Neo Geo CD Want to buy a Neo Geo. (which one?)

Way to go on deleting the emulator! I hate those things.

You have to ask yourself some questions. First, how much money do you want to be spending on AES games. These babys are flawless translations, but they still retain their cost. Plus the library is always chock full of better games to come out.

NGCD games you can get at mindblowingly affordable prices. I got a copy of KOF 96 from japan for $12 shipped. Its usually the LAG factor on those that turn many off. There was a better system which had a better load time, but the hardware is scarce and can cost as much as an AES.

There is a 3rd option if you weren't aware of it; MVS. These are the EXACT carts from the arcades. They are very afforadable, mainly because they are lacking cases, manuals, and art. I bought SvC: Chaos for $10. Now the only down side is that you have to buy an MVS board. You can modify it to work on a TV. Ben Heck has made a few and you can look up the DIY online. Or, I suppose you could go the "cheater" route and buy a consolized one off ebay. They are generally affodable, (I think around $80 shipped) and you can pick us those old cart games for a song. Just think of "Whole lotta Rosie" (ACDC reference) when you look at the MVS market...Not Exactly pretty, not exactly small (both figurative and literally)...

Cue the music....

Sound,

the sound was translated over from the carts. Others had a completely redone soundtrack to go with the cd media. Again personal preference.

As far as the controllers go, it's personal preference. If you like the arcade feel, go the Joystick route. Console gamer? Gamepad.

As far as the games released for both the systems, CD got certain games with different aspects (blood etc.) and outright never had an AES port. The joysticks and gamepads can be used on either system. I like the joysticks because of the Arcade feel the system had. Plus when I had friends over, they loved duking it out over Samurai shodown with the arcade sticks.

If you do go the AES route, I understand. Perhaps I could help ou get your collection under way since I "accidently" acquired duplicate copies of certain games...

Well, not being able to use the joysticks on the neo cd would be a HUGE surprise to me. I tested my NGcd with the joysticks off of my AES. Trust me, it should be fine. The joypads are a little stiff if you get me drift. I can send you a Pm, or you can PM me...

As somebody that has owned all 3 Neo formats, I wholeheartedly endorse the CD.

The most glaring flaw is the load time, which requires a certain degree of adjustment. Most older games have decent load times, it is only the later titles that are excessive. If load times are a serious concern to you, check out a CDZ.

- As far as sound goes, most of the remixed CD soundtracks are leaps and bounds above the cart originals, in my opinion. So far, there has only been one game I preferred the cart soundtrack (WH2J); the CD Samurai Shodown soundtracks are incredible, I actually have them on my iPod.

- Affordability was a factor for me. It is possible to amass a huge collection of CD games for a fraction of the cost of a cart collection. Granted, the CD does not have every Neo title (especially the more recent), but it does have exclusives (Crossed Swords II, Sam Sho RPG, Ironclad), as well as exclusive content on certain games (Metal Slug and Last Blade series being most notable). Personally, my favorite Neo games are from the 90-96 era, and I did not enjoy many of the recent releases, so I am willing to make this trade-off. These will be things you will have to weigh.

On a reassuring note, the joysticks work with the CD! Hope all of this helps.

From my experience, the control is the same on the CD as the AES. Some purists slam the CD control pad, and only like the joystick. I enjoy both, personally.

Opinions vary on the US/JP console issue. I have a JP, but there are several games in which I wish I could read English text. Obviously, in games like SSRPG, you will NEED English text, unless you know Japanese. Still, language mods are easy to do.

As far as the eBay auction you showed, I am not so sure. The seller wants to charge 69$ for shipping. For that price, you could probably wait a little while and find a package for sale here in the US, with more games. If you have the cash, I would encourage you to try to get a package that already comes with several games, as it is cheaper in the long run and you may find games as part of the deal that would be harder/more expensive to find alone.

The joypads are something like early genesis pads. Not a bad thing. I own all the formats so you get the picture which is unbiased. You just got to know what you want.

StylinProfilin said:

I read in another thread that the pad was only meant for the cd and stick was only meant to be played with the AES? No?

If I do go the AES route, I would definitely like to hear what games you have. Maybe you can PM what games you have?

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You can use any joystick or pad Neo controller on any Neo Geo system basically...

Same Thing with some of the arcade sticks developed for the Neo Geo (IE MAS Arcade Sticks).

Speaking of MAS Arcade sticks, I have 1 I need to sell off soon.

Bv :hat

StylinProfilin said:

On the NGCD pads, at the d-pads like an analog stick?

Also, no matter what console I own, most games have a language option in the options, correct?

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I'm not sure I would compare the d-pad to an analog stick. Maybe more like the early Saturn controller d-pads, which was a flat circular pad with only four depressions on the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions. The difference between the Saturn pad and he NGCD pad is that the latter doesn't have any depressions. It is, however, one of my favorite d-pads on any console. Very responsive and comfortable.

Per the language option question, the opposite is true. Most games do not have an option. The only games I have played that have them are the Samurai Shodowns, Savage Reign, and Fatal Fury 3. I'm sure there are others, but they are definitely in the minority.

Well, just understand that there are other games you won't get to experience if you go that route.

I own most of the PS2 SNK collections, but I still prefer owning the originals. Plus, there are several titles I wish had made it on but didn't. It's all a matter of what titles you want to play.

Purely a matter of personal preference. Foremost, there are several lesser-known Neo titles that are not present on any of the PS2 collections. The most popular are accounted for, but many of the cult hits aren't present.


I also enjoy owning the original Neo Geo games, with their original box and artwork, and playing them on an original Neo Geo console. When I was a wee lad playing these games in the arcade, I promised myself I would own the console and games one day. In many cases, I own the Genesis, SNES, PC Engine, and Saturn versions of many of these titles, but I simply prefer to play them on my Neo. Like I said though, it's purely personal.