As a result, I and millions of other kids, pumped a lot of money into the MVS machines.

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We take a look at why the system and its home counterpart follow-up were so important to a gaming generation.

Most 1990s-era arcade machines continued the 1980s tradition of flamboyant cabinet art by featuring their in-game characters in larger-than-life fashion.

The Neo Geo MVS didnt do that, and it wasnt due to SNK, the hardwares manufacturer, possessing a subdued, artistic vision.

Neo Geo uprights didnt feature explosions, speed lines, or brawling figures as adornments because the hardwares unique design let arcade owners swap new game cartridges into their existing MVS units, instead of buying expensive, standalone machines for each title.

That imagery was reserved for the relatively small marquee above the CRT monitor.

As a result, the Neo Geos exterior was nothing; its gutsa beautiful array of classic arcade titleswas everything.

That, in a way, also sums up the Neo Geo as a whole, a niche platform that literally changed the game.

Now 30 years old, the Neo Geo lies deep in video game historys retro wing.

This is a somewhat baffling revelation for people who were in the 1990s arcade scene, because the Neo Geo, at its peak, represented the future.

Crafted as a powerhouse that could produce magnificent sprites and booming audio in a way that its contemporaries could not, the Neo Geo MVSand its Advanced Entertainment System home console counterpart that came a year laterhoused some of the finest video games and pixel art to ever appear in the medium.

The Future Is Now The arcade system came out of the gate hot; many games featured big, and numerous, sprites bursting with color.

Early Neo Geo gamessuch as Baseball Stars Professional, League Bowling, and Ninja Combatlook average by todays graphical standards, but couldnt be perfectly replicated on their eras 16-bit home systems like the Sega Genesis and Super NES.

The Neo Geo lacked a killer app in its early days (anyone who says Magician Lord, a frustrating platformer, filled that role is dead wrong and not to be trusted), but its growing library managed to attract people who loved the platforms high-end sights and sounds.

In fact, it wasnt until the PlayStation 2 era that we saw consolessystems released after the Neo Geos prime yearscapable of properly emulating the Big Red Machine.

SNKs company slogan, The Future Is Now, was less an aspirational goal than a statement of fact.

The Big Ticket This high-end power gave the Neo Geo legendary status and an accompanying infamous price.

MVS upright to enjoy The King of Fighters, but if they wanted to experience the game at home, in uncompromised fashion, they (or more specifically, their parents) had to spend heavy coin.

The home AES system, essentially a consolized arcade board that was released a year after its MVS brother, had a 399 starting price, with game carts starting at 199.

Adjusted for inflation, thats more than 750 and 370, respectively.

Ridiculous. Still, the AES was for people who refused to suffer the audiovisual downgrades that came with the Super NES and Sega Genesis Neo Geo game ports.

In addition, both the AES and MVS housed memory card ports, so you could use a games save data at home or at the arcade.

During my high school years, a friend of a friend claimed that he owned an AES system, and to prove it, he brought its massive stick to the arcade one day, wrapped in a hoodie.

I begged and pleaded for the kid (whose name is now covered in the cobwebs that cling to old memories) to let me play it, and he promptly shot me down.

The system was a diamond, and he couldnt risk jewel thieves entering his home.

Neo Geo Collection Free Download