The TurboGrafx-16 seems like it is finally getting some much-needed admiration, almost 30 years after its release. Better late than never, right? Thanks to the TurboGraphx-16 Mini, the pseudo-16-bit console is being seen by an entirely new audience who will get to experience the wealth of quality games the system has to offer.
There is one thing that newcomers to the TurboGrafx-16 fan club may notice, and that is that the system has a lot of shoot em’ ups. So many in fact, that some of the best the system has to offer could get lost in the shuffle. To ensure the best of the best shoot em’ ups are given the chance they deserve, here are ten of the best the genre has to offer on the Turbo Grafx-16.
10 Cho Aniki (1992)
The Cho Aniki series is known for its bizarre Japanese humor, where you fight as and against oiled up muscle men. In Cho Aniki for the TurboGrafx-16, the story centers around Bo Emperor Bill or Botei-biru which is a pun on the Japanese word for bodybuild.
After winning the Great Galaxy Bodybuilding contest, he realizes that he is running dangerously low on protein. So as you can see, the game deals with some hard-hitting issues and will have you thinking about your life long after you put down the control.
9 Spriggan Mark 2 (1992)
Spriggen Mark 2 is a Japanese exclusive PC Engine CD game where you pilot a giant mech. They were trying to go for a dramatic anime feel similar to the Gundam series as the action pauses mid-battle for the pilots to speak.
On top of the added speech, the game also benefits from being a CD-based game by having anime cutscenes riddled throughout the game. Unlike most shoot em’ ups, ammo is limited in Spriggan Mark 2 but you have a cannon, homing missiles, and a beam saber to swap through so you are never left totally defenseless.
8 Psychosis (1990)
Psychosis unique shooter released by NAXAT Soft, who also released the pinball games Alien Crush and Devil’s Crush on the system. The options that follow your ship will rotate your ship 360 degrees as you fly up and down and can be locked in to place to help you plan your attack.
Throughout the game, the world will come apart as you play as if the player’s mind has been taken over and is slowly going insane. As you travel through the conscious and subconscious of the player, you fight to win back their sanity.
7 Star Parodier (1992)
Similar to how Parodius is a parody of Konami’s Gradius series, Star Parodier is a parody of Hudson Soft’s Star Soldier series. The gameplay follows a similar structure to that found within the Star Solider series but with large, bright, colorful, and goofy character design.
You have the option to play as Paro Ceaser from Star Soldier, Bomberman from, well, Bomberman, or a PC Engine that shoots out PC Engine CD discs and PC Engine HuCards. This is a great take on the classic Star Solider formula and is really a super fun playthrough.
6 Air Zonk (1992)
The Bonk series is a trilogy of games on the TurboGrafx-16 that starred Bonk, a young caveboy with a large head that he would attack people with. Bonk was actually intended to be the mascot for the TurboGrafx-16 as he was created by Hudson Soft who had a large part in the creation of the console.
Air Zonk takes the same goofy humor found in the other Bonk games applies it to a shoot em’ up. All of the power-ups turn Zonk, a distance offspring of Bonk, into a variety of weird things, including an oversized missile with Zonk’s head still present.
5 Lords of Thunder (1993)
Lord of Thunder was developed by Red Corporation and Hudson Soft, the company behind many of the great games on the TurboGrafx-16. Being a CD game, Lords of Thunder has awesome anime cutscenes and some great heavy metal music that really gets your blood pumping and is streamed straight from the CD.
You play as the knight Duran who can pick from one of four armor types all based on the elements: wind, earth, water, and fire. You have six levels to choose from, all of which are also based on the elements.
4 Forgotten Worlds (1988)
Forgotten Worlds is a Capcom shoot em’ up that started off as an arcade game but was later released to the Sega Genesis, Sega Mark III, the PC Engine, and more. The game stars two nameless supersoldiers who are on a quest to defeat Bios and the eight evil gods.
Rather than just being able to shoot the right like most other horizontal shoot em’ ups, Forgotten Worlds allows you to shoot in all eight directions. You also have the option to upgrade your muscley character mid-level with gems you obtain after defeating enemies. This game is currently not on the TurboGrafx-16 Mini’s game lineup.
3 Blazing Lazers (1989)
Blazing Lazers, known as Gunhed in Japan, is based on a Japanese movie of the same name. The game was developed by both Hudson Soft and Compile and plays similar to Compiles Aleste series with eight different power-ups with different colors and numbers to differentiate them.
When you collect more than one of the same power-up, the adjacent power-up becomes more powerful. Your power-ups are also tied to your health so the more damage you take, the more your power will decrease and once you are hit at your base power, you die.
2 Magical Chase (1991)
Magical Chase is a colorful shoot em’ up starring a witch with 2 stars for options that can be aimed in any direction and locked in place to take out enemies that come from different angles. There are small shops manned by a dapper pumpkin who will sell you wares for improving your attack, giving the game some light RPG elements.
All of the nicely detailed sprites and well-detailed enemies may lead you to believe that this is a CD-based game but it is all run off of a HuCard, making it an excellent display of what the TurboGrafx-16 can do. This game is currently not on the TurboGrafx-16 Mini’s game lineup.
1 Soldier Blade (1992)
The final Star Solider game released on the TurboGrafx-16, Solider Blade is an overhead shoot em’ up developed and published by Hudson Soft. It is the follow up to Final Solider, which as the name implies, was suppose to be the last Star Solider game on the console.
Luckily, they decided to make one more and put their all into it because Soldier Blade is easily the best Star Solider game. Unfortunately, the series has seen little re-released since its original print but Solider Bade was thankfully included in the recently released TurboGrafx-16 Mini.
NEXT: 10 Games for the Turbo Grafx-16 That Stayed In Japan
