Whats the consensus on Neo Dev games?

[GohanX]

 

[Psygnosis8]

Hell yeah man, I play everyone of my games and a lot. I don't give two shits about insertion marks all my games have plenty of them on the carts. The fact that people complain about that is just silly imo.

I'm the same way. Games are for playing.

 

[itsofrustratin]

I haven't played one that I truly don't like. They can be impressive visually at times, but theyt all have a common detractor that my friends and I agree on: They definitely feel homebrew. There's something unpolished about them and they feel hastily slapped together and unfinished sometimes. Some of them have very little sound effects and the music is all Eurobeat, so I hope you like that. You'll be hearing a lot of it. They have this distinct ('Euro'?) feel to them that feels like an Amiga game. It's hard to describe, but you'll notice when you play them. In contrasts sharply with other games on the system. That my be a good or bad thing, depending on your tastes. Some of the Neo Dev games make a lot of use of the "video" effects similar to what you see in Blazing Star. They look impressive, but they're just video. I have a particular gripe about Neo XY---you can play it in vertical mode, but it only displays in one direction and there's no screen flip option. It's upside down on my Astro City, and I'd have to rotate the monitor to play it (which I'm not going to do) and that's fucking bullshit. They should have thought about this. Pretty much every JAMMA board has a screen flip option. Major oversight.

On the other hand, even though it's basically video poker, Knight's Chance feels much more complete and blends in with the rest of the Neo library well. It's a pretty strong effort. I wish that guy would make some more games...

So in short, I think they're neat, but think hard before buying one. You're paying $500 for what is essentially an Amiga game.

Poor sound would be a big downside for me, i feel like with neo geo games the sound really makes the game. Games like metal slug, last blade, samurai shodown and KOF really get their personality from the sound and music. So lack of memorable music would be a huge negative.

It would cool to have one , but i can do hell of alot for $500. DC port would be fun to pick up.

 

[itsofrustratin]

Are you looking to make an investment?

Nah not really..i prefer playing my games. Although most of the neo dev games seem to go up in value, which is reassuring if i did buy one.

 

[Mugicha]

New game on Neo Geo = Guaranteed noteriety.

Their neon playdough amiga games would get lost in the sea of mediocrity (where they belong) if released solely by other means.

 

[aha2940]

It's refreshing to see someone who paid for those games that had actually played them. It seems most of the time when we see the carts sold they are still brand new.

I do play them too my RAzion and Gunlord MVS. I even put the boards inside plastic shells because the damn woody shells have no durability compared to the plastic. These things seem to have been designed to be pretty and displayed, not used. Luckily that may change in their latest game, it seems it will have plastic shells. Yay!!

Regards.

 

[Kef9]

Its a bit of a funny one for me as I've never been tempted with the games they have released although I think its great that they are releasing new games for the neo.

It would be good if they came up with a game similar to speedball 2 or maybe something new and original as the games are effectively fancy clones.

 

[Yagyu Jubei]

I own all the releases on Dreamcast, which is good enough for me. I like NGDEV games but not for $500 a pop. I already spend too much on this Neo habit of mine...

 

[wyo]

Poor sound would be a big downside for me, i feel like with neo geo games the sound really makes the game. Games like metal slug, last blade, samurai shodown and KOF really get their personality from the sound and music. So lack of memorable music would be a huge negative.

It would cool to have one , but i can do hell of alot for $500. DC port would be fun to pick up.

Razion and Gunlord have great soundtracks. I guess music quality is subjective though. No, the games are not rationally worth what they cost on AES/MVS but you'll have no problem reselling them for at least what you paid.

 

[Psygnosis8]

Poor sound would be a big downside for me, i feel like with neo geo games the sound really makes the game. Games like metal slug, last blade, samurai shodown and KOF really get their personality from the sound and music. So lack of memorable music would be a negative.

Oh, yeah. I'm a total audiophile when it comes to games. A good soundtrack can save a bad game imo.

Like I said, the ngdev games I've played aesthetically don't blend in with the rest of the neo library, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your tastes.

Fwiw, last hope has awesome sprite work and animation, but it doesn't look like a Japanese game.

 

[andsuchisdeath]

Games are for playing.

A good soundtrack can save a bad game imo.

Games are for listening, clearly.

 

[mjmjr25]

I just 1CC'd the Ibara Pink Sweets

Spoiler:

soundtrack

 

[Electric Grave]

lol, my jaw dropped for a nano second...

 

[ShootTheCore]

I own Fast Striker and I enjoy it. I feel like the enemy shot patterns are well-designed and it's a tough-but-fair shooter with a lot of replay value. I agree that the graphics and music makes it feel more like a Euro-Amiga game than an original Neo game, but that's fine with me. It gives the overall Neo a unique flavor in the same way that Euro-developed games did on the Nintendo and Sega consoles.

As for the prices, yeah they're steep, but you are buying new games and all Neo Geo cart games were several hundred dollars when they were new-especially if you take inflation into account. Definitely wait for the reprints direct from NGDev rather than get fleeced on those insane Fleabay auctions.

 

[Takumaji]

As for the prices, yeah they're steep, but you are buying new games and all Neo Geo cart games were several hundred dollars when they were new-especially if you take inflation into account. Definitely wait for the reprints direct from NGDev rather than get fleeced on those insane Fleabay auctions.

Yeah, Neo games always were expensive but we're talking about a homebrew game here, not an official release by a company who has dozens or even hundreds of people on their payroll. Unlike SNK, NGDEV don't have to make a living out of releasing new Neo games, that's why I think the prices are way too high for what you get.

 

[FinalbossNYC]

Lots of good points listed here. I own all the Dreamcast versions as I'm something of a Shooter Nut and wanted to support the early DC revival but honestly as a few others said Faststriker and XYX are the only ones I really enjoy the replay value of. Some are a nice alternative to overpaying for border down and many other games that have become ridiculously over priced due to people "retro collecting". If your big into R-type and Turrican then check out the other titles they make. Ill probably keep buying the DC games to try em and support the hard work of indie developers but forking over 400 USD for MVS versions of these games is something I can't do.

 

[Chempop]

The games have great soundtracks, cool concept art, some decent pixel art in several of the titles. Gameplay is garbage.

 

[Jeneki]

I enjoy the Dreamcast releases. They're definitely worth the price there. But yeah, if I'm going to pay those cart prices for a shmup, I may as well just get a Raizing / Toaplan / Cave / etc pcb instead. It's not that they're too much for a cart, it's that they are competing with higher priority games in that price range.

 

[theMot]

Not sure why everyone loves Gunlord so much. I liked it but felt it was kind of unfinished. The first few levels were really well done but its like after that it just felt not right. i remember back then they were getting a lot of heat for the delays, they probably just said fuck it and released it as it was.

I liked XYX a lot more, could have done with a bit more spit and polish but its not a bad thing all told.

 

[Psygnosis8]

Games are for listening, clearly.

Zing!

 

[Jaelus]

I really enjoy playing the NG.DEV releases. I would say Gunlord is the best hands down and probably Last Hope is the worst, though it's still a fun game if you enjoy R-Type. The soundtracks are top notch, especially Fast Striker's. I've also got Knight's Challenge. I think someone mentioned earlier in the thread that it blends in the most with the regular Neo releases and that is completely true. When you play it you are transported back to the late 90s for sure. That game has some great flavor and is easy to get into.

 

[Samuray]

I, for one, am happy those games exist. They don't take anything away from the core library of games so no one should be bothered by their existence.
However, I regret that I am missing so many of them, and with their prices being what they are it's kinda doubtful I will be able to acquire either "Gunlord", "Fast Striker" or "Neo XYX". Which is, yes, a bummer. I'm not kidding myself, though...there won't be any new AES editions of those. "Kraut Buster" seems to be NG DEVs first game that will offer that opportunity, with that ominous "regular release" contrary to the CE and LE.

 

[Psygnosis8]

I've also got Knight's Challenge. I think someone mentioned earlier in the thread that it blends in the most with the regular Neo releases and that is completely true. When you play it you are transported back to the late 90s for sure. That game has some great flavor and is easy to get into.

Yeah that was me. It's not that the NG:dev games look bad or anything. The sprite art is great, In fact. Just different.

 

[bil]

not me

 

[joehate]

I've never been a fan of homebrew, let the damn system die already. Also the pricing is absolutely insane.

The Neo Geo will only be dead when the last AES console or MVS cab stops working. Even then, there will probably be new games programmed for emulation.