Topic: TurboGrafx-16 mini / PC Engine mini / CoreGrafx mini - 7 extra games announced

[Order.RSS]

Figured I'd lift the discussion on this one out of the E3 2019 thread, hopefully this is more convenient.

So Konami is smelling that sweet, sweet PlayStation Mini money and is repackaging a bunch of TG-16/PC Engine/SuperGrafx games into a mini console of their own. 52 unique games are included (57 if you count duplicates), one controller, savestates, it includes a HDMI cable, optional scanline filter, is USB powered - the usual mini console stuff.

1. Console background
In Japan the PC Engine was a fairly successful home console from NEC, which competed with the Sega MegaDrive/Genesis, SNES, and I guess the Neo Geo (did they even get the Philips CD-i?). In North America, it was released as the TurboGrafx-16 (to pretend it was 16-bit compared to the NES' 8-bit I suppose, even though TG-16 was an 8-bit system - it just had a 16-bit GPU). In Europe it never really saw a wide release I think, perhaps some key markets only (U.K.?).
Games were released on HuCards, small credit card sized carriers with exposed pins.
NEC and Hudson Soft worked on the PC Engine/TG-16 together, so with Konami owning Hudson, they're now the ones capitalising on that 1989 nostalgia.

2. More history: Add-ons & successor
Of course the fourth console generation was littered with add-ons. Sega CD, SNES SatellaView, and the Super Game Boy are all examples. Naturally PC Engine/TG-16 needed an add-on of their own, so they brought out several disc attachments. This allowed for animated cut-scenes and actual recorded dialogue to be added into games, amongst others. Fun fact, one of the disc formats was called Super CD-ROM², pronounced "CD-Rom-Rom" (seriously).
Later the CD drives were incorporated into the main unit, this combo-device was called the TurboDuo in North America. To make matters even more confusing, the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 also saw a successor, the SuperGrafx, which was backwards compatible for all HuCard games and all CD/Super CD-ROM² games through the add-ons. SuperGrafx itself was a massive flop however; it was rushed to market, made only modest changes over the original TurboGrafx, and only saw 6 actual games produced for the system.

3. Mini consoles
Unique about Konami's new mini consoles is the fact they're producing different regional variants, despite near-identical software libraries (unlike NES/SNES/PlayStation mini, which all had different games in certain regions).
Annoyingly the original consoles had just 1 controller port, you needed a multitap (Turbotap) to connect up to 5 players. The mini consoles fix this, by adding a second USB controller port. Multitaps will be released too.



Left to right:
-Europe: PC Engine CoreGrafx mini (CoreGrafx was a different PC Engine model, with A/V out instead of RF).
-Japan: PC Engine mini (note the absence of turboswitches on this controller!)
-Americas: TurboGrafx-16 mini

4. Games
In this section I'll cover all the games with a brief mention of what they are.
Weirdly, since all 3 regions share a near identical line-up of included games, many included on American/European systems will just be in Japanese without English translation. I've split them up by language, the ones that might be difficult without knowing Japanese are marked as such.

Note: The Japanese model includes two games that won't be on the Western models, Tokimeki Memorial, which I believe is either a dating sim or about gossiping? The second one is Tengai MakyĹŤ II: Manji Maru, an RPG. Meanwhile on the American and European models, Salamander (a.k.a. Life Force) is included, while it is absent on the Japanese model.

English language games:
-Air Zonk
Side scrolling shoot-em-up starring Zonk, who is basically the Mega Man X to Bonk's Mega Man.
-Alien Crush
Sci-fi/horror themed pinball game in the style of Alien. Multiple screens, camera doesn't scroll up or down.
-Blazing Lazers a.k.a. Gunhed
Good, fast-paced vertically scrolling shooter. Used to be a pack-in title for TurboGrafx-16.
-Bomberman '93
The first Bomberman game with 5-player multiplayer. This is a good one.
-Bonk's Revenge
2nd game in the Bonk series. Platformer with the TG-16's mascot. Eat food, headbutt dinosaurs.
-Cadash
Sidescrolling action game, looks like oldschool Castlevania. Has co-op multiplayer.
-Chew-Man-Fu a.k.a. Be Ball
Puzzle game with action elements, you kick a ball around to beat foes and knock down walls.
-Dungeon Explorer
Top-down action RPG, best in multiplayer. Think Gauntlet.
-J.J. & Jeff
Slapstick action-platformer. This looks very strange, I'm intrigued/horrified.
-Lords of Thunder
Sidescrolling shooter of RFN fame. Known for its rocking soundtrack thanks to CD expansion.
-Military Madness a.k.a. Nectaris
Think Advance Wars, but with hexagonal grids instead. Heard this is a good one.
-Moto Roader
Top-down racer, Micro Machines style. Has 5 player multiplayer. Looks sluggish.
-Neutopia
Rather blatant top-down NES Zelda clone. Well-regarded, the sequel is even better.
-Neutopia II
Sequel to Neutopia. Fixed collission issues. Pretty good, but can't compete with SNES Zelda.
-New Adventure Island
4th game in the Adventure Island series. Side scrolling action-platformer with boomerangs.
-Ninja Spirit
Irem Soft game, think Ninja Gaiden meets Legend of Kage. Supposedly scored the first 10 in EGM.
-Parasol Stars
Single screen puzzle game. Lots of levels, has 2 player co-op multiplayer. Heard it's good once.
-Power Golf
Top-down golf game, looks okay. Neo Turf Masters this ain't. 3 Player multiplayer.
-Psychosis a.k.a. Paranoia
Horizontal shooter. Some levels are set in the player's mind, fighting inner demons. Has Options like R-Type.
-R-Type
Includes both R-Type I & II; the game was too big on HuCard, but on CD it worked to fit both on!
-Soldier Blade
4th game in the Star Soldier series. One of the best looking games on TG-16.
-Space Harrier
Not the best version of this "3D" railshooter. Better on 3DS, 32X, Genesis, and inside Shenmue on DreamCast.
-Splatterhouse
TG-16 getting this bloody, horror-themed hack & slash games was a major draw during its heyday.
-Victory Run
Arcade racing game similar to OutRun. Notoriously difficult.
-Ys Book I & II
Made great use of the CD-ROM to become epic RPGs. Subject of RFN Retroactive 26.

Japanese language games:
Notes: "language" denotes possible language issues expected. Titles in red indicate they are duplicates; the English version is also loaded on the mini consoles.
-AkumajĹŤ Dracula X Chi No Rondo a.k.a. Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood
Coveted Castlevania entry. Includes cutscenes & spoken dialogue thanks to CD expansion.
-Aldynes
Horizontal shooter. This was one of 6 SuperGrafx games.  Also on PSN.
-Appare! Gateball
So this looks like croquet and might be the nichest sports title ever?
-Bomberman '94 a.k.a. Mega Bomberman
Another good entry, fun story mode. Has multiplayer. I was fond of it.
-Bomberman Panic Bomber
A match-3 puzzle game featuring Bomberman. Hate when companies do this, remember Worms Blast?
-ChĹŤ Aniki
Another RFN Hall of Famer. Horizontal shooter leaning heavily on the Super CD-ROM² for visual... flourish?
-Daimakaimura a.k.a. Ghouls 'N' Ghosts
Arcade port of Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, one of six SuperGrafx releases.
-Dragon Spirit
Fantasy themed vertical shooter. Play as a dragon, breathe fireballs. Catchy music.
-Dungeon Explorer
Duplicate Japanese version, see description under English section.
-Fantasy Zone
Cute horizontal shooter. You can go left or right, levels don't autoscroll. First game in its franchise.
-Galaga '88
Classic space shooter set mostly on a single, static screen. Has some vertically scrolling parts.
-The Genji and the Heike Clans
Action game, alternates between big sprite sideview and three-quarter view levels. A very deep cut.
-Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire a.k.a. Sapphire
One of the most expensive PC Engine games. Lots of counterfeit discs as a result. Never released outside Japan.
-Gradius a.k.a. Nemesis
Side-scrolling arcade shooter port. Includes the PC Engine-only desert stage.
-Gradius II – Gofer No Yabō a.k.a. Nemesis II
Side-scrolling arcade shooter port. Includes an extra level over the arcade version.
-Jaseiken Necromancer a.k.a. Necromancer
Japanese-only RPG. Lots of brown dungeons. I have this on Wii U and it's basically unplayable due to language.
-The Kung Fu a.k.a. China Warrior
Side scrolling beat-em-up with absurdly large sprites. Another RFN darling.
-The Legend of Valkyrie
Action-RPG. Top down Zelda x Golden Axe. Some language issues with shops and (random?) quiz moments.
-Nectaris a.k.a. Military Madness
Duplicate Japanese version, see description under English section.
-Neutopia
Duplicate Japanese version, see description under English section.
-Neutopia II
Duplicate Japanese version, see description under English section.
-Ninja Ryūkenden a.k.a. Ninja Gaiden a.k.a. Shadow Warriors
Has completely redrawn graphics, new soundtrack, different enemy placement to the NES version.
-PC-Genjin a.k.a. Bonk's Adventure a.k.a. Bonk a.k.a. BC Kid
First in the Bonk series, TG-16's mascot, a headbutting caveman. Fun fact: this got a JP-only remake on GameCube.
-Salamander a.k.a. Life Force
Shooter. Gradius spin-off with horizontal & vertical levels. Includes 2 player co-op multiplayer.
-Seirei Senshi Spriggan
Vertical shooter from the team behind MUSHA. Spin-off from Spriggan Powered on SNES.
-Snatcher
Early Hideo Kojimi detective game. The Sega CD version is infamously expensive. I anticipate language issues.
-Spriggan Mark 2 a.k.a. Spriggan Mark II: Re-Terraform Project
Horizontal shooter, play as a mech. Sequel to SNES title. Amusingly jaunty music. Good use of voice.
-Star Parodier a.k.a. Fantasy Star Soldier
Vertical shooter. Colourful Star Soldier parody. Includes a playable PC Engine, as well as Jetpack Bomberman.
-Super Darius
Horizontal shooter, CD-Rom² game. Port of the 3-screen arcade Darius. Multiple routes like Outrun.
-Super MomotarĹŤ Dentetsu II
5 player multiplayer boardgame where you run a train company? Expect severe language struggles.
-Super Star Soldier
2nd game in the Star Soldier franchise. Vertical shooter. Good series in general, very tough.
-Ys Book I & II
Duplicate Japanese version, see description under English section.

In summation: 21 shooters, 8 sidescrolling action games, 4 platformers, 4 adventure games, 3 RPGs, 3 puzzle games, 2 racing titles, 2 sport sims, 1 video pinball, 1 boardgame, 1 strategy game, and 2 Bomberman titles (don't really fit under action do they).

5. Virtual console comparison
Many of the games above were already available through Virtual Console on Wii and Wii U respectively. Here's what is on Wii U Virtual Console, but not on the new mini consoles. Most are owned by Konami, so they must've been left off on purpose.

-Battle Chopper (owned by Irem Soft I think)
-Battle Lode Runner
-Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure
-Break In
-Detana!! TwinBee
-Devil's Crush
-Digital Champ: Battle Boxing
-Double Dungeons (owned by Masaya/Extreme)
-Final Soldier
-Image Fight
-Image Fight II
-Legend of Hero Tonma (owned by Irem Soft)
-Shockman (owned by Masaya/Extreme)
-Vigilante (owned by Irem Soft)
-World Sports Competition

6. Thoughts
Overall my first thoughts are cautiously optimistic. Konami is really bad at marketing though, their website includes spelling errors, no easy way to compare lists per region, and nothing is sorted alphabetically. Pre-orders appear to only go through Amazon which is already annoying, and finding the price is up to the buyer to convert (90-100$ I expect). Not a word about who is doing the emulation either. I hope it's M2, or just straight up the Wii U virtual console emulator, that one's really good. [EDIT: Confirmed M2 is working on this, also confirmed Konami can't market well.]

Obviously some weird omissions. TurboGrafx-16 without Splatterhouse is basically N64 without GoldenEye, although Splatterhouse is a bad game of course, but it's iconic for the system.[EDIT: Splatterhouse was announced later on.] It's also beyond me why Bonk's Adventure is only on there in Japanese and Bonk 3 is missing when both exist on Virtual Console in English.
There's many more notable exclusions (Final Soldier, Gates of Thunder, Devil's Crush, Raiden, Legendary Axe, etc.) but I guess they just don't wanna go for 75 or even 100 games.
I never had a TG-16, but have played several titles on Virtual Console which were mostly good. Seriously considering to get this as my first Mini Console, although the Genesis one also looks interesting and Sega have been much better about communicating features. But the TG-16 games seem a bit more mysterious...

[Adrock]

Konami’s E3 announcement was garbage. Not sure why it felt the need to wait a month to give out details. Konami didn’t have the goodwill to release the minimum amount of information then go on radio silence for over a month. If it had a slow build, hype train approach like the Sega Genesis Mini, that would have made more sense. Then again, Sega’s reputation is in a better place.

That said, the Turbografx-16 Mini seems decent with the new info. Saying this includes ~50 games is a stretch. How different are the US and Japanese versions? More importantly, if one is better than the other, I’m probably not playing both versions. I’ll play the better one, or more likely, the one in English. Sega Genesis Mini wins the value proposition in this regard.

I’m under the impression based on the Amazon pre-order page (which starts Monday, July 15 bee tea dubz) that this does not include an AC Adapter which, if true, is kind of shenanigans. If I can safely use my 5w iPhone charge block, fine. I have a bunch of those. I still think one should be included. The multi tap is still asinine, nickel-and-diming bullshit.

The lack of a price is mildly disconcerting. Apparently, the PC Engine Mini is around $100, but the original console was far more popular in Japan. There are far fewer people with nostalgia for this in North America though some people like myself are intrigued for not having nostalgia due to not having access to the original console when we were kids. Still, I don’t know if I want to spend $100 on mostly games I’m not familiar with. Ultimately, it will come down to the quality of the emulation. I may pre-order just in case then decide later whether to keep it.

[Ian Sane]

I like how Sega and Konami have slightly different strategies to try to compete with the high bar Nintendo set.  Sega went with more games and now Konami decided to just give every region almost the same titles.  I would say that we did well with that one title that's different as a shmup like Salamander is much more import friendly.  Though I do prefer how Sega is having the option for the English or Japanese version of the same game.  The T-16 one has weird stuff like one Bonk game being Japanese and the other being in English.  Why not just have both like other titles like Ys?

I don't have a TurboGrafx 16 and collecting for it is really expensive.  So I think this is the ideal way for me to get a sampling of the system.  I'm a little concerned that due to this being an Amazon exclusive and being an obscure console that it might be something I want to pre-order in case it has a small run but what if the emulation is crap?  Sure, maybe I could sell it but did anyone that pre-ordered the PS Classic find a buyer they could even break even with?  If the thing is junk then you won't be able to pass it off to someone else, not at full price anyway.

I've got the NES and SNES Classics, I'm getting the Genesis one because I trust M2 to deliver the goods, so this would ideal to tie my childhood together with the major systems of the era.  Well major aside from the handhelds and the Sega Master System... and I'll have to exclude the Neo Geo Mini but no one could afford that anyway so this is a better representation of what people actually had.  Oh and I did know ONE kid that had a TG16.  Never went to his house and played it but, hey, a real person had one.

There are some weird choices in the lineup though.  Why only the first two Bonks?  Where are the Legendary Axe games?  Why Lords of Thunder but no Gate of Thunder?  Why Alien Crush but no Devil's Crush?  And I find it very odd that Sega has two games on here when in theory this competes with the Sega Genesis mini, but then we all asked that question back then so maybe it's a really odd way to reference that history.  Or is this some petty one-up-man-ship?  They have Fantasy Zone but we have SUPER Fantasy Zone!

[Adrock]

I'm a little concerned that due to this being an Amazon exclusive and being an obscure console that it might be something I want to pre-order in case it has a small run but what if the emulation is crap?  Sure, maybe I could sell it but did anyone that pre-ordered the PS Classic find a buyer they could even break even with?  If the thing is junk then you won't be able to pass it off to someone else, not at full price anyway.

I've been a Prime member for years so I really like that this is available on Amazon which has a 30-day return policy (unless that's different in Canada). I recommend pre-ordering the TurboGrafx-16 Mini. If reviews detailing subpar reviews pop up before launch, cancel the pre-order. If there's an embargo, that's the first sign of trouble. However, if you have the money, keep the pre-order and wait for reviews before opening the package. If reviews are bad, return it. There's no reason you would be stuck having to resell the TurboGrafx-16 Mini if you have buyers' remorse. Reviews should be up within a few days (at worst) of launch.

[Order.RSS]

Yeah wholly agree with the value proposition when contrasted with Sega's offering. Genesis Mini comes with 2 controllers for probably 10-20$ less, and while it has 'only' 42 games compared to Konami's 45, at least they're almost guaranteed to run great because M2 is on the case.
Genesis Mini also has some other upsides, Space Harrier 2 over the first one, Super Fantasy Zone over the first one, overlapping games like Darius and Ghouls 'N' Ghosts, and a bit more variety in general (RPGs, better puzzle games, some third party inclusions).

Crucially though, as someone who does like shoot-em-ups and already has a Genesis, as well as several devices which could theoretically play some of the Genesis Collections... TG-16 is just a bit more interesting game-wise.

That said, the Turbografx-16 Mini seems decent with the new info. Saying this includes ~50 games is a stretch. How different are the US and Japanese versions?

I would assume they're not different at all besides the language. Definitely assume that if you're going to play Neutopia 1 & 2, Ys Book I & II, Dungeon Explorer and Nectaris/Military Madness, the English versions will be the far more convenient options. There's 45 unique games, Konami is just using that typical clone console loophole of "well we put the same 5 ROMs on 10,000 times so our console has 50,000 games!"

I’m under the impression based on the Amazon pre-order page (which starts Monday, July 15 bee tea dubz) that this does not include an AC Adapter which, if true, is kind of shenanigans. If I can safely use my 5w iPhone charge block, fine. I have a bunch of those. I still think one should be included. The multi tap is still asinine, nickel-and-diming bullshit.

Yup, no AC Adapter included. They're selling it separately but I assume any phone block will do. As for the multitap Turbotap, yeah it's kinda dumb. At least the TG-16 Mini includes 2 USB ports for controllers, so you only need the Turbotap if you'll be playing with 3-5 players - doubt they'll make many of them.

[Luigi Dude]

Overall I'd say this has a great selection.  I actually bought 13 of the games offered on this mini on the Wii's Virtual Console, so I'm glad to see them on this.  Ever since the Virtual Console was closed the biggest thing I've worried about is losing all the Turbografx/PC Engine games if something happens to my Wii.  So I'm definitely buying this just so I'll won't lose access to all those games cause I don't want to spend thousand of dollars to buy their real physical copies.

Seriously though, as long as the emulation isn't crap I'd say this is a must own for anyone that's a fan of classic gaming.  Especially if you're a fan of arcade shooter there's a lot of great titles on this thing.  The only negative I have is the fact Necromancer, Snatcher and Momotaro are basically unplayable to anyone that doesn't understand Japanese.  They really should have replaced those three for the West like they did with Tokimeki Memorial.

[lolmonade]

I have very little point of reference with the TurboGrafx-16.  While I won't be preordering something like this, I'll keep an eye out to see if I can scoop up one for a discounted price later. 

I'm still debating whether I pick up the Commodore 64 mini from gamestop....they've had it at $30 for a while, but I need to investigate and see how moddable it is.

[Order.RSS]

I'm still debating whether I pick up the Commodore 64 mini from gamestop....they've had it at $30 for a while, but I need to investigate and see how moddable it is.

I think I saw somewhere they're coming out with an improved, full-sized model of that soon, just a heads up in case you wanna look into that.

[ejamer]

I feel like they did a solid job with game selection, but can't help wonder if it's too little/too late.
Genesis Mini looks like it will offer better value, and have more brand cachet. Buying TG-16 Mini is intriguing, but none of the games on that list jump out as something I missed and need to play. Maybe it's a case of strong Virtual Console representation coming back to haunt them, or maybe the TG-16 just didn't have that many games that really appealed to me.

[Order.RSS]

The brilliant mind at Konami's marketing desk has released another rousing trailer, randomly announcing 7 more games for this machine, and I guess they finally figured they might as well confirm that M2 is indeed doing the emulation on this one.
Like okay I guess I shouldn't be asking companies to get better at marketing - that's a Pandora's Box I'd rather keep shut... But I'm pretty interested in this product; how come I gotta learn this stuff from randomly checking their website?!

Anyway the newly announced games:

-Dragon Spirit
This is a tough-as-nails vertical shooter. Its novel idea was that it has a fantasy setting and you play as a two-headed dragon instead of a spaceship or something. Cool soundtrack though.
-Galaga '88
Good addition imo. Galaga is a classic.
-The Genji and the Heike Clans
This must be a deep cut, surely? Looks like this kinda alternates between a sidescrolling action game with big sprites, in the vein of Altered Beast, and then it has these top-down/sideview angled town sections which looks more like a beat-em-up.
-The Legend of Valkyrie
Top-down Zelda feel, but much more action-heavy than Zelda. This looks really solid and smooth! Music is good too, looks like a cool addition.
-Seirei Senshi Spriggan
So, okay Spriggan is a manga? Anime? I think? Anyway who cares, this is a vertical shooter. Could be good given Compile's pedigree; they made this one after finishing MUSHA on Genesis.
-Spriggan Mark II: Re-Terraform Project
Horizontal shooter where you control a mech. Another PC-Engine CD release so the music's of good quality, although it's amusingly jaunty - rather jarring with the seemingly serious tone they're going for. This one used to be on Wii virtual console for sure.
-Splatterhouse
PC-Engine/TG-16 were iconic for getting this horror themed beat-em-up out of arcades and into homes. Hack and slash your way through monsters in your Jason Voorhees style mask.

5 of these are Namco games by the way, while both Spriggan games are from Compile.

Couple more neat additions, looks like. Splatterhouse being there is great of course for the historic significance, and you can never have too many versions of Galaga to play. In another thread I mentioned being mildly bummed MUSHA wasn't on Genesis Mini. But its spiritual sequel so to speak being on TG-16 Mini is enticing.
Out of this batch though I'm most intrigued by The Legend of Valkyrie. Looks like a pretty advanced arcade game for its time!

EDIT: Whoops forgot to mention this, but the Japanese version of this console (the white PC Engine Mini) will get an 8th and final game too - Tengai MakyĹŤ II: Manji Maru is an RPG, presumably left off the Western versions because of the anticipated language barrier? Fun fact, this Hudson RPG was actually remade on GameCube, although again in Japan only.

[Luigi Dude]

Well M2 being confirmed basically destroys the one worry I had with this collection.  This thing is now 100% guaranteed awesome.

I kind of wonder if there might be more surprises in store.  I mean, I always thought it was kind of weird they revealed what we thought would be all 50 games last month when it was still so far away.  Well, that kind of makes sense now since there was still more to show.  Yeah the most recent trailer says it's the final lineup, but we're still a ways away from March of 2020.  Don't think anyone would mind if say come January they suddenly go, "Oh wait, there's more" to give one last boast of hype for this thing.

Of course I was already hyped for the lineup when I thought the 50 they showed last month was it, so the extra 7 is basically desert for me.  With M2 involved this is easily a must buy for anyone that's a fan of classic gaming.  I mean, trying to buy all these games alone would cost over thousands of dollars now a day.  Plus ever since the Wii Virtual Console went down, many are not available to buy digital, and who knows how long the Wii U eShop will stay up as well. 

In the West especially where the TurboGrafx has been forgotten by time and it's games extremely rare and expensive, this mini could be the best and cheapest chance most of us to own this part of gaming history.  Hell, I'm tempted to buy 2 of these things just in case something happens to one of them.  I mean for $200, that's still way less then some of the games on this thing cost by themselves to own.

[Ian Sane]

M2 is in?  Okay, I might as well pre-order this bad boy and call it a day.

Still odd how they mix JP and US versions.  Dragon Spirit and Galaga '88 have US versions so why not put those on the US system?  Is there some rights issue to the localized releases from back in the day?  It's not like Galaga needs to be in English but the approach just seems so odd.  I would normally only expect JP versions for games that were never localized in the first place.

[Order.RSS]

Still odd how they mix JP and US versions.  Dragon Spirit and Galaga '88 have US versions so why not put those on the US system?  Is there some rights issue to the localized releases from back in the day?  It's not like Galaga needs to be in English but the approach just seems so odd.  I would normally only expect JP versions for games that were never localized in the first place.

Pure speculation, but I think they're making a calculation that this device will do way better in Japan than elsewhere. Americas as a distant second maybe. So getting things in Japanese on there when you already have the rights is probably the easy option? Also helps that PC Engine has some history as an import friendly console, so there might be some expectation/leniency/forgiveness for having some of the games in Japanese.

It's interesting how most of the English games will be equally accessible to Japanese people who might not read English well, as the Japanese ones are for English speaking folk. In the cases where this wouldn't work out, they've put them on twice.
I would assume they did this to only have a single way to flash the memory - but then the slight difference on the Japanese model, plus the puzzling decision to make 3 different molds kinda disprove this...

Using different languages might also be a way to skate by some licensing headaches, by the way. Blazing Lazers was originally called Gunhed in Japan, and that was a (very loose) adaptation of a live action sci-fi movie. By using the English name, I imagine they're able to still have this game on there without renegotiating rights with whoever owns the rights to Gunhed.
Same for J.J. & Jeff - in Japan this was based on two famous comedians and released under a different name. The U.S. release changed the names to make it more marketable to Americans; now Konami can use that altered version to avoid licensing issues with these comedians.

[Ian Sane]

So COVID-19 has delayed the release of the TurboGrafx mini.  The reviews make it sound like a great product so that makes it all the more frustrating that you can't get one yet.  For a long time my pre-order with Amazon had an estimated release date of Dec 31, 2020 which was obviously a placeholder date.

Well, I've received an update.  The estimated release date is now January 12, 2021.  D'oh!!  Well, at least I know my pre-order hasn't been cancelled.

[ejamer]

That estimated release date could be (hopefully IS) just a placeholder though, right?

It seems crazy they would delay the release by that much, although there are a lot of crazy things happening this year.

[Ian Sane]

I would hope it's a placeholder date but Dec 31 is a nice round date that you could see an algorithm generating.  Supposed to come out in 2020 but delayed indefinitely so pick the last day of the year.  But this was a specific change to move it back almost but not quite two weeks.  That's not an algorithm style date which would probably pick the 1st, 15th or last day of a month.  And if there is no real targeted date then why adjust it when both dates are so many months off that you have tons of time to change it as the situation becomes more clear?

[Ian Sane]

Hey, Amazon just changed the estimate data to be between June 2 - 5!  That's 2020, by the way.  I hope it sticks to that.

[Shaymin]

They also put it back up for preorder with a release date of a week from Friday (the 22nd). Let's see if it sticks.

[Ian Sane]

So mine arrived and earlier than expected!  Got to give it a go on the weekend.  It's very cool and I realize I have more of a desire to play it because I'm so unfamiliar with the games.  I bought the SNES Classic for Star Fox 2, I have all the other games as carts.  The NES and Genesis had more I didn't already have but there is a familiarity to most of the titles.  But I had never played any of the games on the TG16 Mini at all so there is a discovery element here that makes it more fun.

I've really just scratched the surface so far but a standout title is Sapphire.  There are tons of shooters on this thing but this is a special one.  And it also happens to be one of the rarest and most expensive PC Engine games and that alone makes this a bargain but it honestly is a really solid shooter and I can see why it got the rep it has.