SNK's NEO GEO (1991-1995) It was a superior 24-bit fighter's system, but was the price was just too high? I wish I had more games.

SNK was famous game company during the 80's for creating such arcade video games like the popular run and gun game Ikari Warriors and who could forget the cute action platformer Athena. SNK then had success in the home market when they would release such popular games like the sports simulation Baseball Stars and the incredible adventure/RPG Crystalis for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Since SNK made some cash along the way, they decided to take a risk and throw their hat into the ring in the competitive console wars. SNK would create their own video game system: the Neo Geo Advance Entertainment System. The theory was for SNK was simple: Go big or go home!

SNK's NEO GEO is both a powerful 24-bit game system and a series of arcade units too!  That's means if you liked a SNK game in the arcades and it was under the Neo Geo name then you can also buy that game cartridge for the home system and it would be pretty much arcade perfect on the home system. To enhance the arcade experience the system came with giant (8 by 11 inches) and realistic arcade style joystick(s) with a durable analog stick and all four buttons. The Neo Geo home system also aloud the gamer to save their high scores and levels if they had a memory card for their system. This was way also before the Sony Playstation would make the memory card common place in the video game industry. Sounds like a fantastic game system to buy, right?

The reason this powerful game system never really caught on like its closes rivals the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo did, was because of the sometime's scary high price tags. The various Neo Geo packages would range from a high 400 to 600 price tag with the games ranging from a unbelievable 100 to 200 bucks as well. Sure, SNK always boasted about how much more stronger their games were to the 16-bit competition but that strength came at a very high price because the larger the cartridge Meg size was, the larger the production cost were. Maybe some game stores might have lower prices today (HA!), if you can find one though but be prepared to shell out a lot cash if want to invest in this machine.

Here's Samurai Shodown II, a game you can only find on the
Neo Geo........ except in Japan.

Common Neo Geo games:
Baseball Stars
Fatal Fury
Ninja Combat

Rare Neo Geo games:
King of the Fighters 2000
Kizuna Encounter
Last Blade 2
Samurai Shodown IV

StarSoldier's Top Seven Neo Geo games:
(these are just some of the great games I had a chance to play so far)
SAMURAI SHODOWN II (SNK, 1994)
Although Tam Tam is missing from the line up here, the sequel gets 4 new characters and the other 11 fighters have evolve in some kind of way so you're really getting a juiced up sequel here. Yuko is sick, Earthquake has a lot more moves, and Wan Fu even as a new weapon. A very balanced weapon based fighter with tons of technique and extras.
SAMURAI SHODOWN IV (SNK, 1997)
The series makes a comeback after a disappointing part III. 5 fighters join the original 12 from Samurai Shodown 3 and you can still choose between the Slash and Bust of your character so the depth is still there but the game play is more balanced this time but the only problem would be the astronomical price of the cart itself. Tam Tam is also making his big return here but there is still no Earthquake though.
SAMURAI SHODOWN (SNK, 1993)
While the world was going crazy for games like Street Fighter II, Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat II during the early 90's, SNK would come out with a very special fighter of their own. Each warrior has their unique weapon and each character as their own special techniques. A very cool Japanese fighting game.
MAGICIAN LORD (SNK, 1991)
This excellent action game features a young wizard with unique powers who challenges over 10 stages filled with deadly monsters and killer traps. Magician Lord is not only challenging but it also has some fantastic fantasy graphics and great sounds. A fun game to have for the Neo Geo.
BLUE'S JOURNEY (SNK, 1991)
In this cool action title you help two environmental crusaders defend their land against evil invaders trying to destroy everything in this fun game that never saw a sequel despite it's popularity. Funny thing is that we got three lame Art of Fighting games from SNK for some reason.
WORLD HEROES 2 (SNK/Adk, 1992)
This sequel features 6 new challengers and the returning 8 fighters as well. Although this isn't a huge improvement over the last game, WH2 still packs a solid punch thanks to some interesting guys like a Football player, a man with unusual mask, and girl who is good with throws.
METAL SLUG (SNK, 1996)
Although the Contra series has been on a downhill spiral since going to the Playstation and PS2, SNK would introduce us to a simple but fun to play run and gun shoot em up filled with carnage. Join a couple of brave but cartoonish heroes who go into an deadly terrorist zone in hopes of saving the world from destruction. A very action packed and very funny looking game for 2 players that started a great new series.

Most Disappointing:
ALPHA MISSION II (SNK, 1991)
The older NES shooter gets a big sequel on the Neo Geo but despite all the new features here which includes a two player option, new weapons and various ship configurations, the game still feels very out dated compared to most Neo Geo games out there thanks to some boring graphics and average sounds. This game even pales in comparsion to other 16-bit shooters like Axelay, Thunder Force III, and Space Mega Force.
Runner up: SAMURAI SHODOWN III: Blades of Blood (SNK, 1995)
Only a hand full of characters return in part III and despite some cool features like a selection of good and evil versions of your 12 fighters, the game ended up being quite luck luster compared to the last game. Part III is a very weird game thanks to some stupid character designs like a boy with a Umbrella.

The Worst:
NINJA COMBAT (SNK, 1991)
Join a couple of highly skilled ninjas as they battle their way through some deadly crime invested streets. As the game progresses you'll find other characters who want to team up with you to add extra variety. What makes a good arcade game makes for a horrible Neo Geo home cart because of the unlimited continues feature. Despite a wild few minutes, Ninja Combat as zero replay value.

Most Underrated:
MAGICIAN LORD
Why was there no sequel?

Bottomline: "What's the point?" Well, there are several good and unique games here for the Neo Geo in many categories. There are fun and easy to learn action games like Blue's Journey, Magician Lord, you get many top shooters like the awesome looking Last Resort and Pulstar, plus who can forget about all the traditional 2D fighters like the popular Samurai Shodown and the King of the Fighters series. Be a where, however that all of the Neo Geo games are custom made to be played in the arcades so the game play in most titles may be quite limited compared to the many custom unlinear games in the home market. This means deep games like Role Playing Games and Adventure titles were virtually non existence here. That brings me to another serious problem with the Neo Geo games; even though the games are from the 90's they are still quite expensive especially when compared to other games from that era. If you have the money and you are serious about game collecting then go for it but everyone else should stay far away from the bulky and overly priced unit with technology that's no longer so advance any more.

Neo Geo Advance Entertainment System overall rating: 40/100

You can also get a NEO GEO CD with cheaper (hopefully) CD games, but the newer price comes with 30 second load times as well.  Unfortunately, it didn't sell too well either so finding one is very difficult.  I don't own this one system so I can't give any review here at this time.