Turbo-Grafx 16

If you owned a Turbo0Grafx 16 you were either loved because you had one or hated because you had one. During the early console wars of the late 80’s the TG16 came on the scene. Released in 1989 by NEC the Turbo-Grafx 16 featured an 8-bit CPU and a dual 16-bit CPU. What this mean was it could display more colors than the NES however, the TG16 definitely had its problems.

First off was the cost, at a whopping $399 (CD version) the price was out of the range of those looking for a console system. In addition the TG16 launched with limited titles and only offered one controller. (You had to pay for a Turbo Tap to add more controllers) In Japan sales went well, but in the U.S. and Europe the TG 16 lagged greatly behind the NES and Sega Genesis.

To be fair one of the reasons there were a lack of third party software releases for the Turbo-Grafx 16 was due to Nintendo anti-competitive practices which pulled tricks like requiring exclusive contracts and other tactics making it hard for third party software developers to release titles for both or all three systems.

With that said if you asked anyone who owned a TG16 what they thought of it they would tell you it was the best system out there. With games such as Bonks Adventure, Chase H.Q., R-Type and my personal favorite, Ninja Spirit those willing to spend the cash did have some pretty awesome titles to show off.

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