Anyone receiving the TurboGrafx-16 Mini next week?

[C64_Critic]

No "Galaga '90"!?!?!?

WWWHHYYYY!?!?

[ActRaiser]

No "Galaga '90"!?!?!?

WWWHHYYYY!?!?

Because it's called Galaga '88.

And it's on the PC Engine tab.

[Tron]

Im probably the only person who is disappointed that the sports games aren’t included. I know they weren’t great, but when you played them as a kid back in the day it’s a bummer not to see them. Football was awful and I wouldn’t play it anyway, but Basketball, baseball and hockey were pretty good. Also not having Bloody Wolf or Legendary Axe really hurts bad. I wish Y’s 3 and Vasteel were included too. Thank goodness Golf is included, only sports game?????! That golf game is awesome. It’s really hard and frustrating, but really rewarding too.

[ActRaiser]

It looks like Project Lunar is progressing. Once it's complete we should be able to hack the mini and add whatever ROMs we want. It has 4 GB of memory which should give us plenty of space. The CDROM games are compressed which should help with space issues.

For me I can quickly free up the PC Engine RPGs on there. There's no way I'm going to bother with those.

Tron that should mean you can add whatever TV Sports games you'd like without issue.

If you guys haven't checked out Ninja Spirit yet I'd highly recommend it. It's good stuff.

[DrLitch]

If you guys haven't checked out Ninja Spirit yet I'd highly recommend it. It's good stuff.

I checked it out a couple of days ago. Quite an excellent game that I certainly never heard of. A 16 bit classic like Revenge of Shinobi, perhaps, it is in the ballpark.

I cannot state enough how good this TurboGrafx-16 is. While I cannot compare to the original hardware (latency, fidelity of graphics, sound and so on) just looking at it as a standalone product it is easily comparable in quality to the SNES classic. That said the games are new to me, to others here who already own the TG-16 this is not a factor that will stack ranking points.

[VideoGameCritic]

So I got a halfway decent Amazon credit this month thanks to YOU guys using my links and I was thinking about putting it towards the Turbografx mini, but it's not available on Amazon now.

So the question is, are they between batches, or is this going to become one of those really hard-to-find consoles that have ebay sellers charging you through the teeth?

Please advise!

[ActRaiser]

In my humble opinion if it sold out then that's a good sign and that there's a market for more. The 5 player hubs were sold out and now are back in stock. (I know it's by Hori and not Konami)

I can't imagine Konami not replacing stock. This thing is awesome. The first batch was delayed due to Covid, maybe, they are still having supply chain issues?

[Retro STrife]

VGC, I think it is exclusive to Amazon too, so you're only chance of getting it is to wait for it to show back up (or overpay from resellers). At $100, I do think it's worth it. While I have a Turbografx and a decent set of games, I've enjoyed the convenience of having it set up in my living room, and the HD hookup. It has also given me a chance to try out some of the pricier games that I hadn't played before.

I'm also glad that I didn't take any chances when deciding to pre-order. The interest has turned out higher than I expected, and the stock has been lower than I expected. (See my quote below from earlier in the thread.) I agree with Actraiser that Konami will be in a hurry to keep production going. I don't expect it to be like the NES Classic -- I believe Nintendo had ulterior motives for limiting NES Classic production (i.e., I think the main purpose of the system was to reinvigorate the Nintendo brand after the failed Wii U), whereas Konami's motive for the Turbografx mini is purely driven by normal motives (i.e., profit).

I was torn on whether to buy one. It's a good deal at $100, considering that Turbografx games are so expensive, but I didn't want to experience the PS1 Classic situation - i.e., people buying it for $100 and seeing it drop to $30 in a few months. Then again, I didn't want it to sell out either, since it's only available on Amazon. I think the more likely scenario is that it drops in price a little bit, but I decided I'd take my chances with buying one early.

[VideoGameCritic]

I put my credit towards an Evercade instead!

I had asked Evercade to send me a review copy, but apparently being the VGC doesn't have the pull it once did.

I'm the pariah of the industry. Non-favorable video game reviews will NOT be tolerated!!

[Atariboy]

Scanned the thread and didn't notice anyone mentioning this, but there's a lot of hidden extras on this.

The headliners are new M2 programmed ports of Salamander, Gradius, and Fantasy Zone that are more accurate to the arcade originals. To access these, highlight the matching TG16 title in the main menu (The Mini includes the original versions of all three) and fire up the hidden game by holding down the select button as you press the run button. The same unlock method also opens up Soldier Blade Caravan, a score attack version of Soldier Blade.

And lastly, two additional extras are accessed from Salamander in the main menu. The first extra is Force Gear, which is accessed by highlighting Salamander, pressing select two times to trigger a chime, and then hitting the run button. The second extra is TwinBee Returns, which is also accessed by highlighting Salamander, but this time you have to hit select three times before hitting run.

Force Gear and TwinBee Returns were originally hidden minigames in a PC Engine Super CD dating sim called Tokimeki Memorial, one of two games from the PC Engine Mini that aren't also in our own TG16 Mini. In its place on the TG16 Mini is Salamander, a game westerners actually would want to play. But M2 went the extra mile and still included the two interesting minigames that originally were contained within Tokimeki Memorial for us.

So I got a halfway decent Amazon credit this month thanks to YOU guys using my links and I was thinking about putting it towards the Turbografx mini, but it's not available on Amazon now.

So the question is, are they between batches, or is this going to become one of those really hard-to-find consoles that have ebay sellers charging you through the teeth?

Please advise!

It remains available on Amazon Japan for what Google says is approximately $108 (So basically a markup of $10 more than the MSRP). Westerners have been importing it without issue and your existing Amazon account works to make the purchase (And Google Chrome even will translate the page for you).

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07 ... rue&sr=8-1

It's the superior North American version with turbo functionality and Salamander, both of which the Japanese PC Engine Mini lacks (For some reason Amazon Japan stocks not only their own PC Engine Mini, but also the North American TG16 Mini and the European CoreGrafx Mini).

When it first disappeared on Amazon US and I got concerned I'd miss out, I almost bought it on the Japanese site early last month thanks to recommendations from friends that it could still be bought from Amazon Japan. But it briefly reappeared in stock on the US store and I quickly got in my order on June 6th, with it disappearing as quickly as it reappeared.

I don't think it's been back in stock since then on Amazon US and there's no guarantee it will be returning.