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Banned
(11-06-2008,
07:26 PM)
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SNK Loyalists, Represent!
#1
Ok, this thread is 100% inspired by this IGN video posted the other day:
http://ds.ign.com/dor/articles/92669...RY_110308.html Basically it's a SNK history timeline and watching it made me really nostalgic and thus I felt compelled to make a thread on the good old days of SNK. So first off: Ikari Warriors   Now while this game hasn't held up over the years I still have fond memories of playing it at the arcade and on the NES. The appeal was great too, Ralph and Clark(Or at this point Rambo Red and Rambo Blue) walk upwards shooting infinite bad guys and occasionally getting into a tank. Unless I'm mistaken this pretty much kicked off the short lived um...hell I don't even know what name to classify this genre as but you know em when you see em. The popularity of this game eventually led to two sequels which brings us to... Ikari Warrios 2: Victory Road   Now I've never been the biggest fan of this sequel. It took the series to a different well...world which I personally didn't care for. Actually the thing I liked most about this game was the bizarre intro of the floating head telling you to "Show some guts!". Ikari 3: The Rescue   This iteration was interesting. It turned the game into a beat-em up and it was a pretty decent one. My main gripe was it still used the annoying rotating stick which was kind of a pain for this game. Still, your controlling Rambo and clone again with giant sprites in a world that came straight from Canon films. Awesome. Speaking of beat-em ups.... P.O.W   I loved this game back in the day. It was super hard and you had to just jump kick your way through the game if you wanted to get anywhere but it didn't matter, everything was awesome. I remember renting the NES version and not noticing the huge graphical difference between that and the arcade version. To be a kid again... This game also used my favorite classic SNK hit sound effect which was also featured heavily in.... Street Smart   SNK's answer to Street Fighter. The combat was rather strange as you moved around the screen while you attacked but it still worked out. It wasn't a traditional fighter but more of a beat-em up boss fight game(And a really hard/cheap one at that) and each fight you won garnered you a new super model which the game kept tally of. My favorite part of this game was beating a boss and having the "SNK Hosptial" ambulance come and take them away. Guerilla War   Another game in the genre that has no name. You played as Castro and Che Guevara shooting the living hell out of everything. I've always liked this game better than Ikari Warriors. The arcade version had super huge/colorful sprites that blew Ikari 1+2 away and the NES version had infinite continues which, as pathetic as it sounds, was a plus point for me with NES games back then.  Also neat for the NES were the minecart levels which had some faux mode 7 rotation which you never saw in NES often if at all.Search and Rescue   Few people give this game the respect it deserves. Another game in "that" genre, this one had you in some space alien type situation fighting said aliens and zombie humans. Plenty of slime and gore to go around with really nice graphics. More people should have played this. Nam 1975   Another genre I've never been sure the name of. This is one of those Cabal/Blood Brothers games which I happen to be a big fan of. This is one of the better one with pretty decent animation and a very comical voice over(Which is supposed to be dead serious...). If you a fan of Blood Brothers or Wild Guns and haven't played this, then do so now. Sengoku   Getting away from war shooters, another game I loved was Sengoku. It's not really that great of a game but it had a neat theme of 80's guy(And Cowboy) beating up Japanese ghost-like guys through some destroyed version of generic city land while jumping to some Japanese fantasy world every so often. You had a pretty large set of weapons to pick up throughout too. Tough game and rather stiff but I still have a not of nostalgia for it. It was followed by two sequels but I didn't care for either of them. Mutation Nation   Another decent beat-em up. I remember this one most for the goofy enemies with inter-changable heads. I remember for awhile it was assumed by some gamers that the main character was actually KoF's Kyo. Super Baseball 2020   I have to mention this game because for me it was SNK's Mutant League type game. I was an asshole when playing this and would just beam all the hitters with the ball. Yeah I'm not much of a baseball game player. King of the Monsters   This game sucks now but back when it came out it was insanely awesome. Godzilla ripp offs fighting each other and blowing up the city. How could you lose with a game like this. I'd say this game was the most button mash heavy fighter ever. Heck it was border line a wrestling game complete with "ropes" to bounce your opponents off of. It eventually got a sequel but sadly it wasn't nearly as good. World Heroes   Alright, everyone hates this game these days as it was a blatant SF2 clone and did not try to hide it. Still it was fun at the time, the deathmatch stage option was cool and noobs loved the throw button. It had a sequel which I hated because of it's tug of war lifebar and an upgrade to said sequel which some people seem to still enjoy. Art of Fighting 2   Was never a fan of the AoF series but I always remembered this one because the characters were HUGE. It also had actual facial bruising which was cool too. Still, to me it felt like a really unfun SF2 clone and I just never got into the series. It eventually had a 3rd sequel which had really fluid animation but cheap super kill specials. Fatal Fury 3   I never got into the Fatal Fury games until this one. It's not considered one of the better game sin the series but this one was the game that got me playing the Fatal Fury series so I'll always remember it for that. Real Bout Fatal Fury       The Real Bout Fatal Fury series. These were sorta the Alpha of the Fatal Fury series as they saw the game getting nice visual upgrades and they all played the best out of all the Fatal Fury games...well...they did until..... Garou: Mark of the Wolves   The SF3 of the Fatal Fury games. Other than MS3 this is the best looking NeoGeo game. It also played excellently and was an awesome game despite it's small cast and easy last boss. I don't really have to talk about this, everyone knows this game is awesome. Samurai Shodown   The series has faded out these days but at one point it was a major hit arcade franchise. Weapon combat wasn't too common in fighters at the time and this game had an awesome style to it as well as an awesome cast. Did I mention it played well too? Plus being able to cut an enemy in half was always neat. I don't understand why they didn't keep the Samurai Spirits title. Shodown sounds cool but they went and spelt it Shodown.... Samurai Shodown 2   For many people9And myself) this was the peak of the series. Just an all around better version of part 1. This game was super popular and it felt like overnight the series fell from grace when part 3 hit. 3 wasn't even really a bad game or anything but people at my arcades just weren't having it. 4 was decent, I only played a little of 5 and anything after that I haven't touched. Perhaps one day... Last Blade 2   This was Samurai Shodown for people who didn't like Samurai Shodown. Part 1 was cool but part 2 was awesome. This series never seemed to get any kind of recognition outside of the very hardcore and as a result few have played it. Shame. Metal Slug   This game came out of nowhere. I went to the arcade one day and there it was, red blood and all. I was blown away by this Contra-like arcade game from SNK. The graphics were amazing, the gameplay was all there and it had an awesome style. For many people MS3 was the best(It's certainly the best looking and an excellent game) but the first will always be my favorite. King of Fighters 94   You new it was coming up eventually. KoF 94 kicked off the KoF series with it's unique 3v3 fighting setup as well as including character from various KoF franchises. It was a good game though immediately bettered by it's sequel which allowed you to mix and match characters instead of being restricted to teams. Speaking of KoF sequels... King of Fighters 96-97-98       The peak of the franchise for me. I loved 96, 97 was better and then 98 was better than that! Hell even today a new remake of KoF 98 is being made. These were the height of the "simple" KoF days before we got strikers and tag options. I still love KoF though and perhaps it's just nostalgia but again, these were the peak for me. I know there are some classics I didn't cover but these were the bread and butter from SNK for me. I still follow SNK/Playmore and while they've had some lows things look to be picking up to some extent. Were finally getting an arcade quality portable Metal Slug(Something I've wanted for years) with MS7 and then of course there is.... King of Fighters 12   I stopped playing the series at 2003(Ash Crimson can drop dead) and had pretty much lost interest in playing KoF but I can't ignore this game. Beautiful HD 2D graphics and a cast that have all apparently hit the steroid realm. This is going to be the first KoF I buy in what seems like forever and I hope hope hope it delivers. So yeah, consider this a SNK nostalgia thread now. Anything you want to say, have at it! Also, credit to system16.com where I borrowed(But not leeched) most of these pics from. Last edited by Madvillain : 11-06-2008 at 10:02 PM. |
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Member
(11-06-2008,
07:30 PM)
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#3
Originally Posted by Madvillain:
My favourite SNK game of all-time, I would really love to see a sequel - also, I totally agree about it being for people who don't like Samrai Shodown, for some reason SamSho never really clicked with me and always felt inferior in my mind to Last Blade (probably because I played Last Blade first). Anyways, great thread - so many awesome memories :) |
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It is illegal to Tag Fish in Tag Fishing Sanctuaries by law 38.36 of the GAF Wildlife Act
(11-06-2008,
07:32 PM)
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#4
Im here representing my love for SNK.
The awesome character design, creative music and top notch gameplay ... My most played games of all time: The King Of Fighters 96' , 97' ,98' , 99' Best characters design ever: Yashiro,Iori,Goenitz,Shermie (<3) ,Mai,TERRY ! and many many more! |
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Member
(11-06-2008,
07:34 PM)
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#7
Been an SNK fan for as long as I can remember. King of Fighters '98 and The Last Blade 2 are some of the best, if not THE best, fighters ever created. Still wanting to pick up an Neo Geo AES system but my lack of funds is hurting that dream. An MVS cabinet would be pretty sweet too.
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Member
(11-06-2008,
07:38 PM)
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#10
Great thread and OP, I love SNK with Samurai Shodown 2 and World Heroes being some of my favorite fighters from that era. This thread reminds me that I need to pick up that SNK collection for PS2, I tryed it on PSP but the load times are soooooo freaking long that I can't handle it.
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Member
(11-06-2008,
07:42 PM)
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#13
I repurchased a Neo Geo cart system earlier this year and there are so many timeless classics.
You left out the awesomeness of Neo Turf Masters, League Bowling, Robo Army, Baseball Stars 2 (best baseball game EVAR!), and the shooters. Oh, the shooters. Last Resort is still a brilliant piece of derivative work (R-Type alike). There are many more... SNK is easily at or near the top of my list of favorite developers. |
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Street Fighter IV World Champion
(11-06-2008,
07:42 PM)
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#14
KOF '94 is the reason I got into game dev.
After Super SF2 Turbo, I needed something different. Swirling out the SNK super moves was a godlike achievement back in those days. The characters were new and different, the 3 vs 3 system, the music, the stages, the horrifically hard bosses. Man. I miss me some classic SNK. |
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(11-06-2008,
07:52 PM)
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#24
When I was a kid, before I knew of Mt Ikari, I thought the title was a pluralized take on Icarus because of the opening plane crash.
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about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
(11-06-2008,
07:57 PM)
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#28
I will forever hate them for creating the Raging Storm pretzel motion.
I will forever love them for everything else. The years and memories spent playing KoFs, Mark of the Wolves, and Last Blade 2 are ones I miss and won't ever forget. |
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Member
(11-06-2008,
08:00 PM)
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#31
Capcom 4life!!
...now that ive gotten that outta the way, i wasnt so much of a loyalist as much as an enthusiast. and after i left elementary school, i really started to see snk in a new light with the diversity in their fighters and shooters. i played the hell out of wakuwaku 7 (sunsoft, i know, but i played it on an mvs board) as well as the kofs from 94 to 00 |
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Member
(11-06-2008,
08:11 PM)
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#36
Here's a little something for all you fellow Garou marks: clicky, clicky.
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Junior Member
(11-06-2008,
08:19 PM)
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#37
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Member
(11-06-2008,
08:21 PM)
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#39
Man, there are so many great SNK games. I absolutely love the Metal Slug series and the King of Fighter games up to '99. You can't go wrong with NAM-1975 and the Garou Densetsu series either.
Originally Posted by Ninja Dom:
King of Fighters '98 was definitely my favorite of the whole series, but I'm really looking foward to KOFXII. |
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(11-06-2008,
08:22 PM)
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#41
I came here to post Waku Waku 7. Good show.
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Member
(11-06-2008,
08:33 PM)
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#43
My friend's grandmother bought him a NEO-Geo arcade system when we were in 7th grade i think. We played the hell out of that system for the next 5 years (sam shodown, and KOF 95 Mainly). But the games just were too expensive, it wasn't until emulation on the PC happened that I realized that SNK probably has the best collection of games ever.
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Member
(11-06-2008,
08:40 PM)
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#44
I had completely forgotten about Ikari Warriors but I sure played the hell out of that game as a kid. What an awesome game that was; I didn't even remember what it was called but recognized it instantly when I saw the screenshot!
I approve of this thread. |
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Member
(11-06-2008,
08:59 PM)
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#49
Originally Posted by Dave Long:
B. B. Base. Baseball stars! TWO! Oh man, so good. Also, mad props for Garou, everything KoF and everything Metal Slug.  AND! Fuck yeah Twinkle Star Sprites |
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Member
(11-06-2008,
09:09 PM)
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#50
(Throws hat in the air)
Dave Long knows whats up. The best arcade sports game ever created, Baseball Stars 2 is an absolute blast. When I retire, I will spend the rest of my days traveling the earth spreading Baseball Stars 2 love. It's that awesome. I'm a proud MVS arcade cab owner, great games though admittedly a few of them due to a high level of cheese mixed in - Street Slam and Breakers Revenge i'm looking at you. But also home to some honest to god good quality games including Shock Troopers, Blazing God Damn Star, Super Dodgeball, Neo Turf Masters, Crossed Swords, Metal Slug 3, Twinkle Star Sprites, Top Hunter, and all of the awesme games already mentioned in the OP. Thanks for making this thread, if you didn't I was bound to at some point. And don't forget Windjammers. Hilarious multiplayer action. 80's coked fuelled frisbee action that can only be achieved on the Neo Geo. Seriously, try and replicate this game on another console, or in real life for that matter. Impossible.  Someone port this game on XBLA stat. |
