Ever heard of a game system called the SuperGrafx? If not, you’re not alone. NEC, makers of the TurboGrafx-16, released this console only in Japan, in late 1989. It was the barest of upgrades — SuperGrafx contained more RAM and a separate video chip, but was in all other respects identical to NEC’s other platform.
SuperGrafx was a dismal failure.
Nowadays, the conventional wisdom is that you don’t release a new videogame console until you can provide a giant leap over your previous one. But we only have that conventional wisdom because of missteps like the SuperGrafx. And for a videogame collector, there’s nothing quite like owning a bizarre and obscure piece of the industry’s sordid past. So on my recent trip to Tokyo, I collected all of SuperGrafx’s games, and Wired magazine’s Chris Baker and I sat down to play them all on this week’s episode of Game|Life the Video.
We played:
Battle Ace (Hudson Soft), a mediocre 3-Dish shooter that every SuperGrafx owner has because it’s dirt cheap, about 10 bucks in any Akihabara store;
Daimakaimura (NEC Avenue/Capcom), aka Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, the game that every game platform is required by Japanese law to have a version of;
Madoking Granzort (Hudson Soft), a ridiculous game based on a ridiculous robot-suit anime that no one has ever heard of;
Aldynes (Hudson Soft), a horizontally scrolling shooter where you die a lot;
1941: Counter Attack (Hudson Soft/Capcom), a pretty cool version of Capcom’s series of games based on a war Japan lost; and
Darius Plus (NEC Avenue/Taito), a shooter for the TurboGrafx that features upgraded visuals when inserted into the SuperGrafx’s loving arms.
As always, if you’re having trouble viewing the embedded video above*, this week’s episode of Game|Life the Video is also available on Wired.com’s YouTube channel and on iTunes.
*Although you’ll notice our brand-new, hopefully improved player!
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