![]() Mainly, Sony’s first handheld received compilations of games, nearly all of which are available on Vita through backwards-compatibility – but only in North America. This meant a shift towards other types of software delivery and, following the discontinuation of the Neo Geo AES system in 2004, ports of its most well-known titles to other consoles, including the PSP. It even managed to get a physical release on Vita (through Limited Run Games), allowing it to be preserved for decades to come.Īnother major part of Neo Geo’s identity were scrolling run ‘n’ gun titles like Metal Slug and the Vita received a fantastic port of the most beloved entry in that series ( Metal Slug 3 ). Again, Code Mystics added online play (which was sadly a bit unstable at times), allowing people who experienced it the first time around to play it all over again with their friends – on the go!ĭuring the noughties, when the PSP was in its prime, SNK was in a rebuilding phase after filing for bankruptcy in 2001. The game actually overpowered a poll held by Gio Corsi about which classic Neo Geo game fans wanted on PlayStation (despite not being an actual option on the poll), showing just how keen people were to replay this one. Another forgotten classic alongside The Last Blade 2 was Windjammers, a competitive frisbee-throwing title in the vein of Pong (except flashier and with many more special moves). Of course, Neo Geo didn’t just make a name for itself with fighting games. ![]() Also available is The Last Blade 2, the brilliant last entry in an often-ignored series. Samurai Shodown V Special received a botched launch on that hardware, but was touched up years later for Vita where it released fully uncensored and in all its original arcade glory. The franchise went from strength to strength over the years and would actually be the final official release on the original Neo Geo. The best known of these was definitely Samurai Shodown, a gory series set in feudal-era Japan. SNK also experimented with weapons-based fighters. Acting as a crossover between numerous different fighting game series, with a storyline to tie them all together, it perhaps wasn’t the most popular entry (that honor goes to ’98) but it certainly offers a fantastic hand-to-hand 2D fighting experience. The characters in the Fatal Fury games would have a big part in SNK’s other flagship franchise - King of Fighters - and the Vita would receive a port of the final entry in the ‘Orochi’ sub-series, entitled King of Fighters ’97: Global Match. The addition of online matchmaking makes it probably the definitive way to play, a common theme among Code Mystic’s ports to Vita. Featuring absolutely gorgeous pixel-art graphics, it also offers a challenging and intricate fighting system that’s accessible to newcomers, making it one of the best titles to try out if you want to dip your toes into SNK’s library. My favourite of the bunch is Garou: Mark of the Wolves , the final (at least for now) entry in the long-running Fatal Fury series that focused on a Southtown free from Geese Howard’s iron grip. All the best of these managed to find their way to the Vita as expanded ports with online features, making them arguably the best way to play these titles to this day. ![]() ![]() SNK were absolute masters of the fighting game genre during the 80s and 90s, creating classic after classic in quick succession. Thanks to the company’s resurrection in recent years and some internal cheerleaders at Sony, the Vita has been home to a great number of Neo Geo games, although sadly it hasn’t received the brilliant Arcade Archives series by Hamster, meaning it's an incomplete library. What tied these all together were the brilliant 2D titles created by SNK, which included a number of the most enjoyable fighting games of their time. The Neo Geo was something of an oddity in the gaming market – a family of systems that included the MVS arcade machine, AES home console machine, and a number of short-lived experiments such as the Neo Geo CD and Neo Geo Pocket. I'll be including straight ports of titles and emulated versions, as well as sequels to popular series and, in some cases, spiritual successors. I'll look at what games are available on the handheld from the chosen platform (including PS1 & PSP versions through backwards compatibility), as well as what titles are missing that were re-released on other platforms or that were never updated beyond the original hardware. This is the sixth (and final) entry in a series of articles where I look at the Vita's success in providing a portable version of classic consoles. By Adam Cartwright, posted on 02 December 2018 / 5,221 Views ![]()
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