Growing up in the 80s and early 90s the only video game magazine that covered a lot of the more obscure consoles like the Turbographix16 and TurboDuo was Die Hard GameFan. GameFan was a huge supporter of the Dreamcast until the end.
Yeah, it was hard to find anything on the Turbo Duo from other magazine publications. There was some coverage on one game or two here and there, but almost nothing about the console release. Surprising as that is usually big news.
GameFan was a weird mag. They covered a lot of import stuff too, because the whole mag was basically Dave Halverson's proto-blog + promotion for his import game store. He was notorious for overrating games (especially import-only ones) and pushing the hell out of failed consoles like the Jag, the 32X and even the Virtual Boy. I realized the tackiness of it all even back then as a teen, but still bought every issue for the awesome screen shots, including for games that I thought I'd never get to play. Plus, some of Dave's writing was amusing and I liked the fact that he was non all googly-eyed for Nintendo, like all the other mags were. 90% of the mag was basically written by him. He played the roles of multiple reviewers (E. Storm, Skid, etc), the PostMeister and others.
This system along with the Sega cd were truly showing the way of the future. Great cd sound, narrated and animated intros to immerse players into the game. Though I didn't have a duo in the day, I could see getting one and being excited with it's capabilities. I didn't realize how small the library was on the system, how unfortunate though imports would work. But importing wasn't as common or easy back then, way before ebay or other auction sites were available to most people.
Fantastic video as usual the duo was released in 92 I personally didn't see one till 93 and I already owned a turbo CD so I didn't get one but I definitely wanted one so I just got the super System card which was not easy to find actually had to go into New Jersey to find a store that had it and play the new super CD games on my Turbo CD I was the only one that had it and all my boys used to go nuts over it when I bought it over
I think I had my parents mail order the Super CD Card and the Gate of Thunder disc that came with it. I had the Turbografx-16 and got the CD add on in 1991 when it was discounted to like $150 at that point where in 1989 I think the CD add on was like $400. So never had a TurboDuo, but the TG-16 with CD add on and original system card and super cd card which I still have!
@@hepwo91222 that's why I had to go all the way into New Jersey to find that super CD card I didn't want to order it by mail I got my Turbo CD in 92 I got the turbo graphx in 1990 I bought a recapped turbo Duo about 6-7 years ago
Ahhh trip down memory lane, own all of these games featured. Gate of Thunder is my favorite horizontal shmup on the console where many would say R-Type which is a good game that is insanely difficult, Gate of Thunder had a more balanced and approachable challenge. Shadow of the Beast is the best version of the game I ever played with a great soundtrack. Shapeshifter I liked, but the controls and jumping of the panther always irked me, solid game overall though. Good vid.
Gate of Thunder almost seems like a Technosoft shooter. I think I remember reading somewhere that some ex Technosoft employees worked on it? I remember really wanting that game back in the days, as I was a little late getting into shmups. However, Player One Start, by 1992 most people seemed to be over shmups in the US. I remember great games like MUSHA, Steel Empire, Lightening Force and Space Megaforce sitting on the shelves forever, until they were discounted to $20, which was perfect for me. It was all about mascot platformers, fighters and beat 'em ups for other people by then though.
@@Prizrak-hv6qk yeah, I mean I never knew how good Lightening Force was until many years later when I finally played it. I owned a TG-16, so I loved shmups, but by 1992 fighters were the hot new genre everyone cared about.
I enjoyed the Turbo version of Shadow of the Beast much more then the Genesis one too. The sharper hit detection and that killer CD soundtrack just seal the deal for me. I still hold the world record on Twin Galaxies for the game but I kinda won it by default since I was the only one to submit a score so far.
The Amiga version has better graphics and more memorable music, although it plays worse than the Turbo. The Turbo release has some weird looking backdrops on the cavern stages but has cool cut scenes and no loading times. I dunno, i heard the best version is on that FM Towns thing.
Shadow of the Beast was the ultimate Amiga tech demo with its sweet parallax background effect and unique music, but always kind of crappy from a game design and gameplay standpoint. It sounds like their fixed some of the inherent issues in the Turbo version, but the overall shitty "restart the game if your turned the wrong way" design and simplistic "punch a bunch of annoying enemies constantly coming from every direction" gameplay is still there. I heard that SotB 2 is much better as a game.
having owned a video game store in the 90's and 2000's that rented and sold games and systems i owned all the turbo games. you know the saying if i knew then what i knew now i would be rich.
Thank you for the video! It always seemed to me that the intended demographic for this console were folks, like myself, who, in their late-teens and early twenties, were gaming on PCs... Doom, CHAOS Continuum, Myst, Gabriel Night, etc. I remember seeing it on display somewhere... I think it was Babbage's... some fighting game (it was always some 'fighting game' with these things)... I thought 'Oh, that's cool' and proceeded toward the back to see whether they had Betrayal at Krondor, which they did! I never saw this thing again.
Growing up in the 80s and early 90s the only video game magazine that covered a lot of the more obscure consoles like the Turbographix16 and TurboDuo was Die Hard GameFan.
GameFan was a huge supporter of the Dreamcast until the end.
Yeah, it was hard to find anything on the Turbo Duo from other magazine publications. There was some coverage on one game or two here and there, but almost nothing about the console release. Surprising as that is usually big news.
GameFan was a weird mag. They covered a lot of import stuff too, because the whole mag was basically Dave Halverson's proto-blog + promotion for his import game store. He was notorious for overrating games (especially import-only ones) and pushing the hell out of failed consoles like the Jag, the 32X and even the Virtual Boy. I realized the tackiness of it all even back then as a teen, but still bought every issue for the awesome screen shots, including for games that I thought I'd never get to play. Plus, some of Dave's writing was amusing and I liked the fact that he was non all googly-eyed for Nintendo, like all the other mags were. 90% of the mag was basically written by him. He played the roles of multiple reviewers (E. Storm, Skid, etc), the PostMeister and others.
Hey man, keep up the good work! I love the videos!
Great quality as always.
I appreciate that
Really enjoying this series. Hoping for more TG16/PCE content!
Thanks @ARCADEAGES! This system has been a lot of fun. Definitely not done with it yet.
This system along with the Sega cd were truly showing the way of the future. Great cd sound, narrated and animated intros to immerse players into the game. Though I didn't have a duo in the day, I could see getting one and being excited with it's capabilities. I didn't realize how small the library was on the system, how unfortunate though imports would work. But importing wasn't as common or easy back then, way before ebay or other auction sites were available to most people.
Thanks Kevin. 100% agree on the imports. Feel like I missed out on these back in the day.
Awesome video!☕☕😀
Thanks Justin!
Fantastic video as usual the duo was released in 92 I personally didn't see one till 93 and I already owned a turbo CD so I didn't get one but I definitely wanted one so I just got the super System card which was not easy to find actually had to go into New Jersey to find a store that had it and play the new super CD games on my Turbo CD I was the only one that had it and all my boys used to go nuts over it when I bought it over
I think I had my parents mail order the Super CD Card and the Gate of Thunder disc that came with it. I had the Turbografx-16 and got the CD add on in 1991 when it was discounted to like $150 at that point where in 1989 I think the CD add on was like $400. So never had a TurboDuo, but the TG-16 with CD add on and original system card and super cd card which I still have!
@@hepwo91222 that's why I had to go all the way into New Jersey to find that super CD card I didn't want to order it by mail I got my Turbo CD in 92 I got the turbo graphx in 1990 I bought a recapped turbo Duo about 6-7 years ago
Nice! I didn’t get one till last year. 😁 I would’ve lost my mind if I had this back in 92
Ahhh trip down memory lane, own all of these games featured. Gate of Thunder is my favorite horizontal shmup on the console where many would say R-Type which is a good game that is insanely difficult, Gate of Thunder had a more balanced and approachable challenge. Shadow of the Beast is the best version of the game I ever played with a great soundtrack. Shapeshifter I liked, but the controls and jumping of the panther always irked me, solid game overall though. Good vid.
Thanks Hepwo! It was a lot of fun playing these games. Honestly, not a bad on in this bunch so far. 👍🎮
Gate of Thunder almost seems like a Technosoft shooter. I think I remember reading somewhere that some ex Technosoft employees worked on it? I remember really wanting that game back in the days, as I was a little late getting into shmups.
However, Player One Start, by 1992 most people seemed to be over shmups in the US. I remember great games like MUSHA, Steel Empire, Lightening Force and Space Megaforce sitting on the shelves forever, until they were discounted to $20, which was perfect for me. It was all about mascot platformers, fighters and beat 'em ups for other people by then though.
@@Prizrak-hv6qk yeah, I mean I never knew how good Lightening Force was until many years later when I finally played it. I owned a TG-16, so I loved shmups, but by 1992 fighters were the hot new genre everyone cared about.
I enjoyed the Turbo version of Shadow of the Beast much more then the Genesis one too. The sharper hit detection and that killer CD soundtrack just seal the deal for me. I still hold the world record on Twin Galaxies for the game but I kinda won it by default since I was the only one to submit a score so far.
The Amiga version has better graphics and more memorable music, although it plays worse than the Turbo. The Turbo release has some weird looking backdrops on the cavern stages but has cool cut scenes and no loading times. I dunno, i heard the best version is on that FM Towns thing.
Nice! That is awesome about the record.
Shadow of the Beast was the ultimate Amiga tech demo with its sweet parallax background effect and unique music, but always kind of crappy from a game design and gameplay standpoint. It sounds like their fixed some of the inherent issues in the Turbo version, but the overall shitty "restart the game if your turned the wrong way" design and simplistic "punch a bunch of annoying enemies constantly coming from every direction" gameplay is still there. I heard that SotB 2 is much better as a game.
having owned a video game store in the 90's and 2000's that rented and sold games and systems i owned all the turbo games. you know the saying if i knew then what i knew now i would be rich.
Wow! That is insane, I don’t know what I’d do if I had a complete collection. But probably would’ve sold way before now. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the video!
It always seemed to me that the intended demographic for this console were folks, like myself, who, in their late-teens and early twenties, were gaming on PCs... Doom, CHAOS Continuum, Myst, Gabriel Night, etc. I remember seeing it on display somewhere... I think it was Babbage's... some fighting game (it was always some 'fighting game' with these things)... I thought 'Oh, that's cool' and proceeded toward the back to see whether they had Betrayal at Krondor, which they did! I never saw this thing again.