Neo Geo Reviews S-Z

Samurai Shodown begins with a scene of a samurai meditating between two statues. The screen briefly goes black, during which two bright slashes are seen. Next you see the samurai brandishing his sword as the two statues slide off their bases, having been slashed in half. As the scene slowly fades out, your eye catches the enormous tree behind him also sliding away! It's one of the best video game intros I've ever seen, if not the best. Samurai Shodown's brand of one-on-one fighting action follows the basic Street Fighter 2 format, but its characters are armed with weapons like swords and maces. Smooth scaling effects are used to zoom in and out depending on the fighters' proximity. Most stages also feature objects you can destroy in the foreground, sometimes revealing a bonus or power-up. As with most SNK fighters, the quality is exceptional. There are twelve colorful martial artists to choose from, including several in traditional samurai garb, a behemoth named Earthquake, a green hunchback named Genan, and the ninja Hanzo. The females are represented by a knight named Charlotte and a little girl named Nakoruru who has a pet eagle. Most stage locations feature traditional Japanese landscapes with tranquil temples, orange sunsets, and quaint cottages. In one memorable stage waves crash into the shore as Mount Fuji looms in the distance. The shipping dock stage is crowded with rowdy spectators, and I like how you can slice open barrels to send apples tumbling. If Samurai Shodown seems a bit slow, it's not your imagination. The control scheme uses button combinations to perform strong kicks and punches, which is a bit awkward. I had some difficulty executing the special moves, mainly because you're required to press the button after your sweeping motion - not at the tail end of it. Samurai Shodown shows its age, but it set the stage for a long-running franchise that continues to this day. NOTE: In Japan, this series was known as Samurai Spirits. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

Sengoku gets my vote for "video game most likely to cause carpal tunnel syndrome". It's a button masher that goes on and on - far longer than my attention span. It's a side-scrolling fighter with jaw-dropping graphics but repetitive gameplay. The two playable characters look ridiculous. One is an Asian guy with sunglasses, a red jacket, and yellow pants, and the other guy wears a cowboy hat, a light blue vest, and purple pants. C'mon now! The only possible explanation is that SNK was trying to show off the system's extensive color palette. The stages are bizarre and the scenery is constantly changing. One minute you're fighting in the streets, and then you're whisked off to another dimension, battling an army in the clouds. Most of the enemies look like ancient Asian warriors, but there are some huge, ugly monstrosities as well. I love how you can watch certain enemies approach from the background, thanks to some nice scaling effects. Three buttons are used in this game: attack, jump, and transform. By defeating certain enemies, you gain the power to transform into different characters, including a samurai warrior, a ninja, or vicious dog. The game is loaded with power-up orbs that provide each fighter with unique special attacks like weapons and fireballs. I especially like how the dog can spits out tiny dogs that chomp on the enemies' legs. For the first few minutes of play, I thought Sengoku was awesome. I couldn't get enough of all that kicking, punching, and slashing action. But you can only fight the same thugs so many times, and my wrist starting hurting from continuously tapping the attack button! I suppose the real culprit is the unlimited continues - always a bad idea in this kind of game. It effectively removes any sense of challenge and tension, and they're awfully hard to resist. Sengoku had two sequels. This one's a wild ride, but you'll probably get sick of it like I did. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

If you're in the mood to inflict massive destruction for no particular reason, Shock Troopers is just what the doctor ordered. This one-man-army shoot-a-thon is like a top-down Metal Slug, although classics gamers will see shades of Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (Sega Master System, 1986), Ikari Warriors (NES, 1986), and Mercs (Genesis, 1991). You'll mow down waves of generic soldiers as you forge through jungle, mountain, and valley locations. The violence is very gratifying as you toss grenades into bunkers, incinerate enemies with flamethrowers, explode helicopters with missile launchers, and engage in high-speed motorcycle shoot-outs. It's especially satisfying to watch guard towers and concrete bridges explode and collapse into rubble. Shock Troopers has a slick rapid-fire control scheme that lets you tap the button to spray or hold it down to strafe. It may sound shallow, but there's more to this game than meets the eye. When close to an enemy you will automatically perform a melee knife attack, and this can be used strategically. Knifed enemies usually drop food or bonus items, allowing you to replenish life and rack up big points. Although your soldier is slow, a useful evade button lets you roll under enemy fire. It's easy to forget about, but I'd advise keeping a finger on that button at all times. You get a generous supply of grenades as well, so apply them liberally to bosses. The scenery includes swamps, markets, caves, trains, and river boats. The locations are diverse and the level of detail is impressive, but there's nothing particularly memorable about them. Likewise the bosses are pretty unimaginative, usually assuming the form of giant tanks. The two-player cooperative action is a nice feature, but its slow-down is pronounced. Heck, I even noticed slow-down in the single-player mode. It may not quite be up to Metal Slug standards, but if you're in the mood to inflict unspeakable carnage, Shock Troopers is very, very good. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

The original Stakes Winner was a unique horse-racing title that won me over with its arcade graphics and challenging gameplay. This sequel is much easier but a lot less compelling. In the original game I was lucky to win three straight races, but I can play Stakes Winner 2 almost indefinitely. The sights and sounds of the game haven't changed much. The horses look slightly less cartoonish, but the tracks and viewing angles look pretty much the same. The soundtrack is basically remixed versions of the songs from the first game. The controls have been tweaked a bit, and a third button was added to kick in some extra energy down the stretch. Although the steering controls are inexact around the turns, you have pretty good control over the speed of your horse. Unfortunately, one serious problem from the first game has returned with a vengeance! Cheap icons appear on the track at certain intervals, and more often than not they determine the outcome of the race. You may have paced yourself perfectly and jockeyed for position with precision, only to find yourself languishing in last place after running into a "paralyze" icon. These icons appear so suddenly that there's no time to avoid them, much less decide if you want them. Your best bet is to anticipate where the icons will appear on the track and try to avoid those spots. One thing I like about Stakes Winner 2 is the ability to select between U.S. or European tracks. The U.S. selection includes Belmont Park, Santa Anita, Churchill Downs, and Pimlico in Baltimore. Between races you can purchase items from a store, including special moves that require special joystick manipulations (horse racing meets Street Fighter 2!) There are also four training "bonus" stages including one where you navigate through a swimming pool. I can appreciate the fact that Stake Winner 2 has more depth that the first game, but the low difficulty makes its racing much less satisfying. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

This is one of those "twitch shooters" the Neo Geo is known for - and it's a good one. Strikers 1945 Plus maintains a heightened level of rapid-fire mayhem without the slow-down associated with many vertical shooters. The intro features a jaw-dropping digitized sequence of six planes flying over a mountain landscape. The actual game maintains a similar level of realism, with nearly photo-realistic scenery and fantastic explosions. You select between one of six WWII-era planes loaded to the hilt with weapons. As you fly over railroads, harbors, and snow-covered fortresses you're confronted with waves of planes and tanks. Your cannons administer a world of hurt and frequent power-ups let you unleash a torrent of missiles. Holding in the fire button allows you to deploy a special weapon such as a magnetic field that slowly crawls up the screen while leaving devastation in its wake. You'll face waves of criss-crossing bullets but they move slowly so there's always an escape route. Just hang back and try to maintain your composure. Strikers does get a little insane in the later stages, so you'll want to save a few bombs to use as a defensive mechanism. I'm glad unlimited continues are available, because otherwise I would have never seen the end of the game. Another neat feature is how you start on a different stage depending on which plane you select. Strikers is a blast to play but don't expect much variety. The static scenery is somewhat bland and enemies are mainly limited to planes and tanks. Pretty much every boss is a flying robot that emerges from the rubble of an oversized vehicle. The military-style music is appropriate but not particularly memorable. Some may find Strikers 1945 a bit repetitious, but if you like arcade shooters this one really hits the sweet spot. Note: I played this using an MVS converter. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

Oh yeah! This is what Neo Geo gaming is all about! Unlike real baseball (which sucks), this futuristic take on the sport is fast, fun, and unpredictable. The graphics are sensational, with humorously animated robots and a spectacular stadium loaded with electronic gadgets and TV monitors. There's a "foul zone" behind home plate and a "home run zone" behind center field, but everywhere else is fair play! When a ball enters the stands, its rolls down onto the field, still alive! There are even "jump zones" that let your fielders leap high into the air to snag would-be homers. I just wish there were more opportunities to use these things! The field contains a number of hazards as well. The first time the game announced it was "setting crackers" between innings, I thought it was complaining about white people, but then I realized that "crackers" are really mines. As the game progresses, more and more of these mines are scattered around the field. Like SNK's excellent Baseball Stars line of games, the pitching and batting controls are easy and intuitive. The computer positions you fielders automatically, which is good because it's hard to track them when the ball is hit to the outfield. Fielding is the main flaw of Super Baseball 2020 - it's tough and judging fly balls is nearly impossible. Super Baseball 2020 is ideal for people with short attention spans, because the action never lets up. Close plays at the bases are enhanced by cool close-up cut scenes. The teams are a collection of men, women and robots, and you can "power-up" players with money you accumulate during the game, which adds a nice element of strategy. The CPU opponent is pretty slick, especially on the base paths, but Super Baseball 2020 is best played against a friend. This is the perfect antidote to gamers who can't stomach realistic baseball games. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

Super Sidekicks 3 nicely blends the playability of the original game with the realism of the second. I love that awkward subtitle "The Next Glory" which I'll chalk up to a bad Japanese translation. The graphics resemble the second game at a glance, but upon closer inspection the players scale in and out, providing a better sense of depth and field visibility. Unlike Sidekicks 2 you can actually see who you're passing to much of the time. The ball is more unpredictable coming off the goalie, including deflections that trickle into the goal. I really like how you no longer lose control of your defender after an unsuccessful steal attempt. One frustrating aspect of the game is how you can't see the lower baseline until you've already stepped out of bounds. One entertaining new element is the "super psychup" which occurs after a player suffers a hard foul. You'll watch a cutscene of the hurt player trembling with rage, looking like he's about to transform into the Incredible Hulk! Things always get hectic around the goal, and it looks hilarious when consecutive hard shots bounce off the goalie's face! Expect some funny cut-scenes including a few that border on homoerotic. After scoring a goal you see two players lunging toward each other for an open-mouthed embrace. Fortunately the scene cuts off in time (control room: "Quick! Cut to commercial!") During another cutscene a player appears to be performing an obscene act on the referee! These provide for unintentional comic relief. There's no music during the game but when you take a shot it sounds like a damn cannon going off! Whether challenging a friend or competing against CPU contenders, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more explosive soccer title than Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory. © Copyright 2020 The Video Game Critic.

The Neo Geo is not technically capable of rendering real 3D graphics, but you'd be hard-pressed to tell when you witness Viewpoint's amazing textured visuals. As you fly a ship diagonally up a canal, cannons rise up from the ground, metallic creatures emerge from the sides, and floor tiles "flip" to create a dynamic obstacle course. I was pretty blown away by Viewpoint - until I remembered that its spiritual predecessor, Zaxxon, was released ten years prior! One fundamental difference is that how you don't need to worry about adjusting your altitude in Viewpoint because your ship always floats just over the surface. Each canal features a dazzling array of robotic creatures including slinkies, land fish, spinning turtles, laser-shooting flowers, and giant crabs. The animation is smooth, and while slowdown does creep in occasionally, it's hardly a detriment. You can tap a button to fire rapidly, or hold it in to unleash a charged shot. Side-cannons triple your firepower and pressing B unleashes one of several special weapons. In this case, these weapons really are special. The best is the "wall of flames" which marches up the screen and consumes everything in its path. It's probably the most effective and satisfying weapon I've ever used! The swarming homing missiles are also a visual treat. Some stages have interactive elements such as levers you need to shoot to open gates. Hazards can rise up from out of the ground and strike you from beneath, and they can seem pretty cheap if you aren't expecting them. In some sections medium-sized characters will linger around for too long, sometimes impervious to attack. Losing a ship sometimes means you'll need to repeat a long, tedious stretch, and that really sucks. This is a very difficult game, so there's no shame in playing the easy mode. The soundtrack is an eclectic mix of beats with a few hip-hop samples tossed in. Viewpoint is a real Neo Geo standard that helped defined the system, so it's a fine addition to the collection if you can afford it. And despite its age, it's still more imaginative and visually appealing than most modern shooters. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

This game's intro features some unidentified man saying "You came at the right time. Use the time machine to go all over the world. Where the strong people are. I pray for a healthy battle." What the heck is a healthy battle? World Heroes is one of several quality 2D fighting series to grace the Neo Geo. Its innovative controls utilize only three buttons: punch, kick, and throw. Tapping a button initiates a quick hit and holding it down unleashes a stronger attack. The two main characters, Hanzo and Fuuma, are remarkably similar to Ken and Ryu of Street Fighter II (SNES, 1992). When Hanzo throws a projectile it sounds like he's yelling "I screwed up!" Other fighters include clones of Bruce Lee (Dragon), Joan of Arc (Janne), and Genghis Khan (J. Carn). Brocken is a dead ringer for M. Bison (also from Street Fighter II) although his limb-stretching moves are more similar to Dhalsim. Rasputin is a magician whose hands and feet become huge when he attacks. Muscle Power (yeah, that's his actual name) is a Hulk Hogan lookalike who excels at throw moves. The matches are a little slow and it's not unusual for the clock to run out. Still, I enjoy the deliberate pace of the game. The big, colorful fighters are nicely animated although the blinking circles beneath them do not resemble shadows. The collision detection isn't perfect and occasionally way off. The attractive stages include a bell tower (with scampering rats), a caged city rooftop, and Mount Fuji complete with sparring monkeys! A bonus stage lets you pulverize a large boulder until it resembles a statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger. In addition to the normal mode there's a death match that incorporates unwelcome hazards like electric beams and spikes. Occasionally the game will tell you you're about to engage in a "hair-splitting battle". That doesn't sound very dangerous to me. Unintentional humor notwithstanding, World Heroes is a heck of a good time. © Copyright 2015 The Video Game Critic.

This prompted my friend Brent to inquire "Have you ever considered doing a list of games with the most arrogant sounding names?" World Heroes Perfect is the fourth and final installment of the exotic one-on-one fighting series. It's super rare in cartridge format, so instead of taking out a second mortgage I opted to review the economical CD version. Some Neo Geo games play fine off a CD, but not fighting games. Whenever you select a different character you initiate a whole new load process. I played Perfect with some friends as the last leg of a World Heroes marathon, and it was almost unbearable. If games with long load times are considered "beer friendly", this one might just turn me into an alcoholic. You spend more time watching that little dog jump up and down on the load screen than playing the actual game. And when you finally play disappointment quickly sets in. In two-player mode the winner must continue to use the same character, and you always seem stuck on the same stage. The stages are poorly designed and some are downright annoying. The volcano stage looks like something on the Genesis, and the dinosaur stage is so cheesy I was expecting Barney to show up. The control scheme now uses all four buttons (two punch and two kick) which makes a lot of sense. There's also a new "hero" meter that adds some depth. The old scoring system has returned, probably because nobody could figure out the one in World Heroes Jet. The characters have been rebalanced to favor the smaller quicker characters. This wasn't a bad idea but I think they went overboard. The action is so fast that smaller characters can jump around like fleas as the large character struggle just to react. When J. Max is defeated it sounds like he's yelling "Sheeeeet!" World Heroes Perfect is a flawed game. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but the term "Perfect" tends to do that. I found this game far more palatable on World Heroes Anthology (PS2, 2008). © Copyright 2015 The Video Game Critic.