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I have a Turbo Graphics and had the Turbo Express Portable (blew it out with a variable voltage adapter accidentally set too high... Still have the TV tuner tho

I have a Turbo Graphics and had the Turbo Express Portable (blew it out with a variable voltage adapter accidentally set too high... Still have the TV tuner though). I blame the quality of games themselves, not the art work. Aside from the slight novelty of Bonks Adventure or hype of R-type, the games we played on the TG16 were pretty generic platformers, side scrollers, shooters or adventure games. They just didn't have the library to compete with the NES. Walking down the video game aisle of Toys R Us you'd see 20 TG16 games and what felt like 100 NES games. I have no memory of great game play from the TG16 and I don't even think we tried beating Bonks adventure, let alone care about Keith Courage, Splatterhouse or a lame racing game, Monaco something I think. Maybe it had good games, but we never crossed paths with them.

dfxm12 4y ago
If you didn't like shmups, it was not the right system for you, and the shmups were very close to their arcade counterparts too. There were still some great games though, off the top of my head, Splatterhouse, Devil's Crush, Neutopia 2, Ys, Cadash (which was better than the Genesis port!). Most of the classics weren't brought over from Japan, though (and you couldn't play them on an American system).
cainxinth 4y ago
The TurboExpress was really ahead of its time. In the same era when Nintendo and Sega had portable consoles that played smaller, less detailed games built just for their portable systems, NEC's handheld could play the same full-sized games as its home console. And anecdotally, it wasn't much more of a battery eater than the Game Gear.
- MisterTea 4y ago
  The express was an awesome little system and the fact that it played the same games as the console was a great idea. The TV tuner really enhanced it and featured two 3.5mm jacks: external antenna and AV input. You could hook a VCR, cable box or other console to your turbo express and use it as a tiny video monitor. I distinctly remember hooking my NES to it and playing SMB 3 for a few hours while my parents watched a movie on TV.
RajT88 4y ago
Agree. There was almost no RPG's or puzzle games. However - the Japanese library was significantly larger. I would recommend buying an everdrive or similar which supports Japanese ROM's and exploring that catalog. The Japanese catalog is massive.

dfxm12 4y ago

If you didn't like shmups, it was not the right system for you, and the shmups were very close to their arcade counterparts too. There were still some great games though, off the top of my head, Splatterhouse, Devil's Crush, Neutopia 2, Ys, Cadash (which was better than the Genesis port!). Most of the classics weren't brought over from Japan, though (and you couldn't play them on an American system).

cainxinth 4y ago

The TurboExpress was really ahead of its time. In the same era when Nintendo and Sega had portable consoles that played smaller, less detailed games built just for their portable systems, NEC's handheld could play the same full-sized games as its home console. And anecdotally, it wasn't much more of a battery eater than the Game Gear.

MisterTea 4y ago
The express was an awesome little system and the fact that it played the same games as the console was a great idea. The TV tuner really enhanced it and featured two 3.5mm jacks: external antenna and AV input. You could hook a VCR, cable box or other console to your turbo express and use it as a tiny video monitor. I distinctly remember hooking my NES to it and playing SMB 3 for a few hours while my parents watched a movie on TV.

RajT88 4y ago

Agree. There was almost no RPG's or puzzle games. However - the Japanese library was significantly larger. I would recommend buying an everdrive or similar which supports Japanese ROM's and exploring that catalog. The Japanese catalog is massive.