Sidebar - Neo Geo - Samurai Shodown V Special [AKA Samurai Spirits Zero Special] (October 2004)



This is a slight exception to the "if you couldn't walk into a game store in the US and buy a copy, it's not on the list" rule. My own experience with the Neo Geo is limited. I first heard of the system way back in high school, 1990 or 1991. The ~$700 sticker price, and ~$200 games, put it way out of my reach. There was one obnoxious rich kid whose parents bought it for him and it delighted him to talk about his beloved Neo Geo. "Yeah, you can play a total of four games. Good for you." was my reaction.

A couple of years later in the junior college game room I'd see people crowded around the Neo Geo arcade machine battling away at Samurai Shodown. I tried it but didn't care for it nearly as much as Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat. It was too slow paced and filled with with illogical special moves. Let me just fire off a quick back, forward, half-circle forward, back, A. My opponent will never see it coming.

I'd briefly get into one of the King of Fighters games but it didn't hold my interest for long. Bust-a-Move was different story altogether. I got hooked on that in the arcade and bought the Super Nintendo version the day it hit the shelves. After that I never touched a Neo Geo again.

I originally passed on including the Neo Geo in this article because it obviously wasn't a big seller. However, when I realized it lasted for 14 years I rethought the relevance of the system. Yeah, it'll always be better known as an arcade machine but it was also a home system. It was a novel idea. An arcade system with interchangeable cartridges that can also be played at home. Unlike the 16-bit systems of the time, the Neo Geo could literally deliver an arcade game in your living room.

The slow death of the arcade, and MAME, ultimately led to the demise of SNK. They wrapped-up their groundbreaking system with Samurai Shodown V Special [AKA Samurai Spirits Zero Special]. Why does every Neo Geo game have an alternate name? I assume it's a translation thing, they are infamous for wacky translations after all. Whatever the case, it was the last installment of the fighting series that graced arcades for over a decade. I doubt there will ever be another system that tries to do what the Neo Geo did.