I don't often play fighting games on one player, but SNK is notorius for having really cheap bosses in their fighting games, especially that dick in KoF'2001. I'd use a very offensive character (Kyo would be good) and roll past his Cocoa diskas and then when close enough to him, combo the crap out of him.
Eiiiish KOF 2001 was the only KOF to actually make my stomache turn. It was so incompleted and had bland colors. It was the first Playmore games made by a company in Korea called Eolith. The later ones where inmprovements though, way better. For the cheap bosses, this is the guidline: games made in 1994-95 and all Playmore fighters period. There are a few games that have cheap bosses from the other years here and there.
I am interested in Last Blade because people seem to like it so much. But I get a bit scared when you say "a more serious Samurai Shodown". My experience with Samurai Shodown is extremely limited, and the first time I played it was on the 3DO where is was really choppy and slow. It seemed to take itself overly serious since it barely had any music (just Japanese sounding instruments here and there, etc). It also seemed quite hard.
Yeah, the Neo Geo version is way better than that version. Even the Genesis one seems better than it was on 3DO. Samurai Shodown 2 for the Neo Geo is a real good fighter and dirt cheap at like $20. It has a huge character line up, best endings and good BG with a lot of them. It is the older style Samsho which the characters arn't real big like SS3 and SS4. SS3 and SS4 are different, in ways of SS3 having better color plus BG and more challenge. SS4 has more characters which are fun, a combo system and decent endings. SS2 up to SS4 had much more music, so it is balance with those japanese drums and chants stages.
I must ask:
Which would you consider to be the top 5 fighters for the Neo Geo? I'd probably be interested in picking up at least two of them. I'm not fond of the layered Fatal Fury games and I already have KoF 95-97 on the Saturn, but I think that's my only caveat. I looked at the Garou game on Youtube and the animation looked really good.
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special - I know it has the line system but it doesn't do it all stiff like FF 1 and 2/Special did it like. Also, it had a solid combo system and badass moves and supers. Yamazaki is real fun to play on this one since he can do 3 of his snake arm hit in one long charge. That and his SDM move is brutal as hell. I like FF 3 just as much since it is rather a little outdated in gameplay compared to this one, I list this. ** If you really, really don't like the 2 line system you can turn it off on Real Bout 2, so you might like that better.**
The King of Fighters 98 - on the actual cart system it is pretty much my favorite version. I like 96 and 97 the same, but I picked this one since it offers more. I have played the Saturn version of 97 and this is much more solid on the Neo Geo. KOF 96 was almost as perfect as the Neo Geo version minus the voice and sound effects with the Saturn. I couldn't stand the Dreamcast port of 98.
Last Blade 2 - Same reason Kerenu likes it. I played LB 1 in the arcades when it came out and couldn't walk away from the machine I was so amazed. It is a fast paced fighter with the best weapon system fighting mechanics I have ever played. It blows SS away in terms of fighting system. The ports for all systems never did it justice.
Art of Fighting 3 - It changed up the AOF series completely. It is made by the same team that did Mark of The Wolves which is also the same that did the Last Blade series. It has a really good combo system that is very unique, some of the best frame movement of characters I have seen, damn good BG on a few stages and the music was really cool with its jazzy sound. Completely different game from the other AOF games. This is one of the most different SNK games I have ever seen out of the fighters.
Samurai Shodown 2 - I personally like this game since they put shit tons of effort in it and it was fun to play. It is hard for me to pick a favorite Samshow game. I guess I like this one the most since it improved on what SS1 did a by adding many more characters,with BG stages and endings on it that are really nice. It had an overall kick ass feel and enviroment in it. The challenge is just right, as isn't all too hard if you get better at it.
Kerenu pretty much listed the rest of some good Neo Geo fighters. Yes I will admit it, I played Fatal Fury 1 before SF2 in the arcades so that may have something to do why I still love the hell out of it. It may be stiff and outdated in fighting, atleast not as bad as SF1 eeewww. I liked how they did the game with the light changes when outside, 2 on 1 against the computer and badass voice effects especially when doing moves.
As for some great non-fighters...
Metal Slug 3 - This is the one with the most put into it. You have different routes, more fun tidbits, some new weapons and vehicles and really good music. Heavy metal on the desert stage when riding the camel gets you going.
Shocktroopers 1 - The graphics may not be as great as the Metal Slugs, but it is fun as hell and the music will get you hyped. It is an overhead shoot-em up like Mercs. You can choose a team of 3 people to play out of 8 in all. The weapons are great and you can also choose different routes. You would have to buy a conversion of the MVS or get the MVS Cab/Phantom Convertor to play the original cart.
Blazing Star - Pretty much my favorite Space shooter on here. More ships to choose, lots of frame usage and good music.
NAM 1975 - Oh yeah, the first Neo Geo game and had classic 80's SNK all over it with voice acting that will crack you up. It plays like Cabal but more improvements. This game almost seems more like an older SNK arcade game instead of Neo Geo which makes it more unique.
Top Hunter - Fun beat-em up, but more of an action platformer with special moves like the fighting games. Really cool game.
Baseball Stars 2 - This game is just a fun classic arcade sports game. It has it good feel to it and is just plain fun to play.
