NEC's console was called PC Engine in Japan and TurboGrafx-16 in America. It was small, fast, and the first console with a CD drive, an add-on that gave it hundreds of CD games. Two other machines followed: the SuperGrafx (1989), with more power, and the PC-FX (1994), built for games full of animation.
We have about 190 TurboGrafx-16 games, about 350 TurboGrafx CD games, 5 SuperGrafx games and about 60 PC-FX games on My Abandonware.
Emulators
Mednafen runs all four machines and is the accuracy reference. Geargrafx is easier to use for the console and its CD games, on Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Mednafen (Windows, Linux): emulates the PC Engine, the CD add-on, the SuperGrafx and the PC-FX. It has no menus: you start it from the command line, or through RetroArch, where its cores are called Beetle PCE, Beetle SuperGrafx and Beetle PC-FX.
- Geargrafx (Windows, Mac, Linux): a recent, very accurate emulator of the PC Engine, the SuperGrafx and the CD add-on, with its own window and menus. It does not run the PC-FX. Recommended to start with.
- ares (Windows, Mac, Linux) also runs the PC Engine and the SuperGrafx.
Cartridge games
The console's cartridges were flat cards called HuCards. Our HuCard games are small files, under 1 MB: open the .pce file in the emulator and the game starts. Nothing else is needed.
A Japanese PC Engine game runs on an emulated TurboGrafx-16 and the other way round, because the machines are the same inside. Only the shape of the card changed, so the emulator does not care.
The 5 SuperGrafx games are also .pce files. Mednafen and Geargrafx find the machine by themselves; in RetroArch, use the Beetle SuperGrafx core, or turn on its "force SuperGrafx" option.
CD games and the System Card
CD games need the System Card, the BIOS of the CD add-on. The file is usually named syscard3.pce, and it runs almost every CD game, old or late.
Open the .cue file of the disc, not the .bin, so the emulator finds the music tracks. Put the System Card where your emulator expects its BIOS files: see our page about BIOS files.
A few late games, marked "Arcade Card", need a second card that added memory to the console. Emulators emulate it: turn the Arcade Card on in their settings if such a game stops at a message.
PC-FX games
The PC-FX was NEC's last console, sold in Japan only, and most of its games are Japanese adventures and animation-heavy titles. Its discs are big: 300 to 650 MB each.
Only Mednafen runs the PC-FX, alone or as the Beetle PC-FX core in RetroArch. It needs the console's BIOS, a file of exactly 1 MB named pcfx.rom, or the emulator refuses to start. Open the .cue file of the disc, as for CD games. Some of our games hold several discs: change the disc in the emulator when the game asks.
I need help!
We do not provide support for running abandonware games. The PC Engine scene is small and friendly.
PCEngine-FX is the main English forum for every NEC console, with a busy part about fan translations. The Mednafen documentation lists the BIOS files and the settings of each machine.
Checked in October 2026 against each emulator's own documentation and, where it exists, its source code. Game counts and file sizes come from our own catalogue. These guides were drafted with the help of an AI assistant and checked by hand before publishing. If something here is out of date, tell us.