Finally got my Duo, and started with Gate of Thunder!

[glazball]

  Hi folks, I thought it might be appropriate to steal the subject line from tpivette's post.  I'm new to these forums but a long time TurboGrafx lover.  I thought this would be as good a place as any to introduce myself and ramble about our beloved console(s).
  I own just about every console and enjoy collecting games.  Back in the late 80s/early 90s, I like zillions of others had an NES which at some point I sold to buy a Genesis.  No one I knew had the TG-16, but I lusted it for it like crazy.  I remember electronics stores in the mall that had Keith Courage set up and back then, the graphics were just incredible!  Yes, I was blown away by KC.
  My cousin lived near a video store that rented TG-16 consoles.  He would rent it often, but sadly that was my only exposure to the TG library back then.  Lemme tell you though, we LOVED Blazing Lazers and Splatterhouse.  I know that's not an uncommon sentiment, sorry for being unoriginal, but those 2 games are still some of my fondest video game memories.
  In the last few months, I decided to actually start throwing money at my pathetic TG collection which consisted of Alien Crush, China Warrior, Bonks, Boxyboy, Timeball, a few others - not the finest.  I've had a boxed TG-16 that I found a thrift shop ($20 marked down from $40!) many years ago, but just had never sought many games for it.  I found myself a Turbo Booster and picked up a bunch of games over these last few months.  I wish I would have done so sooner, not only because prices seem incredibly high, but because the TG is simply an incredible console.  There are so many wonderful games that I've missed and I've been in heaven discovering and re-discovering the library.  (And I haven't even picked up any PCE games, yet.)
  Lately, I've gotten the urge to see and play the CD library.  I've always felt that video games as a whole took a major nose dive around the CD era (3DO, Philips CD-I, Sega CD, crappy FMV, etc) though as an old gamer, I was really just mad to see cartridges dying and loading times being born!  I never played any of the TG CD games, but after doing tons of reading, I knew I had to see what the hell I was missing.  After weeks of searching, I finally found the perfect Duo, in near mint shape, from a seller who took good care of it.  And yesterday it arrived!
  I only have Gate of Thunder and Theron's Quest so far, but I am having a blast with them (esp GoT).  Graphics and sound are incredible and having this little beauty (it's tinier than I thought it would be) is really a joy.  I've got a few more games coming soon from a member of this forum and I'll be picking up others soon too.  I'm really eager to play Ys I & II and Dragon Slayer.
  It's too bad the Duo and all NECs consoles didn't do better, but perhaps if they did, it would be flooded with crappy games like NES and Genesis.  There was a lot of confusion back then about wth was going with TurboGrafx and I won't get into all that.  It's also really sad to hear about the loss of Hudson.  Things have changed so much, but I feel whole now that I've got a Duo and a juicy library of games that are all sorely underappreciated.
  My new favorites:  Soldier Blade, Neutopia, Devil's Crush and Chew Man Fu!

  That's my story, thanks for letting me share.  I'm really glad to be here 

  PS: Got a few extra games with my Duo that I'll be raffling soon.  Stay tuned!

[turbokon]

Congrats and welcome!! You're In the right place and we get you. GOT is awesome I agree. Next you should get Lords of thunder. Those are the two best shootem up on any systems period.

[esteban]

Welcome, glazball.

Glad to hear you are enjoying your time with the console.

[jlued686]

I remember getting the Duo for Christmas and booting up Gate of Thunder for the first time. Fucking magical. Enjoy!

[NecroPhile]

Welcome aboard!

[VestCunt]

Wow.  Four posts and you're already planning to raffle games - welcome aboard!

Don't forget you also have Bomberman on that GoT disc.

Lately, I've gotten the urge to see and play the CD library.  I've always felt that video games as a whole took a major nose dive around the CD era (3DO, Philips CD-I, Sega CD, crappy FMV, etc) though as an old gamer, I was really just mad to see cartridges dying and loading times being born! 

As stupid as FMV was, the industry was still pretty diverse and quality games were being made.  The companies involved were primarily video game companies and they weren't afraid to try new things. (Granted, NEC and some of the others were electronics company, but they hardly put both feet in the pool the way Sony and Microsoft have.)  For every piece of experimental 3DO crap made in '94-95 (and I like the 3DO), we got a Snatcher, Star Control 2, JB Harold, or groundbreaking JRPG.  FMV was a popular emerging genre, but so were tournament fighters and FP shooters.  These days the media and computer giants feed us a diet of Disney, sports, Hollywood movie/games, and glorified military recruitment PR.  The weird, innovative stuff is regulated to downloads, portables, and a few offerings from Nintendo.

[tggodfrey]

Welcome.  Be sure to pick up Y's Book 1 & 2 Duo CD.  You will fall in love with the animations and graphics of the Towers.

[bartre]

Welcome to the party!

as far as good games to try, i'm always up for some GÖTZENDIENER.
if you're in for shooties, try super raiden and spriggan, two really great vertical games, though they're JP only, they shouldn't be too much.

[Lilgrafx]

Welcome to the forums Glazball!

[SMF]

Welcome to the madhouse, Trust me when I say before you know it you'll be collecting more and more games this time next year you will have 20 or so new games OR MORE LOL.

[Deletion]

glazball, your story is eerily identical to mine. I also grew up around the TG16, but I got my first console only recently. Collecting for the TG/PCE is really addictive because the hardware and games are so unique. I hope your wallet is ready for the hurt.

[Tatsujin]

welcome to the best nuthouse glazer

awesome story and GoT is the best starter you possibly can have.
have lots of fun with the best system ever made. And now you need more food

[glazball]

  Thanks for all the kind words folks.  I've been playing the hell out of my new system all week!  I really can't get enough of these games.  As a NES kid, I grew up with crappy bland graphics on half-assed games (with notable exceptions), and now when I play my Turbo, I just feel so happy to see such vibrant colors, awesome artwork, no flicker and delicious stereo sound.

  I wonder if any of you might have thoughts about getting caps replaced.  My Duo is (or seems to be in) excellent shape and was well taken care of.  However, at times I'm getting disc errors where the disc doesn't spin or seems to barely spin, followed by "PLEASE SET DISC."  This happens on regular, mint games (not CDR or anything) but not all the time.  I would like to get the caps replaced because I don't believe it's ever been serviced, but could this problem be more than bad caps?  I wonder if gears/laser/?? might also need to be looked at by a competent guru.  Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

  Again thanks for the welcome and I hope to see you all around!

[Vecanti]

Congrats!  I love GoT.  When I got to teh level with the GIANT worm things (Level 6?)  Blew my mind.

[SignOfZeta]

Good job on getting GoT. The good news is that this is a great game, but you obviously knew that. If there is any bad news is that its quite possibly the best game on the system meaning that its all downhill from there.

Seriously, there are loads more fun games to play for sure, but only 3 or 4 are actually as good as GoT. GoT is amazing.

[Tatsujin]

GoToBeY

[CrackTiger]

Good job on getting GoT. The good news is that this is a great game, but you obviously knew that. If there is any bad news is that its quite possibly the best game on the system meaning that its all downhill from there.

Seriously, there are loads more fun games to play for sure, but only 3 or 4 are actually as good as GoT. GoT is amazing.

As far as shooters go at least.

[esteban]

Good job on getting GoT. The good news is that this is a great game, but you obviously knew that. If there is any bad news is that its quite possibly the best game on the system meaning that its all downhill from there.

Seriously, there are loads more fun games to play for sure, but only 3 or 4 are actually as good as GoT. GoT is amazing.

As far as shooters go at least.

Cook knows that glazball will have a lot of fun playing the "lesser" shoot-em-ups!

[tpivette]

I really want to play this one... I remember seeing the preview when I was young on the Turbo Duo VHS tape. Waiting for an affordable 3 in 1 version complete with all 3 manuals to show up

[Firebomber7]

Hey, welcome to the site!

I'm one of those guys who had a ton of stuff in his collection (quite a bit of PC Engine stuff, but HuCard and CD) and sold most of it all. Now I'm starting from scratch. My only NEC stuff now is a TG-16 and 7 games.

Anyway, yeah, Gate of Thunder Rocks!
Make sure to pick up Lords/Winds of Thunder. Don't forget that, if you have a US Duo, you can play JP CD games without having to modify anything (except for games that require the Arcade Card upgrade). CD and Super CD games are region free!!! That means that nothing is stopping you from picking up Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Dracula X: Chi no Rondo). It is arguably the best game on the system, along with Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, and Ys Books I&II (and others of course!).

[HercTNT]

Welcome, enjoy that duo