All the recommendations for early Neo games

Shackleford

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Seriously, why? Magician Lord really isn't that great of a game. Nam 75 holds some nostalgia for me. However, I'm quick to switch to something different.

SamSho and KOF 94 really are the best "affordable" games to recommend.

Later KOFs, Slugs, and Last Blade is where it's at.

:cool:
 

RAZO

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I'll bite Shackelford.

AOF and AOF2 are still two of my top Neo Fighters. Will take them over most Neo fighters. They might not be as pretty but they sure are grittier. You could find both for under $100 on Aes.

My top 5 Neo games are early titles except for SamSho3.
 

basic

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Edit: oh wait, you are that fagit that's been spamming. nvm.
 
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joe8

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Seriously, why? Magician Lord really isn't that great of a game. Nam 75 holds some nostalgia for me. However, I'm quick to switch to something different.

SamSho and KOF 94 really are the best "affordable" games to recommend.

Later KOFs, Slugs, and Last Blade is where it's at.

:cool:
By "early Neo games", do you mean 1994 and earlier?
Best early games: AOF, Samurai Shodown 1 & 2, Last Resort, Aero Fighters 2, Street Hoop, KOF 94.
I prefer AOF to AOF2, because the enemy AI is too high in AOF2.
Street Hoop is an overlooked basketball game, which has great music, and the teams are 3 players, unlike NBA Jam, where the teams have 2 players.
 

Neo Alec

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The 1990-1992 non-fighting Neo titles feel like they're from a distinct pre fighting game 16-bit era.

Shitting on Nam and Magician Lord is flame bait.
 

GohanX

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Really the only early games worth a shit in 2019 are Nam and maybe Last Resort. Most everything else is "it was good for its time." I've had most everything else at one point or another and most of them aren't that good.
 

lithy

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I'm going to call 1994 the cut off for 'early' Neo Geo. So 1990-1993 titles considered. This covers SamSho 1, AOF1, World Heroes 1 and 2, and Fatal Fury 1, 2, and Special for early fighters which I think is fair, I personally was not into fighters for Neo Geo and the ones I did enjoy were 98-99 period so I'm not one to talk about those games.

Nam-1975 is still a great game. I personally never had any love for Mag Lord, however nothing on the Neo Geo really replaced it.

Baseball Stars 2 is definitely great, and shame on everyone for not mentioning it yet, League Bowling is simple fun too and I would always have a space for it in my imaginary collection although I would have to say calling it great is probably a stretch.

Cyber Lip is good, but kind of pointless to own with Metal Slug existing.

So yeah, not much there, although the early library was certainly more diverse than later years, but a lot of it isn't really worth remembering.
 

Fygee

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Blue's Journey/Rayguy is a great platformer and very solid early release. Much like Magician Lord, it's a shame it never got a sequel.
 

Heinz

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What's with you guys? No mention of the best game for the neo hands down? Legend of Success Joe!
 

ULTRA 4TH GEN

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In my opinion, NAM1975, LAST RESORT and AOF1 have aged really well. There are three games that I always recommend when I think about the first stage of the NEO-GEO system.
 

gameofyou

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I still like the early stuff. In addition to those already mentioned, I like to play King of the Monsters and Mutation Nation from time to time. Oh yeah, and Ninja Commando.
 

city41

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and shame on everyone for not mentioning it yet, League Bowling is simple fun too and I would always have a space for it in my imaginary collection although I would have to say calling it great is probably a stretch.

Agreed. Was surprised no one mentioned LB. It's aged better than most early Neo games.
 

joe8

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I think things really changed for the Neo in 1996, when AOF3 and Metal Slug came out, and they pushed the Neo graphically further than anyone thought it could go. And then Last Blade came out in 1997.
So, to me, any game 1995 and earlier is an early Neo Geo game.
 
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Heinz

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Games made for the Neo even 5 years after it's release are 'early' games?
 

lithy

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I would say

90-93 Early
94-97 Middle
98-2000 Late
2001-2004 Reanimated Corpse
 

GohanX

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Games made for the Neo even 5 years after it's release are 'early' games?

Sure, why not arbitrarily consider games made 4 years after the release of the system "early." 4 year launch window.
 

bulbousbeard

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lithy's breakdown feels the most accurate, but I think you could get even more granular there. There's an obvious shift between the 1990 and 1991 games and the 1992 and 1993 games. 2020 Super Baseball and Baseball Stars 2 feel a huge iteration ahead of the first Baseball Stars, for example.
Calling something like Samurai Shodown 2 an "early" game is absurd.

I really feel like Nam 75 is the only great early game (90-91). The animation in that game was way ahead of its time when you compare it to contemporary crap, and it plays really well. It's probably my favorite Cabal style game actually. Magician Lord always played like butt. Never liked it. Cyberlip is trash compared to Contra games that actually feel good. SNK beat 'em ups were always raw ass.

And if you look at the good second generation games (91-92), they're basically all sports games and shooters: 2020 Super Baseball, Soccer Brawl, Baseball Stars 2, Last Resort, and Viewpoint. 8 Man always blew. The King of the Monsters games always played like trash or were just shameless quarter munchers. Every fighting game SNK made before Samurai Shodown 2 sucked cock. World Heroes. Give me a break.
 

Neo Alec

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I think things really changed for the Neo in 1996, when AOF3 and Metal Slug came out, and they pushed the Neo graphically further than anyone thought it could go. And then Last Blade came out in 1997.
So, to me, any game 1995 and earlier is an early Neo Geo game.
Yes, that would be the third wave. Fourth wave is after SNK closed.
 

MetalSlugVet

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Alpha mission II is one of my favorite Neo Geo games!

I do think cyber lip is bad, I really wanted to like it but it feels very slow..
 

thermaltreasure

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Can't be knocking the early efforts, Nam and ML still rule. Since selling my Neo and going FPGA I've been limited only to early/mid titles due to ram constraints and those earlier games are still infinitely playable. I still marvel at all the minute background details in KOF 94/95. Fatal Fury Special is easily as good as Championship Edition. The first three SamSho games are incredible.

Later Neo is good but there's only so much hyper turbo gameplay I can handle with the exception of the first Real Bout Special which is peak. 1995/mid is probably my fave year for releases what with Pulstar, KOF95, Samsho3, FF3 etc. Those games are all stylish af and play well.
 

pixeljunkie

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Ghost Pilots gets so much hate, but it's fucking great
 

MetalSlugVet

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Ghost Pilots gets so much hate, but it's fucking great

Ghost pilots is a good shooter, I think the reason some people don’t like it is because of the weapons. There are no different weapons to choose from ( besides the bombs). Plus no secondary weapons like missiles or options.

It kinda reminds me of a toaplan game..
 

Shackleford

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Shitting on Nam and Magician Lord is flame bait.

Not just shitting on it. Taking a gigantic steaming diarrhoea dump on it.

Alpha Misson 2, Ghost Pilots & Sengoku. Honerable mention Last Resort

Agreed. Last Resort is solid and I enjoy it as much as Ghost Pilots. Yes to the earlier recommendation on League Bowling...not the best graphics but a lot of fun with a group, especially using the link cable.
 
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