The TurboGrafx-16’s Mini’s Lineup Looks Great, but There Are Hitches

Konami’s biggest announcement from E3 2019 was the TurboGrafx-16 Mini (PC Engine Mini and PC Engine Core Grafx Mini in Japan and Europe, respectively), an upcoming rerelease of the TurboGrafx-16 (similarly, PC Engine and PC Engine Core Grafx in Japan and Europe, respectively) in retro console form. There have been a couple of good retro consoles with the NES and SNES Classic Editions recently, and the Sega Genesis Mini looks encouraging; but this one has the potential to be one of the more important releases, thanks to the system and its software lineup not receiving much attention in its heyday.

The software chosen seemed encouraging from the initial lineup announced at E3, though it also implied that Japan and western territories wouldn’t receive identical lineups like other retro systems. This was due to specific games lacking localizations, though some titles announced for the Japanese version became popular after the system’s time in the limelight, like Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (finally localized for PSP in 2007, and released in Japanese on the Virtual Console). But it was clear the lineups would be mostly identical, since the early games chosen besides Rondo received western localizations too.

But that above-stated implication was inaccurate; the lineups are 100 percent identical. Konami provided a list of 24 English-language games that will be included, along with 26 Japanese games. Some among them are the same games in two languages, like Ys I & II, Dungeon Explorer, and the Neutopia titles. Others are Japanese titles localized for western territories, but won’t be available in English on the system, like The Kung Fu (known as China Warrior in western territories), Fantasy Zone, and Super Star Soldier. It doesn’t seem like it would have been that costly to add the English versions, but surely there’s some good reason why they were left out.

There are also several Japanese-language games that weren’t localized in English, but should be perfectly playable to English speakers. The original PC Engine version of Ninja Gaiden will be among them, whose plot should be easy to follow thanks to the NES version (included on the aforementioned NES Classic) being translated. The same goes for the aforementioned Rondo of Blood, the translated PSP version of which was released on PlayStation 4 last year. Several other choices are shoot ‘em ups, like Aldynes and Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire, which don’t tend to have much text. Not every desired game will be included, but the lineup covers most of them.

It wouldn’t be a retro console if there wasn’t at least one downright bizarre choice, and that happens to be Snatcher here. This one of Hideo Kojima’s oldest games, and one of his sadly-few non-Metal Gear games, meaning it’s an important title in gaming history. But it’s also a text-heavy adventure game only being included in Japanese, meaning most westerners will have a hell of a time following the story. This is an older version of the game that wasn’t localized in English until it reached the Sega CD, a version that couldn’t be included here, and isn’t otherwise available legally. It’s still a good game to have here for novelty’s sake, so I’m not calling it a bad inclusion; it’s just an odd one for most westerners.

The question of how good the emulation will be is still open, but despite this being a Konami project, signs are slightly encouraging. The company has used M2 for their recent Castlevania and Contra collections, one of the best classic game emulation companies in the business. It would be a shame if they didn’t enlist their efforts here, but there’s a chance they may not be involved thanks to how busy they’ve been lately. In addition to the collections, they also worked on emulation for the Sega Genesis Mini, which will contain over 40 games when it releases in September. Hopefully they have a team that’s large enough, or can work fast enough, to be involved with this console.

In an interesting decision (or “Peak Konami” one, if you prefer), all three versions of the system will be exclusive to Amazon. Amazon Japan will carry all three versions from Japan, America, and Europe, preorders for which began yesterday today — though the Japanese version is only available for Japanese-language viewers. But there’s an Amazon Prime-exclusive preorder period thanks to it being Prime Day, which put the plans of some importers displeased by the uglier TurboGrafx-16’s design in jeopardy. The European variant is available on some European Amazon equivalents, but preorders still aren’t available on Amazon in America as of this writing, despite the promise that they would be earlier today. (Update: Preorders are now active.) This is exactly the confusing mess you’d expect from Konami in 2019.

The systems are likely Amazon-exclusive so Konami doesn’t overestimate demand, so they can only produce a limited amount. They don’t want to repeat Sony’s mistakes with the PlayStation Classic, which sold well below expectations thanks to its lackluster software choices (especially for western territories) and underwhelming emulation. The system is currently going for $19.99 at Best Buy, well below its $99.99 retail price. Hopefully this system will have better emulation.

The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine Mini will release on March 19th, 2020 for 11,550 — or a little over $100. Hopefully it’s a quality system, because it will offer the best chance to experience several titles from a neglected console.

Update: Preorders are now available in America for $99.99, but Canada and several European countries like Germany are still waiting for an opportunity to preorder consoles… if they’ll be able to preorder at all. This is a Konami product, so it’s no surprise that this isn’t going smoothly.