Download Episode 84: “TurboGrafx-16 & PC Engine” here!

It was back in 1989 that NEC and Hudson Soft’s TurboGrafx-16 game console took North America by storm… well, maybe not by “storm.” It was more like a passing shower. But overseas in Japan, the system’s counterpart, dubbed the PC Engine, was taking a large amount of market share away from Nintendo and Sega. On today’s show, Mike and Ed tackle “The Little (PC) Engine That Could,” with Mike sharing tracks from TG-16 games, and Ed rocking out with the best that the PC Engine exclusive titles had to offer. Listen in for some familiar composers and some that might be new to the podcast as the guys explain the hardware, the software, and the marketing behind this cool little console.

Thanks to Alex Messenger, Gene Roberts, and Rebecca Gruber for submitting PixelChat questions. Send YOUR questions for us to answer at pixeltunesradio@gmail.com!

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The Tracklist:

Format: Game Title (System, Year) – Track Title – Composer(s)

1 – Fighting Run (PCE, 1991) – “Dark Street” – Hiroshi Funaba

2 – Somer Assault (TG-16, 1992) – “Gemini (Round 3) and Cancer (Round 4)” – Hidehito Aoki, Katsuyuki Inose

3 – Hana Taka Daka?! (PCE, 1991) – “Shosuke ‘Kame’” – Kinuyo Yamashita

4 – Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu (TG-16, 1992) – “Stage 1-2” – Masakatsu Maekawa

5 – Makai Hakkenden Shada (PCE, 1989) – “BGM 3 (Overworld)” – Shōgo Sakai, Masaaki Iwasaki, Takafumi Miura, Seiichi Hamada, Yūji Suzuki, Yūsuke Takahama

6 – Air Zonk (TG-16, 1992) – “Stage 2 (Brains Town)” – Daisuke Morishima

7 – Jaseiken Necromancer (PCE, 1988) – “Field” – Jun Chikuma

8 – New Adventure Island (TG-16, 1992) – “High Mountain” – Keiji Sakata

9 – Bomberman ‘94 (PCE, 1993) – “Jammin’ Jungle” – Jun Chikuma

10 – Soldier Blade (TG-16, 1992) – “Operation 1” -Keita Hoshi, Makiko Tanifuji

11 – Hany on the Road (PCE, 1990) – “Hany on the Road” – Ako Matsudaira, Yasushi Kawasaki, Junya Kozakai

12 – Neutopia (TG-16, 1989) – “Water Sphere” – Tomotsune Maeno