Turbo Grafx 16 Box Art Galley

The Turbo Grafx 16 had an awesome collection of box art. This is a small retrospective of some of the classic covers. It's not a complete collection, by any means. Check out the art for Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, Air Zonk, Blazing Lazers, Bonk, and more.

Air Zonk: Mega Man, the Gradius Game.

Blazing Lazers is completely epic.

Bonk has a nice creepy thing going on that seems '90s and extreme.

Oddly detailed dinosaur fights cartoon baby.

I don't even think I've played Dead Moon, but that box could have sold me back in the day.

This is exactly what Dragon's Curse is like.

Gunhead is impressive, but not as imaginative as the whimsical Blazing Lazers cover.

The Japanese Keith Courage art fails in comparison to the classic North American.

A SMB Star escaped in Magical Chase. Overall the art is pretty solid, however. Bender is hiding in the background.

Tina's looking nice.

Literally R-Type.

Space Harrier is so damn insane. The box looks exactly like the game. Truth in advertising for sure.

Exile Turbo Grafx 16 Ad

Check out this ad for Exile, another great piece of artwork from Working Designs.

I know the style is cheesy, but what can I say, I dig it.

Cosmic Fantasy 2 Retro Preview

I found this old preview for Cosmic Fantasy 2 in the only issue of Turbo Force, an old Turbo magazine.

It actually really makes me want to play this game when I finish Phantasy Star II. Cosmic Fantasy 2 reminds me of Lunar, another great Working Designs import.

Neutopia Strategy Guide Scans

Neutopia was the Turbo Grafx 16's answer to The Legend of Zelda. It's got just as much charm and adventure as Nintendo's golden classic, plus the benefit of NOT BEING ZELDA--a game which most of you readers have, like me, demolished over 20 times.

You can snag an easy copy via the Wii's Virtual Console for 6 bucks; I've had this game for about 3 years now and I've yet to really sink my teeth into it. It's a great game, I've just lacked the dedication to conquer it and its sequel (Neutopia II, also released on the TG16 and WiiVC).

I found these scans in an old Turbo magazine. This walkthrough for Neutopia is amazing, and I'll probably peak at these things if I get into some trouble. I'll try not to use them, but in any case the artwork is strange and much different from the in-game style. Looks like they wanted to "Westernize" the game for American audiences...

But Neutopia's got the style, the challenge, and definitely the music to justify playing this game in 2011, so give it a try!

Cosmic Fantasy 2 Retro Ad

I came across this in the first issue of an old Turbo Grafx-16 magazine. The artwork is so bad it's good--like someone trying to draw anime for the very first time, I love it!

Sidearms Turbo Grafx 16 Retro Ad

Another great Turbo ad, this time for Sidearms. The image speaks for itself, I think.

Jim Power Turbo CD Cheats and Tips

Jim Power was release for the Amiga in 1992, and in 1993 Japan saw a release for the Turbo CD. While the game is slightly watered-down from the Amiga, the music is even better and the game remains fun.

You are 1990s Earth Hero: Jim Power. With the power of steroids and a laser gun you are personally going to kick an entire alien planet's ass.

One of the Turbo Cd problems is that Levels 2 and 4 are shmup flying stages, and basically impossible because your weapon does practically nothing. Use these passwords to skip those levels and you'll still enjoy the really, really long 1,3,5 stages.

Passwords

Level 2 WELLDONE
Level 3 BRAVOJIM
Level 4 SMARTBMB
Level 5 LAST ONE

Tips: If you scroll a monster off the screen, it's projectile will disappear. The Monster's health, however, will not regenerate! If you kill a monster, similarly, it's projectile will disappear.

Level 1 Miniboss: Pretty much a joke, but ducking can help to make this fight safer.

Level 3 Miniboss can be defeated with no danger to yourself if you stay on the upper platform.

Learn how to control Jim, the physics are very unique. I would consider this a precision platformer, and a very fun game. I'd like to play the Amiga version...

Know some trick I didn't mention? Post it in the comments. I'll add more cheats or glitches if I discover any.

Blazing Lazers

About 17 years ago my friend had this weird video game system with games that looked like credit cards. One of the two games he had was a space shooter that blew my mind. It was years ahead of the time, in music, graphics, and fun factor (a term used by Nintendo Power in the ancient days). That game was Blazing Lazers (the other was, ironically, Bonk's Revenge).

Years went by, and I forgot the name of the game. Eventually, after a good bit of search forums and the internet, I found the titles. I didn't really have an opportunity to play Blazing Lazers, however, until, you guessed it, the virtual console. This was actually the first virtual console game I purchased.

Blazing Lazers is a vertical-scrolling space shooter, and it was made in 1989. It embodies everything that is great about shmups, and is essential for any fan of the genre. In addition, it offers a good entrance into the world of shmups if you've never played one before. You fly through space, collecting power-ups. You have four different weapons, and which type of power-up you collect determines your weapon (there is a shread-shot, lazer, wave beam, and circling orbs, each labeled with a roman numeral). In addition, you have secondary power-ups that grant you special abilities (Gradius-style multiple, homing missiles, shield, and "full power," each labeled with a letter). You collect an extra life if you earn 25,000 points.

Each level is broken into 2 parts, with a boss at the end of each part. One annoyance is that if you die, you must restart the half-stage over, although power=ups are so common you never suffer from "Gradius Gaiden Syndrome" (a situation that occurs in some shmups: restart right before a difficult area with no power-ups, meaning that one death usually results in a GAME OVER eventually). There are so many power-ups that you will be dodging the ones you don't want more than worrying about when the next one will appear. There are no speed power-ups, the player can press "select" at any time to adjust their speed. Finally, there are these pink orbs: collect enough of them and your weapon will upgrade, in addition to upgrading your mini-shield. This works in addition to collecting the power-ups within your current progressions (main weapon and secondary, the roman numerals and letters, respectively), and comes as a welcome addition.

Another aspect you might notice is that your ship is huge compared to modern shooters. Ikaruga and Gradius V each have extremely small hit boxes (the former having a 1-pixel hit box!), but the game is balanced around your clunky ship, so it's never really a problem. In addition, regular weapons will provide you with a side-shield (not as good as the shield power-up).

The Turbo Grafx 16 bragged about how "Turbo Charged" their console was, and part of this game is Hudson making good on their word. The game reaches the insane intensity of modern shooters. Enemies and bullets are everywhere, power-ups are everywhere, techno music pumps up the intensity (the game has some amazing tracks, don't be surprised if Blazing Lazers remixes find their way onto your playlist), vicious boss fights, and brutal difficulty (each can be overcome with a little practice). Hudson made one hell of a great game.

Blazing Lazers is just as good as contemporary shooters, and should not be passed up by any fan of the genre. Here is a protip: weapon III (the Lazer, or as the game calls it, "Shield Thunder") is by far the best weapon. The secondary power-ups are more balanced, but, generally I find the F ("full power") to be the most effective. With nine levels, double the boss fights, great music, a $6 price tag, and plenty of turbo-charged raw power... you've got to ask yourself: "why the hell am I not playing Blazing Lazers right now?"

The Dynastic Hero

The Dynastic Hero is a game that, for me at least, never appeared on the radar until (very) recently. Thanks again to the Wii’s VC for bringing this game into the spotlight once more.

It was released on the TG-16 CD, making it a 16-Bit game with the benefit of CD storage. The results are incredible. Awesome Redbook audio tracks, anime intro and ending movies, and other details I’ll get into shortly.

But damn, allow me a minute to freak out about how awesome this game is (before more objective-ish opinions). It’s just so fucking cool. It’s the type of game that you can play for 6 hours forget to eat, pass out from low blood-sugar, wake up, and keep playing without moving or thinking twice. It’s the kind of game that might make you say “Fuck! This game is cool… Fuck!” It’s the type of game you might obsesses about all day at work, because you can’t play it. It certainly inspired me to write up a 1000 word article on it for no good reason other than the game kicks ass. It kicks so much ass that the ass it kicks takes names and then kicks ass. Alright, I think it’s mostly out of my system… we can continue. I fucking love this game.

As far as the gameplay goes, it’s very similar to Dragon’s Curse, Super Metroid, or other Metroidvanias. You play as Dyna, The Dynastic Hero (named after the Hercules beetle’s scientific name, and dressed in armor resembling said beetle), trying to restore peace to a quiet little kingdom. Collect items, save towns, access new areas, learn spells and wield them in battle, recruit townspeople (and townsbugs) to help you on your quest, and have a great time doing it all. You’ll need to collect lots of gold to buy all the items, which requires a very small amount of grinding once or twice (which is good, as it adds a slight RPG feel). There are secrets abound, and good luck finding them all. Eventually, you will access an ancient portal, and journey to a castle in the sky where a prehistoric evil awaits your righteous wrath.

The Dynastic Hero is another clear example of a game that does everything right. Controls, music, graphics. The game is eye-and-ear candy, which is the ideal synestetic experience, and part of the reason video games are such an amazing medium. The game is simple to control, addictive, and combat is well-balanced, but challenging. Your sword has a very short reach, which requires you to actively participate in battle, rather than just mindlessly swiping your sword and running along. Finally, the game does something I love, which is kick your ass at times. I definitely met my death quota in this game, without becoming frustrated. You learn not to rush around, take your time, and fight each enemy with as much skill as you can muster.

The game wasn’t always about a little beetle-boy trying to save a princess; it was Wonder Boy in Monster World (for the Genesis/Megadrive), the 5th game in the Wonder Boy series, and probably the best. The Wonder Boy games have a convoluted history, resulting from Hudson owning the Wonder Boy code, and Sega owning the characters.

The differences include (but are not necessarily limited to):

1. The Music. WB5 uses Genesis midi sound, whereas Dynastic Hero uses redbook audio. In addition, the songs are completely different (not just remixes), and much, much better in The Dynastic Hero. If you are an audiophile, The Dynastic Hero is obviously the way to go.
2. The Graphics. WB5 has a parallax-scrolling background, and The Dynastic Hero does not. I suspect this was done for stylistic reasons, to make the game appear more like a painting, but there is no way to know for sure. In addition, the colors are much richer and brighter in The Dynastic Hero, thanks to the improved TG-16 palette. I wish The Dynastic hero had that parallax background, but alas.
3. The Characters and Names. WB5 has a generic fantasy-themed world. The Dynastic Hero has a generic fantasy-themed world with insect characters. I do find the insects charming: a praying mantis throwing scythes? Wicked.
4. The Text Boxes. The Dynastic Hero is capable of displaying 5 lines of text, while WB5 can only display 3. A minor difference, to be sure, however, I find the 5 lines of text to look much classier, and read easier.
5. Intro, Ending, and Story. As previously mentioned, The Dynastic Hero has an anime intro with a cheesy J-pop song, the stories are different as a result, which is pretty expected.

Overall, I think The Dynastic Hero is a much better option, given that both games cost 800 Wii points in America. If you are in Japan, defiantly go with The Dynastic Hero, because it’s only 600 points in the land of the rising sun. It does take up quite a bit of space (around 200 blocks) because of the CD Audio… so it’s your call.

I had a really great time with this game, and I played it on my lunch break for about 2 weeks before finishing it one Saturday with my girlfriend. We sat on the couch and insisted we would only play for “15 more minutes…” But, one dungeon turned into 4 dungeons and before I knew it I was at the sky castle. And with the entire Kingdom depending upon me, I just couldn’t quit. So, if you like action adventure rpgs The Dynastic Hero is a great choice. Just be thankful you don’t have to shell out the 350 bucks for the hardcopy anymore… The Dynastic Hero is one of the rarest and most valuable video games of all time, and 8 dollars is a steal.

Bonk's Revenge First Impressions

I purchased Bonk's Revenge for the virtual console this morning, and have been hopping and bopping for an hour. I am surprised at how many unique "actions" fill Bonk's repertoire: Your teeth can grip on soft surfaces, allowing you to climb, you can spin in the air to perform a "feather fall" Plus, there are plenty of environmental interactions. Tons of unique enemies. Butterflies and snowflakes fall from the sky.

Which leads me to another point: the Turbo Grafx... what the hell happened? Such a great system, with so much potential. It has an impressive library, and was huge in Japan... unfortunately it never really caught on in the States.

It's interesting to note that while it has more power, the game design still reflects the time period. Bonk's Revenge plays like an NES game, but you get a nicer package all around with the expanded palette and obvious lack of sprite flickering. The framerate is also impressive, as all the animations are smooth.

Bonk's Revenge is a great way to spend 600 Wii points (or a great reason to buy a Turbo Grafx 16...). I can remember playing this game at my friends house (along with Blazing Lazers) over 15 years ago. It's great to be able to re-evaluate the game and see that the game I remember is indeed awesome.

I'll post more impressions on the game as I get further into it. I just received my first game over on the Stage 3 boss... so it's back to the mammoth graveyard and snow fields for me.