The TurboExpress is an 8-bit handheld game console made by NEC Home Electronics. It was released in late 1990 in Japan and the United States. In Japan, it was called the PC Engine GT, and in the United States, it was named the TurboExpress Handheld Entertainment System. The TurboExpress is a portable version of the TurboGrafx-16 home console, which was released one to three years earlier. When it was first sold, the price in Japan was ¥44,800, and in the United States, it cost $249.99, which is about $620 in 2025.
The TurboExpress had advanced technology for its time. It could play all of the TurboGrafx-16’s HuCard games. It had a color screen that could be seen clearly even in the dark, and it included an optional TV tuner.
The TurboExpress competed with Nintendo’s Game Boy, Sega’s Game Gear, and the Atari Lynx. It sold 1.5 million units, but this number was much lower than the sales of its main competitors. NEC did not gain much success or market share in the handheld gaming market.
History
The TurboExpress had a secret name called Game Tank. A working model was shown in the April 1990 issue of VG&CE. It was finally sold in December 1990 in Japan and the United States. In the United States, its price was temporarily increased to $299.99 in March 1991 because the display cost more to make. Later, the price returned to its original cost of $249.99 and was reduced again to $199.99 in 1992.
Although the TurboExpress had strong technical features when it was first released, it was not widely used by customers. This was partly because NEC had problems with how it promoted the product. The handheld system cost $249.99 when it first came out, which was much higher than the prices of popular competitors. Because of this, it was called the "Rolls-Royce of handheld systems." However, the ability to use the same games as its console version meant that buyers who already owned the console did not need to buy extra games for the handheld, which often saved them a lot of money.
Hardware
The screen size is 66 mm (2.6 inches), the same as the original Game Boy. It can show 64 images (called sprites) at once, with 16 on each line of the screen. The screen can use up to 481 colors from a total of 512. The device has 8 kilobytes (KB) of RAM and uses a HuC6280 CPU that runs at 1.79 or 7.16 MHz, the same speed as the TurboGrafx-16.
The TurboExpress had a backlit display. Nintendo, the leader in handheld gaming, did not offer a backlit handheld until the Game Boy Light in 1998. Its keypad is similar to the original Game Boy, but it includes two "turbo switches" that help players press buttons faster.
Faulty capacitors, a common issue in the early 1990s, often caused sound problems in the TurboExpress, even in new systems. The screen, though advanced when released, had many pixel failures because LCD technology was still new. New systems sometimes had several broken pixels. Text was also hard to read because game fonts were designed for televisions, not small screens. This made some RPGs and adventure games difficult to play.
The TurboExpress uses the same game cartridges as the TurboGrafx-16 home console. Some TurboGrafx-16 games save progress to internal memory in other devices like the TurboDuo or TurboBooster Plus. The TurboExpress lacks this memory and cannot save games in this way. Most games instead use a password system to save progress.
The TurboExpress uses 6 AA batteries and lasts about 3 hours. Other color or backlit handhelds, like the Game Gear (5–6 hours) and the Atari Lynx (more than 4 hours), had longer battery life. Nintendo's Game Boy, which used 4 AA batteries, lasted 12 to 40 hours.
- CPU: HuC6280
- CPU speed: 7.16 MHz or 1.79 MHz (can be changed in software)
- Resolution: 400×270 pixels
- Color palette: 512 colors; 9-bit RGB
- Max colors on screen: 481
- Max sprites: 64
- Audio: 6-voice wavetable synthesis
The TurboLink allows two players to play together. The game Falcon includes "head-to-head" and cooperative modes that require the TurboLink. This feature was also used in Bomberman '93 Com-Link multiplayer. Few TurboGrafx-16 games were designed specifically for the TurboExpress's co-op modes.
TurboVision is a TV tuner that turns the TurboExpress into a handheld television. It was sold for $100 at launch (about $250 in 2025). The device could switch between watching TV and playing games. It had an RCA input for external video signals. However, the tuner only works with analog signals, not digital or HDTV signals. Because of this, the TurboVision is now mostly a collectible item. Its RCA input still works, but the screen's low resolution limits its usefulness.
Reception
Computer Gaming World said TurboExpress is similar to the Game Boy but noted that the NEC handheld uses a lot of power, making players need an AC adapter quickly. The magazine still praised its ability to play TurboGrafx games and said, "seeing this machine work is very impressive."
Entertainment Weekly highlighted the system's 16-bit computer design and the quality of the game graphics. However, it warned that the small screen is not as good for people who are used to playing games on larger screens.