Neo Geo Guide

What is Neo Geo?

Neo Geo refers to a line of products which includes arcade boards, home consoles, handheld consoles, and their related media.

Neo Geo MVS

The first of these to be released was the Neo Geo MVS (Multi Video System), an arcade board which allowed arcade operators to insert a simple cartridge to switch games rather than swap out an entire board. It also allowed for the insertion of multiple cartridges at once so that a single arcade cabinet could be host to several games. There are quite a few different variations of these boards. Some support only a single game while others allow two, four, or even six. It should be noted that there are a few games which did have their own dedicated boards as well.

Neo Geo AES

The Neo Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) followed soon after. It’s a home console version of its arcade counterpart and plays most of the games in the MVS library with little differences. However, the cartridges are not interchangeable; to use an MVS cartridge on an AES (or vice-versa) would require either modification to the game board itself or the use of a converter.

Neo Geo CD

The high price of AES cartridges made the AES unattainable for many consumers. Thus, another home console was created, this time using the much-cheaper CD format. The Neo Geo CD has many of the games available on the AES as well as some exclusives but its library lacks many of the later AES releases. Also, there are significant differences between the two. Among these, Neo Geo CD games have load times, many boast arranged soundtracks with CD-quality music, some have missing animations, and some have extra content. Eventually, a version of the system with faster load times called the Neo Geo CDZ was released.

Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color (read our extended guide here)

A handheld was also created called the Neo Geo Pocket with a later version called the Neo Geo Pocket Color. As may be surmised, the former was black-and-white only whereas the latter added color. Few games were made in black-and-white and the Neo Geo Pocket Color can play most Neo Geo Pocket games, albeit without color. There was also a smaller version of the Pocket Color called the Neo Geo Pocket Color Slim. All of these systems use cartridges.

Hyper Neo Geo 64

The Hyper Neo Geo 64 arcade board was conceived as a replacement to the MVS. Whereas the MVS was a 2D powerhouse, the Hyper Neo Geo 64 was made for 3D-gaming. Unfortunately, it was not a success and very few games were made for it.