I've been recruited by the Neo Geo league to defend fun against much boredom

[celerystalker]

As far as storage goes, I keep my extra MVS carts inside the cabinet. They don't get really dusty inside, but it's a good idea to keep them in anti-static bags if you do that. I have a bunch of other arcade pcbs as well, and I just keep them in anti-static bags when they aren't in use. There's no attractive way to display those ones, so I just opt for protection.

As far as inexpensive carts go, there are tons under $50 for MVS. For non-fighters, they've gone up a bit in the last few years, but most of the library can be had at less than $100 a cart. Where it gets pricey for stuff not on the multi-cart is stuff like Twinkle Star Sprites, Windjammers, and the newer homebrew stuff like Gunlord or Kraut Buster. I already have several versions of Twinkle Star, but on Windjammers I just bit the bullet and paid for it. It ran me about $130, but it's a legit cart and one of my favorite arcade games.

Super Dodgeball, assuming you're meaning the arcade original and not the Neo Geo one on your cart, is JAMMA and can be had for under $100 if you watch for a good auction on a pcb. You don't have to doctor anything up to put it in your cabinet, just put a piece of thin wood on top of the 2 slot pcb to keep them from touching while it's in the cabinet and plug the main harness onto the Dodgeball board and you're done, almost as easy as swapping a cart. (assuming your 2 slot has the metal cover).

[Tanooki]

Yes mine is full on in there, I guess that black bezel that's optional is the only missing part I can see as I looked it over internally. I may just have to go look for that old Technos original.

Truth be told I am not huge on SNK fighters, a few I really enjoyed like the mid/late 90s KOF titles, SS1 and 3 (2 is not bad either), Last Blade, World Heroes 1, Art of Fighting 1, stuff like that. I've mostly liked their other screw ball platformers, some puzzles, neo turf masters and league bowling, baseball stars, NAM 1975, the Metal Slug action series and stylized stuff like that, and the goofy to scifi looking shooters.

Like I said I highlighted that print out I made of the 161 game and color coded it off. I intend to pick away at the stuff I've never seen before (plenty enough) and see how I like it. The stuff I'd love the most I could sink some $ into. Since I'm avoiding Nintendo and SNES because of all the bullshit going on there I'd rather save up money than piss it weekly/bi-weekly on stuff and get a nice MVS cart I'd appreciate that I don't have on that multi cart, or if I'm a super fan, like say Dodgeball, I'd buy that, same with Samurai Shodown III (which one is ending shortly on ebay I'm oggling in over 5 hours currently at $28+8 s/h with the cart and mini marquee. Not sure what's fair on it but it appears it should cap around $50.


Do you think that multi-cart dip setting flipping switch 1 would lock those settings on that yellow cart? If it would I'll see if I can reach it easily enough, otherwise I'm not bothering.

[celerystalker]

The mini-marquees tend to go in the $10-15 range. I never look for them, as mine was set up as a dedicated all-Metal Slug cabinet with a full-size Metal Slug marquee, so I just left it that way. I have a few other marquees I consider putting in, but I mostly stay lazy about it and leave the Slug marquee in there.

For the Dip Switch 1 method, no, it does not lock settings on the cart. It's just the long way of doing what you can do in a few seconds with the test switch method. The cart doesn't save anything to itself; the main pcb has a lithium battery-backed memory that saves settings for up to 8 games, and each new one beyond 8 bumps one of those out.

[Tanooki]

My battery is shot, that's the one failing I suppose with the thing. I'm not crazy about taking that plate off the motherboard and trying to replace it. I've only done something like that on a cheap NES game before, and I doubt having a working battery would do any favors anyway. I accepted as a kid arcade games don't save scores so I really don't care as it's about the ride. I imagine I could get one of those mvs memory cards if I really wanted.

[celerystalker]

Just make sure the battery isn't leaking so it doesn't damage traces, but it's otherwise unimportant. You can easily just tap the test switch and change settings on the fly.

[Tanooki]

Just make sure the battery isn't leaking so it doesn't damage traces, but it's otherwise unimportant. You can easily just tap the test switch and change settings on the fly.

I take it I'd need to unscrew the plate. I printed up the manual for my model board and I see it's right near the cartridge slot under that hood. If it were leaking I'd snip the thing off there and clean up the mess before it became an issue.

edit -- Removed the plate, the genius who previously owned it (and that's not sarcasm) put in a standard black plastic cr2032 clip with a battery in there. So that's really it, the cheap cell ate it. Snap out, snap in. I don't think I have a spare without removing it from some toy other than one prepped for a NES/SNES cart battery install.

[celerystalker]

Yeah, the board will function fine without a battery. The only annoying thing is that it won't save settings, which I like to keep attract mode sound off, so it's something that would have to be done every time, but it's not horrible by any stretch.

One of the platformer games on there that I really like is Spin Master. It's a fun, fast platfromer that's super colorful and has weird weapons. Loads of fun. Top Hunter's great as well, but I'm not super into Ganryu. Blue's Journey is a good time, and the Metal Slugs are of course a good time.

There are a few cool beat 'em ups on there as well. Mutation Nation is fantastic, as is Sengoku 3. I like the first Sengoku, but it's admittedly a little clunky, as is Burning Fight. Sengoku 2 is also great fun, but it's not on the cart. I have that trilogy on AES, but the third is mist people's favorite, and it's on the multi. I can't remember if Robo Army is on there, as it's another one I mainly play on AES due to its credit limit providing a tough challenge.

[Tanooki]

I don't mind the attract mode, prefer it on really as if I left the machine on I'd want it. Like PinBot they do not stay on if not in use.

The only annoying thing I find is the headphone jack has less awesome audio than the cabinet itself and you have to unlatch the whole thing to go in and pick which you want as it's a basic setup so one doesn't override the other so I've opted not to bother with it.

Robo Army is sadist, the way they attack reach or whatever is just slightly better so you just end up getting tagged even a bit by the dumbest of starter grunts. Top Hunter I dig enough, it's interesting. Blue's Journey is fantastic. My wife wants brawlers like TMNT on NES/SNES so I'm trying to find any kind of non-flat screen brawler types for her to dig into. Sengoku is an old fav, but it hasn't aged as nicely as some things have say Capcom or Konami made, but I have yet to ever play #3 (or 2 not on there.) Mutation Nation is on my try list. I pulled up Strikers 1945+ earlier ago, tough game even in world one and that's on difficulty 4.


What would you use to seal up the opened up cartidge slot? I saw someone made some paper art stencils of I guess something you could cut out up on flicker through a google image search. Other than that I found nothing and SNK even recommends capping the thing if it's not used.

[celerystalker]

I'd just slap another cart in the empty slot unless your board is finicky and won't recognize the multi unless it's the only one in. They don't really get dusty on the inside particularly, but you could just lay a flat piece of plastic like a cheap folder or something over it, as it wouldn't conduct any electrical charge.

For beat 'em ups, definitely try Sengoku 3 and Mutation Nation. Sengoku 3 has nice weapon combos, and Mutation Nation has a more Capcom feel to it.

With Robo Army, the kick (A&B) is a life saver, and reverses that disadvantage, killing basic enemies in one hit. It's not in the same league as those other 2, though.

[Tanooki]

I'll try that as Robo Army has nice things to look at while beating on robots.

When I had the banana cart in there with another legit one, it seemed to randomly want to jump to the other port and fire up Bust A Move when I'd select something else on the multicart so I pulled it. I didn't test the why on it as I didn't see it when I picked it up. Maybe the multi needs to be in one slot or another, or certain games just commit dickery with that huge bank switching hack job that cart is.

Your mutation nation recommendation was noted and I intended to check it after dinner/kid is in bed.

Right now I'm updating my huge game list you know I keep making a new Arcade & Pinball html file, menu linking it, and I listed not just the 9 carts, but hte alphabetical (which for some reason I couldn't find online) listing of all 161 of them in order as a mass listing for the cart too for my own check list.

I know we can't ask for ROMS here directly, but have you ever seen the 161 in 1 or another of them for that matter ever copied? I wonder if it's such a mess interested parties can't figure it out. I was going to archive it if it existed with my other carts, but I was also curious how hideously large that file would be too, if it would be... for all I know it's a teeny menu and it just bootstrap loads the games on the varying chips in there.

[Az]

About swapping boards, you will have to rewire the speakers and test switch buttons if you put something other than a multi-slot MVS board in your cabinet. These boards are not JAMMA standard and have a different pinout to be able to get stereo sound without an additional harness. The test button is located at a different place than a normal JAMMA game.

Save yourself a lot of trouble and run a test button switch to the outside of your cab so you don't have to open it up every time. Using that 161 where everything defaults to max difficulty and other funky options is much easier to deal with if you have a button on the outside. Select game, hit test button, then you're good to go.

Also, go immediately and buy a Unibios chip.

[celerystalker]

The test switch is different on both, running from pin 15 for standard JAMMA and pin M for MV2F. Speaker out, though, is pins 10 and L for both, so it should be functional, using the same pinouts for the joystick, power, and buttons from start to D. So, you should be able to play most boards just without test and service switches with no re-wiring, which in most cases is no big deal, as JAMMA boards usually control options like difficulty through their dip switches.

[Tanooki]

I'm fine opening up the coin door since the power switch is in there anyway so I'm cool not adding an added switch. So far most the games I do want to bother with default to difficulty 4 which is default, though panic bomber was on 5.

I'm aware of, ages ago in an emulator used the UniBIOS as it is what I was able to locate easiest, but I've really never looked into it or even thought about it yet at this point but I can look into it.


By the way is it worth dropping a $10 donation to that arcade/pinball museum so KLOV will get you full posting privileges on their board? I see someone there for $75 (obo?) shipped has League Bowling (US ver) with the mini marquee. Mostly just interested in the cart but that would be a nice bonus. It seems all over the place to sell for $35-$60 price range shipped for the Japanese and US versions but that's just the cartridge alone. I'm trying to poke a stick at ebay mostly as KLOV seems to have very little MVS stuff up for grabs to see where the best deals seem to come from...seeing quite a few US, Japan and oddly Cyprus.

[celerystalker]

I don't bother with UniBIOS myself, as I just play AES on AES and MVS on MVS. UniBIOS allows you to select your region, home or MVS versions, and some cheats. Most Neo Geo carts will boot in the region of the hardware they're plugged into, but many allow region choice already in test. If you'd like to dabble in comparing AES/MVS modes and such, UniBIOS saves a lot of money... I just like mine stock, and I had my AES for about 15 years before getting my MVS, and wasn't too concerned with being able to access that functionality. One of my good friends uses a 4 slot with UniBIOS that looks a lot like yours, and he loves it.

[Tanooki]

Well if that's all it is primarily is just the whole region and AES/MVS thing I'm not going to bother. I prefer stock too, other than that modded top loader I've got stored away and a disused Retron 5, all my stuff is OEM and really always has been as far as hardware goes. I'd be fine with something to fix a design flaw like the LEDs behind a Gamegear screen but nothing radical.

Again though, donating to KLOV worth it for access to MVS stuff? I don't see much in general discussion to keep me interested very long and MVS seems thin in the big picture there. I know there's neo-geo.com but they're very picky and defensive types I see reading things, some attitude too which has been said here as well.


You know what I realized earlier I just remembered I already owned some MVS games for a time now thanks to that Humble Bundle early this year. Remember the 25th anniversary pack? It has 23 MVS carts thrown into an executable stand alone emulator to work in Windows. The NG community looked into it and the full rom sets are there, can even be with a little talent in those ways hacked right out of there and used as they are in MAME or on a dud of a board that needed a repair.

[Az]

Speaker out, though, is pins 10 and L for both, so it should be functional

That's incorrect, 10 and L are ground and hot for mono sound on a JAMMA board. On a MVS system they're both hots for left and right speaker, so if you slap a JAMMA board in you're crossing hot with hot.

Pin 11 is the hot for one speaker mono audio on MVS, but on JAMMA it's a preout audio hotwire that isn't amplified.

The audio wiring and the test button issue are the sole reason people buy MVS-to-JAMMA fingerboards. Single slot MVS boards do not have these issues though, they're JAMMA compliant.

[celerystalker]

That's incorrect, 10 and L are ground and hot for mono sound on a JAMMA board. On a MVS system they're both hots for left and right speaker, so if you slap a JAMMA board in you're crossing hot with hot.

Pin 11 is the hot for one speaker mono audio on MVS, but on JAMMA it's a preout audio hotwire that isn't amplified.

The audio wiring and the test button issue are the sole reason people buy MVS-to-JAMMA fingerboards. Single slot MVS boards do not have these issues though, they're JAMMA compliant.

There is standard JAMMA pinout, photographed directly from the manual for Time Soldiers. That's where I'm getting my info. If there's something else I'm missing, I apologize. I run a one slot at home, so Az may know more than me on this. I'm just comparing a PDF of the MV2-F manual with my regular JAMMA manuals. Plugging a non-stereo JAMMA board into an MVS-2 or 4 harness should result simply is audio only coming from the right speaker in mono. It would be plugging the MVS-2 into an old JAMMA harness that would cause the hot/hot on a mono-wired harness.

[Tanooki]

KLOV doesn't seem to have MVS carts, and ebay is like a yo-yo diet watching that. Anything else I can poke a stick at other than the supposedly arrogant and touchy neo-geo forums that won't sell unless you're established? KLOV even wants payment to post which is kind of sketchy like was attempted in passing here. A guy there had league bowling I'd like but there's that wall.

[celerystalker]

KLOV doesn't seem to have MVS carts, and ebay is like a yo-yo diet watching that. Anything else I can poke a stick at other than the supposedly arrogant and touchy neo-geo forums that won't sell unless you're established? KLOV even wants payment to post which is kind of sketchy like was attempted in passing here. A guy there had league bowling I'd like but there's that wall.

There's a more relaxed community at neogeoforlife.com, and you might find some action there. My buddy with a 4 slot bought a few carts from members there and did pretty well a few years back.

[Tanooki]

I'll look into that then, neo-geo.com seems to have a SEO lock on goddamned google so I don't find places like that so easily unless you have a reference area like hard mvs and so on.

By the way other than those mini-marquees is there any reason to buy a US version of a JP one for any MVS cart other than perhaps not being able to read the sticker? Last I recall ever reading about it many years (decade) ago the answer was more or less no.