Neo Geo Special.
Danny
Okay so recently there has been a lot of buzz around SNK’s old 24-bit system thanks to the fact that some of its games are appearing in the current generation of video gaming consoles. This is thanks to cheap downloads via some online service or another and generally everyone is grateful for it.
So what games would I recommend for the system? What games would I ideally want to be ported over? Well here are the ten games you definately must check out by hook or by crook. You won’t regret it!
SNK’s crossover fighter was not the first ever crossover fighting game made. That honour belonged to Technos’s Battletoads vs. Double Dragon which was made back in 1992. Saying that, it does not stop it from being one of the most iconic series in SNK library and also one of the most revolutionary fighting game series to date.
The reason for picking this one over King of the Fighters 2002? Well it’s easier to get in to and I prefer the character roaster over 2002’s as well. Also there is the general feel of the game. It just feels a lot more polished and tighter than a lot of SNK’s later entries in the series. It’s the last game in the series were you could see your fighters cheering you on as well, I always thought that was a nice touch. If you miss out on this then your not really a gamer, enough said!
Really, really bizarre fighting game this. Essentially this is the really wacky fighting game that pretty much every console has to have. It’s a fairly recent entry to the system compared to a lot of the other fighting games and it shows because the animation and sound on this game is just simply jaw dropping when compared to some of SNK’s earlier efforts.
This is probably the only game in history were an old lady can easily deck some Ryu/Ken knock off and steal his youth by kissing them. The characters are incredibly wacky and there move sets also reflect this, most of which are completely different to those standard Street Fighter II knock offs that plagued the arcades in the mid nineties. You seriously should just check this game out as it’s one of the fun and funniest fighting games you’ll ever play.
Remember NBA Jam? Well Data East obviously do because Street Hoops (also known as Dunk Dream) is rather a lot like it but it’s a 3 vs. 3 affair this time and it’s national teams now. While this game does lack in originality somewhat being a near carbon copy of Midways classic arcade title but what it does it does better than Midways game could ever manage.
The game’s presentation is wonderful (I bet you’ll be singing along to the game’s urban-themed music as well!) and it probably the best thing about the game just after the gameplay which is tight as hell. Playing this with friends is normally a tense affair and I can testify to this as we normally break this game out for our huge multiplayer gaming sessions. Still very playable today so I would strongly suggest checking it out now!
Personal favourite of mine and a friend on mine called “Lister†because we used to play this all the time on MAME before I actually got a hold of a copy for real on the MVS. These days Lister don’t come around much due to the fact he lives further away from my house now by the memories of our epic battles in this titanic arcade sports title.
The feel of this game is vibrant and colourful and so is the presentation which is odd considering this is a very early SNK game. The expression on your guys face as the ball rolls down the alley is just classic and will remain with me to the day I die most likely. The game plays really well and pretty anyone can pick up and play this game and know what the hell is going on. Defiantly one to play with your friends or while taking a coffee break.
Metal Slug X is in fact Metal Slug 2.5 and was created to fix all the faults (mainly slowdown issues) with the original title. It also added numerous new features to the game like new super weapons and vehicles which are just awesome. Like I said everyone has their favourite Metal Slug game and you’re looking at my favourite right now.
With a decent amount of levels, zany enemies and the feeling that the game is not trying to cheap you out of victory at every turn Metal Slug X is what Metal Slug 2 should have been. Saying that most people who are reading this have probably already have played this but it’s worth putting in just encase anyone somehow managed to miss it and it’s now easily obtained thanks to Metal Slug Anthology.
Probably one of the best games I have ever played without a shadow of a doubt. The original Shock Troopers (that’s right the sequel was a tad shit!) was to Commando games what Metal Slug was to Contra, a very big step in the right direction in the series but was drowned out by the aforementioned series of games.
With vibrant animation, beautiful graphics and wonderful plus the added bonus of having three choices of routes, eight characters and a unique tag in system which was much like the Capcom Vs. series. Shock Troopers deserves to be recognised as one of the very greatest Neo Geo games ever made. It’s a shame that not more people know about it really and again it’s all thanks to Metal Slug which does share some similarities with this game despite it being made by two completely different companies.
If there was an award for most overlooked shoot-em-up ever made on the Neo Geo then this would not win it. While it’s not all that popular Blazing Star did manage to obtain a cult following of its own thanks to the magic of emulation but alas to late to stop the company going down the tube, shame.
Still what we have here is one of the finest examples of a horizontal shooter anyone has ever made. The presentation is wonderful, the levels are laid out beautifully and you get a real varied selection of aircraft to control including the aircraft and pilot from Yumekobo’s previous title (which was a spiritual squeal to R-Type) called Pulstar. All in all you can’t really call yourself a gamer till you have at least tried this game out by any means necessary.
The first ever Neo Geo game I played in the arcades and was what made me get in to the system. The main distinguishing feature about Viewpoint is low and behold the Viewpoint on which the player viewed the action. While the gameplay was fairly standard is did have some very nice touches to it and the levels are very well designed as are the bosses which kick my butt every single time.
While this game was made in 1991 by Atlus the game still looks, plays and sounds just a lovely even today with it’s weird pre-rendered isometric 3D vibe it’s got going on for it. While the game is hard is not unfair although sometimes the Viewpoint of the game can annoy especially when you are trying to dodge complex bullet patterns. Saying that this game is still one of my very favourite Shmups and I urge all of you to go out and play it.
Magical Drop 3 is one of my favourite puzzle games of all time, there I freaking said it. It has a ton of charm, is fast paced and it’s great to play with a couple of friends while getting drunk or whatever you young people like to do these days. It kind of plays like any other “match three†puzzle games but because you are constantly pulling and pushing the gems (‘drops’) it means if there is a screw up it’s your fault so it’s up to you to make sure you manage the drops properly, awesome!
While the gameplay is great what really sets this game out is the presentation of the package. The animation of the characters is just awesome but make sure you got the BIOS settings set to Japanese otherwise you will get the ‘CUT’ version of the game which is missing voice acting and more importantly game modes, defiantly one to check out.
Part vertical shooter part Vs. puzzle game like Magical Drop 3, Twinkle Star Sprites can be described in one word awesome! The Idea of the game is simple, shoot the enemies who come down in a Galaga style fashion and start chain reactions. The bigger the chain the better the attack on the opponents you’ll create which include shmup style Boss Attacks if you get a huge chain.
While this game does have a decent enough single player experience hidden away in it, it starts to become very annoying around about the time you meet the end of level boss. You see there dodging skills are just insane and I am not kidding I spent twenty minutes trying to kill the end of game boss the other day because she would just not stay still. Saying that this is definately one of the more original titles on the Neo Geo and I urge you check it out.