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[VGEsoterica]

I admit my love for Neo Geo is totally fueled by nostalgia and questionable financial decisions but can you really put a price on love? (you can...and its not a fun number haha) Because damn it I love everything SNK did with Neo Geo.

If you were alive back in the 90s and gaming you might remember the Neo Geo from arcades, from ads in magazines...or if you had a really rich friend maybe from their house. But if you even remotely walked past an arcade in the early to mid 90s you saw a Big Red Neo Geo cabinet that was either a single game, a two/four or six slot MVS setup. Basically a genius design on SNKs part as it kept operator costs down by allowing multiple multiple games to live in the same floor space as a single cabinet.

But no arcade board gave us as many amazing franchises and hits than SNK did. Sure there could be an argument for Capcom CPS or CPS 2 but for my money the Neo Geo gave us more (feel free to disagree in the comments...spicy hill to die on...I know)

King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Puzzle Bobble, Art of Fighting, Metal Slug...the list just goes ON and ON. Sure they've gotten silly expensive in later years and I really dont recommend ANYONE get into collecting for the console today...but damn it those AES games on a shelf just look so damn good.

Sadly SNK couldn't keep the monentum going with Hyper Neo Geo 64 but for a minute they were competing toe to toe with the big console companies and doing pretty well for themselves!

So I figured...why not celebrate the Neo Geo. GAF...what is your fav Neo Geo game and when did you first see one in the wild? Because I love hearing top game pics and nostalgic stories

 

[VGEsoterica]

oh and Matrimelee...how could I forget that game

 

[RetroAV]

My only wish was that it received more third-party support. I would have loved to see Konami, Capcom, etc. release games on it.

 

[VGEsoterica]

My only wish was that it received more third-party support. I would have loved to see Konami, Capcom, etc. release games on it.

that would have been fun. Makes sense Capcom didnt but Konami could have

 

[alienator]

Love my MVS system at home , Have a bunch of original carts (Metal slug!!!) , but it hasnt been switched on since i have my Misterfpga and the neogeo fpga core (of which a modified version exists that overclocks the cpu and removes pretty much all slowdown, in all games that have it) , but im drifting off, its an amazing piece of hardware that has a pentagram etched under the Bios chip , and now i understand why, coz its a 2D BEAST.

 

[Putonahappyface]

I wanted one so bad back in the day. I might have been able to get my parents around the price of the console itself, but I had no chance of justifying the price of the games to them.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Nice, will check it out! When's that video on Samurai Shodown RPG coming?

 

[EverydayBeast]

2d looks really bad I’m good with Mario or sonic fine but 3d raised the bar.

 

[RetroAV]

that would have been fun. Makes sense Capcom didnt but Konami could have

Not even! Sure, Capcom could have chosen not to release SF (even though they went ahead and released it on everything else anyway), but why not Mega Man for instance? They certainly could have done that. Anyways, to this day I still wonder what a Neo Geo exclusive Castlevania, Final Fight, or Contra would have been like...

 

[RoboFu]

The coolest thing I like about the neogeo is that there was no background tile hardware. No built in chrmap tile processing like all the other consoles at the time. All the scrolling background tiles are just long strips of tiled sprites. a neogeo sprite can be 16 px wide and as tall as the screen. (the chr tiles are 16 by 16 )

 

[frap]

We need to get Eddie-Griffin in here to defend the Neo-Geo as the best 2D system ever using Legend of Success Joe as his main evidence.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Nice, will check it out! When's that video on Samurai Shodown RPG coming?

December...so a minute

 

[Operations66]

The problem I have with the Neo Geo is that almost all of the games were fighting games, it seemed. There wasn't a great variety of other 2D genres on it, which is a shame given its power.

 

[Klart]

Those NeoGeo games looked amazing when I saw them in the arcade back in the early nineties. When arcade games looked miles better than what you had at home. I am happy I can get them through the Arcade Archives now.

 

[Son_of_Zardoz]

I will forever associate the boot screen/theme with my local theater because they had a Neo Geo cab in the lobby. Was middle school into high school, such good times!

 

[West Texas CEO]

Samurai Shodown RPG translation when?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Awesome system. Still holds up well for the games they make like fighters and metal slug.

 

[Business]

My only wish was that it received more third-party support. I would have loved to see Konami, Capcom, etc. release games on it.

The games ranged from 100 to 300 eur in the early 90's, not adjusted for inflation. It's no wonder support was limited for this insanity.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I will forever associate the boot screen/theme with my local theater because they had a Neo Geo cab in the lobby. Was middle school into high school, such good times!

Every time I smell a chlorinated pool I think of Beast Busters Second Nightmare on the Hyper Neo Geo because I first played it in a hotel game room near a pool in Vail, Colorado

Weird how those memories get formed

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Samurai Shodown RPG translation when?

Someone released some tools to help with the translation, but I'd have to skill up quite a bit to do it. I do hope that this game gets successfully translated at some point.

Like Operations66 said, there aren't a ton of SP, non-fighting games on the NeoGeo, which makes SSRPG all the more fascinating.

 

[DarkMage619]

My only wish was that it received more third-party support. I would have loved to see Konami, Capcom, etc. release games on it.

You can always play SNK vs Capcom. It felt amazing to play with Ken on the Neo.



The Neo Geo is the best 2d system ever.

 

[Quasicat]

When I was in college, the Pizza Hut next door had a four slot MVS machine. I would go in there every day for lunch and get a $4 combo meal and spend the next two hours going through all the games on that system.
This unit had Blazing Star, Puzzle Bobble, Metal Slug, and Samurai Shodown; I played these games so much, especially Blazing Star, that I could run the entire thing on 2 quarters.
As I moved on in life, I was unable to play them on a home consoles until Hamster released them on the Xbox and the switch. Now I have so many Neo Geo games that I’ve double dipped on both so that I can play them whenever I want.

 

[64bitmodels]

Feels like a thread Eddie griffin would make

 

[VGEsoterica]

When I was in college, the Pizza Hut next door had a four slot MVS machine. I would go in there every day for lunch and get a $4 combo meal and spend the next two hours going through all the games on that system.
This unit had Blazing Star, Puzzle Bobble, Metal Slug, and Samurai Shodown; I played these games so much, especially Blazing Star, that I could run the entire thing on 2 quarters.
As I moved on in life, I was unable to play them on a home consoles until Hamster released them on the Xbox and the switch. Now I have so many Neo Geo games that I’ve double dipped on both so that I can play them whenever I want.

I swear Pizza Hut had a deal with SNK. They were always in them. Classic red roof Pizza Hut with a big red cab in them

 

[kunonabi]

Fav Neo-Geo games were Sengoku, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, The King of Fighters 96, Samurai Shodown IV, Shock Troopers, Magical Drop III, League Bowling, and Top Hunter.

Growing up there was actually a store in one of my local malls that sold Neo-Geo games. No clue how he actually stayed in business but on good on him anyway.

 

[TheDreadLord]

I loved the AES. It is so satisfying to hold a cartridge. You really feel you’re getting something for your money. KoF 2002 and RBFFS are my favorites.

 

[The Stig]

We need to get Eddie-Griffin in here to defend the Neo-Geo as the best 2D system ever using Legend of Success Joe as his main evidence.

omg i love this game! never heard of it beforfe thank you for introducing me to it

 

[VGEsoterica]

omg i love this game! never heard of it beforfe thank you for introducing me to it

Legend of Success Joe is, pun very much intended, a legendary Neo Geo game for all the best and worst reasons

 

[The Stig]

Legend of Success Joe is, pun very much intended, a legendary Neo Geo game for all the best and worst reasons

I just watched a playthru. The "story" bits between fights/brawls are hilarious!

edit - the bit where he accidentally killed his last opponent in the ring, cracked me up!

 

[TintoConCasera]

Peak 2D graphics for sure. Imo 3D came in a bit too early, having another gen of 2D consoles with Neo Geo levels of graphic quality would have been the tits.

My only wish was that it received more third-party support. I would have loved to see Konami, Capcom, etc. release games on it.

Yeah. Imagine the games Treasure could have developed for this thing.

 

[RAIDEN1]

It was the only console to bring arcade to the home for a good 5 years..till the Saturn showed up...but even so, money had to be of no object to you in order to play in the "premium ground" when it came to the Neo Geo

 

[TheDreadLord]

It was the only console to bring arcade to the home for a good 5 years..till the Saturn showed up...but even so, money had to be of no object to you in order to play in the "premium ground" when it came to the Neo Geo

Quite a few ports are still better on the NeoGeo. Only on the DC that the difference became minimal.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Preach brother! The neogeo was god like when it came out. I own one now as an adult, but never as a kid back in the 90's.

 

[H4ze]

I wish I would be rich enough to get one. Such a amazing system.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Preach brother! The neogeo was god like when it came out. I own one now as an adult, but never as a kid back in the 90's.

As a kid it was just unobtainable

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

There was a store at the mall by me called Gamer’s Paradise that carried these. It was fun to fantasize about being rich enough to buy one.

Kinda silly but I miss those days when you knew there was some ridiculous cutting edge gaming tech out there that was just out of reach (Neo Geo, arcade machines etc).

 

[Lunarorbit]

I forget how much neo geo was but I wanna say $800 and games were $150-200. I remember just staring at the console at EB wondering who could possibly afford that

 

[VGEsoterica]

There was a store at the mall by me called Gamer’s Paradise that carried these. It was fun to fantasize about being rich enough to buy one.

Kinda silly but I miss those days when you knew there was some ridiculous cutting edge gaming tech out there that was just out of reach (Neo Geo, arcade machines etc).

Yes it was fun when there was exotic hardware that was better than what you had at home. Now it’s all a different version of the same experience

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I didnt play the later games and I wasnt a NG fighter gamer, but Metal Slug, Magician Lord, Nam 75 were my favs. Super Spy in small doses is good too, though when the internet came about I googled the game I never knew how repetitive and long it is. It's a long slog. Anyone trying to finish this in the arcades must be standing there all afternoon popping in quarters. I only saw Crossed Swords at one arcade and that was a good game too.

 

[Comfortgel]

I just got into Neo-Geo this last few years. I have a handful of MVS carts and some 1-slot motherboards waiting to be tested and consolized, as well as the Neo Mini sitting on my desk.

 

[cartman414]

I remember seeing all the rental store VCR tape style boxes with the $249.99 price tags at Babbage's.

Neo-Geo was literally a different beast, not just in terms of graphical power, but in the way it processed data. Like comparing a bear to an elephant.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I remember seeing all the rental store VCR tape style boxes with the $249.99 price tags at Babbage's.

Neo-Geo was literally a different beast, not just in terms of graphical power, but in the way it processed data. Like comparing a bear to an elephant.

I never remember seeing anything Neo Geo for sale myself. Just knowing it existed was the extent for the AES stuff when it was still being sold

 

[spookyfish]

When I set up my PC-modded Arcade1Up, I made sure NeoGeo was well represented. Never had one, so I’m glad to play the games now.

 

[Trunx81]

In Germany, you could only go to the arcades as an adult because of youth restrictions (they always had slot machines as well). So my only possibility to play was on holiday in Italy or Spain. Seldom that they had fighters installed, more like the football games and some shooters. Still impressive graphics. Then I saw to ads for NeoGeo games in my video games magazine and was blow away by the prices. Who in hell could pay that much?

Never owned a NeoGeo, but it was a child’s wet dream. One day, I’ll own an arcade cabinet, that’s what I promised myself.

 

[VGEsoterica]

In Germany, you could only go to the arcades as an adult because of youth restrictions (they always had slot machines as well). So my only possibility to play was on holiday in Italy or Spain. Seldom that they had fighters installed, more like the football games and some shooters. Still impressive graphics. Then I saw to ads for NeoGeo games in my video games magazine and was blow away by the prices. Who in hell could pay that much?

Never owned a NeoGeo, but it was a child’s wet dream. One day, I’ll own an arcade cabinet, that’s what I promised myself.

Wow really? That sucks. Arcades that wouldn’t let kids in. Ouch

 

[Ozzie666]

For me it was Baseball stars, it's squeals and futuristic spin offs. Mind blowing in the early 90's to be able to play those games at home, especially compared to the competition. The early fighting games failed in comparison to the competition. But eventually they found their groove and Samurai Showdown, Last Blade and Mark of the Wolves all topic notch Metal Slug is of course amazing. For me it's really difficult when deciding between the Neo and CPS2 (CSP1 basically the same without protection?). Those classic Capcom beat'em ups, fighters, puzzle fighter and later releases like 1944, Progear. It's very difficult and changes day to day. I think I have to lean towards CPS2, Neo Geo, PGM and Taito F3. But most don't count as home consoles.

 

[VGEsoterica]

For me it was Baseball stars, it's squeals and futuristic spin offs. Mind blowing in the early 90's to be able to play those games at home, especially compared to the competition. The early fighting games failed in comparison to the competition. But eventually they found their groove and Samurai Showdown, Last Blade and Mark of the Wolves all topic notch Metal Slug is of course amazing. For me it's really difficult when deciding between the Neo and CPS2 (CSP1 basically the same without protection?). Those classic Capcom beat'em ups, fighters, puzzle fighter and later releases like 1944, Progear. It's very difficult and changes day to day. I think I have to lean towards CPS2, Neo Geo, PGM and Taito F3. But most don't count as home consoles.

The sports games on Neo Geo are almost all good. Neo Turf Masters still being IMO the best golf game ever made

 

[Team Andromeda]

I love my Neo. Soccer Brawl is one of the best and most overlooked sports games ever made and Last Resort is one of the best shooters ever and the CD music score to that game on the Neo Geo CD utterly incredible

 

[Tarin02543]

I remember learning about the Neogeo on a british tv show in the early 90s, when they showed the gigantic cartridges being pushed into the slot it was like seeing a console from a planet many light years away.