There are many neo geo games that just don't look as nice anymore in teh year 2002. For example, Pulstar, which I loved back in 1995, has shown its age mroe and more with every year, and now it's not about playing a cool looking shooter at all. It's purely, as Billy Pitt called it, a surgical shooter. 
Another game to go rotten over the course of time is Fatal Fury Special. It just looks ugly to me now. It always played ugly, but I remember when I'd play just to see Mai. She sucks now.
However, there are a few other games that still look great, and I want to point them out. I'll start with Baseball Stars 2. It's really incredible what a ton of colors and some personality can do for a game. The game sought to be a comical baseball game and still to this day there isn't another game to give a comical version of baseball so deftly.
Another game that still holds its ground is Samurai Shodown 2. SNK must have pull all the shots on that one, sacrificed every workers' firstborn, and mortgaged the farm, to get that game to come out so great. It's incredible that even after 8~9 years it's better than nearly any other fighter (including most KoFs).
Ninja Masters. The game never tried to fight fire with fire against other fighting games. While AoF was offering bigger sprites, and Kizuna released its own big sprite game, we got ninja masters, where the sprites were noticeably smaller, but the detail in each sprite was incredible. Then you run into the gameplay, and it's really genius how fluid everything moves, armed and unarmed combat, loads of special moves, and loads of combos that even to this day I still find smoething great about the game with each successive play.
Viewpoint also hits the list, and really there has not been another game like it. The stand out music and the level of challenge take this game to another dimension. The fact that all the sprites are so crisp and clean add to the overall beauty of this gem. Really, this is a great game to find. And, just for the old house afficionados, the boss music reminds of James Brown is Dead... hehehe. Simultaneous 2 player is also worth looking into in case you haven't tried it (needs a debug chip).
Of course, games such as KoF 2000 and 2001 are too new to add to the mix. But I'm sure that you all have feelings on what old games are still worth playing
Another game to go rotten over the course of time is Fatal Fury Special. It just looks ugly to me now. It always played ugly, but I remember when I'd play just to see Mai. She sucks now.
However, there are a few other games that still look great, and I want to point them out. I'll start with Baseball Stars 2. It's really incredible what a ton of colors and some personality can do for a game. The game sought to be a comical baseball game and still to this day there isn't another game to give a comical version of baseball so deftly.
Another game that still holds its ground is Samurai Shodown 2. SNK must have pull all the shots on that one, sacrificed every workers' firstborn, and mortgaged the farm, to get that game to come out so great. It's incredible that even after 8~9 years it's better than nearly any other fighter (including most KoFs).
Ninja Masters. The game never tried to fight fire with fire against other fighting games. While AoF was offering bigger sprites, and Kizuna released its own big sprite game, we got ninja masters, where the sprites were noticeably smaller, but the detail in each sprite was incredible. Then you run into the gameplay, and it's really genius how fluid everything moves, armed and unarmed combat, loads of special moves, and loads of combos that even to this day I still find smoething great about the game with each successive play.
Viewpoint also hits the list, and really there has not been another game like it. The stand out music and the level of challenge take this game to another dimension. The fact that all the sprites are so crisp and clean add to the overall beauty of this gem. Really, this is a great game to find. And, just for the old house afficionados, the boss music reminds of James Brown is Dead... hehehe. Simultaneous 2 player is also worth looking into in case you haven't tried it (needs a debug chip).
Of course, games such as KoF 2000 and 2001 are too new to add to the mix. But I'm sure that you all have feelings on what old games are still worth playing
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