Longtime listeners of the show may remember that the noble sport of curling was once something of an ongoing joke with us. It got to the point that Carlson from Mad-Gear sent us each a copy of the DS Curling game just so we could further mock what we called “shuffleboard on ice”. Well my friends, I feel ashamed of our former behavior, for I have finally had a chance to experience this godly game. And it has changed my life.

No, seriously.

A couple weeks ago, I entered the St. Paul Curling Club for an afternoon lesson and game of curling. The largest and longest-running curling club in the country, this place was amazing, giving off the vibe of a cross between luxury bowling alley and an exclusive country club. The lobby was filled with leather couches, flat-screen televisions and a giant fireplace, all facing the glass wall looking out to the play area. It was quite impressive. I was instructed to pick out a broom and head out to the ice.

Once I had my broom, I put on my clean pair of shoes (very important) and made my way to the ice. The room was a comfortable forty degrees with six playing areas in total. The moment I walked through the door and looked to my left, I knew I was in a happy place.

Welcome to the Turbolog, an ongoing series intended to educate Robot Panic readers about the Turbografx-16 and Turbo Duo library. In each entry, I’ll be giving brief information about a game in the Turbo library as well as the game’s rarity and my personal rating, both on a scale of 1-5. We’ll be working backwards alphabetically by title. If you’d like to read all the entries in the Turbolog, simply click the “Turbolog” tag below each article.

Another unlicensed sports title in the Turbo library, World Class Baseball substitutes familiar Major League Baseball teams with the Bangkok Buddhas, Tokyo Ninjas, Chicago Winds, and the Rome Togas. Amusing, yes, but this was no R.B.I. Baseball, which featured recognizable stars like Andre Dawson and Mark McGwire. Nevertheless, the game itself was an above average representation of video game baseball in the late 80s. The Pennant Mode requires players to defeat all sixteen of the team’s leagues before getting to the elusive Turbo Tigers. Most curious is the Watch Mode, which is exactly as it sounds: players sit and watch the computer face off against itself. Thrilling!

World Class Baseball looked slightly better than many of its contemporaries, but lacked the pizazz of the more popular baseball titles of the day. Unfortunately, as it’s the only baseball title on the console, Turbo gamers weren’t left any choice if they wanted to go nine innings.

Rarity/Cost (1-5): * There’s a good chance your local retro game shop has a stack of World Class Baseball HuCards lying around. These things are everywhere, and you should never have to pay more than $5 for a copy.

Rating (1-5): ** World Class Baseball isn’t a bad game by any means. It just wasn’t that great in its day and hasn’t aged very well over time. But if you’re jonesing for a simple old-school baseball game, you could certainly do worse.

Welcome to the Turbolog, an ongoing series intended to educate Robot Panic readers about the Turbografx-16 and Turbo Duo library. In each entry, I’ll be giving brief information about a game in the Turbo library as well as the game’s rarity and my personal rating, both on a scale of 1-5. We’ll be working backwards alphabetically by title. If you’d like to read all the entries in the Turbolog, simply click the “Turbolog” tag below each article.

The “World” sports series continues with World Court Tennis. Billing itself as the “world’s first tennis role-playing game”, WCT is probably the most unique take on Tennis gamers had seen way back in 1989 when it was released. A simple round of tennis could be played in single player or in multiplayer using the TurboTap, but the real meat of the game was in “Quest Mode”. Here, the player needed to go through the equivalent of a Tennis-based Dragon Quest game in order to defeat the evil Tennis King and restore the purity of tennis to the land. Completely cheesy, right? Wrong! It’s absolutely AWESOME!

The game follows all the standard RPG cliches. You wander around town getting hints from NPCs, you buy items and equipment – tennis equipment, of course – from shopkeepers, and when you leave the town you deal with random battles, the difference being that rather than bludgeon enemies with axes and swords, you challenge them to a friendly game of tennis. The best part is that you can choose to decline the challenge and simply move along with your game. It’s all quite charming and corny, and surprisingly enjoyable.

The actual tennis game plays fairly well for a game of its era. Controls are exactly what you’d expect, and if you’ve played a Mario Tennis game, especially on the Game Boy Advance, you’ll feel right at home.

Rarity/Cost (1-5): * As with most of the Turbo sports titles, World Court Tennis is incredibly easy to track down and remarkably affordable. You should be able to pay no more than $10 for a nearly complete copy.

Rating (1-5): **** Well, it’s 8/16-bit tennis, so there’s that. But the RPG segment of the game makes this one a winner. If you’re a fan of Dragon Quest style RPGs and like to throw down with some old-school tennis, World Court Tennis should be right up your alley.

Welcome to the Turbolog, an ongoing series intended to educate Robot Panic readers about the Turbografx-16 and Turbo Duo library. In each entry, I’ll be giving brief information about a game in the Turbo library as well as the game’s rarity and my personal rating, both on a scale of 1-5. We’ll be working backwards alphabetically by title. If you’d like to read all the entries in the Turbolog, simply click the “Turbolog” tag below each article.

The Turbografx had a healthy library of sports titles, most of which were non-licensed garbage. And while World Sports Competition wasn’t exactly garbage, it was basically a generic title for fans of the Olympics. The box promises that you can “create an athlete who runs, jumps, and throws” in eighteen “exciting” events, and yes, some of the events here are actually pretty fun. Developed by Hudson, WSC includes track events, swimming, rowing, and other standard Olympic events and up to five players can compete using the Turbo/Duo Tap accessory.

Beyond that, World Sports Competition is pretty standard fare for the 8/16-bit sports game era, not really excelling in any particular area. But if you’re into busting out classic consoles with your friends, this may not be a bad one to tinker with.

Rarity/Cost (1-5): *
As is the case with most classic sports game, copies of World Sports Competition are plentiful on eBay and most vintage gaming shops. If you look hard enough, you should be able to find a copy for under $10.

Rating (1-5): **
While the single-player won’t knock your socks off, a bit of fun can be had out of the multiplayer. That said, few sports games age well, and WSP is no exception, and what may have been fun back in the early 90s may not hold up so well today.