Neo Geo



"Bigger. Badder. Better."

The Neo Geo was a batshit crazy revolutionary idea by arcade developer SNK: an absolute no compromise console, with the same hardware and same games as one of the most powerful arcade systems at the time. Of course this came with a price: $650 for the console and over $200 for each game (for a comparison, the SNES launched for $200 the same year). This also shaped its library, so full of fighting, brawling, and run-n-gunning, but little else (especially, no RPGs at all). But if that was your cup of tea, and you had that kind of money to burn, it would give you the best 2D graphics of any home system.

Getting a hold of its games now can be difficult and even more costly, as the system has a rabid cult following, and some titles are extremely rare. Often the arcade releases (MVS) are cheaper than the home releases (AES), so some collectors buy the actual arcade hardware or an MVS converter. You can get a flash cart like the NeoSD or Darksoft (both with MVS and AES versions). Even at $420+, in the long run that's cheaper than collecting original Neo Geo games. Or you could get a pirate multicart, which is far cheaper, but those are notoriously glitchy.

Of course, most people just emulate it, which is not too difficult. Neo-RAGEX, Winkawaks, and Nebula used to be hugely popular, but haven't been updated in a long time; MAME, FinalBurn Neo, and RetroArch are the usual options for playing Neo Geo games on a PC today.

The list
Neo Geo CD exclusives go on their own page.

Videos
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