SNK Games on PS2

[gary_walton]

Hi Guys!

I was wondering if someone would be able to offer me some advice on what the quality of the neo geo/SNK games released for the ps2 where like as someone has offered me the chance to purchase a Japanese backwards compatible ps3 and was thinking whether or not it would be worth selling my consolized mvs and just having all of the SNK games I love on 1 console?

What do you guys think? Are the ps2 emulations good enough to warrant me getting rid of my mvs or do you think I would be better off sticking with the original neo geo experience?

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated

 

[Sixth]

 

[gary_walton]

Definitely serious mate, just wondered as there are more KOF games out for the ps2 than the neo geo and if they are just as good as their neo geo counterparts it would be nice to have a full collection of them for 1 console.

 

[Kef9]

I have the AOF collection, FF archives 1 and SVC chaos and there is no difference apart from the fact that it does not feel as good because your not playing on original hardware.

Its just like playing a megadrive emulator is not the same as playing on a real megadrive.

 

[Sixth]

The usual benefits of playing through some of the CD format ports is that you get the option of choosing between the original and arranged soundtracks for games, and the load times aren’t as infuriatingly long as they are on the Neo Geo CD. The cost would also be greatly reduced when playing ports.

As mentioning though, the charm of playing the game through its intended hardware isn’t there. Certainly there are purists who would be more than happy to shit on you for playing the ports, but it’s still celebrating the company responsible for the intellectual property. Whether or not you want to celebrate a particular piece of hardware is entirely up to you. Of course, you are on a site which does quite a bit of the latter, so I’m sure you know what responses to expect.

I can tell you this: If you intend to play the ported collections of SNK games for various systems, that’s a perfectly fine way of enjoying them. However, the value of those games and their respective systems are only likely to depreciate in time; inversely, MVS and AES hardware and software grow fewer and more valuable by the year. It is for his reason that many collectors and avid NEO’ fans consider their hoppy to be an investment as much as an exercise collecting.

 

[complexz]

some of the neogeo ports on PS2 are amazing, some are garbage... I guess it depends what you wanna play. in terms of KOF games, the US version of KOF orochi collection feels off to me, I think it has some significant input delay like the early metal slug games have in metal slug anthology. I think the japanese version has a different emulator and is probably just fine (I have no idea if a UK version exists and if it's good)

my impressions of the ps2 versions I've tried.
metal slug anthology (sucks for playing metal slug 1-X, but 3 and up are okay, I personally bought it just for metal slug 6)
art of fighting collection - perfect as far as I can tell
fatal fury battle archives vol 1 - perfect as far as I can tell
fatal fury battle archives vol 2 - just as good emulation wise as vol 1 but now has training mode and in game move lists!
world heroes anthology - perfect and includes training modes like ffba2
fuun super combo - perfect and if I remember correctly has training mode
samurai shodown anthology - perfect and has training mode (I think)
KOF orochi collection (USA) - controls feel off to me, uses a different emulator than most of the collections, has KOF 98 unlike the japanese version but I am pretty sure the japanese version has the better emulation. Nice menu presentation though.....

I could be wrong on these games because this is based on what I've heard and not personal experience
mark of the wolves JPN - better than the dreamcast version but still not great
last blade 1 and 2 JPN- last blade 2 apparently has some slowdown but last blade 1 runs okay
KOF orochi collection JPN - lacks KOF 98 but runs properly.

 

[DanAdamKOF]

Playing PS2 and PSX on PS3 has 3 frames of inherent processing lag*, meaning your inputs are read into the game late. Might not matter for casual players, but it'd annoy the shit out of me personally.

*This is entirely separate from video lag. Even a PS3 on a SDTV will have 3f lag for PSX and PS2.

Also chiming in to say the Orochi collection released in the USA is a pretty bad port. It has sound bugs all throughout, and horrible video output.

 

[complexz]

oh yeah I forgot this thread was about backwards compatible ps3, I knew ps2 games had that inherent lag but I didn't know ps1 titles had it too

 

[Sixth]

oh yeah I forgot this thread was about backwards compatible ps3, I knew ps2 games had that inherent lag but I didn't know ps1 titles had it too

That does indeed suck.

 

[Kid Panda]

oh yeah I forgot this thread was about backwards compatible ps3, I knew ps2 games had that inherent lag but I didn't know ps1 titles had it too

glad i bought a psone and ps2 slim late in the game, still use them for imports anyway , but truth be told, i dont know if i would be ok with emulation of the mvs stuff. form what i understand emualtion is just that, its not using the real cycles and just does enough t make the game run fine, little things that may or may not affect gameplay maybe gone. always go og regardless of what system you are looking to play, just my two cents

 

[Sixth]

I personally play mostly MVS. There a few AES games that I’ll get, if for no other reason than to satisfy my inner child who’s filling the occasional void left over from having grown up with the unattainable NEO-GEO haunting him through the pages of whatever gaming mag’ he happened to be flipping through.

Heaven knows I’m not in this ‘cause it’s cost effective, though. Like I said before, at least you can justify some of the NEO stuff as an investment of some kind, provided you maintain your gear well enough. Speaking of which, I need to go clean a KOF cart that looks like it’s been pulled from of a yak’s ass.

 

[Kid Panda]

Speaking of which, I need to go clean a KOF cart that looks like it’s been pulled from of a yak’s ass.

Yaks make great storage facilities

 

[complexz]

well my opinion on the situation is certainly keep the MVS at least for games that suck as ports. But the good ps2 ports are definitely legit, I would even go so far as to say a few of the ps2 ports I would take over AES, the component out looks incredible, there is training modes in games like RB2 that don't have training mode on AES and most significantly, you can play the MVS/AES acccurate version with all the animation and no load times, but with the sometimes awesome CD soundtracks that and of course the price...

The CD soundtrack option is why I keep my ps2 versions even though I have a nice mvs cab truth be told before I had the cab when I was doing most of my neogeo gaming via a supergun, the good ps2 ports were virtually the same. if it was a game I had a port of I would just play on ps2 even having the arcade perfect version available.

but yeah don't play on a ps3 unless it's the neogeo station ports...which seem okay enough. PS2 ports on a nice CRT SD TV will be able to hang with the true neogeo experience.... but backwards compatibility on a HD tv will not.

 

[Sixth]

I’ve actually often wondered about the positive impact of SNK’s ports. I know a lot of NEO fans aren’t really big on a number of them due to all manner of technical shortcomings, but it’d be crazy to say that they didn’t help introduce otherwise unattainable games to folks who were more than happy to play them. Goodness knows I played the crap out of my PS1, Saturn, and DC ports, because there was no way on earth I could afford to buy software for an AES; hell, I still can’t. If I’d had the know-how to get an MVS up and running back then, I’d probably have saved up to get it, but it was really out of the question.

These days, I think ports and downloads are a great way for folks to keep in touch with the days of Neo old; true NEO hardware is as rare and unaffordable as ever, and there are so many avenues to enjoy SNK’s older works given the current state of software. The only reason I would ever tell anyone to actually dive into SNK’s hardware is for the sheer sake of being a collector, and possibly the prospect of rapid bankruptcy.

 

[complexz]

I imagine snk has made far more money on ports than they ever made on the AES, I'd be surprised to hear if they ever turned a profit on the AES overall. This is not fact though, just my assumption.

I for one survived on nothing but ports for most of the time that I've been into neogeo games. I love good ports and if it wasn't for shitty ports, I probably wouldn't love the originals as much if I didn't play the shitty SNES fatal fury games as a kid I would likely be less excited to have the worlds better neogeo versions at this point

 

[Sixth]

I was all over the Gen, SNES, and Sega CD ports as a kid. It wasn't until KOF '95 and Sam' Sho' 3 was released on PS1 that I actually felt like I was really getting a quality port, though the Sega CD version of FFS wasn't too shabby. If it weren't for SNK aggressively releasing ports, I wouldn't have developed a love for most of their work either.

 

[gary_walton]

Thanks for all of your help guys, you have really helped me make an informed decision. Due to the fact that I didn't know that all ps2 and ps1 games have a 3 frame lag when played on a backwards compatible console (which would be a nightmare for fighting games!!), I have decided to stick with my MVS and maybe look into purchasing a japanese ps2 to play the SNK games like KOF 2002:UM and Samurai Shodown 6 which never came out on the MVS arcade hardware.

 

[Professor Denim]

if you're interested in Metal Slug, make sure to by the games in separate. Slug 3 to 6, individual releases look much better than those on the Anthology.Tough 1 and X are only available trough the compilation...
Samurai Shodown Anthology ports are pretty good.
i did some comparasion at the time, on my Crt, jumping from the Neo channel and the PS2, with the same games, same screen etc...both plugged trough RGB. the Neo always had better colors and definition that the ports.
but i do enjoy the PS2 ports a lot.

 

[neo-geo-mvs]

Thanks for all of your help guys, you have really helped me make an informed decision. Due to the fact that I didn't know that all ps2 and ps1 games have a 3 frame lag when played on a backwards compatible console (which would be a nightmare for fighting games!!), I have decided to stick with my MVS and maybe look into purchasing a japanese ps2 to play the SNK games like KOF 2002:UM and Samurai Shodown 6 which never came out on the MVS arcade hardware.

Good choice! There are so many MVS games that have never been ported to other consoles and some that have are not spot on.

Definately get a Japanese PS2 as there are are a ton of great games to get