In addition to Sega Genesis games,
Nintendo Revolution's virtual console will also feature
Turbo Grafx/Duo games.
Game
Daily has a nice article featuring some of the best titles the niche 8-bit system with a 16-bit graphics card had
to offer. Here are the games making the list:
- Gates of Thunder/Lords of Thunder
- Blazing Lazers
- Neutopia/Neutopia II
- Y's: Book I & II/Y's
III
- Devil's Crush/Alien Crush
- Keith Courage In Alpha Zones
- Ninja Spirit
- Bonk's Adventure/Bonk's Revenge
- Dracula X: The Rondo
of Blood
- Splatterhouse
- Air Zonk
What Turbo Grafx/Duo
games would you like to see on the Revolution's virtual console?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JDTAY @ Apr 1st 2006 10:40PM
I'm confused, isn't Keith Courage in Alpha Zones generally seen as one of the worst video games ever? That's what I keep hearing.
striderhayasa @ Apr 1st 2006 10:45PM
Can I get Spriggan (known as M.U.S.H.A in the US on Genesis, Metallic, Uniframe, Super, Hybrid, Armor) or Valis. How about Legendary Axe or Bloody Wolf?
Charles Garcia @ Apr 1st 2006 10:59PM
MILITARY MADNESS!!!
nick @ Apr 1st 2006 11:03PM
I second Military Madness. That's like Advance Wars, but even cooler (if that's possible).
Fist Of Konshu @ Apr 1st 2006 11:07PM
Ahh what would our favorite Video Game hater think if Splatterhouse was released today???
James @ Apr 1st 2006 11:17PM
Star Soldier, Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier.
SonicRift @ Apr 1st 2006 11:26PM
Keith Courage is awesome! I love it.
Not exclusives, but how about R-Type? Or Vigilante? I want to save Madonna wirelessly...
James @ Apr 1st 2006 11:38PM
I can't believe no one has mentioned Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Arguably the finest Castlevania title over. Though it is only in Japanese, this would be the perfect avenue for an American translation. Or even if it's on Japan's Virtual Console if we could change over to Japan's region and get the Japanese version.
Todd @ Apr 1st 2006 11:41PM
Am I the only person who owned (and loved) JJ & Jeff? Trying to describe it would be pointless, just Google it. Truly a surreal masterpiece.
Pete @ Apr 1st 2006 11:45PM
It Came From the Desert. Fu Man Chu. Please, please Military Madness.
Zach @ Apr 1st 2006 11:57PM
Being one of the fortunate few to have a TurboDuo back in the day, I am thrilled that the Revolution will have some of these lost games. Hell, I bet a bunch of these games generate more revenue now than when they were originally released.
In addition to the above, I hope they release Dungeon Explorer 2, one of my favorite RPG memories from my youth.
DAPH @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:02AM
Ok. It's not Y's! It's YS! YS! And it's also not pronouced like wise, it's like east without the t.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys_(video_game)
BOb @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:08AM
JJ and Jeff was great!!! When I was little, I returned Devil's Crush to get it, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
JJ and Jeff was sort of like the Adventure Island series, only much funnier. Much harder too!
Also, Bloody Wolf was AWESOME!!!
James @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:26AM
I know its not a TG16 exclusive (originally on PC) but i want LOOM!!!!! and Bloody Wolf
Mike E. @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:32AM
I would be extremely happy if any of the "TV Sports" games were on the Revo/RS/Whatever it'll be called.
jorge @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:37AM
Ummm....Late April Fools
epobirs @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:38AM
Keith Courage was a perfectly good game for the era. It just lacked any real outstanding qualities when compared to popular pack-ins like Mario and Sonic. Enjoyable but generic. Remember, the Genesis originally came with 'Altered Beast' long before Sonic appeared.
"Wise fwom youw gwave!"
There was a PC Engine CD game called Avenger, IIRC, that never had a US verion. Excellent shooter with some unique aspects I really liked. The would be nearly no translation needed and it didn't take up all that much space on the CD. Would have fit in a card easily if it weren't for the opening semi-FMV sequence.
And although I've no desire to play them myself, seeing the old Cinemaware titles made available again would be good for sentimental value.
Anyone needing a reference to reawaken the old memories, look here:
http://gamedude.com/turbo.html
Mike @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:40AM
Andre Panza Kickboxing, China Warrior, Talespin, Fighting Street
juicebot @ Apr 2nd 2006 1:52AM
damnit! I just bought a turbo off ebay a short while ago
Desiri @ Apr 2nd 2006 3:34AM
"MILITARY MADNESS!!!"
Exactly!
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/tg16/01/20.htm
Advance Wars still can not hold a candle to this game.
Peter @ Apr 2nd 2006 3:39AM
R-Type of course (and Image Fight and Mr Heli) and all the obscure Japanese shooters like Metal Stoker, Override and Heavy Unit that didn't make it to the West.
Zeruel @ Apr 2nd 2006 3:59AM
OMG....
I cannot believe that this list has gone on this long without mention of The Legendary Axe!! That is the one game that makes me go back to the console from time to time. Hell, I even kinda dig Final Lap Twin's RPG mode. It's not the best in the world by far, but I always thought it was an interesting spin on an otherwise tired genre at the time (2D racer).
soop @ Apr 2nd 2006 4:48AM
I got a PC Engine GT anyways, but there are a few games which are too expensive/rare for me to but - Dracula X is one. the Super Star Soldier series was great, Puznic, Plotting, ummm... Kikikaikai, the YS series (wasn't it only available in Japanese tho?) Lords of Thunder, that Supergrafx shoot-em-up... Afterburner was good, as was the BC kid series (Bonk in the US) and now I've got the music in my head.
Wow I love the PC Engine.
Miguel @ Apr 2nd 2006 5:47AM
Saint Dragon
Jimbrowski @ Apr 2nd 2006 7:18AM
This is the big question - will the Virtual Console be region free? 90% of the best PC Engine games released in Japan never made it over to the US Turbo audience, and neither machine was ever released in my homeland - the UK. On top of that, who wouldn't want to get some of the Japanese Genesis games that never left the East (Eliminate Down, Alien Soldier, etc) My Turbo wish list would include: Dracula X, Street Fighter 2, Star Parodia, the Gradius series (not as good as the emulated PSX deluxe pack but not too shabby back in 1992); Mr Heli, Side Arms, Gunhed, Raiden, Ordyne, Dungeon Explorer, Ultimate Tiger (single player Twin Cobra); Atomic Robo Kid, Bomberman '94, PC Kid series; Alien Crush, Devil Crash, Sega conversions (Space Harrier, Outrun, Afterburner), Aeroblaster, Dragon Spirit, Shinobi, Tatsujin...I can't wait to see what they have.
play free games @ Apr 2nd 2006 7:40AM
What? No call for Magical Dinosaur Tour or Sherlock Holmes? :)
I thought Valis II & III were good action/adventure games and should be added. Ys: Book I & II must the original cd soundtrack, it was most excellent. I second The Legendary Axe, great game.
frank fink @ Apr 2nd 2006 10:29AM
Legendary Axe
Bomberman (heck, we played bomberman on our TG-16 yesterday)
MotoRoader
Dungeon Explorer
Dungeon Master
Chew Man Fu
Blazing Lazers
Bonk games
Of course, it won't make me buy a nintendo, as my modded X-box can play every TG-16 game already with my ROM collection, but it would be nice for other people I suppose.
BraveErudite @ Apr 2nd 2006 10:33AM
Can this be true? God all mighty I hope so. If is true then I'm 100% sold and no questions ask. Then I will fall in love with Nintendo all over again.
ZaBlanc @ Apr 2nd 2006 10:48AM
Best baseball game ever: World Class Baseball.
Fuka, Ula, Shima all over your asses!!!!
brian @ Apr 2nd 2006 11:16AM
Dungeon Explorer.
Street Fighter.
As to Keith Courage: it's definitely a talked-down title, and compared to other pack-in games it doesn't measure up. What it did have, though, is a really unique art style and some damn gorgeous sprite work.
bouche @ Apr 2nd 2006 12:29PM
Pacland is going to take me down memory lane for sure. The secrets in the arcade version mostly ported to the TG16 and this came out at a time that arcades were mostly useless. TG16 seemed like a real home arcade with platformers like BONK! That game was way ahead of anything on Sega Genesis or NES.
JD @ Apr 2nd 2006 1:15PM
Man, I need to pull my TG16 outta storage after this trip down memory lane. I totally forgot about MotoRoader and the TV Sports series.
It wasn't clear from the Nintendo announcement if the Revo would play TG-CD games. Weren't most Hudson Soft games in HuCard format? Not sure how Nintendo plans on distributing all the CD audio goodness.
If it DOES play CD games, then Ys and the Thunder series is at the top of my list. I'd also recommend Super Darius (import). Although I think this has been ported to other systems.
I'm surprised no one mentioned any of the Working Design games (RIP): Exile, Cosmic Fantasy II.
Let the big eye anime begin.
benjamin @ Apr 2nd 2006 2:32PM
I think the variety of games mentioned above is a strong testament that the Revolution could become a big success. Not simply because of all this talk of retro games on the Virtual Console but because people who weren't necessarily Nintendo owners back in the day or who may not be fans of Nintendo now are talking about it.
I was one of the strictly Nintendo kids- I went from NES to SNES to N64 to NGC and I've hardly even heard of any of these games that are being discussed.
It's great that Nintendo will be offering its own back catalog but it seems that the games from other systems on the Virtual Console may be what really get people interested in the Revolution.
Zach @ Apr 2nd 2006 3:04PM
I doubt there would be any reason for them not to include CD and SuperCD games. They weren't like contemporary games where the whole CD was packed with game info. IIRC, the first track on the CD contained all of the game data and the rest of the tracks were all the audio, in Redbook. So with MP3 compression alone, it shouldn't be any problem to get those games down to a reasonably downloadable size.
Martin @ Apr 2nd 2006 3:05PM
Going to have to go with Final Lap Twin. Nothing like a Racing RPG! I bought the system twice just to replay it.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/turbo-grafx/final-lap-twin
Hart704 @ Apr 2nd 2006 4:14PM
I find it interesting that lots of people are excited about these games being on the Revolution. However, simply keeping these older systems/games means you could play them now.
Mike E. @ Apr 2nd 2006 4:25PM
@ #34 Hart704:
Your comment gave me a thought: I don't know about anyone else, but I haven't heard a thing about any NEW games coming out for the Revolution. All of the talk I've heard is about the "Virtual Console" and the games it can play from various systems. Could it be that the Revo won't even have next-gen games, but become more of a "video game history/archive" machine? That's just my $.02.
HJungle @ Apr 2nd 2006 4:26PM
When you can't create exciting new games give'em some old ones and label them as new.
Ignore me, I'm just being cranky and bitter. Honestly I think this is a pretty wild thing for Nintendo to be doing especially if they can pull off Turbo Duo CD support. Dracula X? Macross: Love Song? Ys 3 ("Hey, Adol! Smell that fresh sea breeze?")? Did I mention Dracula X? That would be incredible!
As far as Hu-Cards are concerned: Forget that Saturn Bomberman stuff from a couple of days ago (though it is a fine game); Bomberman '93 is where it's at! Blazing Lazers (or was it Lazurs?), Devil's Crush, the Bonk series, Air Zonk...the list goes on!
Oh, and #7, didn't the skinheads kidnap Madonna? Why would they do that? Maybe it had something to do with "Material Girl." Anyhow, something tells me they'd edit a couple of things about Vigilante's story (not that it was terribly deep to begin with).
For those of you who just can't understand how brilliant JJ & Jeff is check out this (sadly) old page discussing the import as well as a bonus review of, um, Toilet Kids. ( http://zeroes.overclocked.org/toilet.htm )
I really want to play my Turbo Grafx now. Sweet memories.
Timmy B @ Apr 2nd 2006 4:26PM
I demand Johnny Turbo.
Schtum @ Apr 2nd 2006 5:43PM
Because nobody else has said it yet...Viegues Tactical Gladiator! Awesome shooter-on-rails where you got credits to upgrade your mech at the end of each level based on how many enemies you killed.
Keith Courage was great, but I never did beat it. I mostly just remember smashing lucky cat statues that fell from the sky to make money. I don't even remember what the money was for. It would probably have a better reputation if they cut out all the cutesy overworld stuff and made it all about the dark underworld, but then it wouldn't have been as memorable.
There are a lot of games I wanted to play but never got a chance to. Exile, Loom, Exile 2, anything by Working Designs.
Vasteel was a mech strategy game that my brother played to death and still talks about to this day.
Andre Panza Kickboxing was the most intense fighting game I've ever played. The graphics and sense of control were phenomenal for the time.
Sherlock Holmes was a game even my sister enjoyed, and she's the antigamer.
There was that ridiculous 5-player wrestling game. All I remember from that are the taunts, specifically the middle-eastern guy growling "YOU DIIIE!" Good times...
I hope if it's successful, they'll be able to add more consoles to the service. Nobody I knew could afford a 3DO, but we all lusted after the screenshots in magazines. The Sega Saturn also deserves another shot at success.
John H. @ Apr 2nd 2006 6:36PM
In addition to most of the things already in the article:
Legend of Valkyrie deserves a stateside release. Dungeon Explorer would be cool. Galaga '91, of course (for those who didn't get Namco 50th Anniversary with emulated Galaga '88 in it). Anything Working Designs translated. I think one of the Cotton games got a US release for the TG16 as well, so that.
Mark @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:56PM
I would love to see ALL the Supergrafx library brought over to the virtual console. There were some real gems that never got the U.S. exposure that they deserved.
kevin @ Apr 2nd 2006 10:12PM
Splash Lake
zepphyr2000 @ Apr 2nd 2006 10:44PM
Neo Nectaris, in English.
harris @ Apr 3rd 2006 8:21AM
Bloody Wolf.
Ethan Rom @ Apr 3rd 2006 8:52AM
all the TV Sports games (hockey, basketball, football)
bonk's games
and that wresting game (i can't think of the name)
Vejadu @ Apr 3rd 2006 10:14AM
The wrestling game was Battle Royale!
Gonzo @ Apr 3rd 2006 12:00PM
Yea
Bonk & Splatterhouse.
Was there anything else worth getting for that system?
Those two did provide hours of fun.
ger @ Apr 3rd 2006 12:17PM
never got to play it and it's too expensive to buy now but i always wanted to play Ginga Fukei Densetsu: Sapphire, it's some crazy shooter that used the arcade card that was supposed to do all kinds of 3d crap which was a big deal back then...i was always curious about how it acutally looked....that and i missed bonk3 dammit!
LunarDuality @ Apr 3rd 2006 12:54PM
God, I miss my Turbo-Duo (I owned a TG-16 before that but it eventually died I played it so much). I'm gonna have to break it out soon I think...
@ Schtum: "Vasteel was a mech strategy game that my brother played to death and still talks about to this day."
VASTEEL!!! THANK you...I played through that game like 20 times I swear. And it's not short. It's a hex world map strategy game but every battle is a one on one action sequence with the mechs. If you were good, those sequences gave you the opportunity to destroy mechs that "outclassed" your mechs. A great way to swing the tide when you are outgunned.
I would also love Ys, Blazing Lasers, Bonk, Bomberman, Bravoman (that game was bizarre, stretchy arms, legs, and neck as weapons?!?), Legendary Axe, and Final Lap Twin (RPG: Anyone else think your dad looked like Hulk Hogan in that game??).
Oh the memories...and how sad that Working Designs, a company that did brilliant localizations is no longer with us. We miss you!