What are the Greatest TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine Games?

[timewarpgamer]

What do you think are the best games for this console--both hucards and CDs? Any titles or hidden gems that Racketboy hasn't already featured? I'm particularly interested in recommendations for Japan-only releases, since I don't speak Japanese and I'm pretty familiar with the games released outside of Japan. You can find my current lists here at http://timewarpgamer.com. I welcome any feedback. Thanks!

[GSZX1337]

I don't know much about the PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16, but supposably the Valis games are better on the PCE than the Genesis. I've heard good things about Gate of Thunder.

[timewarpgamer]

Good call, Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder are two of my favorite shoot 'em ups ever. Pretty sweet, too, that you can get them both on the Virtual Console. They also have two of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in games. Provided, of course, that you enjoy heavy metal riffs.

[GSZX1337]

Provided, of course, that you enjoy heavy metal riffs.

*runs off to get isos of the games*

[fastbilly1]

Call me foolish, but my favorite TG16 game is Dragon Spirit. Sure it is only a soso vertical shump, but man I love that stupid game. I had an old Gamepro hint book for a chunk of NES, Genesis, and TG16 games and wanted to play it for ten years. When I finally got around to playing it I fell in love with it just like I imagined.

That and I like the music in Tatsujin/Truxton for the Genesis more...

[Thierry Henry]

About five or so years back I got me a TurboDuo system mainly to play Akumajo Dracula X Chi no Rondo. This single game almost cost me as much as the system itself! lol
Anyway it was totally worth it for that game alone. Graphically, gameplay wise, basically everything about it was just brilliant.
For financial reasons I had to sell the system and the games for it, have regretted it ever since.

[ott0bot]

The game I really wish was US released was Spriggan. I love Compile's shooters and Blazing Lazers is amazing, but Spriggan would have been awesome. Splatterhouse is a blast too. Dracula X is definately an awesome title as well.

[timewarpgamer]

Good calls with Spriggan, and Akumajo Dracula X. Never really got into Dragon Spirit that much, though. It's a solid shooter, no doubt, and I'd love to see more shooters that feature dragons. But this dragon faces really tough competition; the shoot 'em up variety for the TG-16/CD is insanely good, quite possibly the best ever in the history of consoles.

Some of my other all-time favorites for this console are:

Air Zonk
Bomberman '94
Devil’s Crush
Dungeon Explorer II
Ginga Fukei Densetsu: Sapphire
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
Loom
Military Madness
Parodius
Star Parodier
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Valkyrie no Densetsu
World Heroes 2
Ys Book I & II

Some of those may appear to be boringly familiar, but that version of Bomberman remains one of the best releases in the entire franchise, and you would not believe how good SFII looks on the TG-16. I still can't believe one little hucard was able to produce it.

[marurun]

I really liked Aero Blasters. Sure, Air Buster came out on the Genesis, but the TG has better music (for once) and much better control. You have to like shooters, though.

Dungeon Explorer was also lots of fun. Very cool game with weirdly atmospheric music.

[Ack]

I was wondering when you'd show up to talk about the TurboGrafx, Marurun.