The TurboGrafx-16 never caught on in the West, but its shooter-heavy library and CD-ROM classics hide some of the sharpest 8-bit-adjacent games of the era.

NEC and Hudson Soft released the PC Engine in Japan in 1987 and the TurboGrafx-16 in North America in 1989, aiming between the NES and the 16-bit consoles with a small HuCard cartridge format and a CD-ROM add-on. Sales faded fast outside Japan, so many titles stayed import-only and a few CD masterpieces never left the region at all. Emulators such as Mednafen and Beetle PCE cores handle both HuCards and CD images cleanly, making the library easy to sample without hunting for rare hardware. The picks below cover the platform’s best-known platformers, shooters and CD soundtrack showcases.

Platformers and action staples

1. Bonk’s Adventure (1990). The system mascot game: a caveboy with a headbutt attack, prehistoric stages and goofy enemy designs that doubled as a pack-in favorite. Bonk’s Revenge (1991) and Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure (1993) continued the formula with power-up hats and two-player modes, but the original remains the cleanest starting point.

2. Legendary Axe (1989). A side-scrolling action platformer starring Gogan and his giant axe, with jungle stages, a stamina bar that drains while you move and a moody fantasy soundtrack. The sequel Legendary Axe II (1990) dropped the stamina meter for faster action, and both show off the console’s colorful sprite work.

3. Ninja Spirit (1988 arcade, 1990 North America). A fast ninja action game with eight-direction shuriken throws, swords and scroll stages through forests and castles. It predates the console launch as a Hudson port, and the tight, quick deaths make it a great short emulator session.

4. Splatterhouse (1989 arcade, 1990 TurboGrafx). Horror-themed belt-scrolling brawler where Rick wields a plank, kicks zombies through haunted mansions and navigates dark cinematic rooms. The censorship that cut the arcade version in some ports is part of its odd history, but the core action still plays like a grittier beat-em-up.

Shooters and CD-ROM showcase titles

5. R-Type (1988 arcade, 1990 TurboGrafx-16). The iconic side-scrolling shooter with the Force pod shield weapon, wave cannon stages and the iconic Bydo enemies. The TurboGrafx port closely tracked the arcade design, and memorizing level patterns remains the genre template that later shooters built on.

6. Air Zonk (1992). A cute-cyberpunk horizontal shooter parodying the Bonk mascot, with cartoon enemies, wild weapons and bright chiptune music. The sequel Super Air Zonk: Rockin’-Zonk (1992) added a second player and more stage variety, and the pair remain among the system’s most charming exclusives.

7. Soldier Blade (1992). A vertical shooter from Hudson with weapon selection bars, satellite option units and tight scoring routes. It runs on HuCard rather than CD, but the sprite density and fast scrolling rival arcade shooters of the same years.

8. Ys Book I & II (1989 CD-ROM, 1990 North America CD). A CD-enhanced RPG pair with talking cutscenes, Red Book audio soundtracks and the early bump-attack combat that defined the Ys series. It was one of the first CD-ROM console RPG experiences anywhere, and the music alone still rewards listening.

9. Gate of Thunder (1992, CD-ROM²). A horizontal shooter built to show off the CD add-on’s audio, with orchestral-style music, detailed starship stages and powerful weapons. It was a pack-in for the CD adapter in several markets, which makes it the easiest CD title for new collectors to remember.

10. Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (1993, Japan CD-ROM²). The first Castlevania game built around CD audio and anime-style cutscenes, with alternate routes, stage secrets and the quest to rescue Annette and Maria. It never received an official North American release at launch; later ports reached other platforms, but the original CD version keeps the most faithful stage design and soundtrack.

Where to start emulating the library

PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 ROMsets split into HuCard games and CD images with matching system BIOS files; a good emulator frontend will flag missing BIOS or CHD components on first load. Start with Bonk’s Adventure and Legendary Axe to get the platform feel, move to R-Type and Gate of Thunder for shooting variety, then save Rondo of Blood for a weekend when you want a complete CD adventure. Coin-op cousins of these shooters and brawlers appear in our MAME arcade classics list, and for 8-bit controller setup basics that apply once you move between systems, see our NES on PC beginner guide.