Straight from the arcade world, the Neo Geo was, without a doubt, the most expensive hardware of the 4th generation. This begs the question: how capable was it and how did it compare to the rest?
In this entry, we'll take a look at the result of one company (SNK) setting aside budget restrictions and shipping a product meant to please both arcade owners and rich households.
Models and variants
The Neo Geo is exceptional in the sense it was designed for two markets at the same time: the arcade and the home. Consequently, SNK produced a single architecture which was sold in the form of two variants, each catering to a particular market:
- The Multi Video System or 'MVS' is the form tailored for arcade centres. Its I/O follows the 'JAMMA' specification (with some deviations ), facilitating integration with arcade cabinets. Alongside, its specialised motherboard provides extra circuitry for handling coin-based payments. Be that as it may, throughout its lifetime, SNK ended up shipping tons of revisions, some of which could accommodate up to six game cartridges at once .
- The Advanced Entertainment System or 'AES' is the simplified design for homes. While smaller and with reduced I/O, it doesn't compromise its fundamental capabilities.
I suppose I should also mention the Neo Geo CD, which is the successor to the AES variant and embraced the CD-ROM for game distribution. Just like its previous forms, there were multiple revisions of this model.
In any case, for this analysis, I'll be focusing on the AES variant, as that's the one I've got with me. I will, nevertheless, make deserved references to the MVS when it comes to bonus functionality.