Turbo Moments From Around The World (originally posted 3.1.2001)

[PCEngineFX]

Anyone who has been exposed to the TurboGrafx or PC Engine can tell you - they all have a unique experience to share - that defining moment that made them realize that they were playing something special - be it a first experience with the system, or maybe meeting someone who was directly connected to the development of a game, its important to remember those times. Below you will find firsthand accounts from Turbo fans from around the world - their most memorable moments from turning on the system for the first time, to meeting a PC Engine developer - it's all here. Read on, and enjoy.

TURBO MOMENT #1 - From Jeremiah Kenworthy:
I remember waiting for arguably the best import shipment of games I had ever made. I was in so much anticipation! Then finally, they came, from 2 different orders on the same day!! This was a day of magic... For on this day I received Dracula X, Macross 2036, Ys 4: The Dawn of Ys, and Vasteel 2 in that order. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I really never imagined games could be THIS good. I mean you hear about all of these titles that you feel as though you'll never get a chance to have, and figure how can they be as good as people say?? Oh boy, how little I knew...

Dracula X: Where to start? ;-) This game is regarded as the best in the Castlevania series with good reason. Now I am a huge Castlevania fan (own every game), and I was not prepared for this. With graphics twice as good as those in Super Castlevania 4 (they are more comparable to SOTN or Dracula X2, the PSX sequel), a sound track to die for, half of the game hidden, multiple playable characters, anime style cinemas, incredible new play techniques, weapons and level designs, choose your own path, end bosses that humble you, and revisited levels from other Castlevania games... If this was the only Duo game to my name, and I only had one Duo, I would buy another Duo just to make sure I can always play this game.

Macross 2036: What more could I have asked for? Robotech/Macross (one of my all time fave anime) on my favorite system!! YES!! Someone understands!!! =P Anyway, this game has just under 45 minutes of animation, and the graphical quality of this game is superb! The voice acting is also straight from the series! I remember the first time I got to level 3. I had to put the game on pause and just stare. (Which wasn't the best idea in the world since the main thing that was impressing me was the complicated line and sprite scrolling which is kinda hard to see on pause. ;-) I also love the wide variety weapons you can use. This is game is not in contention for best shooter in the world (though I love it), but it is a somewhat unique title with more to like in it than just shooting.

Ys 4: The Dawn of Ys: How little I knew when I first turned this SCD on that it would become my most loved and fondly remembered game experience... I am VERY into the Ys series (again, have all of the games), and the just the opening to this game is... is... ..even today one of the absolute most emotionally moving openings in existence!! And you don't have to know Japanese to feel the great emotion and inflection of this game. (Though Mr. Nanto and I can attest that knowing Japanese sure would have helped us pass it a lot faster. ^_^ You really have to be patient with it if you don't speak the language, and there are 2 spots that my take you forever to figure out. (Looking back, how in the hell did I think up dressing like a guard to get into a certain castle??? here) This game is so incredible it was the first to make me cry just from the beauty, and revisiting old friends. <sniffle> On a side note, I think I actually enjoy the story more since I don't know logically what its about, only emotionally. Well, I do know generally what it is about, I did pass the first 3 games. ;-)

Vaster 2: Before Starcraft, this was my love... Although quite different from the first Vasteel (which I also love), this game really makes you feel as though you're a part of something. You play as "Voice Knuckle", and you have a girlfriend named "Digi Norton". (Don't ask. =) After witnessing the death of your mother, and in fact the whole planet, from space at the ruthless hands of "Aggaris", and his armada of starships, you vow to have vengeance. The story is very intense, and viewed through wonderful/plentiful anime scenes. Plus, there is a great plot twist at the end, which I'm not going to give away. (hehe) Storywise this game has little (if anything) to do with the first game, which is true for a majority of Turbo sequels. (i.e. Gate of Thunder/Lords of Thunder, Legendary Axe 1&2, etc.) Vasteel 2 is another of my fond memories as it was one of the games that got me through some troubled times. This game is also one of the few SCD/ACD hybrids.

TURBO MOMENT #2 - From Darkfact21@aol.com:
My favorite PC Engine moment of all time was the first time I ever played Ys Book I and II. I was one of the lucky kids back in the late 80's early 90's who got a TG-16 with the CD player system. I'll never forget that Christmas, I believe it was the Christmas of '89. I opted to pass on the -Genesis- the ultimate 16-bit revolutionary system and went out on a limb and got the TG-16. Little did I know my parents were going to fork out that much cash to get me the CD attachment + games. Anyways, I will never forget when I opened up that system and hooked it up. Keith Courage rocked my world! Then behind the Keith Courage box was a shiny box with a beautiful backdrop, a castle, a rainbow, and a sunset. I had never laid my eyes on such a beautiful box. This had to be a dream. Little did I know the game lying there was none other than the almighty Ys book I and II. There will never, ever be another moment in the annals of gaming like the inception of an RPG like Ys into your world. That cold dark winter day I embarked on a journey that I'll never forget. That day I saw myself playing a game on a CD-ROM. I couldn't believe my eyes! Here, all my friends were still playing NES and I knew at that moment the dawn of a new era had begun. Some had just gotten the Genesis, there were no TG-16 players out there that I knew of yet and the SNES was still years from launch. This was a great time to be a gamer. As I played through Ys Book I and II a legend was to unfold before my eyes. Then when I saw the review of the game in Electronic Gaming Monthly I knew it was true. Former editor-in-chief, Ed Semrad, the gaming guru, was 100% correct on his review when he and the crew score it a perfect 10 across the board and said :The Perfect Game Has Just Happened" So let me conclude this by saying this is my favorite PC Engine moment of all time, not to mention my favorite gaming moment of all time. Ys Book I and II is still my favorite game today. There will never be another game like it. Thank you Falcom for this cherished work of art. Thanks to the greatest system of all time for this gem. Without Ys Book I and II I would have never been a gamer. It made me who I am and made me appreciate the Video game in general. Thank you Ys Book I and II you truly are the perfect moment.

TURBO MOMENT #3 - From Chris
My favorite Pc engine moment was the day I got Dracula X. I think it was in 1993. It was snowing really hard outside and I was invited to my friends house to hang out. As soon as I opened the package for Dracula, I was drooling everywhere. Then, I remembered that I had to leave to go to my friends house. I was thinking, "should I call him up and tell him that I'm sick?" Anyways, I drove towards his house, only to make it to his street (which was a huge hill). The road to his house was so icy that I had to turn back. Hehe. So I drove home, called my friend up and told him the roads were too icy, then, I threw in Dracula X, and played the best adventure game ever!!!

TURBO MOMENT #4 - From Mike Leconte
January 28th 1990. For my 10th birthday I received a PC Engine. I was totally blown away by the sound and graphics! (Vigilante, Dragon Spirit, Bloody Wolf & Space Harrier were some of them, it was early days ;)!! For Xmas 1990 I received Gunhed. My favourite vertical shooter of ALL time! Some other hucards that left me breathless were Soldier Blade, Twin Bee and Street Fighter II.

January 27th 2001. Received a PC Engine GT with Devil Crash from eBay auction. How can I even begin to describe the most amazing, sexy looking hand held that is 10 years old for god sake!!! Even Devil Crash has yet to be surpassed as a pinball game!

TURBO MOMENT #5 - From William Jones
When I first got my TurboGrafx w/CD, I had only seen still shots of Ys Book I & II. After I got home and got everything hooked up, I popped Ys into the CD drive and experienced my first taste of Turbo heaven. I knew I had made the right choice. Of course, that made it hard on the other games I would eventually get being spoiled by Ys right of the bat. :-)

TURBO MOMENT #6 - From George Palamara
My favorite PCE moment (as opposed to Turbo moment) has to be when I got to meet the father of the PC Engine, NECs Gotoh Tomio.

A few years ago I got an e-mail asking me if I would sell my copy of SD Gundam for the Virtual Boy. I said no, but the buyer wrote back and offered me $800.00 for it. I said OK, if the cash actually shows up (I didn't think he was for real) it was his. He said that he would be in Tokyo where we should meet and he would pay me.

So we met in Akihabara, he was for real - and shelled out the $800.00. But more importantly he mentioned that, since I was a big PC Engine fan (he knew from my web site and wants list), I should go out to dinner with him because he was meeting acouple of Japanese friends who had "something" to do with the PCE (though he didn't know the whole story as it didn't interest him).

A few hours later, at a local Japanese restaurant, I was introduced to Mr. Gotoh and another gentleman who was a former software developer for NEC and other game systems and computers.

Mr. Gotoh proved to be a very quiet and humble person, and was genuinely surprised to find out that anyone was "still interested in such an old game system." He was also impressed when I told him that my collection contained about 90% of what was available hardware, software and accessory wise.

He also remembered that a year later when a magazine writer approached him to do a story on the PC Engine. It seems NEC didn't keep any examples of the numerous accessories and hardware that they released and he called me to ask if they could used my collection for the story that was being written. Of course I agreed.

We have gone out to dinner a couple of times since then, though ever since NEC Avenue folded and he was transferred to a new division within the company, and my job grew busier and busier, we fell out of touch. Maybe I'll try to track him down this year to see what secret new project he is working on for NEC for the near future...

TURBO MOMENT #7 - From George Palamara
Before the Turbo Expresses general release in 1990 it was put on sale in 3 U.S. cities - New York, Chicago and L.A. just before Thanksgiving. In N.Y. the only place selling it was N.Y.C.s most famous toy shop, F.A.O. Schwartz (see the movie "Big"). My friend Adam and I had gotten ourselves on a reserve list and got the call one afternoon that they would be on sale the next day.

We got up early, drove to Manhattan, parked out front of the store and went inside. It was a mob scene! The people around the electronics counter were already lined up 10 deep. We tried to buffalo our way in closer but it was no use with the tough New York crowd.

At one point a clerk stood on a chair or something to address the crowd : "We only have XXX Turbo Expresses left!"

Unplanned ahead of time, but in unison my friend and I both shouted "We'll take 'em all!" even though neither of us had any idea how many she said were available.

At that the crowd got quiet and we were asked if we were serious. Naturally we said yes and they asked us to "follow them." We were escorted upstairs to a private room and at that point we were not sure if we were in trouble or what.

We asked what the deal was and they said this was the "personal shopper" room for their "better customers" who don't want to hob knob with the riff raff in the store below. We were offered soft drinks while a clerk went out to get the TEs.

There was a case of Expresses and then some still available. They were $325.00 each ($25.00 more than they would be a few weeks late on general release). They asked again if we wanted them all and we said that it was not up to us, but to Visa and Master Card. Soo...with a combination of 4 credit cards we bought them all.

Finally they asked if we wanted them delivered and we said no, out car was right out front. They said "What?!? You parked out on 5th (avenue)? Your car has probably been towed!" Honestly nether of had given that much thought, we just wanted the TEs no matter what we had to do to get them.

It all turned out well - the car was OK, we picked through the units for the 2 with the least amount of burnt pixels and kept them. We also held on to 3 others and gave them to friends for Christmas that year. The rest we sold to a guy who had an import game shop out on Long Island. As a small business he could not get any. We didn't make anything on them, but he owed us and that was much more important - it was the PC Engine games that he later got for me that started my collection, and helped make it what it is today.

TURBO MOMENT #8 - From ZBo@aol.com
The one moment that I cannot forget has to be the time I got my TurboDuo. I hooked everything up and popped in Ys Book I & II. The music was gorgeous, and so was the opening cinema, but when I heard the words "Ys, The Ideal Utopia..." my jaw dropped.This was the first CD game I had played, and I fell in lve right from the start. To this day, the Ys series is my favorite role playing games.

TURBO MOMENT #9 - From James Brooks
The very first video game that ever impressed me was Y's Book I and II for the Turbo-Grafx 16 with CDROM. That game made me very, very popular back in my Senior High School days.

You could say it was because of Y's that I became directly involved with the multimedia industry in the first place.

TURBO MOMENT #10 - From Rob Strangman
My favorite Turbo moment? That would have to be the first time I ever played Splatterhouse. I'd never played a game like it before... the character design, the music, and the overall B-movie feel of the whole thing. This was the game that cinched my decision to buy a Turbo.

TURBO MOMENT #11 - From ZetaGouki
It was the time when I first got to play a TurboGrafx-16. I was around 10 or 11 at the time. A good friend had one in the corner of his room that he never played. The first game I truly fell in love with was Final Lap Twin. I thought the RPG mode was just the coolest thing. And the rest is history... LONG LIVE NEC!!!!

TURBO MOMENT #12 - From Grubout
My favourite turbo moment was the disbelief I felt when--in an ultimate over-the-top moment--that giant bull, half of its body lopped off, lunged into the screen in Dracula X. I knew then that I was playing a masterpiece!

TURBO MOMENT #13 - From Charles
The only game I had when I got my pc engine was Bonk!, I still play it form time to time even now, hasn't aged as much as alot of games

TURBO MOMENT #14 - From benburnt0074
I still remember my first Turbo system. I was a paper boy and one of my customers invited me to play his new Turbo. Immediately after I was done I went out and sold all my Nintendo games and bought a Turbo Grafx 16.