I'd also take any of the new Indie games over this. Well, maybe not that Pony game. OK, definitely not that Pony game, but Kurtz's Knight's Chance, and the entire catalog from NG : Dev has blown away a lot of SNK and the third party's earlier work. I don't disagree that it would be nice to play some of these lost pieces, but fuck... So many people saying they'd rather have these discarded titles that weren't released over the heart-and-soul poured into Knight's Chance or something like XYX/Fast Striker? Madness.
Makes me wonder why some of you are even here. Is it really for the games, or just to collect the SNK logo?
I like this post. Allow me to try to explain, at least from my perspective.
I'll start with an analogy. There are people who paint meticulous Van Gogh and Picasso reproductions on the head of a nail. Sometimes they do some incredible original work. They are impassioned, dedicated, and the results are impressive. But the only reason anyone cares or notices is BECAUSE these were done on a small area, and thus required more work, time and patience than just doing a normal painting, for everyone to enjoy.
Nobody looks at these nail paintings and talks about the beauty or meaning of what has been painted. All that matters is that it was done on a quarter-inch nail head.
So, the Neo Geo is the head of the nail.
A great game is a great game, I agree. But the Neo hardware is antiquated and ancient compared to modern technology. Almost any modern phone, game system, or other electronic device is capable of easily trumping the Neo in power. So if you are making a Gun Lord, or whatever, why not just make it on something else? Why choose the Neo Geo? I feel in many cases it is simply because of the reputation of the hardware... its legend almost legitimizes the prices people charge for what are ultimately homebrew games (again, not using that word in a disparaging way). Am I expected to have more fun playing Gun Lord on a Neo Geo than if I played it on a Xbox One or something?
The games that were licensed and developed through SNK for the Neo Geo are special, whether they ultimately suck or not. In many cases they reflect the conventions of the era in which they were made, and most have various tropes that are common to all licensed Neo titles. As a fan of SNK and Neo Geo, they are a fascinating curiosity. The homebrew Neo titles are just like any other games, but for some crazy reason the developers chose antiquated hardware.