Which PC-Engine is right for me?

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Hello! I’m Tama! I usually prefer to play on original hardware when possible and like to have a small collection of physical games whenever I can. Not opposed to emulation at all, but my preference lies in the original hardware and software distribution.
Recently I’ve been learning more about this little fella:

Surprisingly, it was my love for older Mega Drive titles and the Master System that won me over on this guy! As I’ve come to learn though, I’m in a bit of a pickle when it comes to investing in one because of a few key roadblocks:
1) I love the original design SO MUCH! Especially its compact nature, since I have lots of bigger consoles and I’m leaning smaller these days, but also the white colorway is my favorite. However, that model was only ever released with R/F output. I have a CRT, two of them, that would accept that output, but I have half a mind to know that I’d rather use AT LEAST composite.
2) I would love the CD rom unit, since my love of old CD technology outweighs my love of little consoles! However… most drives seem to be dead these days. And paying for a confirmed working one is a whole hassle, with higher prices and headaches since you can’t confirm its operation in person. Also, many of the games for the CD in particular seem expensive. I’d be okay to emulate them, but would I be missing out on a lot of the PC Engine experience by doing so?

I guess I’m just confused on what hardware is right for me. I have a so-so budget for acquiring one, maxing at about $200 for an individual purchase. Thankfully, my list of “I would like to own” games are mostly very cheap, and failing that, common.

I’m open to importing from actual import sites too, if that helps. But, yeah! I’d just like some direction on hardware and, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, inexpensive software that’s fun!

 

[Ferik]

One of the nice things about the CD units is they have no copy protection, so you can just burn discs for them. Might be more economical to just buy a Turbo Everdrive Pro nowadays though, that thing can play CD games without a CD attachment, in fact it can't play them if a CD is attached due to the way the system's bus works.

 

[Deleted member 881671]

Dragon Spirit I play on the PS one this was a Namco collection with a lot of Retro games.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

One of the nice things about the CD units is they have no copy protection, so you can just burn discs for them. Might be more economical to just buy a Turbo Everdrive Pro nowadays though, that thing can play CD games without a CD attachment, in fact it can't play them if a CD is attached due to the way the system's bus works.

That’s actually very funny, but also very informative! I’ll look into that as a future option!

Post automatically merged: Sep 18, 2025

Dragon Spirit I play on the PS one this was a Namco collection with a lot of Retro games.

Just got done playing it on Volume 5 last night lol
I found it fairly hard from that version, so I should test the home port on PC Engine via emulation to see if it’s properly optimized for a home experience. Even a change to screen resolution to better match a standard home monitor would be nice!

 

[TruxtonTatsujin TruxtonTatsujin]

When I imported my white PC Engine it came with the AV Booster.

https://necretro.org/AV_Booster

Used it for a while but eventually upgraded to the EDFX which can output RGB/Component if you have the Retrovision cables. There are a lot of different options for video output through the expansion port.

EDFX

Unless you really like repairing CD lasers I would recommend you just get the turbo everdrive Pro. At this point I wouldn't recommend anyone who uses original hardware to play games from disc, too much of a hassle. Every console has some alternative at this point. I hate hearing people say their system "died" when it's just the laser that burnt out.

 

[qw90700]

Back then I sat down with a tea and Nacho Cheese Doritos™©℗® and researched which PC Engine would be best for me and then after searching for a long time I found out Chinese developing mini-sun, Korean developing a mech unit that can't walk yet, lots of cute cat videos lol and also found about PC Engine Duo-RX to play the entire library that is the most highly regarded console everyone wanna buys. I also found out lots of girls around my town wanna have sex with me!!!! What an amazing internet surfing it was but it felt like One Piece adventure on internet!!!!! lolol

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

When I imported my white PC Engine it came with the AV Booster.

https://necretro.org/AV_Booster

Used it for a while but eventually upgraded to the EDFX which can output RGB/Component if you have the Retrovision cables. There are a lot of different options for video output through the expansion port.

EDFX

Unless you really like repairing CD lasers I would recommend you just get the turbo everdrive Pro. At this point I wouldn't recommend anyone who uses original hardware to play games from disc, too much of a hassle. Every console has some alternative at this point. I hate hearing people say their system "died" when it's just the laser that burnt out.

Lord knows, the day that I get a Satiator will be a beautiful day for my Saturn.

 

[PhrawzT]

Any one that has a connector to attach a graphical adapter to the system would be sufficient. There's a whole bunch of third party adapters like these and they really do make a difference to the picture quality. I got a cheap one from China off eBay and it makes the system look much more colorful and vivid. Definitely get an Everdrive of some sort as games are quite expensive.

 

[NeonKnights]

Make mine a PC Engine GT!

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

View attachment 111967
Make mine a PC Engine GT!

Random observation: the portable PC Engines look similar to mobile phones of the time! I think they have an aerial too, unless I’m misremembering…?

 

[OrionP]

You sound like you have quite a good grasp of things TBH. Like you mention, the white model only has RF, so one of the Core II models (grey with blue or orange writing) would probably be a better option for outputs (unless you get it modded for RGB).

The CD side of things is actually VERY lucrative. It's not like the Mega/Sega CD where there were only a couple of games really worth having. I'd actually argue that the CD has the better game selection. It's easily 50/50 and needs consideration.

Another cheap option is the original ED. The ED Pro allows for CD games to play on the base system while the original ED only plays Hu Cards, however, I think you could probably pick up an original ED for the same price as you'd pay for Bonks Revenge and this would give you access to the full Hu Card library. So even if just to review them and find another few gems for your collection, it's worth a look.

I personally started with the Core 2 but eventually cracked and got into the CD side of things. It's a great system!

 

[Isegrim]

I like Dragon Spirit on the PC Engine over the original arcade. It was more manageable since there seems to be no speed up power ups in the arcade version. When I played the arcade version, there was some places that were really difficult because of the lack of speed whereas it was challenging but feasible and almost relaxing to 1 cc the PC Engine one.

 

[PhrawzT]

You sound like you have quite a good grasp of things TBH. Like you mention, the white model only has RF, so one of the Core II models (grey with blue or orange writing) would probably be a better option for outputs (unless you get it modded for RGB).

The CD side of things is actually VERY lucrative. It's not like the Mega/Sega CD where there were only a couple of games really worth having. I'd actually argue that the CD has the better game selection. It's easily 50/50 and needs consideration.

Another cheap option is the original ED. The ED Pro allows for CD games to play on the base system while the original ED only plays Hu Cards, however, I think you could probably pick up an original ED for the same price as you'd pay for Bonks Revenge and this would give you access to the full Hu Card library. So even if just to review them and find another few gems for your collection, it's worth a look.

I personally started with the Core 2 but eventually cracked and got into the CD side of things. It's a great system!

I still use my original Turbo Everdrive on the US Turbo Grafx 16, but would like to upgrade to the card that can play the CD games and a CoreGrafx system.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I still use my original Turbo Everdrive on the US Turbo Grafx 16, but would like to upgrade to the card that can play the CD games and a CoreGrafx system.

Can a card cover the technology for CoreGrafx? That’s an impressive card!

 

[FrootyLoopsSamurai]

Can a card cover the technology for CoreGrafx? That’s an impressive card!

Do you mean the SuperGrafx? The SuperGrafx has two GPU's instead of one iirc and only has 5 games made for it. The CoreGrafx is just a PC Engine with native composite output and a slightly different CPU depending on the revision. The Turbo Everdrive Pro can't make your PC Engine play Supergrafx games. You need an actual Supergrafx for it. The Supergrafx games aren't worth it imo.

I have a first revision CoreGrafx with TurboED and EDFX. I use composite mainly, but the EDFX enables stereo audio for CD games. It's pretty great having access to HuCard and CD games without having a bulky CD unit or a Duo console. I like the gray and blue styling. The PC Engine Duo does look pretty sick though.

 

[PhaseJump]

Close enough performance, convenient for using real games on modern tvs, and the jailbreak firmware means you don't need to buy an everdrive.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

The Duo R is the best model?