Which Neo games are born to die? [Suicide Neo Geo Games]

ForeverSublime

6400|!!|Kyo Clone
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2001
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6,416
This thread is interesting:

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?254855-Fix-KoF-98-carts&p=3805432#post3805432

I never knew Neo games were prone to dying (so soon?). It's not a malicious as the CPS suicides. Terminology aside, you get the same result.

Is this an MVS-only problem or does it happen to home carts as well?

Which games are prone to this problem?

Edit: Perhaps this should be a general discussion thread.

Double Edit: Let's send those KoF98 prices to the moon.
 
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HeavyMachineGoob

My poontang misses Lenn Yang's wang
10 Year Member
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Apr 3, 2011
Posts
5,816
Any game with encrypted ROMs is more prone to death than unprotected games, because they add a superfluous chip to do the decryption. KOF 98 and Metal Slug X are notable examples of this, with Slug X being very prone to failure. One of the earliest games with protection is Fatal Fury 2, but it just uses a renamed PRO-CT0 which is usually pretty tough.

Any game made after KOF 99 has C ROM encryption, thus uses a NEO-CMC chip, thus is more prone to failure than the simpler unprotected games that came before KOF 99.

Four games use specific P ROM encryption, those being KOF 99, Metal Slug 3, Garou MOTW and KOF 2000. I haven't heard of the NEO-SMA decryption chip failing, but it's like KOF 98 and Slug X in that the P ROMs have a decryption chip. Metal Slug 3 (and possibly KOF 2000) had re-releases using unprotected PROG boards.

All games following KOF 2000 add M1 ROM encryption on the CHAFIO board.

All SNK Playmore published games have P ROM encryption, on top of the fully encrypted CHAFIO board.

Here is a list of all games affected by C ROM encryption:

https://wiki.neogeodev.org/index.php?title=CHAFIO

On a side note, most MVS boards can suicide if the battery leaks, so change it out before it's too late.

When it comes to repairing any of the above mentioned games, Slug X and KOF 98 have well documented instructions. Anything using the NEO-SMA, NEO-CMC or such decryption chips, you will have to find a matching donor board and move the chips over and hope the next decryption chip lives longer than the previous one.
 
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