Neo Geo

Background
Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES.

The Neo Geo MVS was successful with arcade operators worldwide. Both the MVS and AES were powerful for the time, and the AES allows for fully authentic versions of games released for the MVS. However, the high price for both the AES console and its games prevented it from directly competing with its contemporaries, the Sega Genesis, Super NES, and TurboGrafx-16.

Years later, SNK released the Neo Geo CD, a more cost-effective console with games released on compact discs. The console was met with limited success, due in part to its slow CD-ROM drive. In an attempt to compete with increasingly popular 3D games, SNK released the Hyper Neo Geo 64 arcade system in 1997 as the successor to its aging MVS. The system did not fare well and only a few games were released for it. A planned home console based on the hardware was never released. SNK later extended the brand by releasing two handheld consoles, the Neo Geo Pocket, and later Neo Geo Pocket Color, which briefly competed with Nintendo's Game Boy. Soon after their release, SNK encountered various legal and financial issues - however, the original Neo Geo MVS and AES continued getting new games under new ownership until officially being discontinued in 2004, ending the brand.

In December 2012, SNK Playmore released a handheld console based on the original AES, the Neo Geo X. As of March 1997, the Neo Geo had sold 980,000 units worldwide. The Neo Geo Pocket Color also has been given praise for multiple innovations, and a very substantial library, despite its short life.

(April 26, 1990-July 15, 2004)
Logo: On a white background, we see the text "NEO•GEO", which is reversed, unfold. The background turns black as "NEO·GEO" flips up to its correct side, then "MAX 330 MEGA PRO-GEAR SPEC" is being typed out, and a SNK logo flashes on the screen.

Variant: For games that use ROM sizes larger than 330 megabits, after the Neo Geo text unfolds, we would see a white line with "GIGA POWER" on it, followed by "PRO-GEAR SPEC" typing out below, then the SNK logo flashing below.

Technique: The logo flipping and turning, the remaining text being typed out.

Music/Sounds: As a synthesized "news teletype"-like sounder plays, we hear eight synth xylophone notes, pausing between the fourth and fifth notes, and the last note leaving an echo.

Music/Sounds Variants: Depending on the game, the instrumentation of the music would change. Some of these had lighter versions of the tune. Others can be heard here, with the most special ones described below:


 * On Gururin, a sped-up version of the jingle was heard.
 * On Quest of Jongmaster, a jazzy and quite dissonant version of the theme is heard.
 * On Neo Bomberman and Stakes Winner, a drumbeat can be heard.

Availability: Common. Seen on all Neo Geo games for the MVS and AES systems during its attract mode, being a very long-lived platform. It was preserved on Wii Virtual Console releases of certain games of the system’s library and is currently preserved on their respective Arcade Archives releases for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch (the Giga Power intro on all Giga Power titles were cut, however).

(December 18, 2012-late 2013)


Logo: Same as the Neo Geo logo, but there's an "X" after "NEO·GEO" and the animation plays more slowly, and the words "MAX 330 MEGA PRO-GEAR SPEC" doesn't type in, making the SNK logo appear suddenly after the background turns black.

Technique: Same as the Neo Geo logo but with some differences.

Music/Sounds: Silent.

Availability: Rare, due to manufacturing only lasting a year. Seen when a Neo Geo X console is turned on.