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Which console had the better library BEFORE Sonic 1's release? Genesis or Turbografx-16? (Lists inside)
- Thread starter Vickton Farway
- Start date
I was young when the Turbografx was out but I do remember vividly how the Genesis and the SNES dominated everything, including store space and most importantly mindshare, and I only ever saw the TG16 once in a dark dingy corner of Toys R Us. It occupied a lonely bit in the back of the store, with only a single row of games (back when they were paper slips you turned in at the front of the store) and the demo unit wasn't even powered on.
The TG16 would have been hard to miss if you were reading Electronic Gaming Monthly, Gamepro, Game Players, or Video Games & Computer Entertainment in the early '90s. But it was common for gamers in NA to only read Nintendo Power or nothing at all. Without much advertising outside of those multi-format magazines, the TG16 would have been invisible to a lot of people.
Genesis had a much wider variety of games, many of which are certifiable classics. T16 had less, but true classics in their own right, but while I believe many T16 games beat Genesis, the sheer number of Genesis classics outweigh the Turbo.
Plus, the Turbo-Grafx was very hard to find in certain parts of the country, making it a popular, but more niche system. I imagine a lot of people who could judge these libraries may not have even played the T16. I love videogames, but my first time playing the system was on the Wii VC, because I could never find one new or used in Southwest Minnesota or even East South Dakota.
I read those magazines, but as I said above, it was hard to find the system so I would just see the T16 reviews and be like "oh that's nice". Kind of dream of playing one someday, but I saw it as impossible to play in the early-mid 90s as the horribly expensive Neo Geo was. Just a fun review to read and dream about, but never seriously consider being able to play.
Plus, the Turbo-Grafx was very hard to find in certain parts of the country, making it a popular, but more niche system. I imagine a lot of people who could judge these libraries may not have even played the T16. I love videogames, but my first time playing the system was on the Wii VC, because I could never find one new or used in Southwest Minnesota or even East South Dakota.
I read those magazines, but as I said above, it was hard to find the system so I would just see the T16 reviews and be like "oh that's nice". Kind of dream of playing one someday, but I saw it as impossible to play in the early-mid 90s as the horribly expensive Neo Geo was. Just a fun review to read and dream about, but never seriously consider being able to play.
Since it's tough to nail down exact dates, and for fun, here's the 89-91 launched consoles' lineups through 1991 for a bigger comparison:
Game Boy
TurboGrafx-16
Sega Genesis
Turbo CD
Game Gear
Neo Geo
Super Nintendo
Game Boy
- Aerostar
- Alleyway
- Altered Space: A 3-D Alien Adventure
- Amazing Penguin
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Atomic Punk
- Balloon Kid
- Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly
- Baseball
- Bases Loaded
- Batman: The Videogame
- Battle Bull
- Battle Unit Zeoth
- Battletoads
- Bill & Ted's Excellent Game Boy Adventure
- Bill Elliot's NASCAR Fast Tracks
- Blades of Steel
- Bo Jackson: Two Games in One
- Boomer's Adventure in Asmik World
- Boxxle
- Brain Bender
- Bubble Bobble
- Bubble Ghost
- The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
- The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2
- Burai Fighter Deluxe
- BurgerTime Deluxe
- Caesars Palace
- Castelian
- Castlevania: The Adventure
- Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
- Catrap
- Chase H.Q.
- The Chessmaster
- Choplifter II
- Cosmo Tank
- Crystal Quest
- Cyraid
- Daedalian Opus
- David Crane's A Boy and his Blob in... the Rescue of Princess Blobette
- Dead Heat Scramble
- Dexterity
- Dick Tracy
- Disney's Duck Tales
- Double Dragon
- Double Dragon II
- Double Dribble: 5 on 5
- Dr. Mario
- Dragon's Lair: The Legend
- Elevator Action
- Extra Bases
- F-1 Race
- Faceball 2000
- Final Fantasy Adventure
- The Final Fantasy Legend
- Final Fantasy Legend II
- Fish Dude
- Fist of the North Star: 10 Big Brawls for the King of the Universe
- Flipull
- Fortified Zone
- Fortress of Fear: Wizards & Warriors X
- The Game of Harmony
- Gargoyle's Quest: Ghosts 'n Goblins
- Gauntlet II
- Ghostbusters II
- Go! Go! Tank
- Godzilla
- Golf
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch
- HAL Wrestling
- Hatris
- Heavyweight Championship Boxing
- Heiankyo Alien
- Home Alone
- Hudson Hawk
- The Hunt for Red October
- Hyper Lode Runner
- In Your Face
- InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz French Translator
- InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz Spanish Translator
- InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Frommer's Travel Guide
- InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Personal Organizer and Phone Book
- InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Spell Checker and Calculator
- Ishido: Way of the Stones
- Jeopardy!
- Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
- Klax
- Kung-Fu Master
- Kwirk: He's A-Maze-Ing!
- Lock 'n' Chase
- LoopZ
- Malibu Beach Volleyball
- Marble Madness
- Maru's Mission
- Mega Man: Dr. Wiley's Revenge
- Mercenary Force
- Metroid II: Return of Samus
- Mickey's Dangerous Chase
- Monopoly
- Motocross Maniacs
- Mr. Chin's Gourmet Paradise
- Mysterium
- Navy SEALs
- NBA All-Star Challenge
- Nemesis
- NFL Football
- Ninja Boy
- Ninja Gaiden Shadow
- Nintendo World Cup
- Nobunaga's Ambition
- Operation C
- Pac-Man
- Paperboy
- Penguin Wars
- Pipe Dream
- Play Action Football
- Power Mission
- Power Racer
- The Punisher: Ultimate Payback
- Q Billion
- Qix
- Quarth
- R-Type
- Radar Mission
- Revenge of the 'Gator
- RoboCop
- RoboCop 2
- Rolan's Curse
- Serpent
- Shanghai
- Side Pocket
- Skate or Die: Bad 'N Rad
- Skate of Die: Tour de Thrash
- Sneaky Snakes
- Snoopy's Magic Show
- Solar Striker
- Solomon's Club
- Spot: The Videogane
- Spud's Adventure
- Super Kick-Off
- Super Mario Land
- Super R.C. Pro-Am
- Super Scrabble
- The Sword of Hope
- Tail 'Gator
- Tasmania Story
- Tecmo Bowl
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers
- Tennis
- Tetris
- Track Meet
- Trax
- Turrican
- Wheel of Fortune
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- World Bowling
- WWF Superstars
TurboGrafx-16
- Aero Blasters
- Alien Crush
- Andre Panza Kick Boxing
- Battle Royale
- Blazing Lazers
- Bloody Wolf
- Bomberman
- Bonk's Adventure
- Bonk's Revenge
- Boxyboy
- Bravoman
- Cadash
- Champions Forever Boxing
- Chew-Man-Fu
- China Warrior
- Cratermaze
- Cyber-Core
- Davis Cup Tennis
- Deep Blue
- Devil's Crush
- Disney's TaleSpin
- Double Dungeons
- Dragon Spirit
- Dragon's Curse
- Drop Off
- Dungeon Explorer
- Fantasy Zone
- Final Lap Twin
- Galaga '90
- Impossamole
- J.J. & Jeff
- Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf
- Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
- King of Casino
- Klax
- The Legendary Axe
- Legendary Axe II
- Military Madness
- Neutopia
- Night Creatures
- Ninja Spirit
- Ordyne
- Pac-Land
- Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III
- Power Golf
- Psychosis
- R-Type
- Raiden
- Side Arms
- Silent Debuggers
- Sinistron
- Sonic Spike
- Space Harrier
- Splatterhouse
- Super Star Soldier
- Super Volleyball
- Takin' it to the Hoop
- Tiger Road
- Timeball
- Tricky Kick
- Turrican
- TV Sports Basketball
- TV Sports Football
- TV Sports Hockey
- Veigues Tactical Gladiator
- Victory Run
- Vigilante
- World Class Baseball
- World Tour Tennis
- Yo' Bro
Sega Genesis
- 688 Attack Sub
- After Burner II
- Air Buster
- Air Diver
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Alien Storm
- Altered Beast
- Arcus Odyssey
- Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
- Arrow Flash
- Art Alive
- Atomic Robo-Kid
- Back to the Future Part III
- Batman: The Videogame
- Battle Master
- Battle Squadron
- Beast Wrestler
- Bimini Run
- Blockout
- Bonanza Bros.
- Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
- Budokan: The Martial Spirit
- Burning Force
- Calibur .50
- California Games
- Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
- Centurion: Defender of Rome
- Columns
- Crack Down
- CrossFire
- Cyberball
- Dark Castle
- DecapAttack
- Dick Tracy
- Dino Land
- DJ Boy
- Dynamite Duke
- El Viento
- ESWAT: City Under Siege
- Exile
- F-22 Interceptor
- The Faery Tale Adventure
- Fantasia
- Fatal Labyrinth
- Fatal Rewind
- Final Zone
- Fire Shark
- Flicky
- Forgotten Worlds
- Gaiares
- Gain Ground
- Ghostbusters
- Ghouls 'n Ghosts
- Golden Axe
- Golden Axe II
- Granada
- Growl
- Hard Drivin'
- Hardball!
- Hellfire
- Herzog Zwei
- Insector X
- Ishido: Way of the Stones
- James 'Buster' Douglass Knockout Boxing
- James Pond: Underwater Agent
- James Pond II: Condename Robocod
- Jewel Master
- Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football
- Joe Montanna Football
- John Madden Football
- John Madden Football '92
- Junction
- Ka-Ge-Ki: Fists of Steel
- King's Bounty: The Conqueror's Quest
- Klax
- Lakers vs Celtics and the NBA Playoffs
- Last Battle
- M-1 Abrams Tank Battle
- Marble Madness
- Marvel Land
- Mario Lemieux Hockey
- Master of Monsters
- Mercs
- Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
- Midnight Resistance
- Might & Magic: Gates to Another World
- Mike Ditka Power Football
- Ms. Pac-Man
- MUSHA: Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor
- Mystic Defender
- NHL Hockey
- Onslaught
- OutRun
- Pac-Mania
- Paperboy
- Pat Riley Basketball
- PGA Tour Golf
- Phantasy Star II
- Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
- Phelios
- Pit-Fighter
- Populous
- Powerball
- QuackShot starring Donald Duck
- Quad Challenge
- Rambo III
- Rampart
- Rastan Saga II
- RBI Baseball 3
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- Rings of Power
- Road Blasters
- Rolling Thunder 2
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms II
- Sagaia
- Saint Sword
- Shadow Blasters
- Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
- Shadow of the Beast
- Shining in the Darkness
- Shove It! The Warehouse Game
- Slaughter Sport
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Space Harrier II
- Space Invaders '91
- Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
- Spider-Man vs the Kingpen
- Star Control
- StarFlight
- StormLord
- Street Smart
- Streets of Rage
- Strider
- Strider Returns: Journey from Darkness
- Super Hang-On
- Super Hydlide
- Super Monaco GP
- Super Thunder Blade
- Super Volleyball
- Sword of Sodan
- Sword of Vermillion
- Task Force Harrier EX
- Target Earth
- Techno Cop
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day
- Thunder Force II
- Thunder Force III
- Thunder Fox
- Todd's Adventures in Slime World
- Toki: Going Ape Spit
- Tommy Lasorda Baseball
- Trampoline Terror!
- Trouble Shooter
- Truxton
- Turrican
- Twin Cobra
- Ultimate Qix
- Valis III
- Valis: The Phantasm Soldier
- Vapor Trail
- Wardner
- Warrior of Rome
- Warsong
- Whip Rush
- Wings of Wor
- World Championship Soccer
- Ys III: Wanderers from Ys
- Zany Golf
- Zoom!
Turbo CD
- The Addams Family
- Fighting Street
- Final Zone II
- It Came from the Desert
- J.B. Harold: Murder Club
- Last Alert
- Magical Dinosaur Tour
- Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
- Valis II
- Wonderboy III: Monster Lair
- Ys Book I & II
- Ys III: Wanderers from Ys
Game Gear
- Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe
- Batter Up
- Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
- Chase H.Q.
- Clutch Hitter
- Columns
- Crystal Warriors
- Devilish
- Dragon Crystal
- Fantasy Zone
- G-LOC Air Battle
- Halley Wars
- Joe Montana Football
- Junction
- The Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck
- Ninja Gaiden
- OutRun Europa
- Pac-Man
- Psychic World
- Putt & Putter
- Revenge of the Drancon
- Shinobi
- Slider
- Solitaire Poker
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Space Harrier
- Super Golf
- Super Monaco GP
- Woody Pop
- World Class Leaderboard Golf
Neo Geo
- 2020 Super Baseball
- Alpha Mission II
- Baseball Stars Professional
- Blue's Journey
- Burning Fight
- Crossed Swords
- Cyber-Lip
- Eight Man
- Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
- Ghost Pilots
- King of the Monsters
- League Bowling
- Magician Lord
- NAM-1975
- Ninja Combat
- Puzzled
- Riding Hero
- Robo Army
- Sengoku
- The Super Spy
- Thrash Rally
- Top Player's Golf
Super Nintendo
- Actraiser
- Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball
- The Chessmaster
- D-Force
- Darius Twin
- Drakken
- F-Zero
- Final Fantasy II
- Final Fight
- Gradius III
- HAL's Hole in One Golf
- Home Alone
- HyperZone
- John Madden Football
- Lagoon
- Miracle Piano Teaching System
- Paperboy 2
- Pilotwings
- Populous
- R.P.M. Radical Psycho Machine Racing
- SimCity
- Super Baseball Simulator 1.000
- Super Bases Loaded
- Super Castlevania IV
- Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
- Super Mario World
- Super Off-Road
- Super R-Type
- Super Tennis
- True Golf Classics: Waialae Country Club
- Ultraman
- U.N. Squadron
Nice!
Since you listed GB and GG, here's the Lynx's 1989-1991 line up (quickly taken from wikipedia so hopefully it's accurate):
APB
Awesome Golf
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Blockout
Blue Lightning
California Games
Checkered Flag
Chip's Challenge
Electrocop
Fidelity Ultimate Chess Challenge
Gates of Zendocon
Gauntlet: The Third Encounter
Hard Drivin'
Ishido
Klax
Ms. Pac-Man
Ninja Gaiden
Pac-land
Paperboy
Qix
Rampage
Roadblasters
Robo Squash
Robotron
Rygar
S.T.U.N. Runner
Scrapyard Dog
Shanghai
Super Skweek
Todd's Adventures in Slime World
Tournament Cyberball
Turbo Sub
Viking Child
Warbirds
Xenophobe
Xybots
Zarlor Mercenary
Since you listed GB and GG, here's the Lynx's 1989-1991 line up (quickly taken from wikipedia so hopefully it's accurate):
APB
Awesome Golf
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Blockout
Blue Lightning
California Games
Checkered Flag
Chip's Challenge
Electrocop
Fidelity Ultimate Chess Challenge
Gates of Zendocon
Gauntlet: The Third Encounter
Hard Drivin'
Ishido
Klax
Ms. Pac-Man
Ninja Gaiden
Pac-land
Paperboy
Qix
Rampage
Roadblasters
Robo Squash
Robotron
Rygar
S.T.U.N. Runner
Scrapyard Dog
Shanghai
Super Skweek
Todd's Adventures in Slime World
Tournament Cyberball
Turbo Sub
Viking Child
Warbirds
Xenophobe
Xybots
Zarlor Mercenary
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On the one hand, if you look only at the 1989 libraries, it's not even close. Because of its much greater success in Japan, the TG16 has a far better and deeper library than the Genesis, by a lot. The Genesis had a few great games in '89, most notably Golden Axe and Truxton, but the TG16 had far more -- R-Type, Legendary Axe, Blazing Lazers, etc. NEC made a great many major mistakes and managed to lose to Sega in '89-'90 despite having better games and initially more games, but looking just at the first year US game libraries, the TG16 wins easily.
And going into '90, with major titles like Ys Books I & II (for the expensive CD addon, yes) and Bonk's Adventure, the TG16 probably still had the better overall library. Sega was gaining fast thanks to their much greater success in the US market, and the support of third parties like EA also added a lot, but it was still competitive between the two of them for sure.
In '91 though it was all over, the TG16's library slowed down greatly in terms of new releases thanks to its failure in the market while the Genesis shot up massively with the release of Sonic. Still, even though when Sonic released the Genesis probably had more overall releases than the TG16, I think that there is no question, before Sonic the TG16 had the better library. And most people saying the Genesis probably have never played a TG16. Overall, the Genesis is a better console than the TG16, both are among my favorite systems but the Genesis is right near the top of the list. Things were different for the first few years though; the Genesis just got better with time, as the TG16/PCE faded.
Now, even had the TG16 done better here in its first few years, I do think it'd have probably fallen behind eventually -- after all, in Japan the PCE did best in the late '80s, fading once the Super Famicom finally released in 1990. It only edged out the Megadrive overall there because of how poorly that system did in Japan, but the Genesis was never going to do as badly here as it did there. After that NEC started to bet more heavily on CD games, but while it did well in Japan and had a very high attach rate for an addon, a majority of PCE owners didn't buy the more expensive CD systems. Meanwhile, here in the US, that generation didn't really get going until right as the PCE was at its peak. More success here, and a much less stupid NEC, would have led to a lot more games for the thing and for it to make it through the generation, but a fast start fading over time was, I think, inevitable. Sure, you might have gotten EA games, that rumored Mortal Kombat 1 for TG16 release, and more, but after the first few years, once NEC switched over to a CD focus, TG16 owners would have a choice -- buy that expensive CD addon or a Duo, or get a different console? I think that they would have lost a lot of their audience, and I think more people would have bought a SNES or Genesis than a Turbo CD or Duo; CD addons were expensive, and in the West the main attraction there that generation was in FMV games, something the Turbo CD couldn't do that well. It didn't help that NEC/Hudson also had no real answer to Sonic; Bonk's a great game, but it's a simpler and much less innovative title than Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog changed the industry and Hudson never really had an answer to it.
So yeah, NEC/Hudson's best chance for success in the US would have been to release the TG16 at least a year earlier. That almost two-year gap between the Japanese and US releases was a major problem; they had to build up a user base before the other consoles released to be able to make it. Of course, NEC being more willing to get third party support in the US, doing better advertising, not choosing to mostly only try to sell the system in a few big cities and not the rest of the country, etc., all would have been required too. Because it was never going to go anywhere when most of us Americans had only ever seen the TG16 in magazines. I didn't live in Chicago or such so I didn't know anyone with a TG16, and mostly read Nintendo Power so I didn't see it in magazines either. It was a pretty obscure system at the time for most of us. Toys R US carried it nationwide, but around here they were the only one.
But anyway, even with how things went, at least the TG1 does have a pretty good game library for its first couple of years. Yes, many major titles never released in the US, but we got enough good games for the system still still have a great library at least through '90, and, in retrospect, a pretty good one overall.
And going into '90, with major titles like Ys Books I & II (for the expensive CD addon, yes) and Bonk's Adventure, the TG16 probably still had the better overall library. Sega was gaining fast thanks to their much greater success in the US market, and the support of third parties like EA also added a lot, but it was still competitive between the two of them for sure.
In '91 though it was all over, the TG16's library slowed down greatly in terms of new releases thanks to its failure in the market while the Genesis shot up massively with the release of Sonic. Still, even though when Sonic released the Genesis probably had more overall releases than the TG16, I think that there is no question, before Sonic the TG16 had the better library. And most people saying the Genesis probably have never played a TG16. Overall, the Genesis is a better console than the TG16, both are among my favorite systems but the Genesis is right near the top of the list. Things were different for the first few years though; the Genesis just got better with time, as the TG16/PCE faded.
Now, even had the TG16 done better here in its first few years, I do think it'd have probably fallen behind eventually -- after all, in Japan the PCE did best in the late '80s, fading once the Super Famicom finally released in 1990. It only edged out the Megadrive overall there because of how poorly that system did in Japan, but the Genesis was never going to do as badly here as it did there. After that NEC started to bet more heavily on CD games, but while it did well in Japan and had a very high attach rate for an addon, a majority of PCE owners didn't buy the more expensive CD systems. Meanwhile, here in the US, that generation didn't really get going until right as the PCE was at its peak. More success here, and a much less stupid NEC, would have led to a lot more games for the thing and for it to make it through the generation, but a fast start fading over time was, I think, inevitable. Sure, you might have gotten EA games, that rumored Mortal Kombat 1 for TG16 release, and more, but after the first few years, once NEC switched over to a CD focus, TG16 owners would have a choice -- buy that expensive CD addon or a Duo, or get a different console? I think that they would have lost a lot of their audience, and I think more people would have bought a SNES or Genesis than a Turbo CD or Duo; CD addons were expensive, and in the West the main attraction there that generation was in FMV games, something the Turbo CD couldn't do that well. It didn't help that NEC/Hudson also had no real answer to Sonic; Bonk's a great game, but it's a simpler and much less innovative title than Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog changed the industry and Hudson never really had an answer to it.
So yeah, NEC/Hudson's best chance for success in the US would have been to release the TG16 at least a year earlier. That almost two-year gap between the Japanese and US releases was a major problem; they had to build up a user base before the other consoles released to be able to make it. Of course, NEC being more willing to get third party support in the US, doing better advertising, not choosing to mostly only try to sell the system in a few big cities and not the rest of the country, etc., all would have been required too. Because it was never going to go anywhere when most of us Americans had only ever seen the TG16 in magazines. I didn't live in Chicago or such so I didn't know anyone with a TG16, and mostly read Nintendo Power so I didn't see it in magazines either. It was a pretty obscure system at the time for most of us. Toys R US carried it nationwide, but around here they were the only one.
But anyway, even with how things went, at least the TG1 does have a pretty good game library for its first couple of years. Yes, many major titles never released in the US, but we got enough good games for the system still still have a great library at least through '90, and, in retrospect, a pretty good one overall.
Wait, what? Back in the early 90s I distinctly recall EGM and Gamefan going gaga over Thunderforce, Gaiares, and R-Type (I don't recall Blazing Lazers too much but that could just be foggy memory). It was only towards the late 90s that the western press turned on the genre, especially when they got into the habit of credit feeding a game and said "oh, you can beat this in 45 minutes, there's no replay value, not worth $50".
Legendary Axe, Ys, R-Type, Lords of Thunder, and Bonk were the games I distinctly remember the mags pushing for the Turbo. But I hardly ever saw the system in demo kiosks (I recall playing Keith Courage at PC Richards when the system released, and an EGM mall tour that had one of the Bonk games, and those were my only Turbo experiences for a while) nor did I know anyone who owned one growing up. I had limited knowledge of the system till I eventually bought a Duo in 2005 (and later the Wii's Virtual Console).
Meanwhile, the Genesis had a ton more hype around it by the mags, even prior to Sonic. Ghouls and Ghosts, Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe, Phantasy Star 2, Strider... all critical darlings with tons of hype.
Phantasy Star 2 is my favorite game of all time, but Ys Book 1 and 2 is pretty up there for me.
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Dude made a bunch of bad faith arguments and basically gaslit people that lived through the period of time for whatever reason he had for pushing his ahistorical views, pay him no mind-- he is gone now lol I think he just really hates shmups (he shit talked Gradius being a million seller on Famicom and then claimed the series became niche despite being an arcade staple with several spin-offs in native Japan).
Blazing Lazers was popular enough for NEC to consider renaming Super Star Soldier into Blazing Lazers 2 in the states!
EGM scores for Blazing Lazers were 7,6,9,9. It was pretty common to have mixed reviews from them.
TG-16 had a fantastic lineup. It was totally hamstrung in the marketing department, though.
If they'd been able to get it to the US market a year sooner it wouldn't have been up against the Genesis and would have been a smash hit.
If they'd been able to get it to the US market a year sooner it wouldn't have been up against the Genesis and would have been a smash hit.
And of course, if you folks want to see gameplay of every single PC Engine and Mega Drive game in chronological release order, Dr. Sparkle has you covered. He's currently on '89 for both systems:
Chronturbo Playlist
Chronsega Playlist (the MD starts in at episode 8)
Chronturbo Playlist
Chronsega Playlist (the MD starts in at episode 8)
This. TG16 was a great console but couldn't compete against Genesis spec/graphics wise. Of course the first Genesis were rough (89/early 90s) and TG16 were already more polished. Not really a good comparison. But even in the early Genesis days it had Strider, ghouls 'n ghosts, mercs, moonwalker, Phantasy Star.
OP
OP
That's great, but the non enthusiast press didn't commonly at all. Or the consumers by sales numbers.
Wouldn't work.
What they should of done imo is push CD from the start in the US. That would have stopped the confusion later on and the 1987 japanese first year games competing with later Genesis and SNES games.
Or people from the period who actually paid attention knows space shooters, or the TG16 itself were not very popular in the us. No significant amount of people were buying blazing lasers let alone TG16 software much at all.
I mean that's just how it is. I like the system and a lot of its games but it didn't due to well and neither did it's games commercially. In the US.
Even in Japan as already been posted where it DID do good for a time, space shooters were not a significant genre in japanese sales. They weren't even on the more popular SNES in japan.
I dont get picking space shooters as a hill to die on.
OP
OP
Good points here.
One thing interesting is that CD add on added some life for a bit but nobody in Japan was interested in the Super Grafx or either version of the CD focused Turbo Duo (japan got two versions) so there was clearly a hype and bust period for the PC Engine CD.
After like two years of hype from CD launch it seems japan lost interest. It would explain the only ~5 million sold there. Launch, takes over NES, beats Gen, put out CDaddon, continued success, hits a wall and dies off right as Super famicom is entering second year.