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NEC TurboGrafx-16
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Console: NEC TurboGrafx-16
Year: 1989
RFG ID#: U-039-H-00011-A
Countries Hardware Released In: Canada Canada
Part Number: HES-TGX-01-C
UPC: 059376000015
Manufacturer: NEC
Class: System
Subclass: Console
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Collection Stats

  • 1 of 7628 collectors (0%) have this hardware piece in their collection
  • 0 of 7628 collectors (0%) have this hardware piece in their wishlist.
  • 0 of 7628 collectors (0%) have this hardware piece for sale or trade.
Variations:


Console Region Type Title Manufacturer Year Class
NEC TurboGrafx-16
North America
H NEC TurboExpress NEC 1990 System
NEC PC Engine
Japan
H PC Engine GT NEC 1990 System
NEC TurboGrafx-16
North America
H NEC TurboGrafx-16 NEC 1989 System
NEC TurboGrafx-16
North America
H NEC TurboGrafx-16[Special Holiday Price Bundle] NEC 1992 System
Overview

Please note that overview provided is actually for the variant NEC TurboGrafx-16 North America. View Variant Page

NECs first US console was definitely misunderstood in the states. With the popularity of the NES and the upcoming release of the Sega Genesis didn't leave much for the TurboGrafx-16. Also NEC was very particular with who was allowed to release games for their console. Not much of a bad idea in my opinion.This gave the TurboGrafx-16 their own catalog of original games that were not available anywhere else.

Some of my recommendations, in no particular order, are: Air Zonk, Blazing Lazers, Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure, Cadash, Cratermaze, Devil's Crush, Jackie Chan's ACtion Kung Fu, Legendary Axe, Legendary Axe II, Military Madness, Neutopia, Neutopia II, Soldier Blade, Somer Assault, Splatterhouse, Super Star Soldier, Tricky Kick, and World Sports Competition. There are other good games and many shooters, I just listed my favorites.

The controller is similar to the NES but the I & II buttons have turbo switches above them, which comes in handy with the shooters. The console only had one controller port so if you wanted to play any 2-4 player games (which there weren't many of) you had to get a turbo tap which allowed up to 4 players at once. There is an expansion port on the back that allowed the connection of a TurboBooster (allowed for better picture and sound through AV connection instead of RF connection), TurboBooster Plus (same as the TurboBooster except it had an extra feature that allowed for game saving), or a TurboGrafx-CD (a system upgrade, which will be discussed later).

If you have never played/owned a TurboGrafx-16 I highly suggest getting one. The TurboGrafx-16 console can be found easily on EBay for around $25 for the system only and around $50 for a console and some games bundled together. Also keep in mind that a lot of the 'better' games can go for a hefty price. The most expensive game is Magical Chase which can go for upwards of $300. Following in at second is Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure for around $100. And in third is Air Zonk for $50. Those are the main expensive games, the rest can go for $30 or less. There were only 96 games released for this console, (a list is available on the front page). A few converters were made for playing Japanese PC Engine HuCard games on the TurboGrafx-16, one of those will cost around $100+ on eBay. But it can be well worth it for all the fun games that never saw the light of day in the United States.

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