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Neo Geo games coming to Nintendo Switch

Klart

Member
Originally Posted by Glowsquid

Next wave of neo geo switch arcade archive revealed. No dates.

-Burning Fight
-Metal Slug X
-KOF 95
-Robo Army
-Mutation Nation

These are also coming to PS4/XBO BTW, with the exception of KOF'95 being replaced by Real Bout Fatal Fury.

Yes! Finally some great classic brawlers on PS4! Where did you get this info?
 

mao2

Member
Originally Posted by Glowsquid

Next wave of neo geo switch arcade archive revealed. No dates.

-Burning Fight
-Metal Slug X
-KOF 95
-Robo Army
-Mutation Nation



Yes! Finally some great classic brawlers on PS4! Where did you get this info?
Hamster announced this during their live stream on niconico yesterday.
 
Mutation Nation is 90s af

tumblr_n5qt5zrWwl1rwszdgo1_1280.jpg


Hyped for MSX as well
 

Neff

Member
I love the shit out of '95, I'll bag it for sure.

My understanding is that 95 is the better of the classic kofs before 98

There's a real change in formula between '95 and 96. '95 is basically '94 with a ton of polish and good controls, while '96 is what the rest of the series would eventually become albeit saddled with screwy controls and occasional awol inputs. '95 is the end of KOF as a quirky physics-heavy, high damage SF competitor while '96 represents the series stretching its wings and trying its own thing as a looser, faster-paced experience. '97 sorted out the controls and '98 more or less perfected the formula with an exceptional roster.

It's generally accepted that the '90s KOFs got better with each title until '98, with everything after that representing SNK experimenting with varying results.
 

Glowsquid

Member

There is also a definite change in style between the two games. KOF '94 and '95 have a more gritty and grounded look to them (well, for a certain definition of "grounded", it's a still a game were high school students shoot flames from their hands), the result of the games having the involvement of former IREM artits who previously did Last Resort for SNK.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
What are people's opinions of the current best vertical space shooter and horizontal space shooter?

Vertical: Aero Fighters 2, no question.

Horizontal: Blazing Star for something a little more modern, Pulstar or Last Resort for something closer to R-Type.
 

firenze

Member
Assuming that the list reported all over the place of the most recently announced batch of games was in the order Hamster stated in their release announcement, the weekly release schedule should also follow the same order (that's how they've done things for the last several batches, so no reason to assume a change). So, the UNCONFIRMED release date lineup through October is probably:

September 28 - Burning Fight (yep, that one followed the expectation)
October 5 - Metal Slug X
October 12 - KoF '95
October 19 - Robo Army
October 26 - Mutation Nation

Get hype for MSX, everyone who has been anxiously awaiting it. Me, I'm always excited for each new Neo release... but Robo Army approaching is making me feel something extra special ;)
 

firenze

Member
MSX has been confirmed as this week's release via the EU shop. That also supports the assumption that Hamster is releasing weekly in the order shown in their announcement (as usual).

Updated schedule

September 28 - Burning Fight (released)
October 5 - Metal Slug X (confirmed)
October 12 - KoF '95 (likely, but release date unconfirmed)
October 19 - Robo Army (likely, but release date unconfirmed)
October 26 - Mutation Nation (likely, but release date unconfirmed)
 

steveovig

Member
This version of Metal Slug X doesn't have all that extra and cool stuff that was in the PS1 version, does it? I think that one had Missions and such.
 

firenze

Member
This version of Metal Slug X doesn't have all that extra and cool stuff that was in the PS1 version, does it? I think that one had Missions and such.

Nope, this will be just the straight Neo Geo/arcade version of Metal Slug X.

Will not include the PS1 port's Combat School mode... however, if you're interested in that, it's available (for $5.99 in the US) on PS3/PSP/Vita via the PS1 Classics release: https://store.playstation.com/#!/en...sic)/cid=UP9000-NPUJ01212_00-0000000000000001

The PS1 port is pretty good quality, but it's not arcade perfect and does have some loading time and animation cuts.
 

batfax

Member
Finally got my first one of these thanks to Metal Slug X. However... is it just me or is the button responsiveness not great? I swear I'm jamming this fire button but it's just not acting like I am. Heck, sometimes there's just gaps where I'm not firing at all. What gives? I tried the auto-fire mode and it's even slower.
 

Mutagenic

Permanent Junior Member
Slow responsiveness is one of the worst traits to have. It sucks we have to be concerned with such things in officially released emulation.
 

entremet

Member
I remember someone hating on the MS2 port, forgetting the arcade version had slow down too, so it was an accurate port.

I do prefer X, so I’m glad it’s coming,
 

firenze

Member
Finally got my first one of these thanks to Metal Slug X. However... is it just me or is the button responsiveness not great? I swear I'm jamming this fire button but it's just not acting like I am. Heck, sometimes there's just gaps where I'm not firing at all. What gives? I tried the auto-fire mode and it's even slower.

I've played through all of Metal Slug X on Switch a couple times now, and I'm quite familiar with the Neo Geo original. Responsiveness and lag don't seem to be an issue, it's a very good port to me. Only accuracy issue I saw was very minor and rare cases of the game briefly running at what I'm pretty sure is a *smoother* than original frame rate. Very minimal though, I noticed it a couple times for a fraction of a second during low-action moments (for instance, in a fairly empty screen near the beginning of stage 4 or 5). FWIW, I've also noticed this happening in ACA Metal Slug 2. Seems like a minor emulation issue, but it's by no means a serious problem. Gonna have to play the Neo version with the Switch release fresh in my memory and compare further...

Metal Slug in general has always been a little... deliberate and (charmingly) clunky to control though, so it's possible that people who perceive some lack of responsiveness just aren't especially used to the games, or maybe are familiar with ports/emulation that less accurately reflect the original Neo Geo hardware? I've found playing on Switch pretty accurate to the original though.

Some thoughts on potential fixes/improvements if you're having any technical issues:
(1) I have noticed that turning auto-fire on for any of the ACA Metal Slug games can cause some lag. So maybe turn that off.

(2) Try a full power down on your Switch every now and then; might be some sort of memory leak issue that can be improved with a full reboot.

(3) Also, make sure it's not a controller issue? I'm not too trusting of 8bitdo's stuff in particular - have one of their pads but it's sometimes a little sketchy with syncing to the system. I generally play Neo Geo games either on TV with a Switch Pro Controller (Nintendo first party), or in portable mode with attached joycons. Haven't found those to be an issue.

As for Metal Slug X as a game:
It's a straight up Neo Geo classic. Most people do prefer MSX to MS2 due to the major improvements in slowdown (especially in the later missions), but it's pretty much MS2.5/remix edition. I kinda prefer the boss placement and original backgrounds/colors in MS2, but that's more up to personal taste. Slug 2/X are more straightforward shooters than MS3's branching paths. MS3 also doubles down on the goofiness with a heavier focus on aliens, zombies, plant monsters and all that... but 2/X is the originator of some of the fun supernatural weirdness seen in most of the series. Specifically, the level 2 mummies and the introduction of aliens (although 2/X play it pretty straight in most of the missions, a la the original Metal Slug).

Checking on again for Windjammers or Baseball Stars....

... leaving disappointed :(

The absence of Windjammers is pretty understandable, seeing as how Dotemu's PS4/Vita release just came out a little over a month ago. Give it time and maybe we'll see it though - just like we've seen Hamster release other Neo Geo games that have relatively recent SNK/Code Mystics ports to other current gen systems (Garou, Metal Slug 3). This is a weird one though, since a totally different company licensed the game for PS4/Vita/PC... who knows whether they had any contractually agreed exclusivity period (though hey, we don't really know and maybe Hamster already has it licensed and planned for release...)

One or both of Baseball Stars & Baseball Stars 2 (probably both) will surely show up in due time. These games have been released in pretty much every SNK port effort - PS2/PSP/Wii, Wii Virtual Console, M2's PS3/PSP Neo Geo Station, etc.

Lately it feels like Hamster has been intentionally focusing more on one dominant "theme" genre in each batch of releases (3/5 of this set are Beat-em-ups, last round was platformers, etc.)... I wouldn't be surprised to see a Sports-heavy set fairly soon. There are a lot of pretty obvious choices for it: Baseball Stars, Super Baseball 2020, Sidekicks 2 or 3, Soccer Brawl, League Bowling, Dunk Dream/Street Hoop...
 

batfax

Member
I've played through all of Metal Slug X on Switch a couple times now, and I'm quite familiar with the Neo Geo original. Responsiveness and lag don't seem to be an issue, it's a very good port to me. Only accuracy issue I saw was very minor and rare cases of the game briefly running at what I'm pretty sure is a *smoother* than original frame rate. Very minimal though, I noticed it a couple times for a fraction of a second during low-action moments (for instance, in a fairly empty screen near the beginning of stage 4 or 5). FWIW, I've also noticed this happening in ACA Metal Slug 2. Seems like a minor emulation issue, but it's by no means a serious problem. Gonna have to play the Neo version with the Switch release fresh in my memory and compare further...

Metal Slug in general has always been a little... deliberate and (charmingly) clunky to control though, so it's possible that people who perceive some lack of responsiveness just aren't especially used to the games, or maybe are familiar with ports/emulation that less accurately reflect the original Neo Geo hardware? I've found playing on Switch pretty accurate to the original though.

Some thoughts on potential fixes/improvements if you're having any technical issues:
(1) I have noticed that turning auto-fire on for any of the ACA Metal Slug games can cause some lag. So maybe turn that off.

(2) Try a full power down on your Switch every now and then; might be some sort of memory leak issue that can be improved with a full reboot.

(3) Also, make sure it's not a controller issue? I'm not too trusting of 8bitdo's stuff in particular - have one of their pads but it's sometimes a little sketchy with syncing to the system. I generally play Neo Geo games either on TV with a Switch Pro Controller (Nintendo first party), or in portable mode with attached joycons. Haven't found those to be an issue.

I'm quite familiar with how Metal Slug typically feels. I've played X more times than I can count and 1CC'd a few games in the series (can't remember if X was one of them). I'm using the joycon I got with the system and it just can't fire as fast as I can press. Maybe my Y button is a little funky or something, or maybe this is just a good excuse to start thinking about a Pro controller.
 

Umibozu

Member
I'm quite familiar with how Metal Slug typically feels. I've played X more times than I can count and 1CC'd a few games in the series (can't remember if X was one of them). I'm using the joycon I got with the system and it just can't fire as fast as I can press. Maybe my Y button is a little funky or something, or maybe this is just a good excuse to start thinking about a Pro controller.
There's no turbo fire option from the menu?
 

batfax

Member
There is, but it's still slower than I'd like. I know it's really nit-picky but I guess I'm just really used to absolutely slamming the heck out of the fire button.
 
So I can't get NeoGeo games to work with two Pro Controllers for some reason. Same thing with my 8bitdo controllers. Both controllers (either combination) will pair successfully and can be used in the Switch OS, but for the life of me I cannot get the player 2 function working. I'm really confused and wondering what I'm doing wrong. This only happens in NeoGeo games also.

Edit: Realized this only happens in tabletop mode with the Joycons attached. Player 2 is automatically assigned as the Joycons even if you started using the Pro Controllers. Weird.
 

firenze

Member
KOF '95 announced as this week's release, as expected. Updated schedule

September 28 - Burning Fight (released)
October 5 - Metal Slug X (released)
October 12 - KoF '95 (confirmed)
October 19 - Robo Army (likely, but release date unconfirmed)
October 26 - Mutation Nation (likely, but release date unconfirmed)

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for '95. As others mentioned earlier in this thread, it fits with '94 as having a more "gritty" aesthetic than the later games in the series, with some clear influence from the Irem veterans who worked on the game. Being able to edit teams was obviously a big leap forward from '94, we have the first appearance of Iori (and the iconic BGM of Arashi no Saxophone).

And man do I love some of those backgrounds: Italy stage fighting in that shallow water is STILL visually one of my favorite fighting game, the Japan team (NEO GEO LAND!) and AOF team's elevator at the start of the stage are both classics. The women's team's classy bar... Great stuff.
 

Oddduck

Member
Lately it feels like Hamster has been intentionally focusing more on one dominant "theme" genre in each batch of releases (3/5 of this set are Beat-em-ups, last round was platformers, etc.)... I wouldn't be surprised to see a Sports-heavy set fairly soon. There are a lot of pretty obvious choices for it: Baseball Stars, Super Baseball 2020, Sidekicks 2 or 3, Soccer Brawl, League Bowling, Dunk Dream/Street Hoop...

I'm glad that I'm not the only person who noticed this trend.

I can see myself buying most of those sports titles.
 

Platy

Member
Probably answered, but is there a generally agreed-upon best KOF entry, and is it available via the ACA series yet?

KOF98 seems to be a favorite of lots of people that I meet in real life and yes, it is avaliable.

It is like the first game in the OP
 

Timu

Member
I've always had a bit of a soft spot for '95. As others mentioned earlier in this thread, it fits with '94 as having a more "gritty" aesthetic than the later games in the series, with some clear influence from the Irem veterans who worked on the game. Being able to edit teams was obviously a big leap forward from '94, we have the first appearance of Iori (and the iconic BGM of Arashi no Saxophone).

And man do I love some of those backgrounds: Italy stage fighting in that shallow water is STILL visually one of my favorite fighting game, the Japan team (NEO GEO LAND!) and AOF team's elevator at the start of the stage are both classics. The women's team's classy bar... Great stuff.
Yeah, though it's one of the hardest KOF games ever!
 

Chie Satonaka91

Neo Member
Every time I see this thread bumped I hope it's someone mentioning that Magician Lord is back up on the US eShop. I really want that one but I'd rather avoid putting money on to my Japanese account until some Japan only game comes out that I really want. I'm thinking about calling Nintendos customer support and asking them. I tried emailing Hamster but haven't gotten a reply.

Really enjoyed the games they've brought so far. Gotten a ton of play time out of Neo Turf Masters in multiplayer. Also really enjoyed Metal Slug 3, Waku Waku 7, and Magical Drop 2. If my gaming budget wasn't so stretched right now I'd grab Metal Slug X, Shock Troopers, and Spin Master.

Really hoping for Magical Drop 3, Twinkle Star Sprites, and Money Idol Exchanger soon. I'd be really cool if they would release Ghostlop. It was a Data East game that was 100 percent finished and never released. Even has a complete English localization. I think G-Mode (Who owns the rights to the other Data East games they've released) owns the rights to it. Anyone else think that's possible?
 

ScOULaris

Member
What display settings is everyone using for these ACA releases. Damn shame that there isn't an option for scanlines without smoothing. Such a strange oversight.

That being said, A2 looks the best to me save for the fact that the scanlines are uneven on the default aspect ratio. But I don't wanna to 1:1 ratio because I prefer for the image to take up the full height of the Switch screen.
 

firenze

Member
What display settings is everyone using for these ACA releases. Damn shame that there isn't an option for scanlines without smoothing. Such a strange oversight.

I can't handle the smudgy filter, so no scanlines for me even though my ideal would be scanlines/no filter (seriously, WHYYYY can't they add that option...). Just all filters off here, no A1-5 or B1-5. For those who didn't realize, the default setting on all ACA Neo Geo games is A1, and no graphical filters is one slot over to the left from A1 in the ACA pull up menu.

I also tend to use original aspect ratio, but size increased to fill the screen height.

I find the Neo games do look pretty good with no filters though, and they upscale well if you're playing on an HDTV. That's saying something considering what I'm used to for my Neo Geo AES system, which is on a Sony PVM through RGB. Definitely also spoiled by excellent scanline emulation on stuff like anything M2 works on, and Zerodiv's Psiyko releases on Switch look promising in that regard too. Hamster needs to step up their game on this point - the bad filters are the one thing that seriously bugs me about the ACA Neo Geo series.
 

ScOULaris

Member
Any real reason Aero Fighters 2 is considered much better than Striker 1945?
I think it's quite a bit longer and has a whacky, interesting cast of characters that all feel pretty unique ability-wise. Two of the pilots are a dolphin and a baby, which is just plain cool. There's just more content in Aero Fighters 2, from what I gather.

Also, I settled on a 150 size with no filter when playing in handheld on my Switch. It's a nice 3x upscale and looks clean on the Switch display.

If Hamster were to ever add an option for scanlines without blur I'd enable that, of course. I'll never understand it. They give us B1-5, which no one will ever use, but they can't include a regular scanlines filter.
 

firenze

Member
I prefer Strikers 1945 to Aero Fighters 2, but I guess it's a matter of taste. For me, there are two main reasons:

(1) Aero Fighters 2 is a bit TOO long for my liking (though, yeah, Psikyo is notorious for second loops itself...)

(2) I prefer Strikers being a native vertical shooter (i.e., the game is designed for a screen that is taller than it is wide, not a "vertizontal" like Aero Fighters with vertical scrolling but a horizontal screen orientation). That's the main reason that Sonic Wings Special for Saturn, which has an actual vertical TATE mode, is my go-to game for the Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings series.

Actually, the main reason Psikyo was even formed was that Shin Nakamura, the lead designer of the original Sonic Wings (aka Aero Fighters), didn't like Video System's decision to focus solely on Neo Geo development. Nakamura wanted to make vertical games and disliked the Neo's horizontal screen limitation. So, he quit Video System and went and founded Psikyo along with some other like-minded Video System people. Nakamura made Sengoku Ace (very much a spiritual successor to Sonic Wings) as Psikyo's first game, then went on to make a bunch of other classics like Strikers I and II, Gunbird, Dragon Blaze, etc.

Also worth remembering that Strikers 1945 is not a Neo Geo game, so when people are saying "best Neo Geo shooter on Switch" they probably aren't including it. Psikyo did eventually end up doing Strikers 1945 Plus on Neo Geo (a remix of Strikers II with horizonal screen orientation...), but that's not available on Switch. It does seem that the original arcade Strikers II is on the way from Zerodiv though, I can't wait for it :)

Anyway, both Strikers 1945 and Aero Fighters 2 are good games and both are cheap and available on Switch. Get them both! But I'd pick Strikers first.

P.S. - what are people talking about, Aero Fighters having multiple characters to select? THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE, AND THAT IS SPANKY THE GENIUS DOLPHIN PILOT.
 

Beepos

Member
I think it's quite a bit longer and has a whacky, interesting cast of characters that all feel pretty unique ability-wise. Two of the pilots are a dolphin and a baby, which is just plain cool. There's just more content in Aero Fighters 2, from what I gather.

Also, I settled on a 150 size with no filter when playing in handheld on my Switch. It's a nice 3x upscale and looks clean on the Switch display.

If Hamster were to ever add an option for scanlines without blur I'd enable that, of course. I'll never understand it. They give us B1-5, which no one will ever use, but they can't include a regular scanlines filter.

I prefer Strikers 1945 to Aero Fighters 2, but I guess it's a matter of taste. For me, there are two main reasons:

(1) Aero Fighters 2 is a bit TOO long for my liking (though, yeah, Psikyo is notorious for second loops itself...)

(2) I prefer Strikers being a native vertical shooter (i.e., the game is designed for a screen that is taller than it is wide, not a "vertizontal" like Aero Fighters with vertical scrolling but a horizontal screen orientation). That's the main reason that Sonic Wings Special for Saturn, which has an actual vertical TATE mode, is my go-to game for the Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings series.

Actually, the main reason Psikyo was even formed was that Shin Nakamura, the lead designer of the original Sonic Wings (aka Aero Fighters), didn't like Video System's decision to focus solely on Neo Geo development. Nakamura wanted to make vertical games and disliked the Neo's horizontal screen limitation. So, he quit Video System and went and founded Psikyo along with some other like-minded Video System people. Nakamura made Sengoku Ace (very much a spiritual successor to Sonic Wings) as Psikyo's first game, then went on to make a bunch of other classics like Strikers I and II, Gunbird, Dragon Blaze, etc.

Also worth remembering that Strikers 1945 is not a Neo Geo game, so when people are saying "best Neo Geo shooter on Switch" they probably aren't including it. Psikyo did eventually end up doing Strikers 1945 Plus on Neo Geo (a remix of Strikers II with horizonal screen orientation...), but that's not available on Switch. It does seem that the original arcade Strikers II is on the way from Zerodiv though, I can't wait for it :)

Anyway, both Strikers 1945 and Aero Fighters 2 are good games and both are cheap and available on Switch. Get them both! But I'd pick Strikers first.

P.S. - what are people talking about, Aero Fighters having multiple characters to select? THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE, AND THAT IS SPANKY THE GENIUS DOLPHIN PILOT.

Thanks Guys - settled on Aero Fighters 2 for now because I do enjoy longer shooters. I will eventually owning both and all vertical shooters that come out on the Switch.

How do you think those games compare to the spinoff Raiden Fighters?
 
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