What was the first neogeo game you played in an arcade cabinet?

[HornheaDD]

99% sure it was the OG Fatal Fury. Though it might have been Blues Journey or Ninja Combat.

 

[Mehunglo]

Fatal Fury all the way!

 

[Neo Alec]

I'm not sure what my first MVS game was. It might be that same World Heroes machine at Godfather's Pizza I always think of as my first World Heroes experience.

 

[yagamikun]

If memory serves correctly, it was Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury Special in the same cab. I only got to play for a credit each. About 6 months later KOF 94 at Aladdin's Castle was up on one of their huge projection screen monitors and that experience forever changed my perspective of fighting games and SNK. After that, I spent quite a bit more time on the Big Red with SS and FFS - which more or less solidified my affinity for SNK fighters.

 

[Syn]

One of the Slugs. The local arcade owner disliked the cartridge format saying it's a ripoff so I had to drive about a half hour to a place that had it.

 

[Technos]

Probably King of the Monsters. That was in most reds I ever saw growing up.

 

[Neo Alec]

One of the Slugs. The local arcade owner disliked the cartridge format saying it's a ripoff so I had to drive about a half hour to a place that had it.

That's interesting. Never heard of an operator saying that. Did some operators feel it wasn't worth it to buy a new game for the same machine, as opposed to paying more and getting a whole new machine?

 

[Syn]

That's interesting. Never heard of an operator saying that. Did some operators feel it wasn't worth it to buy a new game for the same machine, as opposed to paying more and getting a whole new machine?

He didn't like that MVS carts were more expensive than Home Carts and were essentially the same. He felt it was price gouging or something or another. The other thing was no one asked him about the games. I would watch the arcade when he had to do anything and people asked me about all sorts of games but never Neo Geo.

 

[TimKunming]

Probably King of the Monsters. That was in most reds I ever saw growing up.

I saw this in many places, too. Wasn't the first I played, but did (and still do) enjoy playing it from time to time for that hot nostalgia hit.

 

[mainman]

I got to be honest, when I look at my MVS carts it is more of a flash backs to happy youth moments. Well basically this can be said about the entirety of my arcade collection. I have extreme fond memories of playing the first TMNT with my three buds who I lost contact with when my family moved, wonder what became of them.

Never when I was a young kid did I ever imagine I would own a actual MVS system but during my youth I would have traded every thing I had for a cab or a AES. Ninja Combat has a fond place in my memories. I remember long ago a long lost member Tora Kouhi stole a MVS cab during the LA riots.

 

[THEMAN]

Can't remember, but I think it was Ninja Combat

 

[bloodfire3]

Magician Lord, at Godfather's Pizza

 

[Pro_Gear]

Ninja Combat and/or Cyber-Lip were my firsts. When Fatal Fury hit I knew I appreciated SNK's take on the fighting genre. SF2:WW was king but I distinctly remember being drawn to the attract mode and sound which some operators cranked up when it was new. The fight scenes changing time and atmosphere during the rounds were new to me and the character sprites were pretty intense (Tung Fu Rue and Raiden pre AOF1). SNK knew what they were showcasing when they picked the Garou demos that played.

 

[droid]

The first games I played were Magician Lord and Nam75. Such great titles

 

[mainman]

The first games I played were Magician Lord and Nam75. Such great titles

 

[Gentlegamer]

Magician Lord
Nam 75
The Super Spy

 

[MegaUST]

It must have been Fatal Fury, but the one that I remember playing the most first is Fatal Fury Special

 

[vaillian]

They banned arcades here, never got to experience that unfortanley. Now its just casinos left inside every town staying profitable due to peoples demise and money laundering.

 

[Neo Alec]

Magician Lord, at Godfather's Pizza

 

[bloodfire3]

View attachment 73492

 

[Dinodoedoe]

It would be World Heroes and Samurai Shodown, but later in the school year, they updated to World Heroes 2 & Samurai Shodown 2.

 

[Arcademan]

That's interesting. Never heard of an operator saying that. Did some operators feel it wasn't worth it to buy a new game for the same machine, as opposed to paying more and getting a whole new machine?

I find that kind of weird. As a game tech working for a company with an arcade, I found it fantastic that SNK came up with a cartridge based system that cost much less than brand new games and board conversions and delivered a wide variety of games. Better, unlike Sega's "Convert-a-Game System" you can have 2, 4 or even 6 games to choose from, thus generating continuous revenue from different types of players. My game room inside a pizza location had a 6 slot system (TMNT conversion) and a 4 slot mini cabinet (2 slot mini with a 4 slot board) and both played lots.

 

[grendelrt]

Magician Lord, then World Heroes for me.

 

[wyo]

Our local pub got a 4 slot Neo cab and it had Ninja Combat, Nam, Mag Lord and The Super Spy.

These games all got pretty terrible reviews in the gaming magazines of the time and I have to admit that while I thought the concept of multiple games in one cab was a nice concept I was unimpressed with the launch lineup.

Fatal Fury 2 and Samurai Shodown got me hooked later.

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

It was Fatal Fury
Though I gotta admit, I thought Terry Bogard looked an awful lot like a Domino’s Pizza delivery driver when I first saw him on the character select screen back then :