So, what kind of TG collector are you?

[Lord Thag]

I guess this could go in the PCE forum as well, but due to cosmic infuences beyond my control, it is getting posted here. The voices said that would be best 

I'm kind of a weird hybrid as far as a game collector goes. Most collectors I know get all gooey and freak out when they find a brand new, never been opened game. They pet it and hug it, and put it on the shelf to drool over. Now if that were me, I'd probably tear off the wrapping, whip out the cart, and slap it in the nearest working console and play it. I'm more of a player than a collector, or at least, I like to SAY that. Makes me sound like I'm not one of those crazy obsessive types with a bedroom full of nothing but games.

Except that, well, I kind of have a bedroom full of nothing but games. Heh. Oops. My bad. 

I have determined that what I am is what is generally termed a 'lazy-ass hobo collector'. What that means is that I don't give a sack of boiled monkey sphincters if the game I'me getting is all pristine and in the box. It doesn't even have to HAVE a box (though I'd prefer it if it's the same price), so long as it works when I plug it in. Got a game with a torn label? I'll take it. Sharpie marker'd copy of Pitfall owned by some douchebag named 'Billy'? Dibs! I don't care, as long as it works. I'll take it, spend half an hour restoring it to pristine beauty, and play the hell out of it. I'm the master of taking a destroyed game and making it look new. Best record was the time I found an old tabletop arcade game (you know, like the old coleco ones) that was all smashed up. The CIRCUIT BOARD came in a little baggie in about thirty pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. It was completely smashed. I superglued it all back together, had a friend jump solder over the broken traces, repaired the case and ... it works beautifully, and is the envy of ... umm ... one other guy I know who actually cares. But still! 

So, I usually don't care about cases, though I usually end up dinding a bunch in the end. Unless, of course, it's a Genesis or Intellivision game. Won't touch either without a box. Asymetrical carts drive me nuts.

So, that's the kind of nutcase I am, how about you guys? Do you sort your carts every night? Alphabetize your hucards? Only wrap controller cords widdershins? 

Fess up! 

[nat]

I am exactly like you, except I'm slightly more picky with TurboGrafx/PCE stuff than stuff for other consoles. I'm also extremely cheap 98% of the time and will buy a sub-par quality item only to turn around and "restore" it (like you) to mint condition just to save a buck or ten.

Although with regards to some TG-16 stuff I've gone above and beyond my own personal buying patterns and spent a pretty penny from time to time (Magical Chase [mint]-$165, Might and Magic III-$100, Dungeon Explorer II-$95 were my 3 most expensive US TG-16 games and Magical Chase was the most expensive video game I've ever bought, period).

[nectarsis]

I am OCD with mine.  I like everything as minty fresh, and complete as possible.  Some may scoff at that..oh well.  So I collect, AND play.  Maybe it's the toy collector in me.   

[Turbo D]

I am a bit of a completest. I like to have complete games. They don't have to be in mint condition, but they should at least be complete. I like to get the total experience out of my games. I like to read manuals and appreciate box art. Unfortunately most of my games are not complete, lol.

[ApolloBoy]

In most cases I'll prefer the PC Engine version of a game because it's cheaper, but for TG-16 games, I'll go for games that at least have the jewel case and manual. I'm not all that worried about condition (as some of you could tell by my loose TurboChips), but obviously if the game is physically broken or the label is really worn, then I stay away. Cracked jewel cases are fine, since I can easily replace the front from another jewel case.

[Peluso8]

I don't care about completeness, in fact I prefer loose because they are easier to store. I only collect what I like to play, if I don't like the game then it goes.

[CrackTiger]

Although I am a collector in that I pick up games that I won't necessarily play as well as stuff like magazines and posters, everything is based around actually playing games. So its neat to get complete HuCards, I don't really care very much if I have the cases and I keep the actual HuCards separate in binders.

I'm more concerned about having complete Megadrive carts, since the cases look so cool. But I do want most of my CD games complete in cases. I don't consider spines or mail away cards part of completeness though.

I've owned M&MIII complete a few times, but I'm not going to really get into it any time soon and always end up selling it. However I once found the U.S. game disc for sale on eBay for under $20, so I keep it in my complete double disc PCE M&MIII case, which actually looks very nice(unlike the fugly U.S case). I probably won't buy the Turbo version complete again until its the last complete Turbo game I need(if I ever get to that point).

[Ceti Alpha]

Now that I'm actually starting to amass a PCE/Turbo collection, I can see that I prefer "complete" games (CD/HuCARD, case, manual). However, I do have a couple games that are not complete, but I bought those in a lot that came with GOT (Valis II and Final Zone II). It's clear to me now that having these two classics incomplete is totally unacceptable and must be rectified as soon as possible to avoid "Turbomadness" (Turbostar™ ). HuCARDs are definitely more acceptable loosey goosey than CDs, and I'm sure some games are going to get the loosey goosey treatment.

Oh, I forgot to mention whether or not I'm a collector or gamer. I'm a gamer by nature, which is why I loved the TG so much to begin with. It's hard to pin down percentage wise with the TG, but I would say 70-80% gamer, 20-30% collector.

...let me change that - 100% gamer and 100% collector. lol 

[Sinistron]

All of my CDs have cases and manuals and they are for the most part in excellent to mint condition- all of my hucards are loose and in a binder- I play all of my games as much as time allows- even the few sucky ones I'll try to play like once a year    I have so far cleared 55 of the games that I own which is about 26%.  Turbografx/PCE is the only system I play and collect for.  This is the third time I've collected for this system and my current collection I've amassed in just a few years time.

[Paisa49]

I'm not much of a completist at all. I collect games so that I can play them, so long as the game works, I'm good.

[MurderDate]

Earlier this year I realized trying to have a completist collection of anything was just the wrong approach for me.  I simply have too many (expensive) interests to keep up.  I am funny about two things though :   I collect records, and if the record in question is an Italian record than I must have the original Italian pressing.  My dream is to one day have an entire shelf stocked with records made in Italy.  Secondly - -  US Turbo Grafx !!  I don't have much of a desire (just a little) to get every single title - but I would greatly prefer the US over the Japanese version of the game if both are available.   There are others of this mindset too, and then plenty who would prefer the exact opposite!  I can't tell you why..  except to say I was alive and playing the TG16 every chance I could in 1991 without knowing something called the "PC Engine" even existed. (I didn't own my own system until 2007!)

and I should add :  as far as completeness / condition of the given title (of games)  I try not to be too anal retentive, but of course there are limits.  (insert quote function here to perform joke)
I like the games to be in their plastic cases only.  I don't want a box.  I had mint games in boxes before that I bought in a lot.. and I sold them all and bought back more than twice as many games in normal/used condition.   My favorite games I would like to have as near to mint as possible, of course.  Most of my best condition titles came from a guy who wrote the date and the prices he paid, as well as the date he beat the game neatly on the warranty page of each one.  I love stuff like that. I wish all my games had that kind of love.   My R-Type manual is falling apart.. I hate that (I love that game)..  And I hate fading on the cases !!!   That's a big one.

[nat]

but I would greatly prefer the US over the Japanese version of the game if both are available.   There are others of this mindset too

Yeah, I should add my goal is ultimately a complete US TG-16 collection. I have just about all the heavy hitters out of the way except Dynastic Hero.

[NecroPhile]

I'm a semi-completist, in that I only buy games in decent shape with the manual and case.  It's great if I can find one at a reasonable price that's minty fresh and in the box, but I won't pass up a deal on a title that'll play the same and look just as good sitting amongst its brethren.

As far as playing vs. collecting, I'd say I'm a gamer first and a collector second.  I play all of my games as often as possible, but since I'm slowly working towards a complete U.S. collection, there's a few turds that won't see the light of day again any time soon.

[Ceti Alpha]

I'm a semi-completist, in that I only buy games in decent shape with the manual and case.  It's great if I can find one at a reasonable price that's minty fresh and in the box, but I won't pass up a deal on a title that'll play the same and look just as good sitting amongst its brethren.

As far as playing vs. collecting, I'd say I'm a gamer first and a collector second.  I play all of my games as often as possible, but since I'm slowly working towards a complete U.S. collection, there's a few turds that won't see the light of day again any time soon.

teehee...you said "turds".... 

[Mobius]

I but games to play them, but I prefer them complete and in great condition whenever possible.  I have no desire to complete a collection of all games released for a given platform, I just want the games that I'm interested in.  But the games I do buy, I like to be "collector quality."

That said, I'm not above picking up a $3 loose Genesis or SNES cart at a local place when I spot a game I want.

[termis]

At least a case & manual, just so I can stack them away nicely.  Couldn't care less for them being in mint condition, or having boxes for TG16 games and spine cards for PCE games.  In fact, I'd hate to have boxes, as I'd hate to throw the box away now, but they're not going to stack along nicely against the other CD jewel cases.

I'll sell off shitty games that I know I won't play.  I only "collect" in a sense of the word that I'll still keep the games I finished off playing and won't be playing again any time soon (i.e. RPGs).

As far as Japanese vs. US editions, I also prefer the US version in most cases, except in cases where 1) there's something censored / missing in the US version, 2) price premium for the US version is beyond what's reasonable, 3) if the natural setting seems more "uniquely Japanese" (KC/KC over JJ & Jeff, though rule 1 applies for that game as well)

[Alt-Nintega]

I buy decent to awesome games as long as there are in their onginal cases and have manuals. Unless it is a US TG-16 game that never had a jewel case because those certain games with their cardboard boxes would cost like $100. 

I avoid crap games like Yo Bro like AIDS.

[Lord Thag]

Sounds like there are a lot more 'I just want to play the game' types over here. Atariage is a bit different. Lots of 'it has to be sealed in the box' people. It's kind of interesting how different consoles attract different crowds. I think it's kind of a compliment that most of the TG/PCE folks are more interesting in PLAYING their games than having them sit on the shelf. In all honesty, I love my Atari stuff, but a large part of the library is crap (and the reason for the big crash of '83).

I'm really looking forward to getting into the PCE. There see to be so many great games I've never played.

[MurderDate]

These days I'm more likely to keep a "bad" game around rather than sell it and get $10 or whatever.  Just a word of advice for the brand newbie:  it's kind of fun to pop in something silly and mess with it for a day after you've been playing Gate of Thunder or a heavy RPG. These are TG16 games - there is SOMETHING cool/fun in almost every one.

[Ceti Alpha]

I avoid crap games like Yo Bro like AIDS.

Dang! That's harsh!

[NecroPhile]

Dang! That's harsh!

Indeed; at least it's more entertaining that Falcon or Timeball (shudder).

[guyjin]

I'm sort of a hoarder. I almost never sell anything from my collection.

When I first started collecting, I was almost exclusively interested in just playing the game - I didn't care about boxes or manuals or the condition the cart was in, so long as it ran.

then I got into SMS collecting. Because Sega is awesome, and made durable game cases, the cost difference between a complete game and a loose cart was small. Therefore, I picked up a lot of complete games. At first, I kinda hid the boxes in the closet and kept the loose carts out, but then I started to appreciate the paraphenalia - the manuals, the box itself, the included posters...

Since then, I've been seeking out complete stuff more often, though I'm still not finicky about condition. I recently bought a NES game that was complete, with a name written on the cart itself. I don't mind; in fact, it kind of adds to the collectability. Someone once cared enough about this game to put their name on it, and there will never be another signed NES cart like it ;)

[Zeon]

I am more of a "Most of my tg-16/cd/duo games are from my childhood and I still own them in their complete glory." I love my games and would never sell any of them, from Keith Courage to Dynastic Hero and everything in between. Most of the games have seen a lot of play and are still in very nice condition, although some of the boxes got a little crushed from storage. I am now picking up games that we rented back in the day, but couldn't find them for sale anywhere. So far all I lack of those rented games is Bloody Wolf, Cratermaze, Blazing Lazers, and J.J. and Jeff, and of those four the only one we really wanted to buy badly was Bloody Wolf. By the time the cd games were around all we had to go by were the descriptions in the TZD catalog we had (no one sold them, let alone rented them anymore where I lived), so we had to pick carefully and hope the game we bought was awesome. Luckily we made some great choices in games. The only absolute turds were Gunboat (uggh...) and maybe Double Dungeons, although I don't hate Double dungeons near as much as, well just about everyone else who's played it.

On a side note I love how the reason my parents didn't allow us to buy or play Devil's Crush, was for the fact that "Devil" was in the title!!! Yet they had no problem whatsoever with Splatterhouse, which by the way gave me nightmares as a kid. That final boss almost made me crap myself every time I saw it.

[esteban]

Dang! That's harsh!

Indeed; at least it's more entertaining that Falcon or Timeball (shudder).

Goddam Timeball is a good game.

GODDAM . When will you folks give Timeball some love?

[Zeon]

Dang! That's harsh!

Indeed; at least it's more entertaining that Falcon or Timeball (shudder).

Goddam Timeball is a good game.

GODDAM . When will you folks give Timeball some love?

God thanks for ruining a perfectly fine night, I had forgotten that steaming pile of garbage existed. You know how I just told you Splatterhouse gave me nightmares as a kid?

Well then here's an equation for you: Amount of crap that Splatterhouse scared out of me * 10000^(n * k) < The amount of chunks Timeball blow, where n is the amount of stupidity that George Bush Jr. contains and k is the size of Oprah Winfrey's ass between diets

So no just, no. I like Double Dungeons or even Drop off indefinitely more so than Timeball. All I could think of when I played it was Nelson saying "What the hell is this" in response to that old black and white movie Skinner showed the children on the Simpsons when everyone gets snowed in the school on Christmas and about how much I wanted to kill the bastards responsible for making it.

[nat]

What's wrong with Timeball? It's a fine puzzle game. I love the music. It's a game much better suited to the TE/GT IMO, though.

[esteban]

Dang! That's harsh!

Indeed; at least it's more entertaining that Falcon or Timeball (shudder).

Goddam Timeball is a good game.

GODDAM . When will you folks give Timeball some love?

God thanks for ruining a perfectly fine night, I had forgotten that steaming pile of garbage existed. You know how I just told you Splatterhouse gave me nightmares as a kid?

Well then here's an equation for you: Amount of crap that Splatterhouse scared out of me * 10000^(n * k) < The amount of chunks Timeball blow, where n is the amount of stupidity that George Bush Jr. contains and k is the size of Oprah Winfrey's ass between diets

So no just, no. I like Double Dungeons or even Drop off indefinitely more so than Timeball. All I could think of when I played it was Nelson saying "What the hell is this" in response to that old black and white movie Skinner showed the children on the Simpsons when everyone gets snowed in the school on Christmas and about how much I wanted to kill the bastards responsible for making it.

Ok, Ok, at least we agree on one thing: Double Dungeons is a fun game, especially with 2  players.

I'm serious.

No, I am not going to defend Drop Rock. I'm not that crazy.

[Zeon]

I'll be honest, it's boring as hell, no way around it. Though I haven't played in years, so maybe it was just a case of didn't take the time to sit down and try to play it for more than 5 minutes. I'll go back and try it out to see if there's something I'm missing. I don't remember the music and I normally love the tg16's chip music so it must not have been that memorable.

Off to give it another chance...

[nat]

It's a good puzzler that gets insanely hard as you progress. I suppose if mind puzzles aren't your thing.... But for what it is, it's a fine game. I dunno.

[Zeon]

Arggghh!!!! The horror! I just got through playing Timeball again on ME and my statement still stands. Ugh, never again! and I even like most puzzle games. I will say that it is more playable that Gunboat though, that game truly deserves the What the Hell award of the Millennium, truly the worst TG16 game of them all.

Oh and Drop Off or Drop Rock whatever it is called, isn't as bad as people say at least IMO. Sure it's still a crappy game, but not, oh say, apocalyptic video game market crashing bad. Seriously I wanna know what makes Drop Off so bad or worse than Timeball? To me it's just a poorly executed arkanoid/breakout type game.

[guyjin]

Didn't the turbo masters de-cannonize timeball? 

[nat]

What's bad about Gunboat? Sure, it's not for everybody, but the missions are fun.

[Zeon]

NO! You stay away from me, crazy man!!!! Seriously in what universe is Gunboat playable let alone, dare I say it, enjoyable? Never thought I would ever use those two words in the same sentence. Arggh my heads hurts. Timeball a good game? Gunboat fun?

Is it April 1st? No damn, must have been sucked into an alternate universe where crappy games are good and good games are crap. Please someone tell me Bonk's Adventure, Ninja Spirit, Bloody Wolf, and Dungeon Explorer are all still kick ass games!

[nat]

Didn't the turbo masters de-cannonize timeball? 

No, we de-cannonized JJ and Jeff.

NO! You stay away from me, crazy man!!!! Seriously in what universe is Gunboat playable let alone, dare I say it, enjoyable?

Next you're going to tell me you think Deep Blue sucks. Seriously though, what was so bad about Timeball? Couldn't figure out the 2nd puzzle?

[Zeon]

Deep Blue doesn't suck, but there are far better shooters on the pce out there. It's a little bland to be honest, but it does have its merits. The colors rock and I like the setting a lot better than the typical, bland space setting. I like Blazing Lazers and Fantasy Zone better though. What doesn't rock is the music, the title screen's music alone is enough to make my ears bleed, and that's rare with the tg16's chip music. To be honest though, I don't play too many shooters not really my favorite genre, so there are a ton of tg16 shooters I have not played.

[guyjin]

Didn't the turbo masters de-cannonize timeball? 

No, we de-cannonized JJ and Jeff.

thus proving your incompetence as masters and the necessity of your overthrow.

[Ceti Alpha]

Didn't the turbo masters de-cannonize timeball? 

No, we de-cannonized JJ and Jeff.

thus proving your incompetence as masters and the necessity of your overthrow.

LOLMAX!!! 

[Sinistron]

Damn! I wish I had all of these sucky games so that I could chime in! 
Out of Timeball, Deep Blue, Gunboat and Drop (Drop it Like it's Hot) Off- the only one I have is Drop Off- and it's not the worst "turbo chip" that I have.  Battle Royale, Champions Forever Boxing, Davis Cup Tennis, Double Dungeons, Night Creatures, Order of the Griffon, Shockman, Tricky Kick, Turrican, TV Sports Basketball and Yo Bro- all of these I find less playable than Drop Off! 
If I can include japanese hucards- Titan, Genpei Toumaden and Bullfight are quite deserving of the hall of shame as well.  HAHA I probably listed all of Esteban's faves!

[Zeon]

Damn! I wish I had all of these sucky games so that I could chime in! 
Out of Timeball, Deep Blue, Gunboat and Drop (Drop it Like it's Hot) Off- the only one I have is Drop Off- and it's not the worst "turbo chip" that I have.  Battle Royale, Champions Forever Boxing, Davis Cup Tennis, Double Dungeons, Night Creatures, Order of the Griffon, Shockman, Tricky Kick, Turrican, TV Sports Basketball and Yo Bro- all of these I find less playable than Drop Off! 
If I can include japanese hucards- Titan, Genpei Toumaden and Bullfight are quite deserving of the hall of shame as well.  HAHA I probably listed all of Esteban's faves!

Well of those you mentioned, here's how it is imo:
Battle Royale: Man this was a blast to play back in the day, but it hasn't aged well at all. I tried to play it the other day, but couldn't get into it. I was like NOOO, where's all of the ass that this game used to kick?

Champions Forever Boxing, David Cup Tennis, and TV Sports Basketball: Can't comment on these because like most sports games, I avoid them like the plague.

Double Dungeons: I remember my brother and dad seeing the adverts for this game and hyped their expectations for this game up way to high, only to be sorely disappointed. I on the other hand found it somewhat enjoyable. Sure it gets kinda old fast, but it's good for a simple mindless maze crawling game.

Night Creatures: Haven't really tried to play this one either, just a brief play of it via Magic Engine, so can't comment on it.

Order of the Griffon: Not a bad game really. Sure it takes a lot of patience and time to get into, but once you do you will be hooked. Well that is, if D&D type rpgs are your kind of game; it's not for everyone. We still have old maps and passwords my dad wrote down in a drawer at home. My dad played many hours on this one, though admittingly, it hasn't aged well.

Shockman: Ugh, for a megamanesque type game it's not too terribly bad at all It's just, well, it gets old quick. The stages are boring, bosses are not that hard and there really isn't too much substance to this game. I do however love the first stage's music (after you get past the "prologue"), and the third one on the PCE-CD is awesome!

Tricky: Hey! Don't be bad mouthin' one of my favorite games for the TG-16! Seriously though I really do love Tricky Kick, there is a lot of fun to be had there (WAAAAY better than Timeball), although you need to wait at least 3 months after beating it to want to play it again so you forget the solutions to the puzzles.

As for Turrican and Yo Bro, I have played neither nor ever had the desire to. Turrican doesn't look too bad, but Yo Bro? Damn, hell no.

[Sinistron]

Also I must add that I'm a hoarder as well.  I will not part with any of my games anymore- from now until I die.  I'd say that perhaps I'd like to be buried with a cart or two- but thinking it over that'd be pretty creepy and childish.  I'd rather leave my collection in my will to whoever makes me laugh the most when I'm old and toothless and can't walk and in need of someone to change my diapers.   

[Zeon]

Also I must add that I'm a hoarder as well.  I will not part with any of my games anymore- from now until I die.  I'd say that perhaps I'd like to be buried with a cart or two- but thinking it over that'd be pretty creepy and childish.  I'd rather leave my collection in my will to whoever makes me laugh the most when I'm old and toothless and can't walk and need someone to change my diapers.   

Same here man, I refuse to sell any of my games no matter how crappy. I find it hard to even part with dupes.

[NecroPhile]

Seriously though, what was so bad about Timeball? Couldn't figure out the 2nd puzzle?

Timeball sucks because it's boringly repetitive, not much fun, and not at all a treat to look at.  And by the way, I made it all the way to the fourth puzzle. 

[Zeon]

Seriously though, what was so bad about Timeball? Couldn't figure out the 2nd puzzle?

Timeball sucks because it's boringly repetitive, not much fun, and not at all a treat to look at.  And by the way, I made it all the way to the fourth puzzle. 

Exactly! Give this man a prize, he actually knows what he is talking about!

[Jitawa]

I'm a pretty cheap collector, more of a gamer.  I only feel compelled to buy games that I have some interest in playing (none of the TV sports collection for instance).  When purchasing said games, I would prefer they have a case/manual, but I couldn't care less about a box - I just don't want to store them as a stack of cards.

I am a bit anal about cases and what not.  I bought a set of CD cases just to replace the covers on my TG-16 cases which were scratched.  I'm also seriously contemplating buying a bunch of Keith Courage(s?) to gut for cases for games like Shockman and such which didn't come with one.

As to the more recent discussion....

Shockman is great!  Two player type megaman game, what's wrong with that?  Tricky Kick is alright too....

[Sinistron]

Shockman is great!  Two player type megaman game, what's wrong with that?

Sounds great on paper! 

Plays like ass.

[SignOfZeta]

I guess I'm %80 gamer, %20 collector.

I only buy stuff if its complete. "Complete", btw, does not mean an obi and a survey card. Those things are useless so I chuck them on principle. Same goes for the price tag, the sales slip, the bag it came in, etc.

Condition must be good, but it can be "B" grade, or whatever.

I have no care for stuff still in the plastic wrap. If its in the plastic wrap when I get it, it soon won't be.

To be honest I do sometimes buy stuff I have little to no intention of playing to completion, but only if its cheap and interesting in some way. For example, I have all the Momotaro games on PCE, and even one for SFC, but I'm not like those guys that collect brand new $100 LEs of mahjongg games and don't even know how to play them. Likewise I don't have a PC FX.

[Arjak]

I'm the same as a lot of guys here. I buy to play, but I like things complete and in good condition. I open sealed games, so keep me away from your sealed copies of Sapphire.

[guyjin]

"Complete", btw, does not mean an obi and a survey card. Those things are useless so I chuck them on principle. Same goes for the price tag, the sales slip, the bag it came in, etc.

I think these things are interesting. Not just because they have the moon letters: they let you know certain things about the history of the game, like where it came from and how much it cost new.

I've never really understood the purpose of the obi, though. maybe to "prove" that it's new? If only I could read Japanese...

[nat]

Even then, it doesn't really "prove" anything since you could just reshrink the game with the card included.

[esteban]

Also I must add that I'm a hoarder as well.  I will not part with any of my games anymore- from now until I die.  I'd say that perhaps I'd like to be buried with a cart or two- but thinking it over that'd be pretty creepy and childish.  I'd rather leave my collection in my will to whoever makes me laugh the most when I'm old and toothless and can't walk and need someone to change my diapers.   

Same here man, I refuse to sell any of my games no matter how crappy. I find it hard to even part with dupes.

Yeah, I think I fall into this category, but it's because I actually sold tons of games over the years and eventually re-purchased them. I finally realized that it is better to just hold on to stuff, because after a few years, I end up re-visiting games. For example, I overplayed a lot of Turbo games (back in the day) because I was poor and couldn't afford a large library. In 1994, I honestly never thought I'd want to play Bonk 1 & 2, Vigilante, Valis II, Monster Lair, Ys I & II, Blazing Lazers, etc. ever again.

I actually enjoy Vigilante more now (today) than I did when I first got it. Back in the day, it was disappointing. Now, I don't mind wasting my time with it.  Back in the day, I played Vigilante because I didn't have many games. This is pretty funny, now that I think about it.

Seriously though, what was so bad about Timeball? Couldn't figure out the 2nd puzzle?

Timeball sucks because it's boringly repetitive, not much fun, and not at all a treat to look at.  And by the way, I made it all the way to the fourth puzzle. 

Exactly! Give this man a prize, he actually knows what he is talking about!

Holy cow, it's totally fun! Maybe you haven't gotten to the more challenging puzzles, but it is a blast. You can speed up the ball by pressing one of the buttons. This makes the simple puzzles in the beginning go quickly.

The hallmark of all great action-puzzle games is that the concept is simple, yet the challenge and strategy can ramp up to insane levels of intrigue. Timeball has this quality, and so did PipeDreams (a somewhat similar concept).

If it helps, I thought BLOCKOUT (I forget all the other names for this game) was a brilliant extension of Tetris.... and Timeball is part of a legacy as well:

Damn! I wish I had all of these sucky games so that I could chime in! 
Out of Timeball, Deep Blue, Gunboat and Drop (Drop it Like it's Hot) Off- the only one I have is Drop Off- and it's not the worst "turbo chip" that I have.  Battle Royale, Champions Forever Boxing, Davis Cup Tennis, Double Dungeons, Night Creatures, Order of the Griffon, Shockman, Tricky Kick, Turrican, TV Sports Basketball and Yo Bro- all of these I find less playable than Drop Off! 
If I can include japanese hucards- Titan, Genpei Toumaden and Bullfight are quite deserving of the hall of shame as well.  HAHA I probably listed all of Esteban's faves!

Well of those you mentioned, here's how it is imo:
Battle Royale: Man this was a blast to play back in the day, but it hasn't aged well at all. I tried to play it the other day, but couldn't get into it. I was like NOOO, where's all of the ass that this game used to kick?

Champions Forever Boxing, David Cup Tennis, and TV Sports Basketball: Can't comment on these because like most sports games, I avoid them like the plague.

Double Dungeons: I remember my brother and dad seeing the adverts for this game and hyped their expectations for this game up way to high, only to be sorely disappointed. I on the other hand found it somewhat enjoyable. Sure it gets kinda old fast, but it's good for a simple mindless maze crawling game.

Night Creatures: Haven't really tried to play this one either, just a brief play of it via Magic Engine, so can't comment on it.

Order of the Griffon: Not a bad game really. Sure it takes a lot of patience and time to get into, but once you do you will be hooked. Well that is, if D&D type rpgs are your kind of game; it's not for everyone. We still have old maps and passwords my dad wrote down in a drawer at home. My dad played many hours on this one, though admittingly, it hasn't aged well.

Shockman: Ugh, for a megamanesque type game it's not too terribly bad at all It's just, well, it gets old quick. The stages are boring, bosses are not that hard and there really isn't too much substance to this game. I do however love the first stage's music (after you get past the "prologue"), and the third one on the PCE-CD is awesome!

Tricky: Hey! Don't be bad mouthin' one of my favorite games for the TG-16! Seriously though I really do love Tricky Kick, there is a lot of fun to be had there (WAAAAY better than Timeball), although you need to wait at least 3 months after beating it to want to play it again so you forget the solutions to the puzzles.

As for Turrican and Yo Bro, I have played neither nor ever had the desire to. Turrican doesn't look too bad, but Yo Bro? Damn, hell no.

Zeon, we are definitely on common ground. I feel that Tricky Kick, Order of the Griffon and Double Dungeons can provide some decent fun.