Bitmap Books just released their first book in 2023, and their next volume in their wonderful Box Art Collection series. This time, Bitmap tackles the beautiful, the mysterious!, the legendary, PC Engine, or TurboGrafx 16 as it was known in America. No retrogamer’s library is complete without at least one of NEC’s consoles released during the late 80s/early 90s. Mastery in the PC Engine/TurboGrafx domain requires a lot of time, effort, and the straight-keeping of numerous facts, but I think anyone who has endeavored to get to really know these platforms and not turn away at their complexity has been blessed by it.
Before diving into this outstanding new book by Bitmap, I just have to share a little anecdote that’s on point and the timing is just one of those coincidences that you’d be hard-pressed to create on purpose, much less have it just work out on its own as it did for me. By this I mean that I literally had my old NEC Turbo Duo repaired by a pro on eBay not even a month prior to being offered this book for review. My Turbo Duo had survived one fully motherboard recap, but it just was not able to read CD-ROM games at all. I could hear the disc spin, but it sounded off and I could never get passed the boot screen — anyway, $100 and three weeks or so later, and my Turbo Duo has not only been restored to fully functional, reading every disc (and Hu Card, though this component always worked) I throw at it, but the pro also replaced the barrel connector AV port with the classic Yellow/Red/White RCA AV ports — and I just couldn’t be happier.
Getting my Turbo Duo repaired last month was really exciting.
You know, I had other options short of repairing the Turbo Duo. I could have just sold it off, or leaned on my TG16 Mini, emulation, or dig out my old TG16+CD kit that is currently in storage (and also in need of repair). But I tell you, the PC Engine/TurboGrafx systems and games just have a mystifying element to them that makes them much more captivating than probably any other platform I can think of. That’s not to say that all the games are great — most ultimately aren’t, and many more need translating for me to have any hope of enjoying them — but there are a lot of exclusive gems, and I just love what NEC did here, even if the marketing and handling of the system and some of its derivatives like the SuperGrafx, were not handled well.
So, story time aside, I was really pleased to get a chance to review Bitmap’s latest that covers many dozens of PC Engine titles in their awesome Box Art Collection format. Last year, I enjoyed reviewing their Game Boy box art book and also their SNES Compendium, too (even though its not in the same series). Between all three of these platforms, the PC Engine is my favorite, though, so I was sure to like this one at least as much as the awesome Game Boy one. Let’s (finally!) take a closer look at what Bitmap offers readers with PC Engine: The Box Art Collection.
Bitmap Books’ attention to detail is outstanding.
There’s a lot to love about how Bitmap goes about their business. The subject material, pricing, the whole ordering process, communication with consumers, and quality of shipping is all market-leading. I always know my Bitmap book is going to come from the mail in excellent condition thanks to the detailed way that Bitmap packs their books, with lots of padding, including emphasis on the corners. Plus, while you’re waiting, the high-quality PDF copy of your book is made available to you to download so that you can start to enjoy your purchase in the digital while the physical part takes care of itself in the post.
One of a few layers protecting the book during shipment.
Cozy corners.
With the digital and physical book now in hand, I was so ready to dive into the world of the PC Engine to learn, reminisce, and find new retro games to play. Before cracking open the book, I took a sec to appreciate the consistent, intentionally-subdued cover art that Bitmap used here. Obviously, the art style here matches that of their other box art books, and for collector’s that’s a plus. Box art is meant to attract the eyes of consumers like a good movie poster. For gaming enthusiasts, I think we all enjoy looking at box art (and a few screenshots) of games; they inspire wonder, memories, hopes, and excitement. For a book about box art, Bitmap could have gone with a very busy cover for itself, but I really like their approach here — the cover art is detailed and high quality, but all-business, saving the eye candy for the pages on the inside. It’s a small thing to point out and you don’t judge a book by its cover, but hey, they’re doing a fine job here nonetheless.
That fresh printed smell emanates strongly from the book as I opened it up and checked out the table of contents, which includes: A Foreward by Paul Weller, The History of the PC Engine, Collector Interview, PC Engine Box Art A-Z, Index, and Credits and Thanks, totaling 372 pages in all. Paul Well is an expert on the subject, being the founder of The PC Engine Software Bible. His memories and appreciation of the PC Engine (which, I learned from him that it actually never got an official release in the UK, I actually did not know that) gets things started off just right. Following that is a captivating fifteen page essay on the history of the PC Engine that is more detailed and informative than anything I have read up to this point. Throughout the essay there are high quality close-up shots of the system and some of its components, such as HuCARDs and controllers (I never knew that the first controller for the system did not have the Auto-Fire switches!). The story starts in the 70s with Hudson’s involvement, through they heydays of its launch on June 30th, 1987, and on through its best years in the 90s, and all the way to the TurboGrafx-16 Mini. Simply put, it’s an excellent read that no fan of PC Engine/TurboGrafx should miss.
This long-form essay on the History of the PC Engine is a great read.
The Collector Interview with Lee Thacker continues the exciting ride of a heavy nostalgia and/or eye-opening trip. Reading about his collection and favorites, seeing some photos of his awesome PC Engine game collection is a treat, as the book then dives into the A-Z of over 300 games. The list of featured games can be found on the store page, but includes a diverse selection of titles including your “must-haves” like Akumajou Dracula X (aka Castlevania: Rondo of Blood), Ys I & II, Winds of Thunder, but others like Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force, Legion, PC Denjin: Punkic Cyborgs (Air Zonk), and Final Blaster that I really want to check out and play now.
Format of the featured games.
Every game featured includes the year it was released, publisher, genre, and format, be it HuCARD, CD-ROM, Super CD-ROM, or SuperGrafx in the case of one of its five released games (Daimakaimura, aka Ghouls ‘n Ghosts). Alongside the beautiful cover art picture is text that provides things like a concise description of the game, interesting history about it, North American versions, artist names, and so on. Additionally, three color photos, one of which being the title screen and two in-game screenshots, are shown to give you that sort of “back of the cover art” quick view into what sort of game and art style it has. These are really helpful and do more for me than the box art itself typically because many of these games I have never heard of and wouldn’t know what they looked like — but with the included screenshots, I can get a pretty good feel for them, and that helps me prioritize what might be worth investigating further and ultimately playing, which is of course the main goal.
Even coming across sports game and other titles that have no interest to me is fun with each turn of the page because you just don’t know what to expect next. The art and the writing is good enough in any event, whether its a dismissible baseball game or what not, to still spend a moment reading about it. On the other hand, I have found over a dozen or so games that I never knew about that have my interest piqued and for those I have been looking into them further, though I’m often left wishing that there was some kind of organized, professional effort to get these Japanese-only games translated and preserved.
In summary, Bitmap Books has another stellar release on their hands with PC Engine: The Box Art Collection. Superb quality printing, professional grade photography, and excellent writing. It’s an informative, nostalgia soaked, and fun trip through one of the absolute coolest console platforms ever released and for anyone with an interest in it, or some of the best box art on any platform ever, I’m happy to recommend this book.
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