Konami Just Revealed The PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Mini

If it doesn't have Castlevania Rondo of Blood/Dracula X here in the west, I riot.

Welcome back Konami! I bloody love this console!

This is the one I've been waiting for! A white PC Engine will be mine! Woooooo!

No Legendary Axe, blazing lasers Or Bonk's adventure in the US and you crazy.

Hell, I don't get the "retro" craze (not bought any of them)... But I would get this for those 3 games.

Surely Rondo of Blood isn't only on the Japanese version, of all the stupid things Konami has done over the last few years this would be near the top

The original was already one of the smallest, if not the smallest home consoles ever released! They really don't need to make it smaller!

Hoping for the uncensored Devil's Crush!

Hopefully we get a lot of shoot-em-ups, I would love to see them all.

I don't think anybody could describe the US version as mini. It's enormous.

Holy Guacamole! I completely forgot about this console!

If Bonk’s gets confirmed then my purchase is confirmed.

Remember when Konami filed a trademark for Turbografx? A lot of time has passed, but it was worth it. And I'm glad we Europeans will have the PC Engine instead of the arguably less beautiful Turbografx.

The best Castlevania ever confirmed? I’m getting the Japanese version clearly 😊

Yes yes yes yes yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss my favourite system of all time gets the treatment. Once hacked this will be an absolute dream.

@carmudgeon Agreed on the statement.

@Kinpatsu its the system mascot, it's obviously on there, that's like saying i hope a Mario game will be on the NES.

It doesn’t look much smaller than the original. But yeah I never owned a PC Engine, this would definitely be on my radar.

No Cadash, no buy

Rondo makes the Japanese version the only one worth considering. Also, the US version being in that absurdly large case is as comical now as it was then. It was nearly all full of air, because apparently Hudson and NEC thought Americans wouldn't buy something compact.

I used to have a sizeable PCE collection and in all honesty there aren't many truly great games for the system. There are some good shooters, and a few decent platform games, but Rondo aside (which was by far the best 16-bit Castlevania) the Super Famicom and Mega Drive were far better systems.

PC Engine is a great console and it's awesome that a mini is coming out! I hope a group as talented as M2 is handling the emulation. I also hope for Bomberman 94, Blazing Lazers, Mr Heli, Star Parodier, Spriggan, Parodius, Ninja Spirit, Gate of Thunder, Dungeon Explorer, Coryoon, Super Raiden, Sapphire, Buster Bros, Soldier Blade, Final Soldier, Castlevania Rondo of Blood, Air Zonk, Gomola Speed, Military Madness, and Kaze Kiri.

It will all depend on what games are available. I'm not too familiar with the console but have enjoyed some of the games via my Wii and Wii U. There's also the emulation to consider as well I guess and whether they do a good job of it.

"which was larger to appeal to American sensibilities."
What? overcompensating for something, America?

@Wavey84 I agree with you about the NES and SNES Mini consoles, Nintendo could have offered us so much more.

what's next 3DO mini, Jaguar Mini, CD-I Mini lol? Wish these would be released as collections for modern consoles instead, seems the mini market is already pretty saturated.

@60frames-please Great list of games! I'll throw in Devil Crash, Legendary Axe, Parasol Stars, Cadash, SonSon 2, Galaga 88, Marchen Maze, Detana!! TwinBee, Dragon Saber and Magical Chase. I think you also have to have the PC Genjin/Bonk series.

How about a PC Engine GT! Now that would be something to get really excited about.

Oh yes! Definite buy.

With the already diminutive size of the original PC-Engine, these guys would have been better just re-releasing that original model with say 40 games built in and a working card slot that allowed gamers to both play original games and buy new game cards with compilations on them. I think that would have been awesome.

Of course, maybe they are doing exactly that for all I know--I really hope they are.

PS. The fact that the original PC-Engine was so impressively diminutive originally means they don't even have to shrink it down for the Mini version. It's a testament to how good the original designers were at fitting quality gaming into such a tiny box.

PPS. I think the Europeans are actually getting the best looking model of the system here.

@Anti-Guy no it was the Japanese once again guessing at what they thought we American's wanted back then. Like they though "Keith Courage" would be a fitting mascot for this console before they finally brought out Bonk. They also must have thought we did not really like shooters because there were a ton we did not receive here in the U.S. market that were awesome!

@redd214 Yeah same feeling here. It’s just a racket to sell old games and low end hardware at a high price. I don’t like how legendary games are being treated as exclusives for buying this hardware.

these look great! never seen or played one of these so will definetly be looking to get one of these. I say the more the merrier for these minis! just as long as they get the emulation correct which sadly whilst the playstation classic mini looked incredible, the emulation was very poor quality. not a surprise to see it reduced to just £26 recently

@BionicDodo Yep, all those too! Konami should crush the competition and release it with 80 games : )

Jaguar Mini! yeah would love that and I bet their would be an audience for that though I doubt it would sell massively. if it was a limited release it could do well

where do i throw my money at i want this bad boy so bad.

Damn Konami you’re full of surprises this year!! Cmon now do this right 40-50 game minimum amen throw some CD greats on there like Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder,Rondo of Blood etc etc!! I’ll park it right next to my Genesis mini! ☺️

Obviously a company can do what it wants but the don’t forget me versions are a bit much.

@carmudgeon The Core Grafx II is the best colour way, grey and orange all the way!

@ilikeike I will have it either way, plus the entire library.

I hope it has Lords of Thunder

At least we get Ys Book I & II, one of the best compilation ports short of Chronicles.

@Anti-Guy bigger=better. Not that hard of a concept to grasp. We Americans always turn that expression up to 11 though. Atari 5200, Xbox and Xbox One or the NA NES and SNES designs are great examples.

i might get this

Where are the preorders?

Should be some good shooters on this one.

I have all the ones on the western release on VC. I hope they add more surprises as I love having these mini consoles.

Played a few of these back on Wii VC. The Bonk games and Rondo of Blood mostly.

So many Mini's.
Gotta buy them all.....

@ilikeike * import

Let us be honest, most people will hack it and put on whatever games they want.

@Dethmunk While a Jaguar Mini would be neat. Those guys at Atari couldn't be trusted, their crowd funded console is looking like a big scam, with delays and nothing to show...

I'll be skipping this if it doesn't come with Rondo in the West. That's my favorite game on the system.

I'm in. Plus, maybe this means there is still hope for Bonk taking up one of the last two Smash DLC slots.

Wait but Konami never made a console before.... oh that's right they own Hudson. But Hudson never made a console before cause NEC was the one that made Turbo Grafx-16/PC Engine. How is this possible?

I'm with the "no Rondo, no buy" crowd. I want to add it to my "Minis" collection, but that would be an unforgivable omission. Why wouldn't they announce it for the western version at the same time as the Japanese version, though? Does that deconfirm it, and the other Japanese games?

@Ferkner On a side note, love the GamePro dude 5.0 review face! Man, I miss GamePro...

@ilikeike

I riot with my wallet

I picked up a few PC Engine units several years back because I love the design of all the base systems. It's a fun and charming system. The library is a bit unbalanced with so many shooters, even though I like shooters. So it is cool to see the PC Engine get the mini treatment. I would have preferred seeing all regions get a variation of the Japanese system as I'm not fond of the TurboGrafx design and it didn't sell well in the US meaning there's little nostalgia to tap into. I'm sure some will be happy with that choice. I would have preferred them releasing the Core Grafx II for the USA, so all the core units would be represented and it's such a good design.

It's worth pointing out that in the picture in the article, the white, Japanese unit has the original controller which did not have turbo switches. I have an original pad and it's annoying for some games. I suppose it is possible that they allow turbo via the software.

@carmudgeon I agree that the Core Grafx is the best looking. And I know they updated the CPU in it to the one they had in the Super Grafx. Oddly enough, they went back to the old version for the Core Grafx II. I was wondering if you actually came across examples of audio differences between the two CPUs. So far, Image Fight is the only game that I have found that benefits from the CPU revision.

Rondo of blood may be a problem since it was a Japanese only release and has mountains of Japanese text and speech.

Also, how much storage space will this system have? CD games require upto 700mb each. The SNES mini only had a 512mb nand.

@carlos82 It may not be on any edition given it was a CD based game. It all depends on if the emulator Konami uses only supports Hucard games on this or not.
But even if it does not have Romeo of Blood, the TG16 had numerous other classic games.

Bashing this system for not having Rondo is like bashing the Genesis mini for lacking Sonic CD.

Both the Sega CD and Turbografix CD both used their own operating systems and the games are much larger then cart or Hucard games. Emulating them requires a separate solution and opens another can of worms.

Anyone who wants Rondo, don't get your hopes up. Maybe Konami will make it happen, but if it does not then there are other classic games on the Turbografix 16

@retro_player_22 Hudson and NEC both co-developed the Pc Engine/Turbografix 16 and it was Hudson who came up with the Hucard format which was an evolution of their Beecards that they used on Japanese computers like the MSX.

@Caryslan Ys 1&2 is a CD based game so we can safely say that emulating CD titles will not cause issues.

The only issue like i said above is how much storage space will this system have since CD titles take upto 700mb each.

I reckon it will probably have a 2 or 4gb NAND (enough room for 2 or 4 CD games plus as many HuCards as they wish)

This will be my first mini system, as I have tons of nostalgia for TG-16. These games haven’t been sold to us over and over either, so it’s a great chance to play them again. Even back in the day the best games were generally the ones I imported from Japan though. I’ll have to wait and see what the lineups are (maybe I’ll get both).

This clearly won’t sell anywhere near what the Nintendo systems did, probably not as well as Sega either. I think the smartest move they could make would be to give this thing internet connectivity and a store from which to buy new roms. I’m sure it won’t happen, but I can dream.

@X68000 A lot of the space for the CD games comes down to uncompressed CD audio. I would bet they compress those tracks to save space.

@Caryslan it says right there in the article that it'll be on the Japanese version and as one version already has it, its nothing like bashing the Genesis mini for not having Sonic CD as it has no Mega CD games. I'm not even bashing the system, just the stupid decision not to bring it worldwide if that's what happens. Sure there are plenty of other games but this one is synonymous with the system

@Joekun They could probably convert them into MP3 and easily reduce them down to 120-150mb. I doubt most people would notice the difference in sound quality.

@ilikeike I somehow missed Rondo on Virtual Console (despite going on a buying spree as Wii VC was phased out — including of TurboGrafx titles like Ys, which I am on the precipice of defeating (Darm is tough) — still mad at myself for this), so yeah, if Rondo's not on the Western version, I will be extremely unhappy. And it's inclusion would instantly change this from a "pass" to a "buy" for me (unless it pulls an "Atari" VCS and has a preposterous price point).

But is this a situation where even if that were to be the case (perhaps because of some arrangement with Sony in light of the re-release), silly PAL folks like me might be able to buy the PC Engine Japanese version instead? I don't see why not — though then understanding anything transpiring in the games would be...erm...tough.

This is awesome. Can’t wait for the full games list. So many great titles to choose from, especially as CD games are included

wait...their not very mini the PC Engine consoles, are pretty much the same size as these in the screenshot lol

I will wait to see some reviews and if there are more games. I have enough to buy now after day 1 of E3.

@Caryslan Thanks for the info, I was wondering why Hudson had so much support for the Turbo Grafx-16, never thought they had more to do with that console than the NES, Super NES, and Genesis.

Am so excited - this helps scratch that retro itch.

Well this is amazing news. A superb system.

Honestly, I just wish Konami would release a Hudson Soft Classics.

Best system ever. Take my money, Konami. It's all yours.

Who is buying these vastly overpriced consoles, let alone one most people that even owned it give no real $*&#s about.

@carlos82 They need you to buy twice, it was a Japanese only game, go figure it out.

@bound4earth Vastly overpriced consoles? which ones? Turbo Grafx and PC Engine colelcting is huge and it's the low numbers of the systems and games with regard to the Turbo Grafx 16 that make it difficult and expensive to do these days. This will be a huge seller. Maybe even ignorant people like you can now finally enjoy the magic of these systems.........but wai they're overpriced right.

Easily one of the best consoles ever!! Luckily I have a PC Engine Duo R CD-ROM with a great collection of games. Including Castlevania, Lords of Thunder, Gate of Thunder, Soldier Blade, Sapphire which needs the Arcade card. Truly amazing shooters that out gun most on MegaDrive, Snes. If you love 8/16 bit era, buy this incredible machine.

Did Europe/PAL get that Core Grafix console back in the day? I’d always assumed we got the same thing the US got, although I’ve never been that knowledgeable about this console.

The white Japanese PC Engine was the first console I ever bought. It was a grey import, and I only had 3 games... R-Type, Dragon Spirit and Wonder Boy in Monsterland, which was tough to play in Japanese. Great wee console. Can't wait. I still play R-Type (badly!)

Localized Sailor Moon games, please!

The experience was much different here in Chicagoland (for obvious reasons). 1 out of every 4 schoolmates I knew had a Turbografx. About half of those either had a Turboexpress or the CD-Rom attachment. I had a Turbo, but didn't go nuts about it until around the time the PC-Engine Duo RX came about. I had one of those, and eventually a US Turbo DUO (not sure why I had both) and the handheld. I remember checking out Cosmic Fantasy 2 at CES and being blown away at the cutscenes (lolz in hindsight).

Anyway, I find it funny that Konami are putting out a Turbo retro thingy. There was a lot of disgruntled everyone's wondering why Snatcher and Dracula X weren't in the USA. I know that the Castlevania game was during the TTI era, but I still find it amusing that back when NEC were handling the TurboGrafx (and seemingly only marketing it in the neighborhood of their office), Konami was still a hop and a skip away in the Northwest burbs.... yet...

Anyway, I don't know who's end that was on (Konami or TTI/NEC). Of course Midway/Konami employees chatted with the kids and information trickled down, but that one I don't know. The Mortal Kombat exclusive thing, I do remember. Also a lot of "?WTF?" about SFII CE not getting localized.

Bloody Wolf and Splash Lake I would love to see on this thing. I doubt we'll see the latter. Someone brought up Legendary Axe; and that was actually a JVC game. I believe that Marvelous has those IP'S, so cross your fingers that maybe licensing wasn't finalized at E3. If my memory serves me right, I think Legendary Axe II was a bit of weird one. Atlus made it for Victor using a lot of Rastan from Taito and then it turned into a Legendary Axe game here. I think?

Anyway, all I know is, if these mini consoles come out; maybe we'll get some Switch ports?

@ilikeike It does..Isn't that the picture of the cover of that game?

By the way, the full game list is out, and it looks stellar (ugly American that I am, I am providing the TurboGrafx list, but it seems they're the same (or almost the same) from what I've been reading, including tons of Japanese games on the US release): https://www.konami.com/games/pcemini/us/en/