These are the games that eventually secured the TurboGrafx-16 its cult classic console status.
Quality and success do not always go hand in hand.
Sometimes a fantastic movie will bomb at the box office.
Sometimes a great TV series does not get picked up for a second season.
Sometimes a beautiful music album will fall under the radar.
Just because something is deemed a failure does not mean it wasnt worth looking at.
Such is thestory of the PC Engine, otherwise known as the TurboGrafx-16.
It wasnt even the fault of the consoles performance.
It was simply overshadowed by the war between Nintendo and Sega.
Lets take a look at the games that truly defined its faded footprint in video game history.
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See, the game is based on the arcade gameWonder Boy in Monster Land.
Same basic gameplay but with redrawn sprites.
This is similar to how the initialWonder Boygot ported asAdventure Islanddue to weird legal issues.
All in all, a pretty basic, but fitting launch title for the system.
R-punch in (1987)
The shoot em up genre was the TurboGrafx-16s bread and butter.
In fact, roughly a sixth of the games released for the console were shooters.
IremsR-Typeis a horizontal space shooter that wears its HR Giger inspiration on its sleeve.
But hey, thats part of the charm.
I guess patience has its advantages.
Overall, its an incredibly mundane release.
So why is this on the list of games that defined the console?
For some reason, NEC decided thatKeith Courage in Alpha Zoneswould be the pack-in game for the TurboGrafx-16.
Yeah, this was not going to inspireimmediate faith likeSuper Mario Bros.,Tetris, or evenAlter Beastdid.
(Beastly Alien Dudes).
The lack of any kind of follow-up to Keiths adventures is telling.
Legendary Axe (1988)
And now we have whatshouldhave been the pack-in game for the TurboGrafx-16.
At the same time, you’ve got the option to uncover upgrades to your weapon.
It would get its own sequel shortly after, thoughLegendary Axe IIis more of a sequel in name only.
The gameplay, developer, story, graphics, aesthetic, and so on are all different.
Hell, you start the game with a sword.
But there IS an axe in the game, so it has that going for it.
If you get too realistic, the whole thing will become boring and static.
Mainly taking place on two screens, there is this pulsating, organic feel to it all.
Its as if the pinball machine is a living creature that youre at war against.
Throw in some bonus rounds, and you have some strong replay value and a classic TurboGrafx-16 title.
Compile would keep the creepy pinball simulations going withDevils Crushshortly after.
He and his game certainly had more going for them than Keith Courage ever did.
bad boy personality that Sonic would soon exhibit.
), it didnt take too long for the first game to get ported onto the NES.
Hold on, let me look up what Bonk means in British English.
Yes, that is definitely not PC, kid.
With the Sega CD, the emphasis was on full-motion video.
It was a fun novelty initially, but grainy video clips got old.
Wearing the Terror Mask (kindly dont sue!
), he barges into a haunted mansion to save his kidnapped girlfriend.
Its a sidescroller beat em up with an emphasis on gore and nightmarish visuals.
Picking up a big stick and batting zombies into the walls behind you never gets old.
Even all the non-stop ninja attacks from every side barely matter.
Still, those infinite continues will probably come in handy.
Bomberman (1990)
Bombermanis one of those series that feels timeless.
Simple: this version ofBombermanhad multiplayer.
Regardless, it led to a better-looking follow-up withBomberman 93, and a Japan-onlyBomberman 94.
So, what happens when you toss a quality shooter setup together with advanced hardware?
Your face melts off from the consoles first CD shoot em up,Gate of Thunder.
Oh man, the metal music is exactly the kind of thing that will get you into the zone.
The danger zone, if you will.
As mentioned, the Turbografx-16 was completely oversaturated with shoot em-ups.
While there were fantastic offerings likeSoldier BladeandBlazing Lazers, there just wasnt enough to really make them stick out.
Not enough for me to wax poetic for two paragraphs each, at least.
Air Zonkis a shoot em-up where you play as Bonks cyborg descendant in the distant future.
Same art style and febrile humor, but now youre flying around shooting at enemies non-stop.
The game is brimming with personality, making you wish it had a longer-lasting legacy.
ThisCastlevaniatitle took the basics from the games that came before it, and created something special and new.
Its a beautiful game with awesome visuals and cutscenes thrown in, really showing what a 2DCastlevaniacould become.
The games true legacy is for being directly followed by the beloved classicCastlevania: Symphony of the Night.
