TurboGrafx-16/TurboGrafx CD

The TurboGrafx CD is an add-on for NEC's TurboGrafx-16. The Super CD was an upgrade of the Turbo CD. No region protection so nothing to worry about.
==The TGCD List==
Box Art	Title 	Genre 	Description
 	Akumajōu Dracula X: Chi no Rondo / Castlevania: Rondo of Blood	Action / Side-scroller 	Remarkable entry in the classic Castlevania series, before Symphony of the Night introduced its "Metroidvania" school of design. This is a straightforward and challenging action game with some neat secrets and fantastic visual presentation. The original is JP-only, but there's a fan translation available. The game was officially localized for Wii Virtual Console, remade for PSP as The Dracula X Chronicles, and released for PS4 in the Requiem of the Night collection.
 	Beyond Shadowgate 	Adventure / Point-'n-Click	Sequel to the NES/Mac original, an early dark-fantasy graphic adventure. Beyond Shadowgate continues in much the same vein, but allows for some legitimate combat and action. Has many unique death scenes, and fully-voiced dialogue. The series concluded with a much more atmospheric, third entry on N64 (Shadowgate 64).
 	Buster Bros. 	Puzzle 	Pop menacing bubbles with your harpoon gun. The stages start easy, but add more and more elements, such as ladders and barriers, to make things more challenging. Don't be a buster: hook up an extra pad, and play this game with a bro. Just be aware of your shots since sporadic bubble-bursting may lead into accidental player-kills.
 	Chiki Chiki Boys 	Platformer 	a.k.a Mega Twins. A port of the fun-tastic arcade game. Slash, magic, and super-jump your way through a fairly lengthy world filled with cute monsters to kill. After each stage you can buy upgrades to boost your abilities. Unlike most games, this has surprisingly fair-challenge water levels! You can also play with a second player, a feature some home consoles didn't include. It's a tad bit slower than the Arcade and Mega Drive/Genesis version, but still a damn good game. It's also kind of hard later on.
 	Cho Aniki 	Shoot em' Up 	The Cho Aniki series have a unfair reputation for being "gay games" which causes people to immediately turn them down, but despite some homoerotic undertones it's all tongue-in-cheek and the games never take themselves seriously. The first game is most tame, though, focusing more on crazy enemy designs comprised of human body parts melded with machinery, as well as a weirdly amusing soundtrack.
 	Ai Cho Aniki 	Shoot em' Up 	Here is when the series really gets crazy, featuring lots of muscular men. It has a unique control style, playing like a fighting game. If you put in a certain combination, you get a certain attack. It's just that simple. The game is pretty addicting, and worth for all the crazy stuff.
 	Cosmic Fantasy 2 	RPG 	Kind of a hard sell nowadays, but worth checking out for the Retro RPG-loving crowd. It didn't make any spectacular breakthroughs, but what it did do, it did well. It's sort of mix of fantasy and sci-fi, akin to Phantasy Star (Hey, wait a-). It also has quite a bit of cutscenes and voice acting, which are done pretty damn well. The script is also well done, but could you expect anything less from Working Designs? Try it out. Even if the plot's a bit cliche, it has some worthwhile unexpected twists.
 	Cotton 	Shoot 'em Up 	Another fun cute 'em up. Like Magical Chase, you play as a witch. Uses a neat weapon system as well. Excellent soundtrack. Also on Playstation and sequels and spinoffs on numerous platforms.
 	Double Dragon II 	Beat 'em Up 	Double Dragon is a name you should know. Double Dragon II doubly so. Arguably twice as badass as the first game, Willy's gang are up to no good again and it's up to you to take them out. This game added a back-attack and a few new moves as well. The sprites look a little funky, but the action's as good as it ever was, even more so with 2 players. Added cutscenes and improved music make this a hit worth revisiting. Fun Fact: This version was made by Kid, the team behind games such as Ever 17!
 	Down Load 2 	Shoot 'em Up 	Terrorists have uploaded Hitler's brain into cyberspace, and it's now up to you to defeat the Führer. Improved sequel to the first game on the TG-16, this horizontal shooter alternates between regular stages and stages set inside of cyberspace, with lots of trippy visuals.
 	Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes 	RPG 	One of Falcom's many entries of their legendary Dragon Slayer series. This one is not action, but turn-based like some of the later games. It's still quite solid, since no matter what the genre, Falcom likes to put alot of effort into their games. As Prince Logan, you venture to find companions and conquer evil. Sadly the second game was not localized. Typical Falcom, yo.
 	Dungeon Explorer II 	RPG / Action-RPG 	Fantastic sequel with more classes, more content, improved graphics, a remarkably funky soundtrack, and up to five-player co-op. Like the original, it's a simple and fast-paced top-down action-RPG with a bit of secret and unlockable content. This game was remixed for SNES as Crystal Beans: From Dungeon Explorer (JP-only), but it inevitably makes concessions compared to the original.
 	Exile 	Platformer / RPG 	A curious Action RPG about a 12th century Syrian Assassin who time-travels, kills religious and political figures, and smokes weed erryday (among other drugs). And he's the good guy! It's kind of like Ys3 in terms of gameplay, but a bit harder and cheaper at times. Still, the story is hella crazy and the action is fine. You can read more about the interesting aspects of the series HERE.
 	Exile: Wicked Phenomenon 	Platformer / RPG 	The last game of the Exile/XZR series, you can now alternate between Sadler and his friends, who all have different abilities though they're mostly situational. Though the game came out in the US, this version had all enemies stats jacked up to the point of making the game impossibly difficult, but thankfully there is a fan patch which fixes this.
 	Final Zone II 	Run 'n Gun 	A game in the vein of Commando and Ikari Warriors, but notably faster-paced. You can have multiple weapons at once, you have different teammates, and there's even some vertical shmup sequences. It even has a story woven into it, with cutscenes between stages, making it feel kind of like you're playing the action sequences of a movie. The action, music, and voices are pretty well done, but holy shit, look at that ugly ass US cover art. At least the in-game graphics are a lot better...
 	Fray in Magical Adventure 	Run 'n Gun 	A spinoff to the Xak series featuring heroine, Fray. Oddly enough, no versions of this play exactly the same. The PC versions play the most RPG like, and the Game Gear is pure action, putting this one at a nice in-between. All 3 are run 'n gun shooters though, comparable to Legend of Valkyrie, thanks to the upgrades and jumping. If you liked that, you'll likely enjoy this. There's some Japanese text, but brute-forcing your way through it isn't too hard.
 	Gain Ground SX 	Strategy 	Sega's strategic shooter is back! Warriors of all kinds have been gathered to face fierce challenges, but if they band together, they can overcome this threat! Carefully maneuver around enemies and take them out from safe areas, and be sure to rescue fellow warriors that you find. Remember! They act as your extra lives, so take caution. As you gain more characters, you'll find they have different modes of attack. This makes some of them better for some stages than others. Sadly, this version lacks 2-player.
 	Garou Densetsu Special 	Fighting 	a.k.a. Fatal Fury Special. This is one of the classic SNK fighters that many Neo-Geo lovers adore. Well, now the Turbo-Fans can get in on the POWAH GEYSAH act, too! Pretty solid port, and the CD audio is damn cool.
Needs arcade card.
 	Gate of Thunder 	Shoot 'em Up 	Whoo, another shmup. This one has a cult-status for three reasons: it had an amazing soundtrack, damn good gameplay, and it was a pack-in game for it's US release. Since there is no real package art for the US version, the Japanese one is used here. The U.S. version comes with the TG16 versions of Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, and the first Bomberman. That's a damn good pack-in.
 	Ginga Fukei Densetsu: Sapphire 	Shoot 'em Up 	A vertical shmup from Hudson. Good enough for me. Oh, and it supports 2-players? Even better. One of their last entries on the Turbo family, and definitely one of their better, yet fairly unknown games, since it never made it stateside. It uses some REALLY neat visual effects for a console that's not too known for visual "punch". I mean, just take a look at this video and try to keep your jaw from dropping, especially considering the usual PCE fare.
Quite rare, mint copies usually reaching over $400 on eBay. Also, requires the arcade card which will cost you around $30 but completely worth it.
 	Godzilla 	Fighting 	A fighting game where you tear shit up as Godzilla or one of 14 other big badass monsters. Not only is it good, it's fucking Godzilla, you shouldn't think twice about wanting to play this because you already know you want to.
 	Gradius II: Gofer no Yabō 	Shoot 'em Up 	Near-arcade perfect port of one of the best classic Gradius titles. Even includes a exclusive stage. Also available on Wii Virtual Console for 900 Wii Points
 	J.B. Harold Murder Club 	Point and Click / Mystery 	A detective game that's text-and-menu-heavy. This sub-genre has long been popular in Japan, but due to the loads of text, and because it is hard to get into, the games don't often go overseas and, as a result, only vibe with a niche crowd. That said, if mystery and investigation intrigue you, this good man can explain the game in better detail than I could ever hope to: Hear him out and give it a shot. Protip: Like in real-life, patience is key for this game. Note: Supposedly the Japanese version has English text and Dialogue pre-installed and can be accessed somehow. It goes for alot cheaper too.
 	Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman 3: Ikai no Princess 	Platformer 	The sequel to Shockman, a pretty decent HuCard game. Part of a trilogy (and a gaiden game), this takes elements from the first two Shubibinman games; but, it's not a perfect mix as one would hope. It's a bit better than Shockman, but also less challenging and, at times, less inspired. However, it often exceeds at different areas, so it's sometimes hard to compare the two. Whether you play with a 2nd player or alone, you ought to give this a try, even if you never played Shockman.
 	Kaze Kiri: Ninja Action 	Action / Beat-'em-Up 	You are ninja in ancient Japan who must save kidnapped princess. It's fun but linear game with really high AI of enemies. Moveset is very deep, game uses default two button controller and it's amazing how many moves you can make. Music is synth based and really catchy. Graphics are one of the best on the system and cutscenes are very well done. After finishing the game you will unlock female ninja but she plays very similar to main hero.
 	Last Alert 	Run and Gun 	Another cool top-down run and gun, with some of the cheesiest cutscenes to ever grace the TurboGrafx! levels are very open-ended compared to similar games, allowing more freedom to explore and find power-ups.
 	Loom 	Point and Click Adventure 	Conversion of the PC classic. Described by our wiki as: "Another more serious Lucas game and a big departure from the usual SCUMM engine games. The interface was rather experimental for its time and the gameplay revolves around magical melodies played on the protagonist's mystic instrument. Features a complex and epic fantasy story." It's also available for on Steam at a nice low price.
 	Lords of Thunder 	Shoot 'em Up 	The pseudo-sequel to Gate of Thunder. It has similar mechanics and gameplay, but with a fantasy setting. You play as Landis, a pimp ass god-knight and savior of the lands. Choose the elemental armor of your choice (your main projectile is based on it) and even get up close and rip and tear with your sword. Like most PC Engine/TG16 games this has a great soundtrack, but is also metal as fuck. This game would make Dio himself smile with delight (well, if he ever played it).
 	Monster Lair 	Platformer / Run 'n Gun 	A strange Wonderboy spinoff. It's technically the 3rd, but so radically different in that it plays more like the NES Adventure Island games. Run, jump, collect fruit, kill critters with different weapons, and fight bosses with dinosaurs. But here's the kicker: You can play with 2 players simultaneously! Fuck year. Other than being a bit of an oddball in an adventure series, it's damn fun. It's also a bit tough at times too.
 	Mugen Senshi Valis 	Platformer 	a.k.a. Valis: The Fantasm Soldier. Yes, that's the used spelling. That said, throw out any memory you have of the first Valis game on any other console, because this re-mastery is easily the best version of them all. The action is spot-on, the graphics are very nice and clean, and THAT MUSIC! So do yourself a favor and make a date with this lovely lady A.S.A.P.!
 	Nexzr 	Shoot 'em Up 	A very cool game made by Naxat, this one is a vertical shmup which uses just a single button, thus concentrating less on gimmicks and more on action. The American version is part of the "Summer Carnival" line, thus including the caravan mode for extra challenge.
 	Panic Bomber 	Puzzle 	Hudson's attempt at a match-'em puzzle game. Similar to Puyo Puyo, you "compete" against enemies throughout various stages in puzzle battles. Like Puyo, there's also a challenge mode where you attempt to finish certain tasks as fast as possible such as clearing chains within X-number of moves. Pretty good, though it's not the best puzzle game on the block (durr hurr). One of the best versions to play, unless you want to kill your eyes on the Virtual Boy. Also, check out Panic Bomber World on the SNES.
 	Pop'n Magic 	Puzzle 	A puzzle game in the vein of Taito's Bubble Bobble (among others). You trap enemies in colored orbs and slam their asses against one another (or keep zapping them until they die). Don't hit two of the same color against one another though! The enemies will escape and be pissed if you do. There's also strange bosses to fight against as well. It seems more than one player can play simultaneously. Even though it's similar to other games, it does a few neat things of its own to make it worth playing.
 	Popful Mail 	RPG / Platformer 	Another of Falcom's classics. it's on Japanese retro-PCs, SNES, and Sega CD, but each of the three versions play differently. This one is a revamped version of the PC-98 port. Visually, this is the best version of the PC game, even if the characters are smaller than the ones on other consoles (which is justified). Music is just as good, if not better, than the other ports. This one wasn't released outside Japan though. It's not hard to get through without any text-knowledge though.
 	Prince of Persia 	Puzzle / Adventure 	Different from the modern games (of course!). You have to beat the game in under an hour, but because of its difficulty, it may take you much longer to pull it off! Guide your hero through a huge ass maze full of enemies, puzzles, and a lot of death traps and dead ends. The Turbo CD visuals are pretty nifty, and the soundtrack is nice and crisp. You owe it to yourself to play this desert jewel.
 	Puyo Puyo CD 	Puzzle 	Pretty much the Mega Drive game with CD quality sound and music. Match and chain colored puyos to fuck over your rivals.
 	Puyo Puyo CD Tsu 	Puzzle 	Sequel to the game above, pretty much the Same as the Mega Drive game with CD bonuses. Much like first game, just match dem puyos.
 	R-Type Complete CD 	Shoot 'em Up 	Hey, wait a minute! The North American R-Type HuCard already has both games in one, so why would you want this? Well, there's added visual scenes and Re-arranged music for each stage. If you don't care too much about music, just stick with the HuCard variant. Otherwise, do your ears a favor and pick this up instead.
 	Rainbow Islands 	Platformer / Puzzle 	Another variant of the Bubble Bobble sequel/spinoff. Kill enemies and climb stages with the power of rainbows! Not too different from other versions, but it is quite faithful to the arcade. You might as well play one of the variants of this, and since you're here, you might as well play this one.
 	Rayxanber II 	Shoot 'em Up 	A sequel to the FM Towns exclusive, this one plays much like it's predecessor, except it is ULTRA FUCKING INSANE. Yes, expect to die a lot, and I mean it! This one is for the really masochist players.
 	Rayxanber III 	Shoot 'em Up 	The last of the trilogy, and also the undisputed best. This one has you taking down those stinking aliens ON THEIR HOME PLANET! You are no longer the wimp from the previous games, and the bosses are beasts, requiring more than just shooting to be destroyed.
 	Seirei Senshi Spriggan 	Shoot 'em Up 	OH MY FUCKING GOD NAXAT AND COMPILE!!?
''' Yeah and it's really that damn good too. It's a lot like Aleste.'''
 	Snatcher 	Adventure 	Hideo Kojima's cyberpunk adventure masterpiece. You're Gillian Seed, a Junker. Your job is to take down the robotic menace, the Snatchers, and hopefully regain your memory, lost from cryo-stasis, in the process. You have to investigate, solve stuff and all that. All versions are Japan-exclusive except for the Sega CD one which came out in North America. The Sega CD is a port of this one with some minor visual changes/upgrades like the ability to use the Justifier and an extra chapter. This one is the most faithful to the original computer versions, though the Sega CD one is easier to enjoy, thanks to not needing a translation guide (unless you KNOW Japanese).
 	Space Fantasy Zone 	Rail shooter 	One of those games we have to recommend due to sheer bizarreness: a mash-up of Sega's arcade hits Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone. Visuals are a bit sparse but colorful and smooth, and the music is excellent. In fact it was cancelled just before release, but a completed beta is out there.
 	Star Parodier 	Shoot 'em Up 	A goofy little shooter based on Star Soldier in the vein that Parodius is based on Gradius. The result isn't quite as amusing, but still fun to play. Choose between the Paro Caesar (a parody of the Neo Caesar), a Bomberman mecha, or a cutesy PC Engine, and start blastin'. It was planned to make it overseas as Fantasy Star Soldier, but it never came to be. Thankfully, you can easily get a hold of the original on the Wii's Virtual Console for 900 points.
 	Steam Hearts 	Shoot 'em Up / Hentai 	A bunch of sexy catgirl bosses are infected by a virus, it's up to you to subdue them and inject them with the only known cure: your man juice! The gameplay for the shmup sequences (the majority of the game) is kinda slow and congested compared to other versions, as the Super CD version was stripped (no pun intended). If you guessed, yes, it's Japanese ONLY. But Super CD games can be played on American systems without modification...you sick fucks.
 	Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly Paradise 	Shoot 'em Up 	This is a great shoot em up, even if it definitely falters from the first entry Air Zonk (on HuCard).
 	Super Darius 	Shoot 'em Up 	A port of the Arcade game, it compensates for not having the three screen playfield by toning down the difficulty and introducing all new bosses which replace the palette-swaps from the Arcade.
 	Super Darius II 	Shoot 'em Up 	More of a full blown remake of Darius II than a simple port, it fixes the main issue with the original game by allowing you to keep your weapons upon dying in the easy and normal difficulties. While stages are mostly the same with some adjustements for the smaller screen, all bosses are completely new and exclusive to this version.
 	Super Raiden 	Shoot 'em Up 	Vertical shmup legend Raiden strikes the Turbo CD with devastating force! Not only are the sounds better, the music has been rearranged to aural lusciousness. Not good enough for ya? Well, have some additional levels to play! If you've never played Raiden, this is one of the best versions to pick up. In fact, it's super!
 	The Dynastic Hero 	Metroidvania 	Port of Wonder Boy in Monster World on the Genesis/Mega Drive. Upgrade your weapon & armor and change helpers to explore the world. Contains different music from the Genesis/Mega Drive version that some might prefer. Also has added cutscenes.
 	Valis III 	Platformer 	Not quite up to the level of badass as the remastered Valis 1, but still pretty good. The neat thing here is that you can switch between 3 characters on the fly. Each has different attributes to help make levels easier. Sort of in the vein of Castlevania III, but with less branching paths, and better jumping.
The cover art for the American version is absolutely atrocious, so we'll be using the Japanese one instead.
 	Valis IV 	Platformer 	Last game in the Valis series (not counting that d̶i̶s̶g̶u̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ erotic hentai game), this game features a new heroine and much like the previous game allows you to switch between characters, though this time the level's design often force you to play with a specific character at some points, since they now have different abilities besides attacking range and power. Never left Japan but the story isn't anything to write home about anyway.
 	Ys Book I & II 	Adventure / RPG 	The Ys series kind of takes off after Zelda in gameplay and puzzle construction, but story-wise, fits more along the lines of a Final Fantasy epic. A series with a huge cult status, many say the best way to play the first two is this version.
 	Ys III 	Adventure / RPG 	If you liked Ys Book I & II then, hey, you're in luck! Maybe. The third Ys and the last one localized on this console, Ys III is actually a side-scrolling game, kinda like Faxanadu, but much faster-paced. Different from the first two, but still fun and it continues the story. Play it and decide for yourself how you rank it with the others. Prepare yourself for what may be the second best Ys soundtrack ever, only to be topped by its remake on PC and PSP: The Oath in Felghana.
 	Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys 	Adventure / RPG 	Unlike III, this returns to overhead exploration and run-and-bump mechanics of Ys I+II. While it is similar to Ys IV: Mask of the Sun on SNES, there are a pretty substantial number of differences. The biggest being the places you explore and where the songs play. Although this was only released in Japanese, it received a good fan-translation patch over the years. Many prefer this version to the SNES, but play both and decide for yourself. The CD quality music's a plus in favor of this though!
Category:NEC
Category:Fourth Generation
Category:Add-on