. But even still, right now unless your fetish is the NES, there are not very many HD friendly solutions to play the rest of the systems that the Retrofreak supports, so it’s a great way to conso?lidate a multitude ??of hardware into a much smaller space.

_{[This review is based on a retail copy provided by the manufacturer.]}

The post Review: Retro Freak Premium game console appeared first on Destructoid.

What is real anymore?

Kanye West has announced via Twitter that his next album is tentatively titled "Turbo Grafx 16" after?? one of his "favorite gaming sys??tems" from his childhood. The full text of the tweets are as follows:

"My next album is titled 'Turbo Grafx 16' as of now... just on some super nerd vibes... one of my favorite gaming systems when I was a kid... Blazing Lazers was probably my favorite game on that console ... My boy Mali that I spoke about on the song Drive Slow actually had a Neo Geo in real life bro... We actually played Spy Hunter at my mom's house!!!"

West is, of course, talking about the Turbo-Grax 16 which according to Wikipedia was the first console released in the 16-bit era in 1989, and was joint-developed by Hudson Soft and NEC. The console was best known for the Bonk series, as well as having one of the best Castlevania games, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. 

Kanye's favorite game for the console, Blazing Lazers, was a pretty decent space shoot-'em-up ?that features some decent beats; beats that I hope we hear West spit over soon.

This announcement comes shortly after Kanye revealed the first footage of the game about his mother ascending to Heaven. I can't make this shit up.

Kanye West [Twitter]

The post Kanye West’s next album is titled Turbo Grafx 16 appeared first on Destructoid.

Would he be Zonk?

Out of all the frustrating decisions Konami's made in the past few years, its shelving of the Bonk series hurt me the most.

For those who don't know, Bonk was the first "radical" console wars rival to Mario, pre-dating Sonic by about 2 years. Created by Hudson for NEC's PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 c??onsole, Bonk (know as 'PC Genjin' in Japan and 'B.C. Kid' in Europe) had all the tools needed to become a mainstay in the pantheon of gaming mascots.

Weaponizing his baby-shaped body allowed him to combine cuteness and destruction into one cohesive whole. For a while, it seemed to work. The P.C. Engine managed to outsell the NES for a brief period of time, but once we hit the SNES-era, Bonk's makers seemed to lose f??aith in the littl?e baby-shaped breaker of worlds.

He tried to hang on into the late 2000s with a new game (featuring a soundtrack from Fez composer Disasterpeace) and a PS2/GameCube remake of his original adventure, but the new game was canceled and the remake never left Japan. It's a shame, too, as the remake? is one of my all-time favorite 2D platformers. It could definitely find an audience on modern consoles if Ko?nami were to release on today's digital storefronts. 

In the meantime, we're left to wonder what could have been had Bonk managed to stay alive into 2015. John-Charles Holmes, producer of the new Rhythm Heaven fan magazine Rhythm Zinegoku (featuring art from yours truly and former Dtoid writers Colette Bennett and Ashley Davis), has one possible answer to this question.

While this might not be the evolution that many would hope to see for our top heavy caveman hero, I wouldn't be too surpris??ed to see today's Konami take him in this direction. 

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Mentally unstable love interest? Check!

The adventures of Bravoman, Super-Unequaled Hero of Excellence, continues with the second episode of his new web cartoon. ?As before, voice actor legend Rob Paulsen is the number one reason to tune in, lending his talents to our leading man.

Episode 2 welcomes a new character, Waya Hime, the psycho ninja chick who wants to both date and murder Bravoman. Waya Hime is voice by Romi Dames, who according to Wikipedia voices one of the main characters on the Italian cartoon Winx Club. I don't watch Winx Club nor do I know anyone who does, so I'?ll look f??urther down her filmography...

Oh! She was on Bill Nye, the Science Guy! Yeah, let's run with that! Romi Dames, supporting starlet of Bill Nye, the Science Guy!

Bravoman Episode 2:?? Perky Princess of Pointy Peril [YouTube]

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First episode is go

The cartoon adaptation of ShiftyLook's Bravoman: Super-Unequaled Hero of Excellence went live on May 20, exactly 25 years to the day since the launch of the obscure TurboGrafx-16 game Bravoman upon which it was based. Geeze, didn't you know!? He's only like the 2038th biggest videogame icon on the planet! And I bet you fo??rgot a birthday present too!

As mentioned during the reveal back in March, Rob Paulsen lends his voice to the titular hero (as well as sidekick Alpha Man). You of course know him better as Yakko and Pinky in Animaniacs, Raphael in the original TMNT, Donatello in the new TMNT, and about a bazillion other roles. Playing opposite him as Doctor Bomb is Dee Bradley Baker, best known as every non-speaking animal in every cartoon pretty much ever.

It's always a treat to hear Paulsen and Baker, although their performances here sound a teensy bit phoned in. Not entirely their fault -- the jokes are just flat, treading on a few too many worn cl?iches. This is but the first episod??e, so I hope the writing in the later ones improves. It would be a shame to waste such legendary vocal talents.

You'll be able to catch new Bravoman episodes every week.

Bravoman E??pisode 1: The Beginning and End of Bravoman [YouTube]

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The ultimate mod

Modder Bacteria spent over three?? years and over $1,000 to merge 18 different consoles into one giant box. It contains circuitr?y from 15 different systems, works with one master controller, a single power supply, and a single video output cable.

The 44 pound box can run games for these systems: Atari 2600/7800, Sega Master Sys??tem, Sega MegaDrive (Genesis), Super Nintendo, Nintendo NES, Nintendo 64, NeoGeo MVS, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube + GBA conne??cter, NEC TurboGrafx X, Colecovision, Intellivision, Sony Playstation 1/2, and Amstrad GX1000.

Wow.

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Early music by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata

Are you a fan of Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata's collaborations on Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics, Opoona, and more? Perhaps you dig Sakimoto's more recent works that include Final Fantasy XII and the Valkyria Chronicles series? Well, if you're a fan of any of that stuff, Magical Chase will blow your mind.

From the duo's early days, Magical Chase features bubbly and upbeat game music that you'd hardly believe was possible given the mature orchestral output from these guys in past couple years. Magical Chase, originally released on the Turbo Grafx in 1991 and later ported to the Game Boy Color, was a colorful side-scrolling?? shooter that is incredibly rare and is a much sought-after game?? for collectors. Now, thanks to Basiscape and SuperSweep Records, you can at least own the soundtrack and several remixes found on the album if nothing else.

We'll have a review in next month's Note Worthy, but in the meantime, you can place a pre-order with CD Japan for 2,500 Yen ($26). It will ship on April 26.

Any Magical Chase fans out there want to share their memories of this?? title? Do you reme??mber anything about the game's soundtrack? 

The post Magical Chase soundt??rack is finally something you can ow??n appeared first on Destructoid.

And it stars Rob Paulsen of Animaniacs and TMNT fame!

I know you're looking at that headline and saying to yourself, "What the hell is Bravoman?" It's a fairly unknown Namco arcade game from the 80s that was later ported to the TurboGrafx-16 -- and incidentally is also available on the Wii Virtual Console. The titular star is a send-up of J?apanese superheroes who can extend his bionic limbs like Stretch Armstrong. Got that? Cool.

So why is it getting a cartoon? It's all thanks to Namco Bandai's ShiftyLook initiative, which breathes life back into forgotten Namco properties through the power of webcomics. Bravoman: Super-Unequaled Hero of Excellence is among the more popular of those comics, thus it was selected for an animated treatment. Kotaku even has an exclusive 30-second preview clip, should you want to give it a quick watch.

What truly catches my attention, however, is the voice cast. Playing Bravoman is none other than Rob Paulsen, best known as the legendary talent behind Raphael and Donatello in the 1987 and 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series respectively, as well as Yakko Warner in Animaniacs. Also lending his pipes is the fairly illustrious Dee Bradley Baker, who I learned just this second was the voice of Olmec in Legends of the Hidden Temple. Holy fudge!

If Bravoman works out well, I hope Namco Bandai decides to adapt the Klonoa comic next.

A Brand-New Ca??rtoon Shows Video Game Heroes Hate Annoying?? Help Messages, Too [Kotaku via GoNintendo]

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Inspired the face-melting shmup on TurboGrafx-CD

You won't just find old faves performing at MAGFest. Sometimes, new bands will take to the stage!

Lords of Thunder is a supergroup that consists of Mike Villalobos and John Pike from Descendants of Erdrick, Mateo Marshall from Those Who Fight, solo artist Daniel Tidwell, and Brandon Hood from Chiptunes = WIN. They will be playing a variety of metal covers of more obscure game tunes, with a significantly focus on the soundtrack to the Hudson Soft shmu?p after which they a??re named.

Above is the band's first studio recording, based on the Dark Tower theme from the TurboGrafx-CD version of Lords of Thunder (Bosque theme in the Sega CD port). As you can hear, the source music is already pretty sick. If our boys can bring that same intensity when they perform Friday at noon, it will be? magic.

Crossing my fingers for some Thunder Force jams as well!

Lords of Thunder [Facebook]

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Thursdays on Mash Tactics are now 'Throwback Thursdays'. Each week, King Foom will choose one retro game to play through, starting with Bonk's Adventure for the TurboGrafx-16. This journey will pit Foom agains??t the evil King Drool, equipped with the caveboy strength of the titular Bonk. Tune in and see this throwback gem for yourself.

Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Destructoid's Twitch TV channel. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer int?eraction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything?? else.

The post Live show: Bonk’s Adventure on Mash Tactics appeared first on Destructoid.

Starting this month, Hudson will gleefully begin pumping out Tu??rboGrafx-16 games for the North American PlayStation Store. They'll be offered as individual downloads for PlayStation 3 and P?SP should you feel the need to relive the '90s.

• Alien Crush
  
• Bomberman '94
  
• Bonk's Adventure
  
• Dungeon Explorer
  
• Neutopia
  
• New Adventure Island
  
• Soldier Blade
  
• Super Star Soldier
  
• Victory Run
  
• World Sports Competition

If this announcement sounds at all familiar, you're probably thinking back to when Hudson told us these titles were hitting the PlayStation Store in Europe. One small victory at a time, gents. And yes, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Blazing Lazers -- make it happen!

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There has been some talk in the past about getting TurboGrafx-16 titles on to the PlayStation Store in the west. Japan has had access to them for years now. It seems that ??they will finally materialize, as the German software ratings board USK has spilled the beans by adding ten games to their database. The games listed are:

• Bonk’s Adventure 
• New Adventure Island 
• World Sports Competition 
• Victory Run 
• Soldier Blade 
• Dungeon Explorer 
• Super Star Soldier 
• Alien Crush 
• Neutopia 
• Bomberman ’94

I guess this is exciting news for some people. All of these games have been available on the Wii for a very long time in both Europe and North America, so it's hard to get too excited about seeing them again now. Stil, not everybody has a Wii and everybody needs Dungeon Explorer.

TurboGrafx-16 Games Hitting PSN In Europe [Siliconera]

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Those who update their PlayStation Portable to the newest firmware are in for a surpri??se. Wait, wait -- ??I might be overselling this. The update adds two new game folders to the handheld: "NEOGEO" and "PCEngine" (aka TurboGrafx 16).

So, really, the surprise is (hopefully) the promise of more retro titles for PSP, which we could always use more of. Or, it's a cruel mistake. I'm going with the former, because A) Neo Geo and TruboGrafx 16 games are on the Japanese P?layStation Network and B) the ESR?B has listed some of these ports for the US.

My guess is this stuff has been held back by licensing u??nt?il now; at least, I hope so. Sony has got to know many of us would gladly buy these games, right?

NEOGEO for PSP? [Fist Full of Potions]

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_{[Many video games build upon the con?cepts and mechanics of their forerunners. Off-Brand Games examines those that draw just a little too much?... inspiration.]}

Take a look at this. Now, take a look at this. Does anyone remember seeing these commercials on TV when they originally ??aired? No, you did not. Don't lie. You didn't see squat.

Let's cut right to it -- no one cared about the TurboGrafx-16. No one cared about the Master System either, for that matter. With Nintendo holding 90% US market share, those other guys were fighting?? for table scraps and no one gave a flying fudge.

Oh, but that didn't stop the mudslinging! Here's a commercial comparing China Warrior and Kung Fu. Ooooh, I wanna play China Warrior now! Are you kiddin'? Hot damn! What else ya got? You can't out-Nintendo Nintendo but Hudson tried anyway. If there was a game that looked kinda spiffy on the NES, the bee people answered with a color-enhanced alternative. Such was the case with Neutopia. If the games were über enough, they ??thought, all the kiddies would up and switch camp!

And no?w TurboGrafx games are on the Virtual Console. Boom. 

Offender: Neutopia
Developed by: Hudson Soft
Published by: NEC
Released on: TG-16, 1990
Tastes like: The Legend of Zelda

Joining Alundra and Crusader of Centy in the wannabe-Zelda camp is Neutopia, the most faithful "adaptation" yet. In fact, it's too faithful. The other titles did a much better job of distinguishing themselves from the source. Neutopia doesn't try to cover its tracks, and I do not mean that in a nice way.

I can sense some of you pulling away from me. You might have played this on the Wii not that long ago with a smile on your face and a lilt in your step. C'mon, Tony! It's a great game! Don't be a hater! What's the matter, guys? Are you afraid that I might have some unkind words for Neutopia? Afraid that I may have ... *gasp*... legitimate criticisms?

So some dork named Dirth, lead singer of a douchey Brit alt metal band, invades the land of Hyrule ... excuse me ... Neutopia, kidnaps Princess Zelda ... sorry ... Princess Aurora, and plunges the world into darkness and shit. As the hero Link ... pardon me ... Jazeta, you must conquer the eight dungeons ... hold on ... labyrinths, recover the eight Triforce shards ... there I go again, mind in the gutter ... Medallions, and restore peace to the people.

Oh yeah. Magic everywhere in this bitch.

HOW SHAMELESS IS IT?

Everything you needed to know in the original Zelda was right there in the opening scroll. Neutopia adds nothing to that. You hear me? Nothing. Here was an opportunity to one-up Nintendo at their own game, however foolish such action was and always will be, and Hudson didn't bother to ??step up to the ??plate. No, Hudson called in a pinch hitter while it had "private time" in a dark corner of the dugout. Glad to see you taking the competition seriously.

It's not that the game was bad -- I've always insisted that it's not possible to make a "bad" Zelda clone -- it just wasn't necessary. Was there a gap in the software lineup that needed plugging? What happened? Were your fifteen billion shoot-'em-ups not selling anymore? The TurboGrafx-16,? purported to be a whopping four times faster (oooh!) than the NES, co?uld only yield a Zelda-too that was nothing more than a simple palette swap?

Aside from what I mentioned above, you've got bats and mutant dogs with identical attack patterns to Keese and Moblins. You get a dungeon map by finding crystal balls, collect crypt keys to get into boss chambers, pick up cherries instead of hearts, score coins instead of Rupees, and snatch an hourglass that freezes enemies on screen momentarily like the watch that you probably don't even remember was in the first Zelda. Just the tip of the iceberg.

You know the ladder from Zelda? The thing that wasn't so much a ladder as it was a makeshift bridge? Stupid crap that no one would care to ever see in a Zelda game again, right? Lo and behold, it makes a grand appearance in Neutopia as the Rainbow Drop, a magical artifact that creates bridges out of bright rainbows and the joy and laughter of innocent children frolicking in the fields and oh my God, I think I'm gonna puke. Really? This couldn't hit the chopping block? It just had to be in there, right?

And those eight Medallions? They represent wisdom, power, and virtue. Isn't that last one supposed to be "courage"? I bet they thought they were being clever! Shame that "clever" wasn't one of the three almighty virtues! That's another thing... the third virtue is called "virtue." You can't do that! You can't name a subset of a set after the set itself! Wisdom and power are types of virtues, so you have to name the third one something other than "virtue," you asshats! That's like naming your hockey t??eam the Vancouver Canucks or the Montreal Canadians! You live in fucking Canada! The redundancy is melting my brain!

The nomenclature throughout is phenomenal. The hero is "Jazeta." Woo! How manly! It's the perfect name if you were answering a casting call for To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. To return to the last save point, you use an item called the "Wings of Return." The bombs you carry are not regular bombs but "Boom Bombs," as opposed to the kind that file your God damn tax returns. And the nefarious Dirth (I've already covered him) awaits your arrival in the sinister "Climactic Castle." The Climactic Castle? Tell me that didn't just happen. Did that just happen? Oh m?y God!

Ha ha ha ha ha!

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

No.

So I'm walking around, blowing up walls with bombs to uncover hidden doors or burning bushes to uncover secret stairwells, when I feel a strange chill down my spine. This is exactly like the original Zelda only... off. In every respect, Neutopia is The Legend of Zelda, but the graphical boost implies an exploration of new concepts that never materialize. The power of the hardware doesn't yield a richer, more robust game, and that leaves me feeling disconnected. The original Zelda is extremely dated by today's standards, but at least I understand that it was a product of an earlier age. Neutopia did nothing to build upon that.

This is all disappointing enough, but then the game starts pulling shenanigans on me. Item drops, for starters, never happen! You can play the game for half an hour without seeing a single restorative cherry, leaving you to suffer the grating low-health warning chime until you kill yourself in game or out. Bomb drops are just as infrequent, and since you can only carry sixteen by game's end and you have to bomb all the time on every screen, you wind up bomb-less and paying a visit to the bloodsucking salesma??n in a store located God knows where.

For all the equipment lifted from Zelda,? you don't have many offensive opt??ions. Take a look at your status bar:

Assigned are the fire wand and your sword. That's what you'll be using in every battle. There are no boomerangs or bows and arrows; as I've established, it would be foolish and impractical to waste bombs on combat. The fire wand is a distance weapon and its power and range are directly proportional to amount of health you posses. That's a big "up yours" when you are on the brink of death, six or seven monsters closing in on you, and the flames spewing from the tip couldn't light a birthday candle. That's when I need the thing to be at its most powerful! Not cool, dude!

Using the sword is deceptively tricky, especially against enemies that jump. Imagine you are playing catch with yourself. The ball travels skyward before gravity brings it down. Applying 2D overhead physics to the ball, instead of traveling perpendicular to the ground, it will be as if you are throwing it to the left or the right, parallel to the ground, before some magical force reverses its direction without gravity ever stopping by to say hello. In game, it would look like the ball is shifting one panel north; that's the panel you attack despite science telling you otherwise.

And what's up with the password function? You can enter a password to jump ahead in the game or you can store passwords you receive at save points to automatically be entered for you whenever you turn the game back on. The hag who saves your progress doesn't restore your health, and should you die,? you will return to her with half your gold and only half your health refilled. However, if you reset the game and load your most recent password, you jump back in at full stamina! Why?? the inconvenience?

As if that wasn't backwards enough, in order to use the save function, you have to acquire the "Book of Revival" literally one screen below your starting point. Without it, death sends you back to the beginning of the game. It's not like it's difficult to find! It's right there! Why do I have to manually pick it up? Why can't I simply have the ability to save my game? Who benefits from this? Is the game encouraging me to attempt ?a no-death run?

None of that matters, though. What matters is visiting all the townspeople and listening to their sob stories. Almost every square on the overworld map has a hidden room, but all you'll find are NPCs who won't stop sucking up to you, an??d all you wanna do is punch them square in the sternum. It's room after room after room of repeated character sprites. The game feels less like a grand adventure and more like making house calls. The game is one giant gated community and I'm supposed to be the security patrol that drives off the riff-raff for breaking the homeowners' asso??ciation conduct code.

At least the payoff is decent! All Zelda ever did for Link was give him a pat on the shoulder and a half-hearted thumbs up for a job well done. Princess Aurora??? She literally throws herself at you and commands you to take her right then and there:

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! I think this just might be the only game in the hist?ory of gaming where you get to bang the princess in the end! Okay, it's not stated outright, but the implication is clear as day! Makes the whole ordeal worthwhile, doesn't it?

Seriously though, the game i?sn't ??that bad. I'm just a jerk.

THE BRUCEPLOITATION SCALE OF RESPECT FOR A CULTURAL ICON:

PREVIOUSLY, ON OFF-BRAND GAMES:
00 Introduction
01 Power Blazer
02 Commando: Steel Disaster
03 Snood
04 Midnight Resistance
05 8 Eyes
06 Onimusha Blade Warriors
07 The Krion Conquest
08 Scurge: Hive
09 3-D WorldRunner
10 Alundra
11 Chex Quest
12 Giana Sisters DS
13 Run Saber
14 Crusader of Centy
15 DuLuDuBi Star
16 Fighter's History
17 Robopon
18 The Simpsons Road Rage

The post Off-Brand Games: Neutopia appeared first on Destructoid.

Reliving painful gaming memories we've repressed is the norm for this gig. Upon seeing Splatterhouse's Rick in glorious custom toy form over at Tomopop, I was reminded how I never did beat Splatterhouse 2, and was forced to shamefully watch the final level's conclusion on YouTube.

For the record, Rick's sprite was freaking huge. In fact, from this day forward, I'm blaming all of my mishaps on his freakishly large sprite. That goes for non-Splatterhouse games too.

The creator, Jin Saotome, has a great picture gallery dedicated to the figure's intricate paint details. Jim was telling me how ?much he hates it when he sees a particularly sweet toy only to find out it's a custom. I'm right there with him -- we want these things in stores so we can throw money at their designers.

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