15 Curated Videos
Console history documentaries, game longplays, CD-ROM showcases, and import comparisons — the best PC Engine video content on YouTube.
A feature-length documentary exploring the unexpected success of the PC Engine — the technical decisions, the NEC and Hudson partnership, the CD-ROM revolution, and why the console is still remembered as one of gaming’s great might-have-beens in the West.
Shmup Junkie’s comprehensive breakdown of the PC Engine’s Japanese origins. Covers the NEC/Hudson partnership, HuC6280 architecture, the 1987 Japan launch, and the platform’s rapid domination of the Japanese market ahead of the Mega Drive.
The continuation of Shmup Junkie’s PC Engine history. Book II covers the CD-ROM² expansion, the Super CD-ROM² upgrade, the Arcade Card, and the golden era of Japanese CD gaming that the PC Engine uniquely enabled.
Pixel Playback’s account of the TurboGrafx-16 as a North American platform — the neglected console that beat Nintendo’s SNES to market, its marketing challenges against Sega’s aggressive Genesis campaign, and the cult following that emerged in the years after.
itsaPIXELthing’s complete history of both the Japanese PC Engine and Western TurboGrafx-16, covering hardware design, library highlights, and the reasons the platform underperformed commercially while producing outstanding software.
Top Hat Gaming Man investigates the PC Engine’s limited European release — one of the more obscure chapters in console history. The console was available in some European markets under NEC branding, with a library and marketing that remain largely undocumented outside specialist collector circles.
World of Longplays’ complete run through all eight stages of R-Type on the PC Engine. Hudson Soft’s technically astonishing port of Irem’s arcade masterpiece, from Stage 1’s introduction through the battleship encounter and the game’s climactic final stages.
NintendoComplete’s playthrough of Ys Book I & II on TurboGrafx-CD — the 1989 CD-ROM landmark with full voice acting, animated cutscenes, and a redbook audio soundtrack. One of the earliest demonstrations of what CD-ROM gaming could deliver, covering Adol’s adventure through both Esteria and Ys.
NintendoComplete’s complete playthrough of Gate of Thunder on TurboGrafx-CD. Hudson Soft’s 1992 CD-ROM shooter with its famous redbook rock soundtrack, parallax scrolling showcase, and enormous end-stage bosses — one of the platform’s defining technical achievements.
AL82 Retrogaming Longplays’ complete run of Bonk’s Adventure at 60 FPS. Hudson Soft’s mascot platformer in full — all levels, secrets, and Bonk’s headbutting mechanics demonstrated across the game’s prehistoric world. The game that tried to give the TurboGrafx-16 a Mario of its own.
Fred Rojas (ChronCD) delivers an analytical retrospective of Ys Book I & II as a CD-ROM landmark — examining what full voice acting, redbook audio, and animated cutscenes meant for gaming in 1989, and why the game set a template that the CD medium spent years trying to equal.
Project COE’s review of Gate of Thunder for the TurboGrafx-CD, examining Hudson Soft’s shooter as a technical showcase and its significance as a TurboDuo launch title. A critical look at what made the CD-ROM² format transformative for action games.
A comprehensive survey of the entire PC Engine CD-ROM² library — every CD game released for the platform shown in sequence. An essential reference for understanding the breadth of the PC Engine’s CD gaming output and identifying titles for further exploration.
The Laird’s Lair covers the PC Engine’s European chapter — a release so limited and poorly documented that it barely registers in mainstream console history. An investigation into what the console was, where it sold, and what European PC Engine software looks like today.
World of Longplays’ complete run through the first chapter of Ys on PC Engine CD. All dungeons, all bosses, and Falcom’s 1989 action RPG in its definitive form — with the full redbook soundtrack and voice acting that made the CD-ROM version transformative.