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Post by zzz on Oct 29, 2006 5:27:52 GMT -5
This was just going to be about NGPC, my favorite portable console ever, but I decided to also make it about Neo Geo, my favorite arcade hardware system ever. Where to begin about these awesome gaming systems? How about I start with NGPC? My favorite NGPC game is Densha de GO! 2. It is kind of somewhere between Crazy Taxi and a simulator, except with a train. I bet you thought "boring" when I said "simulator" and "train". Do not worry, so did I when I found out about this game. You control a train in this game, but you do not just drive a train from one place to wherever else. You have to control your train's speed and brakes and horn to arrive at a exact location at a exact time. There are many rules preventing it from being easy and it takes constant attention to every aspect of your game. It is very challenging, but in that makes-you-keep-playing-it kind of way. Here are some screenshots: This console had many other good games as well. Two Metal Slugs, eight SNK fighting games, a 2-D Sonic, a Magical Drop, a Puzzle Bobble, a Puyo Puyo, my favorite Shanghai game, a Cotton, Neo Turf Masters, Neo Geo World Cup, Pac-Man, Pocket Tennis Color, Big Bang Pro Wrestling, and there were other interesting stand alone games like... Dive Alert (action/simulation/rpg) www.vgmuseum.com/pics8/diveb.htmlDark Arms (action adventure/action rpg) www.vgmuseum.com/pics7/darkarms.htmlFaselei! (strategy rpg) www.vgmuseum.com/pics8/faselei.htmlAnd where to possibly begin about MVS/AES? There were games that probably everybody here is familiar with like Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Last Blade, Art of Fighting, Puzzle Bobble, Magical Drop, Cyber Lip, SNK VS. Capcom, Matrimelee, Twinkle Star Sprites, Super Dodgeball, Kabuki Klash, and others that were excellent, like Pochi and Nyaa, League Bowling www.vgmuseum.com/images/ng/bowl.htmlNeo Turf Masters www.vgmuseum.com/images/ng/neoturfmasters.htmlNeo Mr. Do! www.vgmuseum.com/images/ng/neomrdo.htmlas well as several other beat-em-ups, sports games, shmups, puzzle games, and fighting games. My most recommended of it's obscure games, however, would be Shock Troopers. This was a AMAZING run 'n' gun series that had two games. I like it's sequel best, but almost everybody prefers it's original. Screenshots from both: Shock Troopers www.vgmuseum.com/images/ng/shocktroopers.htmlShock Troopers: 2nd Squad www.vgmuseum.com/images/ng/shock2.htmlLess generaly speaking, SS, MS, and KoF are probably my three favorite series ever. With a few of these other series for both systems among my favorite aso. We have entries here for a few of these games or series, but what about Samurai Shodown or Metal Slug? Anybody working on those? Anybody else have any comments, general or otherwise, about these two FANTASTIC gaming systems? This was meant to be a general discussion, so any and all comments are welcome.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2006 7:40:41 GMT -5
I couldn't be happier now that I invested in an NGPC. I believe my game tally for it is 13 so far, although if you were to stick me on a desert island with just one game, I'd take along Card Fighter's Clash. ;D
And as for the Neo Geo itself? Well... I wish I owned one. Honestly, I do, but my money is always limited. Still, it has had lots of excellent titles released for it. To say the least, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, Neo Turf Masters, Art of Fighting, Pulstar, Last Blade, Shock Troopers, Waku Waku 7, Super Sidekicks, and a heck of a lot of other games are just made for greatness.
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Post by zzz on Oct 29, 2006 8:26:42 GMT -5
There is always emulation. Both of these systems are worth whatever time it takes looking for emulators or roms.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2006 9:02:41 GMT -5
There is always emulation. Both of these systems are worth whatever time it takes looking for emulators or roms. Indeed, man. I think I have a rom of nearly every NG game there is. I'll kick anyone's ass on netplay in Samurai Shodown! ;D
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Post by ahnslaught on Oct 29, 2006 9:51:00 GMT -5
NGPC is one of the greatest failed systems ever, and until GBA SP came out, was the best handheld system ever. Easily the best control stick (stick? pad? Whatever!) and a great ratio of good to bad games, all or almost all of which are cheap to get (I think Cotton is somewhat pricy? Just guessing, since all Cotton games seem to be for some reason...anyone know why this is?); I think I picked up a new NGPC and 14 games for a total of like $75. I personally love KoF R2 as well as Neo Turf Masters.
In my opinion, the Neo Geo makes almost no logical sense to collect. The prices are just insane for the stuff you get, and more importantly, I think too much of the NG's good games have seen releases on other consoles in cheaper, yet equally good conversions (Metal Slug, major fighting game franchises, etc.). The only genre I can think of that hasn't been done on other systems are the Neo shooters, but MAME takes care of it well and, even if it didn't, it's just not worth it.
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Post by Gilder on Oct 29, 2006 11:18:06 GMT -5
Match of the Millenium: SNK vs. Capcom = greatest handheld fighter ever
zzz: I'm going to have to try out Densha de GO! 2 only because I'm (still in the slow process of) writing a Crazy Taxi article. Sounds intriguing even though I'm not a fan of simulators.
And for MVS/AES, let's not forget about the Sengoku series. Excellent beatemups (although I still have never tried Sengoku 3. Is it any good?)
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Post by ahnslaught on Oct 29, 2006 11:35:09 GMT -5
Gilder, I wouldn't call DDG a simulator by any stretch, since it was also an arcade game like Crazy Taxi. It is much more rigid than Crazy Taxi, though calling it a simulator is like calling Crazy Taxi a sim. BTW, what similarities (if any) do you see between DDG and Crazy Taxi? Just curious because you mention that you want to try it out in prep for a Crazy Taxi article. The only similaries I see are both being originally arcade games, there's a timer, and the obvious public transit angle.
Crazy Taxi is much more freeform in that you choose which missions to take and how to get to a destination; it's a pretty lively game overall. DDG, while still very fun in its own right, is very rigid, and there's very little creativity on the part of the player (well, aside from finding the honk zones to get more points).
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Post by vysethebold on Oct 29, 2006 12:10:18 GMT -5
I'm a huge NGPC fan. I even have two different systems with different colors, doubles of games, and an official link cable just so I can play my friends. I love those systems so much. I give them the credit for getting me into 2D fighters. I've also been looking around for a Neo Geo home system but I've been going back and forth between the AES, MVS, and CD system. What do people recommend? The systems all have a pretty high barrier to entry but so I want the best experience without having to take out a loan.
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Post by Gilder on Oct 29, 2006 13:00:29 GMT -5
ahnslaught: thanks for clearing that up! I read zzz post and just assumed that the game might be a good addition to the article (seeing how I've written a ripoff like The Simpsons Road Rage and a friend pointed out Smashing Drive for the Gamecube). Haven't tried DDG yet however and the internet is being a little off today at campus.
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Post by ahnslaught on Oct 29, 2006 13:09:27 GMT -5
vysethebold - this topic came up on the shmups forums a little while ago, and someone also mentioned neo4all which is a ng emulator on the DC. I haven't tried it myself, but you may also want to give it a look.
zzz - DDG is totallly worth it. I picked up the DC version with the controller on ebay a little while ago, and while it's fricking hard to stop the damned things, it's still strangely addictive - it calms you down, but not quite to the extent of The Sims or anything like that. Graphics are totally...gross, though.
Look forward to the article!
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Post by vysethebold on Oct 29, 2006 13:40:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the recommendation ahnslaught, though I don't think I'll be taking the emulation route yet. I personally only emulate systems that I own and download only ROMs of games I own (which isn't a problem since I own a lot of systems and games) so I won't emulate Neo-Geo until I actually buy a system.
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Post by kyouki on Oct 29, 2006 18:23:15 GMT -5
I never had a NGPC, but I have friends that do. They love it, but I never saw anything in it... just can't bring myself to play a portable fighter. On the other hand, I did have a Neo Geo console for a short period of time. I went to Japan one summer and was bored so I went out to a used game store (awesome) and found they were selling used Neo Geo consoles for around $200. Not a great deal, but there you go. The good deal was the games... by the time the summer was over I had purchased Samurai Spirits, Samurai Spirits 2, Fatal Fury Special, KOF 94, KOF 95, Art of Fighting, Art of Fighting 2, and World Heroes Perfect or Jet (forgot which). I was finding used Neo Geo carts all over the place for ridiculous prices ($5-9 a piece)... though obviously the newer games were crazy. I got a lot of good times of out that thing. However, most of those are now playable on the excellent Neo Geo onlines series for PS2 (with excellent remixed soundtracks), so there's almost no reason to own an actual Neo Geo (unless you are a collector). As goofy as World Heroes is, I'm still waiting for the PS2 port!
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Post by zzz on Oct 30, 2006 3:49:25 GMT -5
Glider and ahnslaught: My description of Densha de GO! being somewhere between Crazy Taxi and a simulator was because I could not come up with a better way to describe it to people who were not familiar with arcade vehicle games. They have some similiarities, but they are very minor. Also Densha de GO! came before Crazy Taxi.
vysethebold: Neo Geos cost hundreds of dollars. So do it's games. Buy ports or emulate. It just is not reasonable to spend all that money on a arcade hardware system.
Any body here played Wind Jammers? Too difficult to get into for me, but interesting to see a frisbee game.
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Post by Discoalucard on Oct 30, 2006 9:33:25 GMT -5
Emulating is cool and all, but playing a Neo Geo on a real TV, complete with huge, chunky pictures and scratchy mono sound, using an authentic controller, is a really awesome feeling. Just holding the cartridges gives you a power trip - I never knew they were so big.
Anyway, no matter which way you go, it's gonna be expensive. You can probably get an AES home system for less than $200, and a lot of early games are relatively cheap. The problem is, anything after 1995 is going to be ridiculously expensive, or wasn't released on AES to begin with, so you'll need to get a bootleg conversion, which are also usually quite expensive. So why you can probably grab cool stuff like Samurai Shodown 2 for a decent price, forget anything else.
The best way to get most Neo Geo games is by buying MVS carts. Problem is, they're not compatible. You either need to get a Supergun and a MVS board - not a cheap option, you're looking at least $300 if not more - or a consolized MVS, of which prices vary. I bought a pricey adapter ($280), and it's kinda subpar. Some games work fine, but anything that uses scaling has screwed up graphics. I think it depends on the AES system. I've been thinking about selling it and just getting a consolized MVS at this point, since with the PS2 ports, the only real reason I have to play it is stuff like Blazing Star, Pulstar, Shock Troopers and Rage of the Dragons. (Although those are some damn good reasons.)
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Post by ahnslaught on Oct 30, 2006 11:08:12 GMT -5
To add even more headaches, I hear there's some people sell off boots or MVS conversions of those later, very expensive NG games as legit AES carts.
Totally not my cup of tea, but to each his own.
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