Ultra 16-Bit Mega Console

[buzz909]

I was just thinking that if they could somehow combine the power of a SNES, a Megadrive and a PC engine into a new console it would be more powerful than the sun.

[samanosuke]

Isn’t that what a NeoGeo is?

It has PCM sound like the SNES and can do all its Mode 7 trickery and more besides (sprite scaling as well as background scaling).

It also has FM sound synthesis like the MegaDrive and more CPU grunt thanks to its 68k rated at higher clock speed than the MegaDrive’s.

Throw in more colour and sprite handling capabilities than the PC Engine can handle and you pretty much have the ultimate 16-bit console.

[replicashooter]

Alas its games are a bit pish though.

[Team Andromeda]

Isn’t that what a NeoGeo is?

It has PCM sound like the SNES and can do all its Mode 7 trickery and more besides (sprite scaling as well as background scaling).

It also has FM sound synthesis like the MegaDrive and more CPU grunt thanks to its 68k rated at higher clock speed than the MegaDrive’s.

Throw in more colour and sprite handling capabilities than the PC Engine can handle and you pretty much have the ultimate 16-bit console.

Hardly, It didn't do PCM sound and it lacked any Hardware for rotation like Mode 7 or the Mega CD (which also used PCM and could scale and rotate multi sprites or Bitmaps (unlike either the Snes or Neo)

The SEGA Saturn ticks every box mind

[Team Andromeda]

Alas its games are a bit pish though.

Its games are anything but poor. The Neo Geo as some of the best games going, to this day

[Colin]

The Neo probably has the best good to poor ratio library of any of the 16-bit systems.

[speedlolita]

I mean I don't like the SNK fighters like I do Capcom ones but to call NG games a bit pish...

[vanpeebles]

Alas its games are a bit pish though.

Someone sprinkle some whiskey on this boy and make him smell like a man!

[CMcK]

Hardly, It didn't do PCM sound and it lacked any Hardware for rotation like Mode 7 or the Mega CD (which also used PCM and could scale and rotate multi sprites or Bitmaps (unlike either the Snes or Neo)

The SEGA Saturn ticks every box mind

The Neo-Geo does use PCM, or more precisely ADPCM, for audio. It has 7 sample channels versus 4 FM channels. There’s not a lot of games bother with the FM as cart space was abundant.
It is a shame it didn’t have rotation support for sprites or even the fix layer but if you really wanted to do it in the system just store variations of the object you want to appear is rotating.

And I will agree it’s library is very strong considering there’s only about 120 games for the system.

[replicashooter]

I'm not one to shy away from a controversial opinion but really the games were a bit pish.

To me the vast majority of the catalogue was a take off of something more established/successful/better from another dev jazzed up with some bells and whistles and gameplay that ranged from equal to substantially worse and never ever, ever, ever in my experience did any one of their titles beat what they were ripping off.

Peeps just got geeked for it due to it being the first ePeen before ePeen console but round my way if you were gonna spend that kind of money you'd do it right and buy a SuperGun (which is what gave birth to my screen name) which played the games you wanted to play from Capcom and co because they were ace.

Sure with it being a "closed" platform you got less shovelware and ports but the titles on there, bar, Neo Drift Out which kind of proves my point, just didn't do it for me at all. Not back then on original hardware nor later via emulation as they all felt like expensive cheap knock offs of other titles that were done better in their original form.

[Team Andromeda]

The Neo-Geo does use PCM, or more precisely ADPCM, for audio. It has 7 sample channels versus 4 FM channels. There’s not a lot of games bother with the FM as cart space was abundant.
It is a shame it didn’t have rotation support for sprites or even the fix layer but if you really wanted to do it in the system just store variations of the object you want to appear is rotating.

And I will agree it’s library is very strong considering there’s only about 120 games for the system.

It had the same sort of sound system to the CD-i. Its also had no hardware for rotation and could only scale one layer. In many ways, the Atari Lynx out did it for rotation or scaling, never mind the sadly underused ASIC chip inside the Mega CD or Jaguar. I love the Neo for the sound and those huge sprites myself and its got an amazing line up of games that aren't all Vs fighters.

It's just a shame the Saturn only had 2 Mb of the main RAM. That was the ultimate 2D system and I would have loved to see it used for 2D games that weren't limited by the system lack of RAM. I know you had the ST-V but most of its games were made with a Saturn port in mind.

[Zaki]

I'm not one to shy away from a controversial opinion but really the games were a bit pish.

To me the vast majority of the catalogue was a take off of something more established/successful/better from another dev jazzed up with some bells and whistles and gameplay that ranged from equal to substantially worse and never ever, ever, ever in my experience did any one of their titles beat what they were ripping off.

Peeps just got geeked for it due to it being the first ePeen before ePeen console but round my way if you were gonna spend that kind of money you'd do it right and buy a SuperGun (which is what gave birth to my screen name) which played the games you wanted to play from Capcom and co because they were ace.

Sure with it being a "closed" platform you got less shovelware and ports but the titles on there, bar, Neo Drift Out which kind of proves my point, just didn't do it for me at all. Not back then on original hardware nor later via emulation as they all felt like expensive cheap knock offs of other titles that were done better in their original form.

And I used to like you!

J/k each to their own.

[replicashooter]

And I used to like you!

J/k each to their own.

But can you deny any of the points I made? 🤔

[dataDave]

I would. I prefer their fighters over the Capcom output. Especially for variety. They certainly innovated the genre across the years in many ways so it's unfair to say they were ripping stuff off. It was probably the other way around. They were also pumping out this stuff way longer than Capcom found it to be economically viable, even post-bankruptcy, which despite the admitted drop-off in quality should be remembered and applauded.

The only difference being that SNK were never as established or popular in the Western arcades.

[dataDave]

Also, Capcom's revisionist approach means bar-nostalgia it's pretty much pointless going back to World Warrior or New Challengers, Warrior's Dreams etc. On the other hand there are still valid reasons to revisit the various early KOFs, Fatal Fury's, SamShos...