1st neo geo game that got you hooked?

bello

Crossed Swords Squire
10 Year Member
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Oct 21, 2009
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191
Yes, I know this feeling, you captured it perfectly. I'd only add, that also Terry's bitter vengeance backstory, briefly insinuated in the atmospheric intro, hooked me instantly. It made the whole experience dirtier and more cinematic than of any SFII character. South Town's crime scene made all the difference, you could almost hear the white lines being sucked in.

Yeaaah,Wish i could go back to these days,spent a lot of money and hours in arcade just to play NeoGeo!
 

oliverclaude

General Morden's Aide
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Posts
7,688
Yeaaah,Wish i could go back to these days,spent a lot of money and hours in arcade just to play NeoGeo!

Hahaha... the reason why these days are so awesome is the fact that they're gone forever. Going back to them would mean profanation ;).
 

gtmartini

Rugal's Thug
Joined
Feb 23, 2017
Posts
92
Yeaaah,Wish i could go back to these days,spent a lot of money and hours in arcade just to play NeoGeo!

You may not be able to get back in time, but you still can spend a lot of money and ours to play Neo Geo lol
 

tomlee80

Kabuki Klasher
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Posts
123
Here in the UK my parents were very video game adverse. There only reliquish was to get me a Game Boy in 1990 as it didn't interrupt with their living room TV habits. Arcades whilst enduring to me at the local cinema or bowling alley were considered "dens of evil and tobacco" by my parents. Of course it all came about that I'd rebel and by 16 (1996) owned at least 6 game consoles with my own money and my room at home was decked out! The one prize that I never achieved was until I was in my early 30s 5 years ago. The Neo Geo. This was featured heavily on Channel 4's show "GamesMaster" where they pitted players against celebrities on the latest games. Glad I have one now, and appreciate that those who owned one in the 90s REALLY had an arcade at home! For me..... SAMURAI SHOWDOWN/SPIRITS
 

Ip Man

BBLLOOOO__HHAARRDDDDDD!!!!,
15 Year Member
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Here in the UK my parents were very video game adverse. There only reliquish was to get me a Game Boy in 1990 as it didn't interrupt with their living room TV habits. Arcades whilst enduring to me at the local cinema or bowling alley were considered "dens of evil and tobacco" by my parents. Of course it all came about that I'd rebel and by 16 (1996) owned at least 6 game consoles with my own money and my room at home was decked out! The one prize that I never achieved was until I was in my early 30s 5 years ago. The Neo Geo. This was featured heavily on Channel 4's show "GamesMaster" where they pitted players against celebrities on the latest games. Glad I have one now, and appreciate that those who owned one in the 90s REALLY had an arcade at home! For me..... SAMURAI SHOWDOWN/SPIRITS

oh man, i remember games master. that old mans head projected onto the screen. i always remember the episode where one kid was asking him tips on a level he couldn't beat or didn't understand how to get through in desert strike for the megadrive, and the games master couldn't give him an answer.

and i completely understand about parents being strict them days. especially over video games. remember it was a time when "professionals" were trying to convince everyone that video games effected the development of children's brains.
 

CloudGamerX

Kula's Candy
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Jan 13, 2016
Posts
303
I have played some Neo Geo games in the past on various compilations and via MAME, but the game that got me hooked on Neo Geo and to get a CMVS was Waku Waku 7. Even though now, I still have a bootleg copy, I still enjoy the game alot and it is still one of my favorite fighting games on the Neo Geo.
 

holyver

Krauser's Shoe Shiner
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May 1, 2009
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234
the first level of Magician Lord. The cloudy sky is the most mysteriously beautiful ever.
 

ysselcneogeo

Fio's Quartermaster
10 Year Member
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Jun 8, 2012
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484
Metal Slug. I got into the neogeo much later than i'd of liked too. By the time I got into it it was 97. Granted I think SNK's best years where 97 to 99.
 

Killjoyy27

n00b
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Sep 25, 2017
Posts
1
I was in a CompUSA in 1991 and they had a demo system setup with King of the Monsters, I will still playing NES and I was blown away by the graphics and game play.
 

IGGY GUNN

War Room Troll
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Sep 29, 2017
Posts
36
Art Of Fighting.

Played it for the first time in 1991 in a cabinet housing it along with King Of The Monsters and Baseball Stars 2. Was super impressed from the minute I laid eyes on it.

My heart sank to my stomach when I saw the price tag for the console in a gaming magazine, and I felt like i'd never own it. Fast forward 26 years, and I finally snagged a North American AES with Fatal Fury. My life is complete! :buttrock:
 

Snakealpha

n00b
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Oct 13, 2016
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Fatal Fury 2 was my first arcade, I was impressed with Mai and TErry´s background but, to be honest, I spent like millions on Metal Slug
 

pepelegit

Pleasure Goal
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Aug 15, 2009
Posts
146
King of Fighters 98 was the one that really hooked me, although I'd played other stuff previously (mostly puzzle bobble and such). I spent buckets of time on 98 when I first discovered it, though, and I was lucky enough to have it be one of the carts that came with my MVS when I finally got one.
 

DracoBlade

Cham Cham's Banana
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May 20, 2014
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161
Metal Slug at my local pizza joint. That and Puzzle Bobble. Cried when they eventually replaced their big red cabinet for a fucking pinball game based on Peter Jackson's LARPfest.
 

FBX

Quiz Detective
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Aug 7, 2017
Posts
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Magician Lord got me really interested in the system, but it was Fatal Fury that made me switch to 'must buy' mode.
 

ssjlance

Asked For Custom, Rank. Unsure If, I Can Be Bother
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If I had to pick a game, it would be Twinkle Star Sprites in MAME. I played around with a handful of titles before that, but that was the first one to really capture my attention. Metal Slug X and Windjammers are other possible choices, but I recall it being TSS.

To be honest, I think the obsession started before playing any games, just based on what the hardware itself is and the history behind it. My dad bought me an SNES when I was three, because he wanted one and figured my mom wouldn't complain if he bought it for the kids; to his credit, he really did give it to us, I just assume he played it when we went to bed, because, you know, little kids. Anyway, as I got older, just read around a lot on video game stuff, and eventually heard of this system called the Neo Geo. Which was, somehow, an arcade machine and a home system - at the same time.

"Wait, what the fuck? That doesn't make any sense."

Kept collecting, and just never saw one at thrift stores flea markets, or anywhere; honestly, I've never even seen any AES (or CD stuff, for that matter) at a game store, even. First time I got to play on legitimate hardware was when my dad bought an MVS cab about a decade back with a two-slot board containing Bust-A-Move and Street Slam, which he proceeded to gut and attempt to turn into a MAME cabinet. That hurt to watch, especially when he gave up on it and stuffed it out in the garage for a couple years. Luckily, it was a badly done JAMMA to MVS conversion, and the motherboard and carts were sold on eBay to presumably good homes. I wish I had a picture; the button placement was horrendous. They went for the diamond rather than the arch layout, but they came out more like misplaced, irregular trapezoids.

He eventually just let me have it. I took too long to get it out of the shed and he forgot he said I could have it. That was a fun argument. Luckily, my mother remembered him saying it and things calmed back down. But yeah, while emulation isn't my ideal route, I have to say that it made a pretty kickass way for a broke teenager to check out Neo Geo. Set up an extra computer with Linux and wahcade frontend, propped a computer monitor on a board resting on top of an inverted kitchen chair, and it made a kickass way to check out TSS, Metal Slug, etc. I'm sure I played them before that, but playing them on a crappy JAMMA to MVS to MAME converted cabinet is where I definitely, 100% remember starting to play more Neo Geo than I had before.
 

cr8zykuban0

Igniz's Servent
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Feb 1, 2013
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kof 94 was the one that got me hooked on neo geo! First neo game i was exposed to while visiting my uncle and aunt at the swap meet! The music, gameplay and 3 on 3 feature were what made this a hit classic and such a nostalgic game for me!
 

Renmauzo

MS Paint Master.
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It was Samurai Shodown III on PS1. There weren't any arcades around me that had an MVS, but when I went to Ottawa, there was an arcade on Rideau St. near the Parliament buildings that had one that introduced me to Last Resort and Metal Slug. After that, I started picking up all the SNK ports on PS1 and Dreamcast.
 

greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
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I can't remember which I played first. Samurai Shodown 1 on Sega CD, or Magician Lord in the arcades.

So I guess I would have to go with Magician Lord since it was actually on real hardware.

Both Magician Lord, and Samurai Shodown were a direct influence on my first AES purchase back in 1999 on eBay. Ninja Combat and World Heroes were a distant third and forth, as I played them at the grocery store back in the day when my parents were shopping.

Games like Last blade, MOTW, Metal Slug, Nam-1975, Pulstar, Viewpoint, and KOF 98 made me a fan for life. Didn't actually know any of those existed when I first purchased a Neo Geo.
 
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