1987!

So I did end up buying R-Type for TurboGrafx 16... And Shinobi for PC Engine. I looked into Japan-to-North America converters, and it seems to be much cheaper to just get a PCE. Most of the PCEs I could find, however, were starting around $80! Off to craigslist, where I found a nice little PCE lot for $75 even. I got the console, an AV Booster, power adapter, a/v cables, two controllers, and seven games (Bloody Wolf, Dungeon Explorer, Legendary Axe, Mr. Heli, PC Genjin, Ultimate Heli, and Wonder Boy In Monster Land). All told, similar bundles go for over $250 on eBay! It wasn't an official NEC power adapter and both of the controllers were TurboGrafx 16 TurboPads, unfortunately, but one of the TurboPads has a PC Engine controller plug on the end... Weird.

Anyway, Shinobi on PCE is great, and a few of the games I got are pretty sweet (specifically, Mr. Heli and Ultimate Heli); none are bad, either, which is swell because there're so many horrible PCE games :)

Oh, and I finally found out what the "Vol.xx" numbers on Japanese PCE games mean! Someone told me they were greatest hits re-releases, but I've since uncovered that they're actually release order numbers specific to different publishers and that not all publishers used them.

One last thing: My friend insisted on lending me his PCE game collection as well as his PC Engine CD-ROM², CD-ROM² interface, and all of his CD-ROM games. He has some cool stuff like Fighting Street, Red Alert, Y's I&II, and a few more, but most of them are better on other systems or unplayably Japanese. I'll be giving it back to him shortly ;)