TurboGrafx-16 Games - ranked by preference

Release Date: February 9, 1989 (JP)
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: Hudson
Genre: Strategy - Turn-Based

Military Madness was probably the best turn-based strategy game to be published in North America for nearly ten years, up until Final Fantasy Tactics was released on the original Playstation. It doesn't have a whole lot of story of it, but the gameplay is fun enough where it really doesn't need one. The gameplay involves battles like Advance Wars, with different vehicles and armies doing different damage on different terrain...Except Military Madness takes place on the Moon. Which is ironic, because from 1989 to 1998, it pretty much eclipsed any other turn-based strategy game found on a North American console.

Release Date: November 20, 1992 (JP)
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: RED Entertainment
Genre: Shooter - Third-Person

Air Zonk mildly reminds me of the Parodius series - a solid, fun, third-person, scrolling shooter with a comical, cartoony touch to it. I like a game that doesn't take itself seriously. Anyway, Air Zonk is the first TurboGrafx-16 game that I ever beat...And I've beaten it more than once. The gameplay is solid, the levels are varied, and each weapon at your disposal is totally unique, both in appearance and in their effects. As far as scrolling shooters go, I easily place Air Zonk near the top of the list of my personal favorites.

Release Date: January 18, 1991 (JP)
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: Now Production
Genre: Platformer

I've spent much more time with the NES version of Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu, but that doesn't mean I enjoy the original any less. The TurboGrafx version is 16-bits, which obviously makes it look better than the 8-bit NES version, but it plays just as nice...Which is a good thing since I consider Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu to be one of my favorite platformers on the NES. Needless to say, it's up there on the TurboGrafx-16 as well.

Release Date: July 20, 1990 (JP)
Publisher: NEC Interchannel
Developer: Compile
Genre: Pinball

Devil's Crush very well might be my favorite video game pinball game. Even to this day, I still enjoy pulling Devil's Crush out and playing a few rounds. The game is technically only one table, but the ball physics are done so well and the environments and challenges are done equally well...Even with just one table, this is a fantastic game. I thought Alien Crush was a decent pinball game, but Devil's Crush is a great one.

Release Date: 1989 (JP)
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: Hudson
Genre: Platformer

When I was a kid with an NES, I recall seeing Bonk's Adventure and immediately asking my parents for a TurboGrafx-16. I never got one until years later when I found one in a thrift store, but my neighbors got one, and through them, I got to enjoy this charming game of a caveman headbutting things and eating lots of meat. Bonk is probably the manliest video game character ever now that I think of it. Anyway, this platformer might be a little slow-paced for some, but I still enjoy it today and remember back fondly on my childhood memories of it.

Release Date: December 26, 1988 (JP)
Publisher: Namco
Developer: Namco
Genre: Shooter - Third-Person

Dragon Spirit plays a lot like most top-down, scrolling shooters in that you collect power-ups that make you more effective as you stay alive. In Dragon Spirit, however, you control a dragon rather than a spaceship or plane, so the power-ups cause the dragon to evolve, sprouting extra heads and the like to increase range and fire power...Which you'll likely need to survive the later levels. If you enjoy scrolling shooters, this game is definitely worth a look.

Release Date: August 10, 1990 (JP)
Publisher: Tengen
Developer: Tengen
Genre: Puzzle

Klax is a unique 3D puzzle game that Tengen pretty much released on just about any console, handheld, or computer that would allow them to publish it on. It's not a horrible puzzle game by any means, but many compared it to Tetris...And there aren't many puzzle games that can be compared to Tetris and still look good. That said, Klax involves you watching tiles make their way towards you and drop down to a little platform. The platform is where you match tiles to make them disappear. It can feel a bit repetitive after a while, but for the most part it's a decent puzzle game worth a try from fans of the puzzle genre.

Release Date: September 14, 1988 (JP)
Publisher: NEC Interchannel
Developer: Compile
Genre: Pinball

Alien Crush was a decent first-effort by Compile to make a pinball game on the TurboGrafx-16. The physics were okay and the one playable board wasn't bad...But it wasn't anything special, either. Compile later created Devil's Crush, improving on pretty much every element of this game...But for what it is, this is still a fairly solid choice if you're hankering for a game of video pinball.

Release Date: April 3, 1990 (JP)
Publisher: Namco
Developer: Namco
Genre: Action - Brawler

The first Splatterhouse is passable as a brawler, but aside from the gore (which is nothing today, but it had some folks up in arms back when it was released) it's not really anything special. It's not horrible, mind you, but better brawlers like Double Dragon had come along before this release, making the gameplay feel a little behind the times. The novelty of gore hid that a little bit back when it was released, but it shows today. You can find brawlers much worse than the original Splatterhouse, but this is one of those games that may not be as good as you remember it being when you were a kid.