The Endearing Legacy of Neo Geo Sports Games
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Often considered the worst of retro gaming, sports games tend not to age well. That isn't always the case, however.
I'm now on Patreon! Help support the channel.
/ segalordx
Check out my Sega Lord X merchandise page!
segalordx.thre...
If you would like to support the channel directly:
www.paypal.me/...
Head over to Facebook to hear me ramble about various things:
/ segalordx
I'm now on Twitter!
/ sega_lord_x
Opening 3D Logo By:
Jan Neves
RUclips Page - / jan3d
Opening 2D Animation By:
Kevin Bhall
Facebook - / kevin.bhall.14
Episode Notes:
1. Captured via MAME.
2. Most of these games can be purchased cheap on modern systems.
3. Neo Geo Cup 98 is a remake of Super Sidekicks 3.
4. You could count the King of the Monsters series as wrestling games. The gameplay is quite similar.
5. I recently upgraded my Neo Geo MVS with RGB output and a Unibios. This will be the last time I use emulation for it.
6. Much of the gameplay here was captured by my daughter.
7. I recently had a near flawless run of Neo Turf Masters. I got par on the 17th hole in Japan, my only one.
LOL. For those curious, I did mean to use endearing. I felt it better described what these games meant and continue to mean for the platform.
@BitHead1000 did a video on NEO GEO golf 🏌️ ⛳️
Good choice of words. Instead of saying "enduring", you used a word that explains WHY the games are enduring.
The innovation will be mix
I’d love to get your take on the new ninja turtles shredders revenge
@@danielm5161 the game looks okay
Neo Turf Masters and Windjammers are utter masterpieces.
Indeed.
And for baseball fans, Baseball Stars 2 and Super Baseball 2020 are both fantastic arcade baseball fun.
It's funny the music in neo turf masters is the biggest giveaway that it's directly coming from the metal slug guys. That weird smooth jazz type soundtrack really is iconic.
@@MrCumstein Even for non-baseball fans it’s great fun; I’ve never actually watched a baseball game in my life (I’m from England) but it’s hugely enjoyable to play baseball stars 2
@@Shadowbann3d That says a lot actually, because baseball is considered really boring by non fans. 😂
@@Shadowbann3d As a baseball fan...if real baseball was as fun to watch as Baseball Stars 2 it would be the most popular sport worldwide.
SuperSideKicks was HUGE here in Argentina and soon became a classic. Thanks for showing "our team"
All I needed was "ON THE GREEN" in the background 😂
There was some player in the robot baseball game called BONG ON as well 😆
You mean “ON THE GWEEN’. lol
@@MrCumstein I do! 😂whilst we’re on the point what do you think she says on the scoreboard screen? I can make out the player one rises part but the next bit? 😂😂😂
@@Conpauleonina It kind of sounds like "this is Nelse's report".
@@bradboggess9347 I thought it said “player 1 raises 3 places , this is no easy sport!”😂😂😂
Quite surprised there was never a tennis game for the Neo Geo, you'd think that would have been a given considering its international appeal?
But 3 Count Bout was such a disapointment, only one on one matches and the game was literally impossible to win grapples from the 4th round onwards, even if you used a turbo fire controller, you had to cheese the game to get anywhere after that. If it was closer to something like Slam Masters, it would be regarded as a classic, even the Neo Geo Pocket's wrestling game was far superior.
Yeah even some of the better games
on the Neo Geo were known for pulling cheap stuff like that.
The legendary difficulty spike made to suck coins directly out of your pocket as quickly as possible.
You're awesome Mr. Bundy. 👌
funny you mention that, because when playing the tag team tour mode, you hit the same barrier in Slam Masters, where no amount of turbo can escape a grapple.. usually about 4-5 fights in
I personally would’ve been really interested if neo geo had a tennis game , especially if it had a twist to it or took the sport to the absolute extreme
@@yateez420 Aw, thanking you kindly :)
I love how Neo Turf Masters uses sound effects from Metal Slug, that's nice when devs referenced in a way or another their other games
Yeah that soundtrack really gives me serious metal slug vibes.
That weird kind of smooth jazz type background music.
Did Hiya! compose the OST as well?
I remember going out and playing super sidekicks in the snackbar before, while eating a frikandel (Dutch snack). Those were the best Saturday nights!
10:38 It's too bad we didn't have robots to play sports in 2020.
2021
@@SENTRYXX they are referring to the game title, not the current year.
@BitHead1000 did a video on NEO GEO golf 🏌️ ⛳️
Pandemic or not, the MLBPA would not be pleased with their signees playing alongside robots (or possibly being replaced by them.)
@goggles789 how do you know what they meant?
Man, Im not into Baseball at all but Baseball Stars 2 is amazing! So glad my friend picked it to play 3 weeks back!
Looking forward to finding out why Neo Turf Masters is so good for the next time.
@BitHead1000 did a video on NEO GEO golf 🏌️ ⛳️
Neo Turf Masters is a great game, the hype is real for that one! I’m fairly confident you will enjoy. :)
I'm a simple man. I see Neo Geo and I have another pair of ruined pants.
Great review, can only agree (and yes, Windjammers IS the best - competitive scenes spawned around 2010 around the world and we're still going at it) but I would mention something that might explain why sports game on the Neo Geo didn't do that well: credits. When played at an arcade in the 90s, these would take a lot of credits (especially since you'd played them with a friend) and it would not feel fair that you actually had to insert a new coin to continue past half-time. In the case of Windjammers, the default settings outside Japan was 30 seconds or 12 points to win a round (45s/15pts in Japan, and now we play with 99s/12pts) so it took the fun away.
Best buddies + drinks + Windjammers = Best afternoons of my life 😁
You can never go wrong with a game of Windjammers. Even my mother enjoys that game on PS4.
@BitHead1000 did a video on NEO GEO golf 🏌️ ⛳️
It shows Neo Geo wasn’t just fighting games.
2021 and we still don't have a baseball robot league.
A damn shame
Can we count virtual Fantasy Sports Leagues as 'robotic'? Thank the pandemic for that.
@BitHead1000 did a video on NEO GEO golf 🏌️ ⛳️
We had the full out steroids home run era shortly after 2020 Baseball came out and I guess that's the closest we'll get, maybe in 3020.
Neo Turf Masters is up there with the likes of Garou, KOF 98 and Metal Slug 2 & 3. For me NTM is like the definition of everything what an Arcade game is supposed to be.
I can´t believe it, someone knows Garou Mark of the Wolves.
I´m glad to see, that there are gamers out there which have knowledge of gaming outside of BIG N and Co.
A lot of my friends in the late 90s/early 00s were into Golden Tee machines and I always thought it just sucked in comparison...even though Golden Tee was still not bad if you hadn't played Turf Masters.
These were a fixture in my arcades as a kid, they were really fun pick-up-and-play games with that super distinctive Japanese vibe to them
Baseball Stars 2 is probably my #1 sports game on any platform of any era. The Neo Geo Pocket version of Neo Turf Masters is a surprisingly amazing port, shocking how close it is in overall quality to the Neo Geo monster.
I always find that thirty years on the Neo Geo, stuff still looks good. Kind of line a great 1960’s movie can look good.
I normally don't like sports games, but this ones are so much fun!
Supersidekicks 2 looks gorgeous! The arena looks polygonal and the zoom effect is spot on. It was clearly ahead of what the genre was about to offer on the next 10 years.
I always loved the Neo Geo. Back in the days, it always felt like a seriously powerful mystery Japanese console that can run arcade-perfect games in your home. No wonder it cost was only for the rich for those cartridges was insanely expensive. When EDGE magazine revealed the Neo Geo CD I was stoked, but all that excitement fell flat as the machine never came out in the UK. It such a pity for SNK really had a winner of a machine if they received further investment.
Great vid as always. You’re on post here. Windjammers is epic. Also on the ps4 store w/online play.
Spectacular video!!!! I loved every second of it! I loved the representation of Windjammers, and Neo Turf Masters! I rank those very highly on the list of Neo Geo sports games!
@07:15 : oohhh , wow , *PowerSpikes II* :
*The definition of how should a volleyball game look like* !! the most impressive part of the game was its futuristic teams which could use high-power/special-effects super-spikes !!!
And also it had a fantastic gameplay as well , it feels like you are really playing volleyball !!!
The first time i played that game had been on arcades 26-27 years ago, and it was a *stunning* experience.
Several years later i played it again on PC (Mame) and it felt just as great as the first time i played it.
It's the only volleyball game which i can gladly keep playing it from time to time even today!!
*Timeless and pure fun* !!
So much sporting goodness on the NEO·GEO. Baseball, basketball, bowling, dodgeball, football, frisbee, futsal, horse racing, motorcycling, rally driving, volleyball, wrestling.
Everybody remembers the Neo Geo for its fighting games (for good reason, there are a lot of great ones), but the two games I can always come back to are Neo Turf Masters and Super Baseball 2020. Absolute classics.
I've never played Wind Jammers, but it looks fun as hell. There's actually a sizable competitive scene for the game.
One of my favourite arcade games ever, it is brilliant!
Man... There use to be an online app for windows back in 08 called kaillera. Wind Jammers was a pandemic back then.
@@cuer9949 You can play Wind Jammers on Fightcade right now. There's also a Wind Jammers sequel that came out in 2018, I think, but I don't acknowledge that game.
@@melvinshine9841 Yea I played a few matches on fightcade. What system is the sequel on?
It’s so much fun!
Great video as always! In the 16-bit era, the Neo Geo had the best soccer game (Super Sidekicks 3), the best golf game (Neo Turf Masters), the best Baseball game (Baseball Stars Pro), and the best fighting game (King of Fighters '94), not to mention lots of A-level games in every genre apart from RPGs. Awesome console for anyone lucky enough to have it. It's a shame lots of people think it had only fighting games.
Endearing sums it up well, I didn't find the term strange at all. Am also glad that you used music from Neo Turf Masters, my favorite Neo Geo game! There is an active community of ppl on Facebook who host seasonal Neo Turf Masters tournaments and they are hella fun! Very casual too, nothing too competitive & just for the fun of it, and the winner gets a custom arcade Marquee with their name on it! I encourage any and all fans of the game to check it out, it's called Neo Turf Masters Clubhouse on Facebook.
This one made me happy. I recently bought a new memory card for my AES from StoneAgeGamer, and have been enjoying playing through a season of Super Baseball 2020. I always win by a landslide, but it's just one of those games that is "my game."
I have most of these on MVS, but Baseball Stars Professional, Super Baseball 2020, Top Player's Golf, and Super Sidekicks 2 I also have on my AES, as I had it first.
I played a lot of Windjammers with friends, as a buddy of mine and I both have it on our MVS cabinets, but League Bowling will always have my heart. My oldest son and I started playing it when he was 3, and hearing him yell "BEER FRAME" every game always made me laugh.
Such a great video... You are getting so close to the 100K now and you bloody well deserve it!
99.999% of your content is awesome.
I really appreciate that you give sports games some much needed attention. I think it's sad that many retro enthusiasts discard them outright. To this day they make fantastic games for having a few buddies over for drinks and gaming.
Love sports games to this day, and the Neo-Geo had some great ones. Super Side Kicks is a favorite, spent many coins on that game. Neo Turf Masters is so darn fun, and I thank emulation for helping me discover that game
Amazing video as always SLX! I have always been a big fan of Super Dodgeball and after playing on the Neo Geo I had no idea one of my favorite games could look so good and play amazing it is what sold me on how awesome the Neo Geo was. So many great games I wish I had a chance to play as a youth on my favorite system I never had a chance to own. Excellent video as alway! We WILL see you next time!
God, I love the NeoGeo version of Super Dodge Ball so much.
It was one of the greatest mysteries of why it was never ported to NOTHING!
Along with golden axe return of death adder.
Very enjoyable episode! Got me thinking about Tecmo Bowl when you mentioned it. In hindsight, it was a ballsy, or perhaps just well thought out move to have that music play once the play started and stop once tackled. Really brought the atmosphere up a notch. It could have been annoying to have music at all but nope, just a good jam that made you feel like "we're underway!"
The irony is Neo Geo probably didn't use teams or stuff because they didn't want to pay the licensing and ironically it gave it a timeless feel that has lasted this long and still so good. So because they were cheap they actually made a better product wow who would have guessed.
The Baseball Stars games were a blast. It's in the same league as NBA Jam and Tecmo Bowl, fun to pick up and play whether you're into the sport or not (though baseball happens to be my favorite sport). I remember trying the golf game on a Neo-Geo compilation disc. I'm not into golf at all but I had fun with it and played it a surprising amount.
Love the video. I rebuilt an MKV 2 a year ago and starting digging through the library of Neo Geo games and wow there are some great games to be had. I found almost every sports game you listed here and agree that they are all absolutely worth playing even if your not a fan of sports games. Windjammers is by far my favorite though.
Ohh man the Frisbee game was so addictive!! I played this video to see if you had reviewed it, and you delivered! Great content!!!
Excellent video as always. I'd say that Baseball Stars 2 = Ken Griffey Baseball on SNES, and Street Hoops = Barkley Shut Up and Jam
Very good video!
You've managed to make sports video games sound exciting :O
At the time, I preferred licensed teams and players and real rules, but I’m surprised to find these games more replayable because fantasy teams and players are timeless and the gameplay and graphics hold up so well.
If you are a fan of baseball are you familiar with the 'Super Mega Baseball' series? It's fantasy-based yet also allows you to customise the teams and players, so it's possible to alter them all to 'licensed' counterparts, or make a team of friends and family members.
I never cared for sports games until I played Neo Turf Masters. That game is arcade perfection and is hands down one of the best games ever made.
Soccer Brawl was in one of my local fish and chip shops and I played it an absolute ton. Loved the power shots and who the keeper would be pushed back by the force of the ball. Still one of my favourite footy games.
The Neo Geo would of been more successful if Capcom and Konami would of used the hardware for their arcades
Neo Turf Masters is possibly the best golf game ever!
Not at all a fan of the sports genre, but I love Baseballs Stars 2, Windjammers, Neo Turf Masters and even some of the Super Sidekicks games are quite good on the system. Neo Geo had a knack for highly accessible and fun sports titles. Other games that carried this arcadey sports tradition are NBA Jam, Arch Rivals and Capcom Sports Club!
The reason these games are so good., besides the talent of the creators., is because the effort is put on the gameplay but also on the "flashy" stuff., arcades are basically the same as panchinko, videopoker, pinball, pool or slots machines., so everything got to be flashy, loud and attract people to put coins., that´s the genius part., is all about a design style that is got to be flashy, loud, attractive and an engaging gameplay with a "hook"., PC gaming on the other hand is slow., clunky., mostly unpolished, something that focus on losing time., you can see that in rpgs., adventure games, simulators, strategy games, and the middle ground maybe are the shooters, nowadays the focus is more in western gaming, on pc gaming so we see story telling., rpg systems, gritty designs, unpolishness and updates.,... but back then those people in japan were challenging themselves to make a piece of gaming that is a rentable system., cause after all to buy an Arcade was an investment., you did buy an arcade machine to make money on it not just to play the game
Neo Turf Masters has an awesome Arranged Soundtrack on Neo Geo CD.
Great video! Couldn’t agree more with your picks and sports games on NeoGeo. Thanks for making this!
Man the golfer animation in Turf Masters in unbelievable. Thanks Sega Lord! :)
I'm not a sports nut but I love sports games! My favorite is American football, but I also enjoy soccer, golf, and baseball!
I'd love to see more coverage of different types of NeoGeo games, so I can find some recommendations for Arcade Archive NeoGeo classics on Switch and Playstation!
My best friend built an awesome arcade machine around 2002 early when that was becoming a trend, we basically played Street Fighter series and Windjammers. Windjammers is really an elite one on one 2 player competition game.
still angers me beyond reason, that Super Dodge ball for the neo geo is so criminally overlooked with all the re-releases and digital distribution. I didn't even know the game existed for such a long time, and then one day encountered a rare arcade cabinet that had a multi-pack of games and _there it was_. Unfortunately, it being in a private studio now three time zones away, I've not seen it anywhere since. No home release (like your box art implies), no digital release, *absolutely nothing!*
My 2 go Neo-Geo sports games were Windjammers and League Bowling. Windjammers I played a lot in my college days with my friends especially if alcohol was involved. League Bowling was also a lot of fun especially if hooked up to 4 Neo-Geo MVS cabinets which allowed 8 players to play on them at the same time.
LOL, the players in Baseball Stars 2 look like the players in Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run for Super NES! I loved the players designs in that game, so that is up my alley! 😀😊🙂👍
Neo Geo Turf Masters is my favorite golf game. Robert Landolt was and is my best character.
How powerful was the Neo Geo? It looks like it would run Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat arcade perfect with ease.
Mostly, yeah. The AVS played cartridges that were interchangeable with arcade cabinets, but for that reason they were huge and super pricey.
You didn't know this? Aes/mvs ran circles around any other 16 bit hardware
Could probably run Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat might have had colour palette issues and looked more dithered. Maybe performance issues too, the mk games have always been more difficult to emulate than Capcom and Snk games.
Neo Geo's main advantage was the interchangeable and big cartridges. Honestly, in terms of power, it really wasn't that special compared to more powerful arcade boards (including the CPS-1)
It is difficult to compare arcade boards directly because many do things in different ways. It's important to remember that the Neo Geo was designed to be a reasonably powerful, standard arcade board. It was comparable with Capcom's CPS 1 and 2 boards. Capcom's boards had a higher resolution, which is notable, while the Neo Geo's sprite handling was unique and flexible in some ways. Those were all standard type boards. They lacked some of the more advanced features of premium boards like Sega's scaler boards, and System 32, as well as Taito's F boards, and some of Namco's stuff. But the lower cost of such boards like the Neo Geo is what led to success and the Neo Geo was pushed further than most arcade boards over the years.
Windjammers is one of my favourite games ever made. Incredible and timeless game!
I even played in a side-tournament for it when I went to Evo 2019. The game still has an incredible community and scene which (as I) are eagerly awaiting Windjammers 2.
Have you done a video on Neo geo beatemups or shooters?
Hell yes. Love Super Baseball 2020 for my Genesis. Glad it got mentioned. Also Windjammers is the king. So much fun with friends, and it only gets more intense when everyone knows how to activate specials. The new release even has online play
S&K needs to make a mini that would be awesome at all their games
I find it interesting that sports games like golf ever had an arcade presence. Personally I feel like golf,baseball,and football make more sense on a home console than in the arcades. By no means is this meant to downplay arcade sports games by any means including the ones mentioned here, this is just my perspective and I personally wasn’t born in the arcade era’s height (to be more exact I was born in 2004 lol). Great video as always and love your content alot edit: I actually have an interest in retro sports games even if by today standards they’re largely outdated. My interest in it isn’t too high by its there
Love the geo League Bowling I play it every week
Great video. Been waiting for someone to talk about NEO GEO sports games. They were basically the last great sports games before licensing and micro transactions became a thing.
Yes. I agree. The only problem is that none of these games let you play an entire match with a single coin. In all other genres, albeit almost impossible, you can end the games with one coin. Sports games in general only gave you some time, meaning that ending the games would take a lot of money, no matter how good you were at them.
It wasn't only a NEO GEO thing. And I will take NBA Jam as an example for it could be easily "measured". This game gave you a quarter per coin, so you needed 328 coins just to complete the regular season, perfect. In Argentina it was $82, by that time almost the same in american dollars.
Awesome video man! Those are some great titles on the Neo Geo 😀
We need new games in these sports series asap! ;)
Wonderful job I still play most of these games today especially windjammers I'm super happy they have a windjammers 2 coming out
Excellent video, thank you for creating and sharing.
Neo Geo sports games are on a totally different level than any other sports games even still to this day. There still hasn't been a better baseball game or gold game since the Neo Geo versions. Baseball Stars 2 is the most perfect baseball game ever made and the scaling ball is a thing of perfection and beauty.
Atlus and Ubisoft did a great sequel for the gba of Super Dodgeball. I’ve had so much fun with that series in my life.
Would love to see a video on Sega arcade sports games that never got a home release like Clutch Hitter, Virtua NBA, etc
Baseball Stars 2, Super Baseball 2020 and the Super Sidekicks series are amazing games even to this day.
Street Hoop kills Nba Jam anytime.
Neo Turf Masters is the only golf game that anyone can enjoy.
Stakes Winners also the only horse racing anyone can enjoy.
Super Sidekicks 2 was unrivaled in graphics and atmosphere on its time.
Tecmo World Soccer 96 was the best Neogeo soccer on gameplay.
Windjammers,unique and addictive.
I miss these games glad i got to watch this early keep up the great work!!
Did you mean the enduring legacy? Endearing legacy seems like a weird way to put it.
Muricans struggle with basic English don't they...
No, he means endearing legacy. Look it up.
Did not expect to hear the Terry bogart voice actor in that basketball game
I just want to say we need a kunio kun game with that style of animation.
I own a AES, MVS, Pocket and an X - this was still enlightening as I generally hate sports games! Super Dodgeball has been our afternoon favourite!
I can hear it now:
"PLUS for bogey".... "OHH NOOO"
Love me some Neo Turf Masters. Love it more on Neo Geo Pocket Color.
the Neo Geo Pocket version may be one of the greatest hidden gems anywhere. It's a flawless handheld golf game. It's at least equally fun.
Super Baseball 2020 and Baseball Stars 2 are my two favorite sports games of all time.
Recently played the first Super Sidekicks on PS4
Amazing and addictive game, and I'm usually not a sports guy let alone soccer but I had a blast!
For some reason it took me back to the NES era and made me think of Blades of Steel.
Love it! Have a good time with your family!
Neo Geo was really something different!
I was not aware that Super Dodgeball was on the Neo Geo! I loved the NES game.
I was hoping you'd give more coverage to "3 count bout" I've been waiting for "Top Hat gaming man" to do a video on it himself
I actually had a lot of fun playing the golf game....Talk about fun 🤩
Always wondered if the Neo Turf Masters ‘On the green!’ Lady was the same one who voiced ‘Bonus!’ On Blazing Star?! 🤔
The Neo Geo is just an amazing platform in general with some truly amazing games. I REALLY want to get myself a NeoSD flash cart but they are so damn expensive! If I can ever find one for right around the $300 mark then I will absolutely jump on it, but I really can't justify paying more than that as that's already really expensive for what it is, and I feel the prices are what they are simply because they can be, not because the item costs a lot to produce because it doesn't, and I simply won't pay a King's ransom out of principle alone.
Leave it to Sega Lord X to make a video about a genre I have the least interest in on a console I will never buy and still make glued to the screen.
I dig Neo Turf Masters myself but I think you forgot to name the title in your video. You also forgot to name Wind Jammers. I see you put the "box art" next to them but people who never played these may be wondering what they're called. Have you ever played Hot Shots Golf on PlayStation? It's also a great golf game.
It’s fascinating that two of my favourite sport games: Neo Turf master and Super side kicks 2 were released for Neo Geo
Loved Neo Turf Masters and League Bowling back in the day. The NGPC version of Neo Turf Masters was great too. Too bad they didn't port League Bowling to the handheld as well.
I was just looking for something like this :D What do you recommend for Hockey, my family loves blades of steel on the NES.
Baseball Stars on the NES is one of my all-time favs.
I played super baseball 2020...and soccer brawl.... a lot...great games
Love to see a new Baseball Stars. Super Mega Baseball is the closest thing we have to that now. But that company sold to EA recently so there goes that.