Category Archives: TurboGrafx-16 Reviews

Released on August 29, 1989, the TurboGrafx-16 was the result of a collaboration between electronics manufacturer NEC and software developer Hudson Soft. It was launched at a price of $199 and came bundled with one controller and the platformer Keith Courage in Alpha Zones. Its status as a 16-bit console is a point of contention among classic gamers as it had an 8-bit CPU but a 16-bit graphics processor. But with graphics clearly better than anything that 8-bit consoles had to offer, the TurboGrafx’ games more closely resembled those of the 16-bit generation. The TurboGrafx-16 holds the distinction of being the first game console in the U.S. to play CD-based games (with the purchase of a TurboGrafx CD unit). The console was also the first whose games were playable on a handheld system, the Turbo Express. While the system was successful in Japan as the “PC Engine”, beating out Sega’s Megadrive and holding a strong second place behind the Super Famicom, in North America the TurboGrafx was an early casualty in the war between Sega and Nintendo, selling only 2.5 million units prior to being discontinued.