Good (non 2 player vs. fighting) NEO GEO games?

[Crazy Climber]

I've been pondering a NEO GEO console purchase for a little while now (Always wanted one back in junior high but it was $600.00!! Ouch) I can actually get one at a decent price now but a lot of the games are still outragous, especially the beloved Metal Slug franchise (just wait for the Wii to release the anthology I keep telling myself) I guess what I'm getting at is does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions for must buy games that aren't 2 player fighting and can be found for under 100 bucks. I know they released a lot of cool games besides King of fighters, any ideas? I'm kind of partial to side scrolling beat em ups, war games, platformers, shooters I guess anything but vs. fighting (Got way to many of those already) Also anyone remember a first person view game on the NEO GEO that played kind of like 007 on the 64? That was a cool one that I'd love to get. Thanks for the help everyone.

[sega saturn x]

If you don't like fighting games don't even bother since they make up like 80% of the systems library.

[Crazy Climber]

If you don't like fighting games don't even bother since they make up like 80% of the systems library.

It's not that I don't like them, I just own a lot of them on the Xbox already (SVC Choas, KOF, Samurai Showdown) I was hoping there was a few good side scrollers to help justify buying it.

[MCHufnagel]

I've been pondering a NEO GEO console purchase for a little while now (Always wanted one back in junior high but it was $600.00!! Ouch) I can actually get one at a decent price now but a lot of the games are still outragous, especially the beloved Metal Slug franchise (just wait for the Wii to release the anthology I keep telling myself) I guess what I'm getting at is does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions for must buy games that aren't 2 player fighting and can be found for under 100 bucks. I know they released a lot of cool games besides King of fighters, any ideas? I'm kind of partial to side scrolling beat em ups, war games, platformers, shooters I guess anything but vs. fighting (Got way to many of those already) Also anyone remember a first person view game on the NEO GEO that played kind of like 007 on the 64? That was a cool one that I'd love to get. Thanks for the help everyone.

I'm with sega saturn x on this one. If you don't want anymore fighting games don't bother. I play via emulation and maybe you should too, just to get an idea about what is available. There are some good shooters and some other run 'n gun games beside Metal Slug. If you're looking for shooters, get a Saturn. Plenty of good ones there.

I think the game you're talking about is The Super Spy. A first person game.

[+FujiSkunk]

Aero Fighters 2 is a decent vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up, though personally I think the Raiden games from the same time period are better.

Edited August 17, 2006 by skunkworx

[JB]

Also, the MVS arcade carts are supposed to be cheaper than the console ones. An adapter to play MVS carts in the home system is available cheap(since all it does is rearrange the pins...).

[Jess Ragan]

Don't buy one. The Neo-Geo is for collectors only. As I said in another thread, the console is a money pit. Games are at the very least $25, and accessories (even basic necessities like a power supply) are both costly and difficult to find.

 

You're much better off just emulating the games on a Dreamcast, PSP, or PC. There are some fine games on the Neo-Geo, but there's no sense in wasting all that cash when there are far more cost-effective ways of playing them.

 

For instance, Twinkle Star Sprites was officially ported to the Sega Dreamcast, and this versus shooter (think Raiden meets Bust-A-Move) runs much more smoothly on that system.

 

JR

[AlexKIDD]

while i agree that the system and games can be a waste of money you wanted suggestions so here's a few:

 

magician lord: maybe my favorite neo-geo game, a unique side scroller with great graphics and sound, you can change into a dragon and a ninja and something else i believe

 

cyber-lip: a metal slug style run and gun game , i think you'll enjoy it if you like metal slug, only bad thing is there's no diagonal shot

 

ghost pilots: one of the few shooters that won't cost you too much, like a nice 16-bit version of 1942

 

blue's journey: a good mario/bonk style platformer

 

sengoku: a series of beat 'em ups, there's 3 of them, i like the second one the best

 

crossed swords: a first person hack and slash

 

baseball stars 2: my favorite arcade style baseball game

 

i know you said you don't want fighting games but if you don't already have samurai shodown 2 for something i'd highly recommend it. i'd say most or all of the games i mentioned are under $100

[sega saturn x]

You can find cyberlip pretty cheap but there's a reason. It's REALLY mediocre, and you can beat it in under a half an hour.

[kevincal]

I always find it funny when everyone claims how much cheaper the MVS is compared to the AES...It's not really. I got a boxed Jap AES (Neo's aren't region coded) and I have 10 games, 6 are CIB, and a memory card. All of that cost me about $400 on eBay INCLUDING shipping. Games include Baseball Stars, Magician Lord, Riding Heroes, Samurai Spirits (Shodown), Fatal Fury 1 and 2, Top Players Golf, Blue's Journey, Super Baseball 2020 and Nam 1975.

 

Now, an MVS cab or home-made MVS system will set you back MUCH more (hundreds) than an AES system to begin with. And surprisingly enough, a lot of games are MORE EXPENSIVE on the MVS than the AES AND they are much uglier with no box or manual most of the time...

 

Of course, some of the more popular games like the newer Neo fighting games and the Metal Slug series ARE considerably cheaper on the MVS, but still, there are many fun and affordable games to be had on the AES that aren't fighting games.

Edited August 17, 2006 by kevincal

[JB]

I always find it funny when everyone claims how much cheaper the MVS is compared to the AES...It's not really. I got a boxed Jap AES (Neo's aren't region coded) and I have 10 games, 6 are CIB, and a memory card. All of that cost me about $400 on eBay INCLUDING shipping. Games include Baseball Stars, Magician Lord, Riding Heroes, Samurai Spirits (Shodown), Fatal Fury 1 and 2, Top Players Golf, Blue's Journey, Super Baseball 2020 and Nam 1975.

 

Now, an MVS cab or home-made MVS system will set you back MUCH more (hundreds) than an AES system to begin with. And surprisingly enough, a lot of games are MORE EXPENSIVE on the MVS than the AES AND they are much uglier with no box or manual most of the time...

 

Of course, some of the more popular games like the newer Neo fighting games and the Metal Slug series ARE considerably cheaper on the MVS, but still, there are many fun and affordable games to be had on the AES that aren't fighting games.

To be fair, I didn't say get an MVS cab, or board and TV adapter. I said get a cheap cartridge adapter to plug MVS carts into the AES.

 

 

I wasn't aware the MVS cart prices had spiked. Last I'd seen, they were usually far cheaper than AES carts.

[+Cobra Kai]

The Neo Geo is not 80% fighting games, ssx is on this anti-SNK kick lately, most of what he has to say about the Neo is rubbish. I have 15 AES games myself and only 2 of them are vs fighters. In fact people who don't even own the machine in any format and think it's mostly fighting games aren't qualified to opine about it. Sorry.

 

The Neo has a nice selection of shmups, there's a good fanmade video of all the shmups on the system here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=54...o+geo&hl=en . Certainly not the best selection overall, but there are some gems in there like Blazing Star, Pulstar, Sonic Wings 2 & 3, Strikers 1945 Plus, Prehistoric Isle 2, and Viewpoint.

 

There's plenty of run-n-gun action with the Metal Slug series, which is best obtained on MVS format. The Shock Troopers series (1 & 2) is an awesome upgrade on a genre that saw success in the 80's with games like Ikari Warriors, Time Soldiers, and a little later: Mercs. Shock Troopers is an MVS only title, unless you get a conversion which I have.

 

There's some good racing games in the rally genre(think Great 1000 Miles Rally) called Driftout and Overtop, which really are great games, but again they are MVS only unless you get a *special homecart made.

 

Some of the older games are cheaper to obtain, but they do lack the quality of the later games and particularly show their age. Some are still fun though, I like Nam 1975, King of the Monsters, Samurai Showdown 2, Football Frenzy, Baseball Stars 2, Magician Lord. Cyber Lip is one of those early games and while its fairly cheap(~$70), there's really no need to get it if you can get Metal Slug on MVS for the same price, as MS is just the far superior game without question. I found that I had fun with Cyber Lip until I played Metal Slug, after which the former became obsolete and useless IMO.

 

Fighting games are a big part of the system no doubt, and there are some real fun ones on there, but I'm not a big fan of vs. fighters myself, and I still found the NEO to hold alot of non-fighter gems that warrant owning it. That's because I don't do the emulation thing though. Of course I could just steal all the roms and play them for free but that's not my demeanor. Due to the cost of everything involved with Neo Geo it does cater more to a collector, but that is often used a derogatory way to say that people who own it aren't gamers which is the opposite of the truth.

 

The home system is cheaper to START with, but once you decide you want to get the really good games it becomes restrictive in price. And you will want the good newer games because the cheaper ones for the most part are the really old ones that just don't keep your attention. The MVS(arcade) stuff is more expensive to start because if you want a cabinet you will spend quite a bit either buying a fully functional unit, or spend alot of money making a worn out unit fully functional. But the games generally are cheaper and easier to find, plus I've mentioned a few times that ALOT of the good games were only available on the MVS format.

 

Crazy Climber, if you are from Minnesota like your profile says, there are actually quite a few Neo gamers in Minnesota that have frequent gaming gatherings. You could always get involved over at www.neo-geo.com

Edited August 17, 2006 by Gunstarhero

[Crazy Climber]

The Neo Geo is not 80% fighting games, ssx is on this anti-SNK kick lately, most of what he has to say about the Neo is rubbish. I have 15 AES games myself and only 2 of them are vs fighters. In fact people who don't even own the machine in any format and think it's mostly fighting games aren't qualified to opine about it. Sorry.

 

 

Crazy Climber, if you are from Minnesota like your profile says, there are actually quite a few Neo gamers in Minnesota that have frequent gaming gatherings. You could always get involved over at www.neo-geo.com

I checked out that awesome site last night and all of this combined has convinced me to buy one for sure. I wanted one really bad back in 89 or so but they were very expensive for a 13 year old kid at the time. I would play the MVS systems all the time at this bowling alley by my house dreaming of the day I would own one. Well something happened over the years and I forgot about the NEO GEO but after researching it I want it just as bad now as I did then. I have always been a big SNK fan and this is a way to play a lot of cool SNK games. Plus I've always kind of been the collecting type so I don't mind the strong collector following that goes with owning one. I'm also glad that theres a group here in MN, thats pretty cool man. After reading numerous reviews last night you are right that there is a lot more than Vs. fighting games availible. Even the sports games look cool, Thanks for all the advice everyone and any more thoughts/suggestions are greatly appreciated...I can't wait to buy one now

[BONK]

OK you want Captian Tomada/Blues Journey/Fatal Fury 1 is actually a co-op fighter Prehistoric islands 2/Blazeing star/Magician Lord/Nam 1975/Pulstar/Power spikes/Crowsed Swords theres some more but dont feel like takeing a look at my games. there all space ship shooters/side scrolles o yea and Super Spy

[+Cobra Kai]

If you're serious about diving into the Neo market, consider getting a Consolized MVS unit. It's basically the arcade mother board, the actual hardware that would be housed inside a cabinet, modified with Component, S-Video, stereo outs and Jroc convertor so that it can be used on a television set. You will get the benefits of having access to all Neo Geo games, and also the benefit of the cheaper MVS game prices.

 

If I had didn't already own a Neo home cart system with a bunch of games and had to start from scratch, I would definitely go the consolized MVS route. It's the best of both worlds. Also getting a consolized MVS is cheaper than trying to obtain a full blown arcade cabinet, and takes up about as much space as an Atari 5200.

Edited August 18, 2006 by Gunstarhero

[sega saturn x]

ssx is on this anti-SNK kick lately

I'm not anti SNK hell king of fighters 02/03 has made up 90% of my game playing recently. But you can not argue the quality of the games isn't all over the map. And sadly aside from the kof brand of late their games have sucked some thing awful. And it isn't new snk either, early on their games were trash then they got excellent then they got trashy again. Now it seems like a few of their franchises are making a come back in quality.