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Neo Geo library

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Neo Geo library

Unread postby Beakman » 14 Jun 2020 11:58

The quality of Neo Geo emulations officially released on PC by SNK varies wildly depending on the contractor that developed them. To make matters worse, the same game may run on a different emulator with varying quality and feature set depending on the storefront where you get it. A given store may have different emulations of the same game!

To sort out this mess, I surveyed every Neo Geo release in digital stores and this is what I recommend you to get if you want the best versions of Neo Geo games for PC:

Get the following on Steam, made by Code Mystics. All of these feature an outstanding rollback netcode implementation, with the exception of the last two that are older releases which use delay-based netcode (and strictly speaking they're not emulations. They're ports of the enhanced Taito Type X versions. They include the Neo Geo originals as an extra):

- THE LAST BLADE 2
- SAMURAI SHODOWN V SPECIAL / サムライスピリッツ零スペシャル
- GAROU: MARK OF THE WOLVES
- THE KING OF FIGHTERS '97 GLOBAL MATCH
- THE KING OF FIGHTERS '98 ULTIMATE MATCH FINAL EDITION
- THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002 UNLIMITED MATCH

They're also available on GOG, but without crossplay with the Steam versions.

Get the Samurai Spirits Collection on Steam or Epic (we've yet to see if there's crossplay). It's made by Digital Eclipse. This compilation has rollback netcode as well:

- SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION

Get any other game that interests you in the the Microsoft Store. They have 108 Neo Geo games (and counting) that share the same high quality, Japanese-made emulator frontend developed by Hamster Corporation as part of their Arcade Archives series. I recommend them wholeheartedly, especially since many of those titles are nigh impossible to find regardless of platform. They have a couple of caveats: No netplay whatsoever and no features from the AES versions (for instance, no training modes for the fighting games). Parsec now makes the first issue less of a concern. They are not available in any other storefront for PC:

- ACA NEOGEO Series on the Microsoft Store

Anything else that you can find on Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle, or Amazon Games, was emulated by DotEmu and its quality goes from absolutely dreadful (The NeoGeo 25th Anniversary stuff in Humble Bundle and Amazon Games) to more tolerable but still shitty (the Steam releases of Metal Slug 1 and 3 with laggy netplay and high frameskip). Generally, avoid DotEmu emulations like the plague. Watch out because their stuff is not always marked with "DotEmu" as developer on some storefronts (this is the case on GOG). You're much better off with a free emulator like MAME or FBA, and Fightcade or Parsec if you want to play online.

Happily, SNK seems to have taken notice after years of horrible Neo Geo emulations and they're relying more on Code Mystics and Digital Eclipse. As an example, the Steam version of Garou was initially a mediocre DotEmu release (still, one of their best) that years later was completely replaced by a much better Code Mystics version which is still getting updates. Hopefully, this will become a trend.

For the sake of completeness, all other non Neo Geo ports and emulations by SNK released on PC (e.g. The King of Fighters XIII, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, et al.) are pretty solid regardless of where you get them and who developed them. Quality inconsistency issues are only to be found in their Neo Geo emulations due to DotEmu's involvement.
Last edited by Beakman on 01 Oct 2020 11:06, edited 1 time in total.
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Beakman
 
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Unread postby Beakman » 01 Oct 2020 10:53

Code Mystics is working on implementing rollback netcode to KOF 2002 UM: https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/ ... 1283025815

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Pretty surprising for a 2015 release! Moreover, this requires more effort than the Neo Geo emulations, this one being a Type X port and all. I hope they do it for '98 as well.
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