How Does Neo Geo Compare to the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis? - Retro Bird

The Neo Geo was on the market during the same time as the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, but does that mean we should compare them? Well, regardless of whether we should or not, we will! I go over what makes the Neo Geo so different from these two gaming consoles as well as how the origins of the Neo Geo differs drastically as well.
How Does the Neo Geo Compare to the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis? - Retro Bird / Sega Genesis vs. Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis / Mega Drive / Super Famicom / SNK Neo Geo AES and MVS / Retro Video Games
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#retrobird

[@RetroBirdGaming]

When I said that the "Neo Geo had some rotating abilities of its own", that is a bit misleading. The hardware could not rotate sprites, but rather each frame of animation had to be drawn individually to achieve any "rotating" effects. Also, any parallax scrolling done by the Neo Geo was achieved without any dedicated scrolling tilemap background layers and instead with large sprites (which it was powerful enough to do). Different from the traditional way of achieving parallax, but impressive nonetheless. However, it's still my personal opinion that the SNES and Genesis have more examples of fleshed out parallax scrolling that the effect has become known for. The "strobing" effect you see on screen for Neo Geo gameplay here is a bit worse than the footage of my other consoles because the Neo Geo MVS has an odd refresh rate that is slightly different from most other consoles. Games played: Pulstar (0:08), Shock Troopers (0:20), Bust-A-Move (0:37), Baseball Stars 2 (0:46), Spin Master (1:42), Hyperstone Heist (2:45), Super Mario World (3:02), Pulstar (3:14), Metal Slug (4:31), Rocket Knight Adventures (7:33), Super Mario Kart (7:52), Mark of the Wolves (8:03)

[@NOTLeavingLV]

You need to adjust your camera shutter speed. Research the strobe and shutter speed. Not frame rate.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

@@NOTLeavingLV I've tried tinkering around with the shutter speed before with no success. I'll have to give it another try. I do still think the refresh rate explains the difference between my Neo Geo footage and other consoles, but I know you're correct that the shutter speed is the way to fix it entirely.

[@awesomeking9915]

@@RetroBirdGaming me am snk fan king of fighters fan

[@crosstie417]

Tetris sneaking up on you with a knife is amazing just awesome. I normally just listen to videos but I have to pay attention for little things like that.

[@Haywood-Jablomie]

@@RetroBirdGaming Have you seen the TurboGrafx versions of Neo Geo games ???

[@conchobar]

I was in High School in 1991. You were far more likely to know someone who owned a Lamborghini Diablo than a Neo Geo AES. Minimum wage was around $3.75/hr, and Adults who were also gamers were about as rare as the Neo Geo AES itself. It was truly a mythical gaming console. Most Gen X gamers, like myself, didn't get to learn details about the actual console until KZbin.

[@thesultrystrangerdanger6824]

Yeah I've never seen one in my life they were only things of legend

[@1978mackdaddy]

I owned one

[@thesultrystrangerdanger6824]

@@1978mackdaddy what happened to it?

[@1978mackdaddy]

@@thesultrystrangerdanger6824 My Dad bought it for me in 1991, I sold it to a classmate for peanuts in 1995 because I had lost interest in playing video games at the time. Believe me, I regret it looking back.

[@thesultrystrangerdanger6824]

@@1978mackdaddy circle of life... You didn't love it as much as the devil's lettuce... Trade it for a bag

[@PabstOban]

What can’t be understated for someone my age was that when Neo Geo hit the scene, and people started to learn about it… and the AES consoles and carts started showing up at “Boutique PC/Gaming” stores like Egg Head and Babbages… it was like having a crush on the prom Queen in your freshmen year at high school. It’s all you thought about, but never had a shot at. Neo Geo was often the grand prize of sweepstakes type contests you’d see in magazines and comic books. Everyone wished they knew someone who owned them… but unless you lived in Ricky Schroeder neighborhood… fat chance. I was one of those kids… grew up poor, single mom… on food stamps… wasn’t safe for me to go outside and play… so while my mom was able to scrape together to get us an Atari and a Nintendo eventually, we still discussed Neo Geo amidst the console wars. When I got older, made my own money and could stupidly make my childhood dreams come true, I did eventually get an AES and an MVS and lots of games to go with it. Neo Geo is an enigma that is hard to explain to anyone that didn’t grow up in that time. It was like letting Superman enter the Olympics and he competed for your country. It wasn’t fair, but you were still pumped he was winning gold in every event. While I was a proud owner of a Sega Genesis, when I went to the arcades I would defiantly put quarters into the “Big Red” and play games like Magician Lord and Sengoku and much later… Samurai Shodown which was an amazing distraction from Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat till MK2 showed up. I’m glad you made this video and it’s cool to find other people who eventually made their dreams come true.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Great post and perspective!

[@jamesbevan4479]

☝this right here 100% You had to be there to really understand.

[@RTPJu]

The prom Queen during my freshman year was a very nice girl that never refused to gently talk with whoever approached her... but the Neo Geo simply snubbed me as if I was a freak with radioactive fingers lol

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

This is so true. The Neo Geo was almost mythical at the time. We all wanted one. We were all happy to play whatever we could get our hands on, but the Neo Geo was that always out of reach, amazing thing that everyone wanted.

[@darianflewellen2449]

Agreed 100%. I read about it but you never knew anyone who had one. It was a unicorn lol

[@Ghostcharm]

Gotta say, I have been enjoying your content for about six months and really appreciate your consistent sense of humor and obvious work ethic - pumping out well researched stuff this often ain't nothing to sneeze at. Your videos are extremely relaxing to have on while playing a game/relaxing at my desk. Keep it up man!

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Happy to hear it! Glad you're enjoying the videos :)

[@videogameobsession]

When I first read in EGM #9 that SNK was going to release the Neo•Geo AES in the US in 1990, I started saving up. I was 16 at the time, and worked two jobs. One of them was my own landscaping and snow removal business, so I was lucky to be able to keep up with NES, Genesis, and soon, the Neo•Geo in December 1990. I bought it for $550 (w/ 2 arcade sticks and Baseball Stars Professional) + $170 for Top Player's Golf. They threw in a free $30 memory card. Originally the AES games were dynamically priced based on their ROM size. So League Bowling (20MEG) was $120 (the lowest price), while TP Golf (62MEG) was $170 (the highest price at the time). It was awesome to be able to play the exact same quality arcade games on my TV at home. I still love playing Neo•Geo games, 30+ years later.

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

🤟

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I wonder if it was on sale where you bought it from? Every source I've ever checked has said $650 (for the gold system) and rental only in Japan until '91. Goes to show that there is always more research to be done. I'm really glad you brought this up.

[@PabstOban]

I noticed this as well in both Neo Geo and SMS/NES/Genesis games. You would see a game like Strider on the Genesis with the badge “8 mega cart”… and a price tag of $79.99. It wasn’t even a RPG but 8 mega meant mega bucks. After seeing this, I noticed it other places I hadn’t before and bigger price tags that went with them (Bandit Kings of Ancient China on NES). Then I noticed later in life with the internet… most significantly more expensive games had higher cart capacity. I could remember seeing Striders 8 mega cart badge then see a Neo Geo cart like Fatal Fury (55 meg) and thinking… gee, what a value! 55 meg and it’s only $199!!

[@videogameobsession]

@@PabstOban Good point! Some of the competition was quite pricey with their larger ROM size. I remember seeing Chrono Trigger, for $89.99, and thinking to myself “that’s half the cost of a Neo•Geo AES cart” ☺️ I can’t imagine SNK was making a lot of money off the sales of their Neo•Geo AES carts with ROM prices being so high in the 90’s. I guess they made up the difference with their Arcade counterpart (MVS). Speaking of which, arcade ops were paying $800 each for those games in 1990. I found this out when calling my local arcade manager to ask if they had any Neo•Geo games for rent/sale. I thought back then that they were interchangeable. He told me he was paying $800 ea for a new cart. When I told him I was buying them new for $120-$170, he became VERY interested. He had no knowledge of the Neo•Geo console, or the types of carts it used. So he asked if he could drive over with a bunch of games to compare. (Now days a simple pic of the cart pins would have sufficed). He told me he’d let me borrow a few of the arcade games in return. He was more excited about the idea of buying new Neo carts for his arcade unit for much cheaper. Needless to say, the carts had different pin outs. SNK was smart about it. Both the Neo•Geo AES/MVS games were often identical in data, but they changed the dimensions/pin count to keep the markets segregated. We were both bummed ☹️ but it was cool to learn more about the Neo•Geo back in the day. He made it up to me by giving me a ton of credits for Magician Lord the next time I went to the arcade. I used most of them to complete it too! I brought my memory card, and showed him how you could save levels, and load checkpoints from it.

[@The_Rifster]

@@RetroBirdGaming I bought mine for $550 as well, but I got mine from what would be a sketchy 800 number from a place in New York and mine came with 2 controllers and Nam 75 and for another $150 I bought The Super Spy game because I was addicted to it in the arcade. They threw in the memory card. Still have the console, sold all of the games.

[@RetroMoments]

NEO-GEO games hold up so well today. Such a fun system to go back to play some games with friends in the evening.

[@videogameobsession]

One last thing about my experience of owning a Neo•Geo AES in 1990. One of the things I remember most, from back then, are the massive amount of super clear voice samples. I was still very much playing my NES, and had only owned the Genesis for less than a year and a half. So I went from a scratchy sounding “wise from your gwave!” voice, to a fully voiced intro and cut scenes, in NAM-1975, a very talkative caddy, in Top Player’s Golf, and an announcer (Michael Beard) in Baseball Stars, who spoke the names of every team, talked about the weather, how the teams were playing, and much more. The voice quality was plentiful, and so clear… simply amazing at the time. Partially thanks to the large ROM size, along with the nice specs of the Neo audio, allowing for near CD quality. This quality was also extended to the music instrument samples, spread across 15 channels of stereo sound as well. So when I think Neo•Geo now, I am always reminded of how blown away I was of its audio capabilities back then. That’s all.. 😃

[@RetroBirdGaming]

With so much attention going its visuals, its audio capabilities sometimes get overlooked. Yeah, it sounds great. All those satisfying crunchy hit sounds from the fighting games stick out to me.

[@ganjagun0025]

Neo Geo was the Rolls Royce of gaming back in the days.

[@TheGamingScription]

I remember the first time I saw a Neo Geo in person in the 90s it was like a dream. I couldn't believe a home console could produce such good looking games. After only playing genesis and SNES it was just unbelievable. I never owned one but the memories of that system still sit with me today.

[@FilipeAguiarCarvalho]

The fact that NeoGeo was capable of running Garou Mark of the Wolf, a game as beautiful as Street Fighter III blows my mind.

[@nathleflutiste]

Graphically I don't mind saying that MotW is even better.

[@Charlie-Cat.]

I love the Neo-Geo. I've been enjoying the Neo-Geo for 32 years and it's never a dull moment playing it. The first time I was introduced to the Neo-Geo was on the MVS back in 1990 when it was being rolled over off a distributors truck at a local Dairy Queen in Paramus, NJ. And the first game that I ever play was Magician Lord. I was hooked onto it ever since. 8^) I posted this up on The Official NEO-GEO Thread for others to enjoy and take notice on the for you Bird. Thank you for sharing this and keep up the great work you provide for the community. 8^) Anthony..

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

You must have been pretty well off to be able to afford one back in 1990! Did you also have a 3DO when it came out?

[@dbycrash]

Seems like all the early mvs cabs were loaded with Magician Lord and Fatal Fury. That first person shooter was popular as well, forget the name of it

[@greenskiis]

​The Super Spy?

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

I think most importantly, the Neo Geo, SNES, Genesis, and Turbografx were all worthwhile, and all did something that the others didn't. The Neo Geo put the real arcade game in your living room. SNES gave you the Square RPGS and first party Nintendo games. Genesis gave you great arcade ports and first party Sega games. Turbografx gave you the NEC and Hudson stuff, and lots of arcade ports that didn't come to the other consoles. They all gave you something unique and worthwhile. That said, if you were around at the time, the Neo Geo AES (we usually just called it Neo Geo Gold where I was) was a freaking myth. It was any video game fan's dream to have one. I didn't know anyone that owned one, but I sure knew lots of people who claimed to know someone that did. When I was in my early 20's in 2003, I finally got to buy my own AES, and over time have bought a little over 30 games for it. I wish I'dve bought more when they were so much cheaper, but I was super into importing japanese PS2 and Dreamcast games at the time, too. I still buy one now and then, but unless I just want to overload on fighters, I'm pretty much out of inexpensive games to buy. I later bought an MVS cabinet as well to get some of the ridiculously unaffordable games on AES, and now can play almost the whole library on real hardware between the machines, and frankly, it still rules. Even tonight I sat down with my 7 year old son to play a game of Super Baseball 2020. My 4 year old son and I beat Blue's Journey together a few weeks ago, and my 7 year old also did Neo Bomberman, Prehistoric Isle 2, Ninja Combat, and more with me. Those games are timeless, and even kids so young notice the big, loud feel of the Neo Geo vs the other consoles... but we still play those as well, because they rule, too.

[@1183newman]

Amiga was king imo, my friends had consoles and each had like 3 or 4 games. I had over 200 games on my Amiga thanks to copying.

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

That is really cool that your kids enjoy playing the old 2D games with you. It is kind of funny to think that in 2040 they might be nostalgic about playing the Neo-Geo in 2022.

[@Marc_Araujo]

It's a part of the 4th gen so hell yeah it does. The only "24-bit" console...completely legendary in its own right.

[@IndohNintendo]

The 90's kid in me adores the fact that it's 24-bit hardware. So neat-o!!!!

[@videogameobsession]

​@@IndohNintendo That was all marketing though.. SNK was simply adding up the Motorola 68k and Z80 CPUs. If Neo-Geo is "24-bit", then so is the Sega Genesis. :) Which really just goes to show you how the CPU is just another part of the bigger picture, I.E. the video chip, GFX modes, system memory, cart ROM size, mappers, etc..

[@benjib2691]

@@videogameobsession I believe SNK took the 24-bit argument from the data bus width of the graphics chipset (which is indeed 24-bit wide, in contrast with SNES PPUs and Megadrive/Genesis VDP which have 16 bit data buses).

[@VIRGOLEGACY]

Growing up in the 90s I could honestly say I never saw a neo geo in retail stores it used to mess me up when I’d see the games being covered in gaming magazines but never in stores nor did I know anybody who had them snes and genesis were just too popular lol

[@demonsty]

omfg that turbografx with a knife at the end! this is why i love your channel dude!

[@LameGaming]

Love the humor in your videos man! Very original and relaxing

[@apr2499]

Great video! I especially loved the ending! The TG-16 gets revenge!

[@Zerogata]

When I was a kid, there was a video game store in Huntington Beach, CA called Games For Less. They had the mystical Neo Geo AES on display, and it was the only place I'd ever seen one outside the arcades. One day in 2005, I decided "I'm making my own money now, I'm buying a Neo Geo!!" Many of the games are still a blast to play!

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

How much was it and how much were the games at that time if you don't mind me asking? I usually see that new the games were anywhere from $200-$300+ but I'd think in 2005 they had to be somewhat cheaper.

[@Zerogata]

@@HerecomestheCalavera I guess I conflated two different times. I first saw the system at Games For Less in the early '90s, but they wanted $750 for the system and two games. That was way beyond what I could realistically beg my parents for! In 2005 when I was finally had some of my own money, I got an AES system off eBay for $150. Complete boxed systems were around $300 in the mid 2000's. Many cheaper US AES games were under $100 at that time. I bought JP Garou Mark of the Wolves for $275, US SVC Chaos was available on the Neo Store for $169, and the highest priced game I ever bought was a US Metal Slug X for $600. The prices for everything started to change in 2011. I had a wedding to pay for and had to sell them and switched to MVS. I really miss my AES set, but 2022 prices are probably 5x higher than 2011.

[@charliehustle2591]

The Tetris with a knife got me. 🤣

[@animejoe4041]

The games cost $318 at my local Babbages which was INSANE to me because: 1. I could play most of the games they had for just 25 cents / 1 token each at my local arcade... 2. In terms of gameplay and overall experiences, NONE of the games were worth $300... As much as I ADORED games like Magician Lord, I felt that even $150 would have been too high for any of the Neo Geo games. $100 may have worked, but many of the games weren't even worth that in my eyes. With the exception of League Bowling, Riding Hero, Blue's Journey, and Cyber-Lip, all of the other Neo Geo games I wanted to play became available at my favorite arcades, so that eliminated the temptation to ever want to spend a lot of money to purchase them. Even though I REALLY wanted to get a Neo Geo when it was first released and thought about trying to save up the cash for one, fortunately, I held off and eventually did purchase a used import AES unit for a reasonable price in the early - mid 90s from one of my import shops and got the games cheaply as well.

[@customsongmaker]

If they were going to charge that much for games, they should have sold the console at a loss, get millions of users, then make the money on the games.

[@NOTLeavingLV]

Subscribed. Keep going. Don’t give up. Your content is good.

[@TheMultiGunMan]

This is a great video. Thank you for making a comparison video. It's a great idea.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Thanks! Glad you liked it :)

[@donjaun540]

I love my Neo Geo. I had to wait till 2003 to get my arcade MVS but still have it and love it. I still loved my snes and genesis. Neo was a more arcade experience though. You know a quarter sucker. You can make the argument that both snes and genesis could have had games playable in the arcade. The quality and fun was there. The neo was just different. Bigger better drawn sprites with a cute or funny character applied. It would have been awesome to have had creators like kanomi, rare, etc. make games and take advantage of the neos power. Man that would have ruled. Eventually the neo died because it was to expensive to make and buy their games. Even now there are a few companies making games but at $600 a game and limited run it's too expensive to buy. Hope you enjoyed my comparison. I loved all three. 🤛🤛

[@ebogar42]

I thought they died because you never saw them in stores.

[@ericevan12]

The whole time I'm like, "wtf where's the TG16?!" That last shot got me.

[@donjohnson7768]

man I love your arcade pad that is legit, loved this video!

[@LukeDodge916]

Totally glad I found this channel. Its really good content so far.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I'm glad you found it as well! Welcome to the channel :)

[@KindaCool]

I love how the Retro Stockpile MVS themed arcade stick always gets a chance to shine in any RB video that mentions Neo Geo! 👍

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I love that thing! Glad you know what it is :)

[@robertcatania1120]

Another great video Retro Bird, the Gameboy Tetris with the knife was a much better bit than the ketchup water from one of your other videos...lol! Keep up the great work!

[@nadersoli815]

Superb video as usual. Extremely satisfying and hilarious is an understatement.

[@NiallGriffin]

Great video as always. As someone around the same age, as soon as I got a real job I went and found an AES on eBay and have used it pretty often ever since. It's fun to think back to the 90s when there were always rumors that some rich kid had one, yet he mysteriously would never let anyone play it. Some great games on there though.

[@dwightdixon8508]

I was right there, early 90’s experiencing it all with my Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 & Super Nintendo. I was not only well aware of the spec’s and capabilities of the Neo Geo AES but I also read the magazine reviews and seen in store demo’s and while the “Bigger Badder Better” Neo Geo AES had a some great looking, sounding and playing games it couldn’t match the amount of AAA games released/releasing on the Genesis, SNES & TG-16. The 16 bitters not only held their own but had 100’s of high quality games that squeezed every ounce of space and power out of the consoles. I own the Neo Geo AES and many of its library of games and I’ve compared similar games side by side and you’d be surprised how good the 16 bitters compare especially mid to end of their lifespan. AES size, power and price is legendary but the 16 bitters had so many better games.

[@leonardoalvarenga7572]

16 bitters, limão

[@trinidad17]

Most actual arcade games are like that, they look and sound great and have to have a gameplay that grabs you for a couple of minutes or so, and then make you come back another day once again to try beating it. There some exceptions but many are actually very short games and most get repetitive really quick.

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

It had some great games but like you said not near the variety from the other systems at the time. The price was absolutely insane aswell. Sure the games looked somewhat better but nowhere near $200-$300 per game better! For example the Metal Slug series is great but back then for the price of an AES and Metal Slug 1,2 and 3 you could have got around 30 Genesis and SNES games. I think only the rich and gamers who were hardcore into arcade games had the AES back then. The same people who had a Neo-Geo most likely also had a Laserdisc player lol

[@chadwolf3840]

Great to see this channel grow so much! congrats

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Thank you!

[@hazzelellenandersen5945]

The NEO GEO was definitely a more niche console that delivered a superb result to those who leaned heavier towards having the ultimate arcade experience at home. This was back when arcade gaming and console gaming were quite distinct from each other. NEO GEO simply delivered on the former. Whether it was better or not when compared to SNES and Genesis really depends on your own personal taste in the kinds of games you prefer. It does make you wonder what a console would be like today if it took a similar approach to the NEO GEO. Imagine a modern console that instead of being a mass market product, was instead a luxury device that could be priced at $1000, $2000 or more. When a new system comes out it’s marketed as the latest and greatest in graphical fidelity. Though what’s overlooked is the fact that it’s technically limited to what can be made for an affordable cost to sell to millions of consumers. So what would graphics look like if those limitations were loosened quite a bit. The point being that the fact that the NEO GEO was even released as a luxury priced home console back in the day was quite an interesting move in it of itself. One that may not be repeated being that the game industry has grown exponentially since it’s much humbler beginnings.

[@lafemmedevastation]

I love how clever & fun your videos are Retro Bird❣😁

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Thank you!

[@colt5189]

We all know you're the guy that bought that banana taped to a wall art piece for $100k instead of buying that Ferrari.

[@AngryCalvin]

I remember clearly how mind blowing Neo-Geo was having worked by an arcade back in my High School years. One of my friends worked at another arcade friends and I hung out at. Fatal Fury was the jaw dropping alternative to Street Fighter II. I would have no idea at that point that in the future King of Fighters would become my favorite fighting franchise of all time. This was still during the time when I used to drool over Turbographx 16’s CD-ROM games on store displays and thinking that was a luxury console that only rich kiddos had.

[@datnillavondizzle]

As a hard core KOF fan (and 5 time local champion of Grille Kick Tournaments) as well as a fan of the SNES and still got love for the Genesis..... this was a fair, entertaining and well played short doc! Cheers fam! I enjoyed it!

[@MadFireParanormal]

Just found your channel and I'm happy I did. Great video, the Neo Geo has always been an interesting topic for me.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I'm happy you did too! Welcome to the channel :)

[@JohnStromme]

Great content sir! Thanks for making this!

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Thank you for watching!

[@apexanomaly]

The Neo-Geo is and always will be a niche product, especially when compared to the two juggernauts of that era. It's such a relic from another time when you think about it. That an arcade-based machine solely focused on those types of titles could be a viable alternative console is practically inconceivable in 2022.

[@CassiDS]

At the very least, the idea of it being a _high-end_ product is inconceivable in Current Year; something like the Evercade VS is sold at more of a _budget_ price if anything.

[@ananon5771]

yeah, especially with how specialized it is, people are willing to pay 1000-2000 for a gaming PC, but a PC is alot more general (even just for gaming), the neo geo was even more specialized than the other consoles.

[@apexanomaly]

@@CassiDS yeah exactly you don’t see KZbin commercials of Evercade calling Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo weenies.

[@apexanomaly]

@Dances Rainy Streets Of course they did. I'm saying Evercade isn't competing with the big three. They're going for a totally different, way smaller demographic. However back in the early 90s, something as left field as the Neo-Geo would try and market that way, where it doesn't makes sense for Evercade to do the same.

[@mmeditatio]

well arcades aren't viable now so...

[@DrunkDudley]

I Grew up with a NES and later owning a SNES and playing Super Mario 1-3, Wolrd, Mega Man 3, Zelda,TMNT in time, MMX, Mortal Kombat 1-3, Street Fighter 2 and Killer Instinct etc. And I would always see Neo Geo cabs on local Video rental stores or pizzerias or shopping malls, with King of Fighters, Metal Slug, Spin Masters or other cool neo geo games, but I was under 15 years at the time and would never be allowed to play em so I could only watch older kids play, my excitement to play Neo-Geo grew as the years flew-by (pun intended), I grew up in Sweden so arcades was rare as hell, by the time I was old enough to play Neo Geo games they where extinct almost, I had to use emulation to play Metal Slug & KoF etc, but it was no question about the superior graphics of the neo geo, I had to own one someday. It was to cool to not pursue the dreams of owning one. Well many years later I got an Neo Geo AES for a short while with KoF 98 & MVS converter and some Metal Slug games, but then I sold it after some months and used the money + adding some more cash to buy a Sega Blast City arcade cabinet with a Neo Geo MVS motherboard and some MVS games, and the arcade collecting has grew into other systems from there, Atomiswave with Hokuto No Ken and dark soft modded CPS3 aswell. I met more friends that also got in to the arcade collecting hobby, we are all a super tight fighting / arcade game community now. Neo Geo 4 Life. (Nintendo & Sega are cool also ^_^ )

[@chaospoet]

Came out in 1990. I never saw one in person until 2018! I knew people who had Turbografx and Atari Jaguar when they were commercially relevant but the Neo Geo AES was mythological. I played Neo Geo in arcade and at the Burger King my Mom worked at in the early 90s. But yeah, seeing the games like that baseball game was jaw dropping considering the most impressive and coolest baseball game I had seen was Bad News Baseball for NES.

[@pbonfanti]

I am not from USA, and no one plays baseball here, but that SNK game was very fun.

[@BignonTFi]

These videos always make me smile :)

[@milp00l]

I lose it every time you pull the “console/game peeking around the corner with a knife” gag 😂 gives me Leslie Nielsen/Naked Gun vibes. You’re a goofy guy and I love it 🤙🏻

[@williamtalbot5040]

Tetris cart with the knife made me legit lol.. well done

[@douglascarter2078]

That Ferrari gag started my day with a good chuckle. Thank you.

[@CyberLabStudio]

Great video! Nice looking scanlines!

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Thanks!

[@CyberLabStudio]

@@RetroBirdGaming What's producing them? CRT, RetroTINK, MiSTer or CRT Shader if you don't mind me asking?

[@expsharevideogames]

Great video!

[@arcadesunday4592]

Nicely done video. A puzzle game that is less known on the Neo-Geo is Money Puzzle Exchanger... Very unique play mechanics...

[@thanasysdim]

Neo Geo was a kick ass system that was popular to a niche market due to its high price. Nonetheless its library is impressive with many iconic and classic games. The thing is that, as you mentioned, it is in a class of its own and it is somewhat difficult to compare it to the other more affordable 16bit systems. However Neo Geo for sure left it's mark on the history of video games and it's library is an indispensable part of every retro gamer's collection. Great video as always. I love your channel.

[@jonjonrods5776]

Great video. Would love to see you pick games from Sega and Nintendo to compare head to head with NeoGeo games. Example, best Genesis fighters vs best NeoGeo fighters. It will be opinion based but you can give some tech stats to round out the comparison

[@justinlloyd2446]

Well just as you said it is like having an arcade cabinet in your living room. I think they are wonderful and I plan on getting one eventually. I do however love a good rpg. That seems to be the only area that this system is lacking in. Great video! And I have profound respect for your sense of art! 😆😆😆

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Glad you appreciate my art!

[@elgatofelix8917]

@@RetroBirdGaming the VU/Warhol reference was on point!

[@mhans311]

That Ferrari bit really got me. Lol.

[@ElderGeekGamer]

Excellent comparison. Having bought one early on I often found the game difficulty to be too punishing. The slowdown was also fairly massive when there were lots of enemies on the screen. For me, the long term enjoyment just wasn't there and I sold to a kid whose mom bought it for him. The SNES and Sega offered much more fun for the dollar IMHO. I never did beat NAM 75 or Magician Lord. Come to think of it I don't remember beating any Neo Geo game while I remember finishing many games on the SNES and Genesis. In retrospect that's the biggest difference.

[@FrankJonen]

Back then as a kid I spent my summer job saving for this with used games. Regretted spending so much money on gaming, sold it at a major loss. Now I kinda regret that I sold it, given how much they go for now.

[@videogameobsession]

Cool video! I will say that the Neo•Geo AES was in fact released in the USA in December 1990. It was also $399 for the Silver System (1 controller) and $550 for the Gold System (2 controllers and a game) (choice of NAM-1975 or Baseball Stars Professional). Many people think it's 1991 and $650 due to errors on Wikipedia. I've tried to fix this many times, but it doesn't stick. Oh well. I tried. :P

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Hmm... I checked multiple sources. What I did come across is that they were originally considering a lower price but settled on $650 (for the bundle that included two arcade sticks and a game). Thank you for bringing this up though. I'll have to see if I come across anything else.

[@videogameobsession]

No problem! I bought mine from a place which advertised in the back of an EGM magazine. SNK didn't start selling at brick & mortar stores, namely Babbage's, Software Etc., and EB's, until around summer of 1991, and they only carried the Gold System, for $650., and games for $199.99. This is why I believe that many sources are citing 1991 / $650 info. SNK has verified the 1990 / $550 (Gold) $399 (Silver) releases in the USA with two authors of the Bitmap Books Official Neo•Geo Compendium book, released a few years ago. It's the only official book on SNK's Neo•Geo history. I helped with some photos, scans, and shared my proof of release / price as a secondary source.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

@@videogameobsession Ahh, I see. They must consider when it hit retail stores as the official release and not the magazine orders. That's pretty awesome you got involved with that compendium book.

[@videogameobsession]

I'm not sure if I can post links here, but here are a couple things that may be of interest. The first is me opening my Neo•Geo AES on Xmas morning 1990. It was basically a gift from me to me. Hehe. My big gift that year was Top Player's Golf, and also talking my dad into letting me use his credit card to order it. He wasn't really into the idea of me playing games in the first place, but he was cool with it since I was always putting half of my earnings into a savings account. It arrived so close to XMAS (on 12/20/1990), that I just let my mom wrap it up since I had very few gifts that year, with TPG being most of it, along with a cool Nintendo calendar. I had checked with a couple of other online stores, and they were all $550 for the Gold, but Anlenn said they'd throw in a free $30 memory card, so I went with them.

[@videogameobsession]

So pic #1 (XMAS 1990) showing the USA version of the Gold System AES. www.videogameobsession.com/videogame/zz-other/origins/Neo-Geo_Unwrapping_Xmas_1990.jpg Pic #2 is a scan of the original store receipt. www.videogameobsession.com/neogeo/neo-scans/Neo-Geo_Gold_System_Sales_Receipt_12-18-1990-vgo.jpg Hopefully they will work here. -Matt

[@nathanwood7660]

Really glad I found this channel

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I'm glad you did too! Welcome aboard :)

[@BigmanDogs]

I could swear you're scott the woz's older brother or something. Your voice and personality and even sense of humor is very similar. To be clear this is a compliment 😂. Idk why it came to mind just now because I have been watching you for a pretty long time.

[@jmyers2896]

Cool videos, retrobird. It would be cool to see one on game genie and game shark.

[@Dav3Campb3ll]

I've never played Neo Geo or knew anyone with one. Interesting to see this video! Games look so different and cool

[@omegamatsu]

In the late 2000s I had a friend I hung out with who actually owned a Neo Geo cabinet personally, setup in his room one free credit mode. I spent a lot of time practicing SNK fighters on that machine.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

That is pretty sweet!

[@mjdf122]

This is a good one nobody shows love or respect to Neo Geo Or 3DO or Turbo Grafix Thank You Retro Bird Loved When The Turbo Grafix Made A Cameo Appearance At The End

[@System_Sega]

Back in the early 90s, the Neo Geo always seemed like some weird mysterious console. You would occasionally see a picture in a magazine but that was it. I didn't know anyone who had it and you never seemed to see it in the shops.

[@pbonfanti]

I knew one person in my city who had one and there was another in the next city. I got the Neo CD version for myself later, and even the Neo CDz from japan, which was almost the same thing. Loading times were terrible, even in the CDz version.

[@RobsonRoverRepair]

I remember in 1991 my mates dad came back from Japan with a Neo Geo and a dozen games. You have to understand, this was Northern Ireland in 1991, where everything was on fire, exploding or being shot at. A single Nintendo NES was shared at our school youth club people where in awe if you had an Amiga for example. Too Chad status instantly. I fucking exploded when I saw it, he hadn't a clue about it and was more interested in collecting those stupid football stickers. Me and his dad regularly sat and played it until he died in 95, bringing games back from Japan. Found out he dumped it about 6 months after his dad died. Man I was raging at him with so many good memories and we stopped speaking after that.

[@mysticblue0222]

Ok I really loved the Tetris with the knife made me laugh

[@davidtran9444]

What's so nice about the 16 bit consoles compared to snk's arcade port machine is that on occasion you'd get a really great home ip that would have felt suitable as an arcade game too. For a shmup fanatic back then, thunder force 4 and axelay are prime examples. You could shove either of these titles into an arcade cabinet and anyone not obsessively leafing through gaming magazines would happily drop quarter after quarter to play. We also got great home ip run n guns like gunstar heroes and either home version of contra. For me, the two genres where arcade games consistently had home ips beat were brawlers and fighters. If the 90s weren't so brawler and fighter heavy, a home neo geo wouldn't be so coveted a piece of hardware.

[@drift180x]

Metal Slug and Bust A Move games are awesome! I never got to experience them on the AES because for one I didn’t know it existed back then, and two couldn’t afford it even if I did know about it. But I got to experience those games on PS1 with Metal Slug X and Bust A Move 4. Finally getting to experience SNK games at home. Those are so fun.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I have such fond memories of playing Bust-A-Move on arcade cabinets as a kid!

[@8bitsnkboy472]

No prizes for guessing that I love neo geo - although l couldn't even afford a super nintendo back then! I'm a huge fan of VS fighting games, so the system was always going to be on my radar, but that said, the quality across all genres is amazing. As you said in the video, the amazing animation and huge detailed sprite art is what really takes the system to the next level - although the incredible music and the amount of speech in a lot of their games was also very impressive compared to everything else at the time (check out the introduction to 'Nam 1975 or Baseball Stars Professional). I'm now lucky enough as an adult to own all of SNK's systems (including the unpopular neo geo cd), along with an MVS and a Hyper Neo Geo 64. Patience will get you what you want eventually.

[@HighFiveGhost50]

One thing I preferred about the SNES in the 90s was it was simple. I found it confusing once systems started having add-ons, cd versions, cards, Neo Geo having different versions, having adapters, and what not. Just a cartridge and a console, keep it simple.

[@onenessseeker5683]

you should have eaten ya greens then like ya parents told ya too.

[@VOAN]

Worldwide it kept it simple but in Japan the Super Famicom was a mess, it had far more adapters than it needs and Nintendo released two Super Game Boys in that regions too with the second one having a link cable port and a more accurate clock speed to the Game Boy.

[@Leeki85]

NeoGeo wasn't a typical 16-bit console. Those relied on tile maps and few small sprites while NeoGeo was all about sprites that could get really huge. This is why NeoGeo games have more organic look while Sega and Nintendo games were a bit blocky due to timemap hardware. While SNES and Genesis had parallax hardware, that made multiple backgrounds free to use. NeoGeo simply had sprite limit like 32-bit systems and modern hardware. This is why NeoGeo games used parallax scrolling too less extent since artists could use sprites budget elsewhere. Also NeoGeo games were huge. Not a problem for an arcade cabinet, but for home console it made cartridges very expensive. Nintendo Switch has the same problem with 32GB cartridges used rarely because of their cost. Sega Genesis and SNES were limited with 1-4 MB games, so there was no chance to fully utilize their hardware. Games on PC used 8-20 MB and had much more graphics content, even before CDs become standard. SEGA CD had nearly unlimited storage for time being, but rarely any game took advantage of this.

[@urdnal]

^^^ This guy knows what's up

[@OGSERB]

I had a friend whose dad had one. He only let us play it when he was around. I remember it feeling so adult somehow. Gamers Paradise used to sell them, I used to drool over the slick boxes. Years later, I imported a Neo Geo CD. Not the same feeling at all lol.

[@jeremygregorio7472]

A big part of what made the Neo Geo so much more powerful because was that it had a lot more RAM and ROM space. Not that the hardware wasn't vastly Superior to the super Nintendo and Sega Genesis but you would be surprised what those two consoles could do with enough cartridge ram. The Saturn had arcade perfect ports of Neo Geo games provided it had access to additional RAM or ROM

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Yeah, the Saturn had some pretty solid ports. The loading times are the main thing I see people complaining about. Nothing too bad to deal with from what I've experienced.

[@jeremygregorio7472]

@@RetroBirdGaming once you get in the ram cart territory the loading times are barely noticeable. I have to admit though I miss those cool loading screens Capcom did for Street fighter alpha 3 and rival schools on the PlayStation 1

[@VOAN]

The Sega Saturn, PS1, N64, and Dreamcast getting almost arcade perfect ports of games for home are the main reason arcade were dying in the late 90s and early 2000s. Console games are not suppose to be better than their arcade counterparts, once they started getting better and even surpass arcade then there's no point in going to the arcade anymore thus when arcade died, so did the NeoGeo.

[@Residentevil1998racooncity]

Definitely better audio and graphics compared to the other two, but really expensive for back then though

[@jimmelton5846]

Not even close, not only very expensive then but still to this day.

[@dixonbutts800]

Another great vid. Especially since I never got to play a Neo Geo. Or that vengeful TurboGrafx-16 come to think of it.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Glad you liked it. Yeah, they are interesting consoles for sure.

[@elioleguizamon889]

Excellent video.

[@Martys2DGaming]

I always thought Technos should have made a new Double Dragon beat em up game for the Neo Geo using character sprites similar to their Super Dodge Ball Neo Geo game. That would have been cool. And yes, having the turtles on the Neo would have been awesome.

[@alexojideagu]

Well there's River City Ransom if you want that super deformed look. Double Dragon was always more realistic looking in the arcade games and 1 on 1 Fighter.

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

Yeah. I couldn't be too mad cuz the fighting game they did was solid (surprisingly a better fighting game based on a movie based on a game than Street Fighter got) but it was a missed opportunity.

[@bredenis5]

Man I was dying when you were going over the different types of tubed meats 😂

[@HeatmanMKIII]

Nice video. glad i found you

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Glad you did too! Welcome aboard.

[@msd5808]

Always wish it hadn’t focused so much on fighters. Would have liked to see more platformers, action and RPGs.

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I always felt like the Neo Geo could've done the Beat 'Em Up genre better than it did. There's some good ones, but given the quality of its 2D fighters I think it could've pushed the envelope further.

[@msd5808]

@@RetroBirdGaming That's true. That would have fit the arcade style of play better than platformers and RPGs.

[@NebUlaDeigns]

2:50 that hilarious response got me to sub right there and then

[@cryptocsguy9282]

Neo geo is lit. Should have had some exclusive JRPGs for the home system though. Dunno why they never 🤷 done a 16bit port of crystalis since SNK own that IP originally realised on the NES. Nintendo even licensed it for a port on the gameboy color when SNK had their own competing handheld the neo geo pocket color on the market at the exact same time makes no sense how they allowed it 🤔🧐.

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

If they had released some AES exclusive games like RPGs and even platformers it would have helped the popularity of the system quite a bit. Although even if it had several amazing RPGs the $650 price tag for the system and the $200-$300 price per game would have still limited it's appeal to the large majority of households.

[@glenolivier8099]

There was a Samurai Spirits RPG. I don't think it ever came out on AES, just Neo Geo CD and Saturn.

[@goon5544]

I didn't even know there was a system back in the day. I played it in the arcade a few times and was definitely impressed with the graphics. I messed around with it a little on emulators but haven't dug into it or gravitate to it like snes or sega. I always liked normal system games more than arcades because they were designed fair where arcades were designed to be cheap to get peoples money. I kinda like the idea of trying to 1cc something someday but haven't gotten to doing that.

[@zerobyte802]

TG16 with a knife is just pure comedy gold!

[@ENFDO]

last month i bought a Neo Geo Aes boxed minted for 900 uss. Nobody will say something like Snes or Genesis. I own both since 1991. God damn Neo Geo is a sick machine. Impressive overall quality.

[@papawshane]

We had a local video rental store where I live in 1990 and I rented the NEO GEO every single weekend. I am not sure, and never asked how they got it because I just wanted to play this. They did only have a few games, but they were mind blowing compared to the SNES and the Genisis. I loved it!

[@tommythrowback]

I lost count how many times I lol’d. Awesome video!!

[@RetroBirdGaming]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@MCArchangel777]

I wanted a NEO-GEO so bad when I was a kid! I only had one friend who actually had one. And from 90-95 (or at least until the PS1 came out and blew everything else out of the water), the NEO-GEO was only a wet dream, and the end-all subject of every conversation about video game consoles at other kids birthday parties at a family fun center over pizza and little paper cups full of soda. After the birthday kid opened his presents and got an SNES or Sega Genesis/Master System we would all have pissing contests about who had what system, what system had superior graphics, what we wanted next, what games we had or wanted and what we might be getting for birthday or Christmas. Man... I miss the good old days.

[@malecus7664]

NeoGeo mini looks lovely on my 14in component CRT with very vibrant colors and clarity. I was playing Mark of the Wolves and was amazed at how much it looked like high frame rate cartoon. Definitely a more fluid and larger range of motion than Genesis, TG-16, and SNES although they are all great (No choppiness). Never knew until a couple years ago they released Art of Fighting, Samurai Showdown, or Final Fight were released on Genesis/SNES or definitely would have picked them up back in the day since I loved and was pretty good at a lot of the arcade head to head fighters in the 90s. Need to load it out!!

[@vent51177]

I remember Electronics Boutique and Babbage's carrying the Neo Geo AES when it was released.

[@luisrivera7991]

It takes a really sick individual to compare Mark of the Wolves to Echo the Dolphin… respect

[@TobeyStarburst]

Great video

[@davidrivera9061]

I have an AES and I've had an SNES and Genesis, and the AES absolutely slaughters them both in the graphics department hands down.

[@SonicTheFrenchHorn]

Duh

[@jdb2002]

I remember seeing the Neo-Geo in one of those Funcoland pricing lists they had at the store ($100 used), and not knowing what it was.

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

Wow, $100 for an AES! I wonder how much the games were at that time? Who would have thought back in the early 2000s that all those dirt cheap old games would be worth 100s to 1,000s of dollars in 10-15 years. It is kind of funny how popular retro games are now because I remember looking at Sega Genesis games at Funcoland sometime in the very early 2000s and being kind of embarrassed. lol I was thinking people would see me and think that kid must be poor if he is still buying Genesis games!

[@kopeofonrac2084]

Mean Girls made an appearance! I'm so happy!

[@Kairistorm]

Bit late to this video, but I gotta say, I never had a neo-geo growing up, but thanks to their re-releases over the years, I've actually grown to like the Neo-Geo and the TG-16 just as much as I did the genesis I had as a kid.

[@AnthonyFlack]

If we're talking specs, it's interesting to note that the Neo Geo is all sprites. Everything it draws to the screen is a sprite. It doesn't even have background layers. Just more sprites.

[@atomicskull6405]

It has a tile layer but that is only meant for text and HUD graphics elements. It also did not use subpallets, just one main 12 bit pallet with 4096 16 bit RGB entries. It was literally arcade hardware, it was a cartridge-ized and slightly upgraded version of an arcade board designed by Alpha Denshi.

[@demonology2629]

If you're saying NEO-GEO AES can't do parallax scrolling you are completely wrong. Magician Lord does it and many other games do too.

[@AnthonyFlack]

@@demonology2629 - I'm not saying that at all. The Neo-Geo can handle multiple layers of full-screen parallax... using sprites.

[@atomicskull6405]

@@demonology2629 People see the single tile layer in the specs and assume it can't without understanding how the hardware actually works. The tile layer is there just for text and graphical HUD elements. Playfield elements are all made up of 16x(up to)512 pixel strips.

[@demonology2629]

@@AnthonyFlack look at fatal Fury 3 on Hong fu elevator stage in Hong Kong look at it it will discredit everything you said

[@invaderboy7187]

Great vid thank you :-)

[@abrown4835]

best retro game youtuber, very charismatic

[@rummyraisin]

I'd played Metal Slug and Bust-A-Move on a machine at my local pizza place, but didn't really put together the nature of SNK or that there was a home version of the system. But when the Neo Geo Pocket came out, I was entranced by the sideways world quality of it all (to the Game Boy in this case). I got one second hand a few years later with a copy of Sonic Pocket Adventure and Metal Slug 2nd Mission--still two of my favorite handheld games. Think you'll ever do a feature on this system, Bird?

[@RetroBirdGaming]

I don't own a Neo Geo Pocket, but if I ever did then I would certainly cover it.

[@EatingCtrlV]

I howled when the Tetris was peeking from the door with a knife.