Now this is what I'm talking about. Shock Troopers runs great on this (NO load times at all) compared to the PS2 version. Last Resort feels just right. The bullshit scrolling glitches are gone in Magician Lord. I think these are about as close as they can get without being on the Virtual Console.
Everything does look really sharp too. I'm very impressed.
This is a night and day difference compared to the PS2 game. Most importantly, the load times really are just about gone outside of when you first start up the game and when you first select a game from the menu. It's just a few seconds now instead of the five to ten seconds of the PS2 version. No slowdown and choppy loading up of the sacred word of MAX 330 MEGA. Shock Troopers was a blasphemous farce on the PS2 because it actually had load times DURING THE GAME besides running at about 1/2 of its intended speed. This is totally fixed.
I tried this out with the classic controller and Wii remote schemes. If for some reason you don't own the classic you can play it with the Wii remote held sideways like a Virtual Console release. The controls feel MUCH tighter than the PS2 version. It's obviously not as good as a stick but I think this is the best these games can control on a pad. I tried out King of Fighters '94/etc. and had no problems executing moves on this, as opposed to the PS2 game.
I think it's safe to say that unless you have the Neo Geo cartridges, this is the definitive version of each of these games. The only thing missing is the option for arranged soundtracks, though most of these are releases wherein I prefer the Neo Geo's original audio, this may affect some people more than others.
Since this actually lets you customize the controls, I'm considering grabbing a Hori fighter stick just for this release (and Guilty Gear I guess :P ) since it supposedly is read by games as a classic controller.
Everything sounds great too. There's no bad emulation of the samples, I haven't spotted any missing sound effects like in the PS2 release or anything yet.
The PS2 version was such a disappointment that I'm extremely happy about this release existing. This is the first time since the King of Fighters and Metal Slug combo packs a few years back that SNK has absolutely delivered the goods.
Honestly I'm moving in 48 hours otherwise I'd be sitting down for a full breakthrough, if no one else does it in the next few days I'll be back.