wasabi said:
In your opinion.
In mine, KoF 2000, 01, and 02 added nothing worthwhile. They were shameful at best. Even 99 was shitty IMO.
Matrimelee was one of the worst homecart productions because almost every cart sold was defective. Owners of the game know what I'm talking about. It glitched up and reset all the time.
Metal Slug? Come on. The only reason people cared about MS5 was the skyrocketting price tag. Otherwise, died after 3.
This is just my opinion.
ok here is how I look at it:
there two types of Neo-Geo games:
- games that are best played at home. alone or with a friend (Real Bout series). SNK were GODs with this type.
- games that are best played at arcades (KOF 2002). SNKP were excellent with this type. far better than any expectation.
SNK games are magical. you don't know why, but you just can't get enough with them. you just can get SS1 for example and play it everyday at home. the graphics, the atmosphere, gameplay, details, creativity, .... etc. all these were well put together in most SNK games. but .... I wouldn't play this kind of games at arcade (fighting or any other genre). KOF2000 was different. from all other SNK games. it didn't create the same magic that is found in the other games, but it sure fits well for the arcade competitve play. the problem was that it showed some flaws (infenites ... etc.).
and that's where
SNKP continued from. they kept improving KOF's gampleay and took it to a higher level. but their games show laziness, and lack everything that made SNK games "special". however, I think they improved a little with the last few releases. especially, MS5 and KOF2003. KOF 2003 was a huge step forward in terms of graphics, BGs, ... etc., but they haven't captureed the SNK magic. I'm sure that with time, KOF will combine the past SNK glory with the great gameplay.
SNK managed to combine these 2 elements in some of their games. like KOF 98 and Last Blade.
I would never play any of the newer KOFs at home. even with my friend, who has some good skills with it. don't know why. it just the same way how "you" feel toward it. and I agree with you here. KOF 98 was the last KOF that is worth playing at home.
I also think the last SNKP Neo games were great. Matrimeele and MS5: I don't know why you didn't like them. sure they are not as great as older SNK's games, but they are good, IMO.
and just one more note, just because a fighting game has a deep gameplay engine, doesn't mean it plays good at arcade. take SS2 and Real Bout as examples.