I have suddenly realized that I never wrote a review of the Turbo Grafx 16 mini? How did I miss that? My research revealed that I did a pre-order and it arrived June 2nd 2020. A lot was going on back then, the pandemic and work, with me gearing up for retirement, which involved a lot of things that might have been a distraction. The Turbo mini review was possibly pushed aside because of more urgent matters. Late to the party? I know that many of you have already read, or watched, a lot of reviews by now. And some of you may, or may not, have the mini in your collection, or closet. Here is one more perspective on the Turbo Grafx mini. This will be more of a look back to that release. A look back to what some of you missed.
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The Prelude: The actual original console was filled with games that were repetitious by nature in its gameplay which required practice and memorization. Most of the games were specific to the console never appearing on any other system. Overflowing with shmups, the games themselves defined the console. The flavor, the feel, of the console was unique in itself and had to be experienced to understand. The console mainly was influenced by the arcades, Japanese culture, and the vision of the company that produced the gaming machine. Seemingly the people in charge of the gaming system did not understand nor grasp the US market which resulted in the console failing miserably whereas it flourished and was a great success in Japan. At times overwhelming the NES in sales and popularity. As popular as the NES was here in the US that would be hard for the average gamer to grasp. Because of the whole situation the Turbo Grafx 16 never received a lot of the PC Engine goodness from Japan. The PC Engine was what the console was originally named in Japan. The PC Engine was released in Japan in 1987 and was not released elsewhere as the Turbo Grafx 16 until 1989.
If you did not get on that little yellow bus back then, you missed a good ride. So the release of the Turbo Grafx 16 mini is phenomenal. A second chance for many gamers to experience this little part of video gaming history.
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The Console: While examining the console and doing a size comparison with the other minis at the time, Sega Genesis and the SNES. In the US these are really the two consoles that the TG16 was up against in that gaming generation. One can instantly see that the TG16 mini is kind of big and the thought comes to mind that it could have been a bit mini........er. It really did not have to be this big. The game card slot, even though it is non functional, is just a hair different in width than the actual HuCard. It was so close. It would have been great if they had only gone a step further and made this thing able to accept and play HuCards.
The only thing I have always found annoying was that I have a difficult time plugging the power cord into the system. Fat man fingers. I know about the whole nostalgic thing, but did they really need to make it so that the back piece could be removed as in the original console?
It is the easy HDMI hookup that makes these minis worth their weight in gold even though it is only 720p. Plug and play, easy access, that is what these minis are all about.
The controller port is USB limiting the use to the controller that came with the console. And you will have to purchase another for two player gaming. [A word of warning: You need a power brick that is specifically designed for the TG16 mini or the console will fail. Needs 5v 1amp]
One of the warnings caught my eye. "Do not wrap the controller cable around your neck to avoid risk of suffocation."
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The Games: The mini game library is loaded with 57 games. And it is a mixed bag. Various genres are represented from HuCards to CD games. There are some games that I wish had been included in that list but are missing. In the menu at the bottom right corner there are icons you can click on to access either PC Engine or Turbo Grafx 16 games. None of the PC Engine games are translated. That is bad, and in some cases, a missed opportunity for us gamers to fully experience some of those games. Because it makes some games unplayable. And you have four games repeated that are both on the TG16 side and the PCE side. There are 25 TG16 English titles and 32 PCE Japanese titles. Still there are many great games on this little console. Many of the Japanese games are playable without a translation. (And there are some hidden games.)
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The Gameplay: The first game I played was Lords of Thunder. I found no slow down, it was a good experience. Nothing like many reviews that I have watched. There are reviews out there which list in-game audio delay, slight lag in gaming and side effects in some games when using some of the filters. I did not find any of this noticeable or a hindrance in playing the games. But then again I did not use any of the filters, for example scan line feature. One would have to be really comparing this to the real thing to recognize some of these issues, or even to consider them being an issue. The casual gamer would probably not even notice. The controllers look, function, and feel like the original TG16 controllers with an exceptionally long cord. The game menu is intuitive in use. There is the feature of saving your game at any point with up to four saves per game.
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A Final Word: This mini was that second chance for those who never rode that wave back in 1989. If you never picked this up at the release in 2020 and have waited for this moment then be aware that the price of the console has more than tripled in some cases. Collector's pricing of many of the actual games will put this gaming console experience out of the reach of many gamers. The release of the mini was that brief window of opportunity, once missed, you can never go back. You can only hope to run across one of these minis in the wild. Someone just dumping some of their clutter for a cheap price. If you don't have the original console and a library of TG16/PCE games, and you have a desire to experience the Turbo Grafx world of gaming, it is the most reasonable route to go. One would still have to weigh the pros and cons and decide if the price of admission would be worth it.
If you have never experienced the TG16 or PCE just understand the party took place a long time ago and many have already gone home. But some of us are still here having a good time.
That's retro gaming in a nut shell.
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