Neo Geo games arrive on Virtual Console today

by Justin McElroy { Oct 8th 2007 at 9:30AM }

We didn't get much exposure to the Neo Geo in our younger days, perhaps because our career as the world's youngest tax attorney wasn't particularly lucrative (we would too frequently accept baseball cards and Bubble Yum as compensation) and we couldn't afford the $7,000 that each cartridge cost. Also, all the games legally had the world "Fight" or "Fury" or "Punching" in the title, and it was hard to tell them apart. This week, though, the Virtual Console is allowing us to set it all right.

For 900 points ($9) a piece, you can purchase Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting or World Heroes. Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting are, as their names suggest, fighting games. But World Heroes on the other hand ... is also a fighting game. Oh, who are we kidding? You already know if you're the sort of person who'll be buying these. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some taxes to attorney.

Tags: fatalfury, neogeo, virtualconsolemonday

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Martin @ Oct 8th 2007 9:39AM

Except should be accept. And none of these are worth $9, especially since they are all crap insofar as anything but nostalgia is concerned.

Justin McElroy @ Oct 8th 2007 9:42AM

I don't see it.

(Also, thanks.)

Martin @ Oct 8th 2007 9:43AM

(we would too frequently accept baseball cards and Bubble Yum as compensation)

Martin @ Oct 8th 2007 9:43AM

Bleh, nevermind :)

WhatIsThatThing @ Oct 8th 2007 12:43PM

Also "world" in "legally had the world" should be "word".

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Oct 8th 2007 9:41AM

I liked Art of Fighting, but wheres Samurai Showdown? For Live not the VC please.

FOXHOUND @ Oct 8th 2007 12:28PM

I'd say SAMURAI SHODOWNII or IV, to be more specific. Anything after IV was pretty much rehash rubbish.

Or hell, throw on THE LAST BLADE. Now that was great.

Vince @ Oct 8th 2007 9:43AM

I can't wait for KoF 97/98 and some Metal Slug

jorojoserojas @ Oct 8th 2007 12:11PM

They released the Metal Slu anthology on the Wii, for like $29.99. That might be a better deal overall, since it has 8 Metal Slug games on it.

megaStryke @ Oct 8th 2007 1:10PM

Seven. It only has seven game. Metal Slug 1, 2, X, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Martin @ Oct 8th 2007 9:44AM

Metal Slug, Magician Lord, Baseball Stars, and others should be good. NAM 197x was also fun, though for $9 I'll have to be very choosy about which ones I pickup.

DarthDavid @ Oct 8th 2007 9:52AM

Man, I remember trading everything I had (SNES, Gensis, CD, 32X and all my games) at Funcoland for a used Neo Geo, two joysticks and Baseball Stars 2....I still had to pay them around $200/250. At that time it was coolest thing to have (especially in my low-middle class family)....great memories (13 years ago), I ended up trading it back one year later cuz I couldn't even affortd the used Neo carts =) Welcome back Neo Geo!

conservativeinfidel @ Oct 8th 2007 9:53AM

Wow, American Zangief was totally kicking Bison's ass.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 8th 2007 9:54AM

I like 2D fighters, but I'll be waiting for some meatier offerings from Neo Geo before dropping $9.00 bucks on these games.
Also - waiting for my paycheck. Kinda moots the whole thing, really.

Blue_Falcon @ Oct 8th 2007 9:58AM

I'm kind of baffled that one would have to pay $9 for these games when the XBLA versions (for Fatal Fury, at least) comes at $5 with certain upgrades.

I have a feeling I might be skipping on quite a few of these titles in favor the the XBLA versions, if applicable. (Especially considering that Samurai Shodown 2 will be coming eventually to the XBLA)

JodyAnthony (FDF - Hedonism Bot) @ Oct 8th 2007 10:02AM

not everyone has a 360 though

megaStryke @ Oct 8th 2007 10:11AM

Also (and most likely), for every one Neo Geo game on XBLA, four, five, or more will appear on the VC.

vinny @ Oct 8th 2007 11:05AM

if i have the choice between wii vc games and xbla games i always pick it up for 360, online play, updated graphics and the price is lower, the vc pricing is just horrible, though sonic 3 is tempting but im sure that will come to the arcade soon enough

Matthew Lenz @ Oct 8th 2007 10:23AM

You've got to be a real sheep to pay that much money for a game thats running under an emulator.

megaStryke @ Oct 8th 2007 10:27AM

There are two alternatives:

1. Playing the game for free on your compy. Unfortunately, that seems to be ILLEGAL.

2. Finding those rare and expensive-ass Neo Geo carts that are the size of an 18 oz. strip steak. You could probably find 'em used for... God, what's the going rate on some of these things? And who SELLS them?

JodyAnthony (FDF - Hedonism Bot) @ Oct 8th 2007 10:38AM

why? what if I want to play neo geo games on my TV? Should I instead go out and buy a neo geo for $250 and then buy the games I want for $100+ each?

phattie @ Oct 8th 2007 10:42AM

^ You do know what an emulator is, right? Obviously not. And hooking up a PC or lappy is easy .. it will be interesting if Wii can handle the more complicated games.

And, anyone who pays $9 for this is a chump.

fawazr @ Oct 8th 2007 10:43AM

You've got to be a real dirtbag to advocate illegally downloading ROMs and playing them on an emulator.

Hohlraum @ Oct 8th 2007 10:46AM

You are being ripped off by a greedy company. Anyone that charges 10 for a game that is being emulated (of which that emulation code was most likely already written by another party) is a sheep.

The issue is not that you want to play Neo Geo games. It is that you are condoning that its ok to rip people off by overcharge for unoriginal content.

JodyAnthony (FDF - Hedonism Bot) @ Oct 8th 2007 10:49AM

I know exactly what an emulator is. maybe i dont want to download them illegally? maybe i want to play them on my TV, using a video game console that I already have, isntead of downloading them off the internet and getting NeoRAGEX working on my PC, then getting my PC to display to my television. I can go through all the trouble of buying a new video card with TV out, buying a USB gamepad, downloading neoragex, seeking out the roms, and downloading the roms, hooking up my PC to my TV every time I want to play one of my illegal neo geo games, and then playing them

OR I can press the power button on my wii remote, buy some wii points, download the games, and play them on my TV whenever I want. Plus this comes with the added bonus of actually supporting SNK Playmore and Nintendo. You know, supporting the companies that entertain me so they will continue to make entertaining software available to me in the future.

but no, I'm a 'chump' because I use the money that I work hard for in a way that is entertaining to me and supportive of the industry that entertains me.

vinny @ Oct 8th 2007 11:08AM

"maybe i want to play them on my TV, using a video game console that I already have"

pick up a used xbox1, mod it, enjoy

megaStryke @ Oct 8th 2007 11:10AM

That still requires illegal ROMs.

JodyAnthony (FDF - Hedonism Bot) @ Oct 8th 2007 11:15AM

so instead of buying 2 or 3 neo geo games at $9 each I am expected to buy a used xbox for $75. makes perfect sense. except it still doesn't help me support SNK or Taito or any other company.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 8th 2007 1:00PM

"The issue is not that you want to play Neo Geo games. It is that you are condoning that its ok to rip people off by overcharge for unoriginal content."

Such deliciously absurd logic. So you're saying it was also a rip off to sell compilation games like Sonic Mega Collection, Mega Man Collection and Mega Man X Anniversary Collection?
What's the difference? You're still paying $40 bucks new for that unoriginal content.
Are are actually suggesting that once a game is considered "old", that companies should just GIVE them away?

jopojelly @ Oct 9th 2007 12:59AM

Or you guys could just get Mugen and all the characters from all these games and have even more fun for free and without breaking any laws...not to mention being able to pit characters from totally different series against each other.

SKI @ Oct 8th 2007 10:57AM

"And, anyone who pays $9 for this is a chump."

And anyone who pays $600 for a PS3 is a chump because you could just walk in and take the system.

phattie @ Oct 8th 2007 11:23AM

Downloading from the net and armed robbery are 2 different things.

megaStryke @ Oct 8th 2007 12:07PM

That's not armed robbery. It's called "shoplifting".

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 8th 2007 1:02PM

"Downloading from the net and armed robbery are 2 different things."

The difference being that YOU don't feel any fear or guilt about the former.

Well *I* don't have any qualms about knocking off a Gamestop, personally, so I suppose they aren't that different after all.

Mr Khan @ Oct 8th 2007 11:43AM

I'll wait for Samurai Showdown

But good to see that they've arrived

blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Oct 8th 2007 11:45AM

i used to play neo geo games in the arcades all the time :)

Fatbot @ Oct 8th 2007 11:49AM

Yeah, i'll just keep playing these on GameTap taht supports online versus for 5 bucks a month. These prices are crap.

Antonio @ Oct 8th 2007 2:09PM

Pretty much.

Neo Geo games were great for their time, but I don't have much of anyone local to play with, so that online play is critical.

Nick Ritch @ Oct 8th 2007 12:08PM

Neo geo was and still is a great Arcade system. $9 Is not a bad price considering if you really like the game and will play it a lot. Especially considering it is usually 25 cents per play.
Plus if anyone likes the games released on the VC and buys them they will continue to release more of these great classic games. Support the industry Damnit!!!!

timnc @ Oct 8th 2007 12:19PM

I concur. I spent many a quarter back in the day on Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. Though I won't be spending the $9 on World Heroes.... I didn't like it back then either.

heckthor @ Oct 8th 2007 12:57PM

Im just gonna wait until Samurai Showdown 2 shows up, thats the best sword fighting game ever (I like Soul Calibur but it ain't the same), if Samurai has Online Play that would be sweet.... Indeed... Samurai Showdown 2, King of Fighters (from 94 to 99, all the others suck), World Heroes Jet, Aero Fighter, Double Dragon, so many games, so little time and Money... oh, and space as well, there's not enough memory on the wii to keep up with all these good games... Let the Games Come...

Raikage (NDF - PK THUNDER RING) @ Oct 8th 2007 1:28PM

I remember playing Samurai Showdown on an arcade machine. Not bad, not bad at all, I'll pick it up.

Mohan @ Oct 8th 2007 1:55PM

Must resist not buying till Samurai Showdown and King of Fighters series!

Donald @ Oct 8th 2007 3:46PM

All I remember about World Heroes is that Brocken is a cheap little bastard. I wonder if the release is patched in that regard.

Still, I wanted to play these as a kid but couldn't get to an arcade and afford the launch-PS3 pricing on the system and games, so...