Differences between NeoGeo AES and CD games

[raptor94k]

I'm not very familiar with Neo Geo hardware. In fact, other than an MVS at every arcade ever, I've never played any Neo Geo products (i.e. all the home consoles). I was browsing through the list of titles for both the AES and the NGCD and I noticed that a lot of the games were the same.

Are there really noticeable differences between the two versions of the games? Is there an overall difference or is it a case-by-case basis? Is the NGCD just a more affordable version of the AES? Are the exclusive games awesome for both systems?

[G-Boobie]

With the CD system you get to watch a juggling monkey for five minutes before you get to play.

Here's why: the Neo Geo CD games are basically the same ROM set as the cart games. This means that when you're loading something, like a new level in Metal Slug or a match in Last Blade, that instead of the console being able to load directly off of a ROM chip, it has to load EVERYTHING into RAM. SNK added a loading screen with a juggling monkey to amuse the player during this loading period. I love monkeys, especially juggling ones, bit it still gets old. So yeah: the CD games are the same as the cart versions, only cheaper and with 80% more circus primate.

As to exclusives, the Samurai Shodown RPG is the only one I know of, and that might have gotten a PS1 port at some point.

[ubersaurus]

The major difference is CD-quality music and load times - sometimes negligible, sometimes very lengthy - on the Neo CD versions.

Given that the CD died much earlier than the AES there are more awesome exclusives to the cart system, but a couple CD ones, like Ironclad, are definitely worth it. I would also point out though that Ironclad is up on the Wii VC now, and the PS2 Neo Geo collections are generally speaking the Neo Geo cart versions with optional Neo CD music.

[Tempest]

Some CD games (mostly fighters) are missing frames of animation. It's not really all that noticeable unless you're familiar with the AES/MVS version, but it's there. A few CD games had some extras on them (extra modes and whatnot), but nothing too interesting.

Tempest

[Rickstilwell1]

If you plan to collect for one of these systems here's something I notice about the Neo Geo CD that makes it hard.

I can NEVER find a single US version of any Neo Geo CD product, be it the system or the games. The only games I can find have the Japanese writing and Japanese title for the games, the manual in Japanese and all the systems I have come across have the system bios set to Japan and came that way as default.

Either American Neo Geo CD owners kept their stuff since their local purchase of it brand new and NEVER sell it; or the print runs in the USA were so low that most people just imported the system from the get-go.

Edit: There are a few USA Neo Geo CD games on ebay now but they are all a crazy $50+ BIN

[Kitsune Sniper]

(...) and the PS2 Neo Geo collections are generally speaking the Neo Geo cart versions with optional Neo CD music.

ONLY THE ONES THAT WERE DEVELOPED BY G1M2 - The Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and World Heroes sets.

The three collections "developed" by Terminal Reality (KOF Orochi Saga US / Europe edition, SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, Metal Slug Anthology) have numerous bugs, and don't have arrange music available in the game. However they do have neat extras, but not enough to make up for the shitty ports.

Samurai Shodown Anthology is a bit of a weird one. The older Neo games run like they should, but VI runs a little glitchy.

[Atariguy]

The two main issues with deciding to go with the NGCD are your tolerance for load times and how much you want to play later NG titles like Garou: Mark of the Wolves. The NGCD unfortunately had a 1x CD ROM drive, which is slower than the ones in the Saturn or Playstation. The NGCD had enough RAM that older games like Viewpoint and Super Baseball 2020 will only ever load once, but later games load a lot more often, with some of the last fighters made for it taking about a minute between rounds. Exactly how bad this is varies from game to game, but it's generally worse the newer the game is. They released a newer version called the CDZ that has more cache, but it isn't all that much faster, and they tend to overheat. In any case, here's a video that shows what the load times for an average fighter are like. The video of the cart version next to it probably makes it feel longer than it would otherwise, but even without that, it's too long for many people.

As for the issue of later games, in addition to the load times being longer, the last game made for the NGCD was King of Fighters '99, so there are quite a few really good NG games, like Garou, Metal Slug 3, and the later KoF games that are simply unavailable on the platform.

And for a few last notes, I should point out that the standard pad for the NGCD tends to be unreliable, so you will probably need to take it apart to clean it at some point if you don't get one of the arcade style sticks. And regarding the games mostly being Japanese versions, the way the NGCD (as well as the AES and MVS) works is that the language is set by the console, so if you have a US NGCD, all games will play in English as long as they had an English mode (the only worthwhile one that doesn't is Samurai Shodown RPG).

[retroman]

crappy load times....you could go make dinner, eat, and come back, and it still would be loading

[Rickstilwell1]

And regarding the games mostly being Japanese versions, the way the NGCD (as well as the AES and MVS) works is that the language is set by the console, so if you have a US NGCD, all games will play in English as long as they had an English mode (the only worthwhile one that doesn't is Samurai Shodown RPG).

No what I mean is you know how they have boxes and instructions of the games all printed in English right? For some reason those English printed versions are much harder to find than the Japanese print runs and also cost more on ebay.

Is that because it was cheaper to import Japanese games back then so everybody did that rather than buying the English releases in stores in the USA?

When I am collecting Neo Geo CD I would prefer to understand the titles displayed on the spine rather than having to pull out each game to see what it is because it's written in Japanese. But I'm not going to pay $50 a game to do so.

[stargate]

On a side note, there are some good Neo Geo titles available for download on the PSN. Like $10 a pop and well worth the money. I believe they play exactly the same as the arcade versions. Plus you can play online and there are some other options that make them better than the actual CD's or carts.

[Atariguy]

No what I mean is you know how they have boxes and instructions of the games all printed in English right? For some reason those English printed versions are much harder to find than the Japanese print runs and also cost more on ebay.

Is that because it was cheaper to import Japanese games back then so everybody did that rather than buying the English releases in stores in the USA?

When I am collecting Neo Geo CD I would prefer to understand the titles displayed on the spine rather than having to pull out each game to see what it is because it's written in Japanese. But I'm not going to pay $50 a game to do so.

Sorry I wasn't clearer, but I wasn't intending to correct you there. I was trying to make sure the OP knew that this was just a packaging issue, not one that would effect gameplay assuming he managed to acquire an English language console.

As for why US games are hard to come by, I'm thinking that the system simply sold much better in Japan. I mean, who here even heard of the thing before the internet?

[Rickstilwell1]

Sorry I wasn't clearer, but I wasn't intending to correct you there. I was trying to make sure the OP knew that this was just a packaging issue, not one that would effect gameplay assuming he managed to acquire an English language console.

As for why US games are hard to come by, I'm thinking that the system simply sold much better in Japan. I mean, who here even heard of the thing before the internet?

Pretty much anyone who subscribed to Game Pro magazine or Game Players magazine knew about the Neo Geo CD. Around the Issues 80-90 of both magazines you would see coverage of a few games or lists that included retail prices. This was back when beta versions of Sonic Xtreme, Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario 64, Sonic 3D Blast, and Donkey Kong Country 3 were having screenshots shown.

[synbiosfan]

With the money you're going to spend on good games for either system you may want to look at a Supergun or a Consolized MVS (CMVS). MVS games are much cheaper. The question you have to ask yourself is which is more important, gameplay or spending a lot of money for something that looks awesome by your tv?

I actually own all three and wish I went CMVS or a candy cab first

[Atariguy]

With the money you're going to spend on good games for either system you may want to look at a Supergun or a Consolized MVS (CMVS). MVS games are much cheaper. The question you have to ask yourself is which is more important, gameplay or spending a lot of money for something that looks awesome by your tv?

I actually own all three and wish I went CMVS or a candy cab first

As much as I love my NGCD, I'd agree that a CMVS is probably the best option for most people who just want to play on actual hardware. I'm not sure if the games are really cheaper than the NGCD in general (there are plenty of CD games you can get complete dirt cheap), but it's pretty comparable, and it's still far cheaper than the AES. And of course you get the biggest library out of all three options and no load times.

[Tron 2.0]

Plus you can play online and there are some other options that make them better than the actual CD's or carts.

Still the downside to that it has a poor netcode for online play.

[XYXZYZ]

Here's the side by side comparison video of the Neo Geo CD vs the cartridge, to get an idea of the load time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM-mkMq9U6s

[Rob2600]

Here's the side by side comparison video of the Neo Geo CD vs the cartridge, to get an idea of the load time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM-mkMq9U6s

That reminds me of a Commodore 64 game on cassette. After waiting 5 minutes for it to load, you think you're finally able to play the game, but no...it's just the title screen!

Push start, then wait another 10 minutes for the actual game to load.

[Rickstilwell1]

crappy load times....you could go make dinner, eat, and come back, and it still would be loading

Maybe if your dinner was something you don't have to cook for more than 1 minute, like hot dogs.

[isufje]

Buy an AES system if you want to enjoy your gaming experience. Otherwise but a NGCD...

- I can confidently say this cause I in-fact do own a NEO-GEO CD... and it's nothing like the NEO-GEO Cart system. Not one game uses Chip music, aside from League Bowling, and it loses it's feel for some reason... maybe because of the horrendous loading... I don't know. Pulstar is the only game I play on it, but I'd actually rather play it on Cart cause the CD music doesn't make it any better... just buy an AES, I wish I had.

-You've been warned