The renowned video game maker SNK is known for its fighting games with personable characters and other action-packed arcade favorites.  In honor of SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 being released on the PSP and PS2, I thought I’d briefly go over each game on the collection, share my own SNK opinions and experiences, and look at some other recent SNK collection releases.  And just a warning, if you don’t have any interest in SNK, this blog will bore you to tears (or make you learn something new).  So apologies in advance!

 

Back when I was in middle school and high school, arcades were going through a bit of resurgence thanks to Capcom’s one-on-one brawler: Street Fighter 2.  Once again, arcade games were a bit more commonplace, and unlike today, you could even find a few in your local gas stations and convenience stores.  When my friends and I would get bored on weekends and during summer, we’d trek to these gas stations and other places for our 16-bit arcade fix.  Even the local movie rental place had ’em (Man I miss Pay-Less Video…).

 

Even though Capcom was tops with Street Fighter 2, SNK was always nipping at their heels with their own brand of fighters.  Back then, SNK had a home console called the Neo Geo, which could play arcade perfect games…because it was nearly the same arcade hardware.  But it came at a price.  The console itself was like, 900 bucks (I think) and the games went for 200 bucks a pop (and you thought the PS3 was expensive…and it is).  I don’t think I knew ANYONE who had a Neo Geo home system, not even the rich kids!

 

But there was another, more affordable way to play those Neo Geo arcade games.  There was also an arcade version of the Neo Geo, and arcade owners could even exchange the cartridges to keep players interested with new games you could switch from.  This was the way me and my friends experienced Neo Geo, one quarter at a time.

 

Neo Geo Arcade Classics Vol. 1

Now you can play 16 of the Neo Geo arcade favorites on your PSP or PS2.  I chose the PS2 version so it would be easier to play two players with people.  Best of all, it only costs like, 15 bucks.  So even if it’s not the best arcade game collection around, it’s still not that bad. I’m not a Neo Geo expert, so I don’t know how good the emulation is, though everything seems OK to me (except Shock Troopers and others seem a teeny bit slow).  Here are the games you can play on it:

 

Art of Fighting

SNK is well known for its fighting games, so that’s what a lot of the games on this collection are.  The things I remember the most about Art of Fighting are the HUGE on screen characters, and it was one of the first fighting games I saw where the camera would pan in and out of the action.  Quite a neat effect for the time.  Unfortunately, the first Art of Fighting game is slow, clunky, and really HARD!  I don’t even think I could beat the 2nd guy!  But then, I really stink at fighting games.  There’s also a separate collection of all the Art of Fighting games on the PS2.

 

Baseball Stars 2

I’m not really much of a sports gamer.  But believe it or not, I have been known to appreciate a good baseball video game from time to time.  Two things I like about Baseball Stars 2 are the pick up and play nature of the game and the cartoony, overexaggerated characters.  Unfortunately, batting is a bit difficult and the CPU opponent is relentless, as things usually go in these types of games.  I’m more of a Namco Family Stadium man, myself.  Can’t wait for Super Mario Sluggers on the Wii1

 

Burning Fight

Like Sega’s Streets of Rage 2, you can tell SNK was ripping off Final Fight with this 2-D sidescrolling brawler.  Except, while Streets of Rage 2 was actually good, Burning Fight is horrible.  The three characters you can pick from are totally uninteresting, the animations are choppy (love the jumping kick single animation), and the voices sound like “mmmff, mfff mmmfff…”  Plus you fight the same boss, like, four times.  Not very good at all.

 

Fatal Fury

There’s a couple of Fatal Fury collections on the PS2 from SNK as well.  I think the 2nd Fatal Fury game is more memorable than this one, at least for me, anyway.  The first one’s pretty slow and clunky, and like Art of Fighting, you can only pick like, two or three guys to play as.  Guess SNK was trying to go for something different with their one-on-one brawlers at first.

 

King of the Monsters

I remember this one a lot because we played it a bunch in the arcade.  At first glance it looks like Rampage, with the giant Godzilla style monsters tromping through the city.  But once you play it, you’ll realize it’s more like a wrestling game, where you pin down your opponent to win and everything.  Not sure if the sequel was like it, though.  Again, like I said, this one was really memorable to me.  I guess it was pretty inventive for its time.  And I still like it.

 

Last Resort

It’s a 2-D shooter.  It’s like R-Type.  And it sucks.  It’s one of those where if you die, you start off at a checkpoint earlier in the level, so it’s hard to get anywhere.  Hey SNK, leave the good 2-D shooters to Konami and Taito, OK?

 

Magician Lord

A lot of Neo Geo fans speak highly of Magician Lord, but not me.  It’s a 2-D platformer that’s really hard with only 2 hits and lots of cheap deaths.  And the two player mode is alternating, not simultaneous.  So sorry, fans, but I’ve never liked it.

 

Metal Slug

There’s already a collection of all the Metal Slug games.  I have it on the Wii.  They’re all pretty much the same, though.  The third one is the best.  They’re pretty much like Contra.  I do like the cartoony yet tongue in cheek graphics style in these games, though.

 

Neo Turf Masters

I like to play a lot of old games, but some sports games end up evolving so much that it feels like a chore to go back and play the old ones.  Such is the case with this golf game.  I’d much rather play newer ones like Mario Golf for the GameCube or the one on Wii Sports.  I did enjoy the portable version of Neo Turf Masters on the Neo Geo Pocket Color quite a bit, though.

 

Samurai Shodown

It’s another fighting game.  But this one has weapons.  I’m surprised they haven’t made a Samurai Shodown collection.  The first one feels a bit slow and clunky.  My favorite Samurai Shodown character is Galford because he has a dog.  I also like Earthquake because he’s big and fat.  There’s another character I like, but she must be in one of the sequels.  She’s a jungle girl with green hair and a big boomerang.  And a monkey.  But I can’t remember her name right now.

 

Sengoku

As opposed to Burning Fight, Sengoku is a GOOD 2-D sidescrolling brawler.  I remember playing this in the arcade, but passed it off as being too weird.  But now that I know a little more about Japanese myths, it’s way cooler.  It’s like something out of Big Trouble in Little China.  The story goes that a cursed madman from the past has come back from the grave to invade Tokyo with an army of legendary Japanese ghosts.  While you do roam down city slums and stuff, every so often you’ll warp to a ‘sky heaven’ place where you fight more samurai ghosts and some of them will join you after you beat them.  Then you can switch to them at any time for added firepower.  Just make sure to switch back before time runs out or they’ll be gone for good.  You can also get power up orbs that materialize into swords, and if you are another character, they’ll be projectile weapons.  Sengoku is a really stylish and unique take on the brawler genre.  I like it.

 

Shock Troopers

Another one I really enjoy, this one’s like Ikari Warriors mixed with Metal Slug.  It’s an overhead run and gun shooter that’s surprisingly bloody.  Lots of stages and you can pick from eight characters.  They’re all pretty much the same except each has a different special ‘bomb’ weapon.  But some of the characters stand out, like the two steroid guys that have explosive arrows and boomerangs.  There’s a woman that looks like one of the steroid guys and her name is Big Mama.  My favorite character to play as is another girl named “Milky” who has the win quote “War isn’t as much fun as working out.”  SNK is known for goofy quotes because of the ‘Engrish’ translations.

 

Super Sidekicks 3

It’s a soccer game.  Not much to say except I like Mario Strikers way better.  Like the baseball game, the CPU is tough here, too.

 

The King of Fighters ’94

Yet another fighting game.  I’m also surprised there hasn’t been a KOF collection.  This one takes popular fighters from other SNK games like Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting.  My favorite team is the Ikari Warriors team since they’re from the old game of the same name.  In later KOF games, the Ikari Warriors team had another character I liked named Leona because she had blue hair and army clothes.  Another favorite KOF character of mine is Shermie because her name is funny and her hair makes it look like she has no eyes!  And her storyline in Gals Fighters is the funniest. 

 

Top Hunter

This one’s a mix of 2-D platforming and beat em up, and it’s also a little more cartoony and sillier than the other games on this collection, which is a nice change of pace from the more ‘serious’ games on here.  You can punch and throw enemies with extendo boxing gloves, and you can get squished like a pancake if something falls on your character.  It’s also pretty long for an arcade game.  You can download Top Hunter on the Virtual Console on the Wii, but at 900 points, it’s WAY cheaper to get it on this collection.

 

World Heroes

This is an unlockable game, but it’s not really worth unlocking as it’s yet another fighting game and not very good.  Plus, if you HAVE to play it, there’s also a World Heroes collection out there.  You earn medals in each game by beating a high score or beating it on a certain difficulty.  Like the Xbox achievements.  Although I beat a lot of games with two players and didn’t get any medals, so maybe you can only beat them with one player.  Aside from this one game, medals can also unlock move lists for the fighters, artwork, and music.  So no big deal.  And that’s pretty much all there is to SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1.

 

Games I’d like to see on a Vol. 2

Thought I’d list some Neo Geo games I’d like to see in a possible vol. 2 of the arcade classics.  Some of these games on my list aren’t made by SNK, so the likelihood of them being on a vol. 2 isn’t high, but I can still dream.

 

Aero Fighters 2 or 3

It’s a pretty standard overhead vertically scrolling shooter, but the characters flying the planes are crazy characters like a baby and a dolphin, and they have funny quotes between each other in the levels.

 

Blue’s Journey

It’s a cute and colorful 2-D platformer.  I downloaded it on the VC, but I’d rather pay for it real cheap on a collection.  It’s kind of a cross between Sega’s Wonder Boy games and Capcom’s Chiki Chiki Boys.

 

Ikari Warriors

The three Ikari Warriors games aren’t Neo Geo games, but they are older games by SNK.  If they do older SNK arcade games, maybe they can put Munch Mobile and Crush Roller on here as well.

 

Karnov’s Revenge

It’s yet another fighter and it’s not from SNK, but it does have Karnov in it, who is one of the weirdest old school video game characters I know.

 

King of the Monsters 2

I liked the first one so much.  I can’t remember how the sequel plays.

 

Neo Mr. Do!

Mr. Do! was an old arcade game similar to Dig Dug.  The Neo Geo update is super wacky, super colorful, and super cool.

 

Prehistoric Isle

Another shooter, but it is imaginative as you fly biplanes and shoot dinosaurs.

 

Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad

Again, I liked the first one so much, I wouldn’t mind having the sequel.  I remember playing the sequel more in arcades anyway.

 

Sengoku 2 and 3

Same thing here, too.  I liked the first game so much, I want to play these, too.

 

Strikers 1945

Yet another shooter, but this one does have an airplane you can play as called the Flying Pancake.

 

Super Dodge Ball

One of my favorite sports games.  The only thing I don’t like about the Neo Geo version is that you have to perform fighting game button combinations to do the special moves.

 

Twinkle Star Sprites

YES!  Don’t make fun of the name, this is one of the best Neo Geo games out there.  It’s a two player COMPETITIVE shooter with a split screen.  If they released only this game on Xbox Live with online play, I’d pay for it.  My favorite character is the food obsessed Memory.

 

Viewpoint

It’s another shooter.  Looks like Zaxxon.

 

Waku Waku 7

It’s another fighting game, but this one’s really silly.  I think it’s on a Sunsoft PS2 collection in Japan, though.

 

Windjammers

It’s SNK’s answer to Pong.

 

And that’s all.  I’d also like to see a collection of games on the PS2 that uses Atomiswave arcade hardware.  Then I can play Dolphin Blue (think Metal Slug with dolphins) and DemolishFist (a 2-D sidescrolling beat em up where you can pick up cars and fight giant babies and fork lifts).

 

Other Neo Geo Goodies

I’ll conclude with some other SNK collections that have come out in recent months.  They’re all super cheap fighting game collections.  Now you may be wondering why I have these since I don’t like fighting games, but keep in mind that I’m not the only one who plays games in my house, and other visitors from time to time do like to play these games, so I’ve got some on hand.  Plus it’s like revenge for SNK’s expensive Neo Geo games.  “Ha ha, stuff it, SNK, I can afford your games now!”  And I just like arcade collections.  I don’t care.

 

Art of Fighting Anthology

This one has all three Art of Fighting games on it.  I’ve already talked about the first one previously.  The sequel looks about the same, except you can choose from more characters now, including familiars like Yuri and King.  But it’s still clunky and hard.  The third game in the series, Art of Fighting 3: the Path of the Warrior, must’ve come out way later than the others.  I was actually fairly impressed with the third one.  It has super fluid animation and graphics and it’s a lot more playable, too.  My favorite character to use was Kasumi Todoh because I actually won a few matches when I played as her (of course I had everything set on easy, too).

 

World Heroes Anthology

This one’s probably the worst of the collections, as World Heroes just isn’t that good.  The first one is pretty slow and clunky and not the one I remember seeing in arcades.  It must’ve been World Heroes 2 that my friend always played while I watched, because he would always pick the football player.  World Heroes 2, like the other games in the series, has a bunch of crazy fighters and it’s a bit more cartoony.  A football player, a jungle guy with a big mask, an Inspector Gadget-like military officer, and a magician named Rasputan who can make his hands and feet ten times their size (and does a disturbing Marilyn Monroe impression if you win).  World Heroes 2 Jet is pretty much the same thing except there’s a new ‘game show’ motif where you fight three characters in a row and two out of three wins.  World Heroes 3, aside from a few new characters and moves for each fighter, looks exactly like the others.  No evolution at all, really.

 

Fatal Fury Battle Archives 1 and 2

These are two seperate games.  I didn’t realize there were so many Fatal Fury games in the series!  The first collection has Fatal Fury and Fatal Fury 2.  I think the sequel is the more memorable one for me, with the gondola and raft stages, and Mai Shiranui, who needs to invest in some more clothes, poor girl.  Fatal Fury Special is also on here, and it looks about the same as Fatal Fury 2 except the characters are a little quicker.  Guess Capcom wasn’t the only one rehashing their fighters back then.  Last on vol. 1 is Fatal Fury 3, which introduced my favorite Fatal Fury character, Blue Mary.  Terry Bogard and Blue Mary are cool because they remind me of Dukes of Hazzard rejects.  And you know why Blue Mary and Duck King are cooler than say, Mai?  Because they have pets.  Pets automatically make a fighter cooler in my eyes.  I think AlL the SF4 cast should have pets.  In Japan there’s a DS dating simulation game (blech) with the SNK female characters.  Well I think SNK should make a kids game where you take care of all the fighters’ pets.  Nakoruru’s bird, Duck King’s baby chick, Blue Mary and Galford’s pups, etc.  Don’t you think that’s a good idea?

 

Vol. 2 of the Fatal Fury collections has three more titles.  Real Bout: Fatal Fury is pretty much a tweaked version of Fatal Fury 3.  Real Bout Special just seems to add more characters.  At least Real Bout 2 is a new game.  And that’s pretty much all there is.

 

Neo Geo Battle Coliseum

This one’s a new game but it’s like a cross between King of Fighters and Capcom vs. SNK.  Except here it would be more like SNK vs…more SNK as it’s just a fighting game with characters from SNK titles like Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, Art of Fighting, King of Fighters, World Heroes, and others.  My favorite characters to play as are Marco from Metal Slug (love his win poses) and Shermie.  And I’m happy to report that I managed to unlock two other cool characters: Classic Athena and the Mars People from Metal Slug (of course I had to set the game on super easy to do that).  The stages are neat, too.  There’s one where a Metal Slug boss chases you, a Last Resort stage and a Cool Cool Toon level.  And other SNK characters make cameos in the background.  Like Leona, though she looks a little sad.  Probably because she’s not playable here.  Oh well.

 

Neo Geo Pocket Color

And that’s pretty much all I have to say about all these SNK goodies.  But I’d like to conclude by saying my favorite thing out of SNK was their short lived handheld: the Neo Geo Pocket Color.  It was way better than the Game Boy Color.  It had great arcade games and updates, like a pixel perfect Pac-Man, Crush Roller, and Puzzle Bobble.  It had a trade and battle game that was even BETTER than Pokemon: Card Fighters Clash (too bad the DS version sucked).  And I even liked their fighting games, as they were more cartoony, squashed versions of the big guys.  My favorites being Capcom vs. SNK: Match of the Millennium, and Gals Fighters.

 

So what are YOUR favorite SNK characters and games?  –Cary

Tags: Game Reviews