Although SNK is best known for blurring the console/arcade lines with Neo Geo, their video game history dates back much further.

They released the arcade shooter Ozma Wars in 1979. It's not as colorful or memorable as Namco's 1979 shooter Galaxian but at least it had more enemy variety than many '70s shooters.


Safari Rally also came out in 1979. Like Sega/Gremlin's 1979 arcade game Head On, it was a car themed "dot-gobbler" but it wasn't designed in maze form. It scrolled vertically and continuously looped when you reached the top of the screen.

Their 1980 arcade game Sasuke vs. Commander was probably the first game to feature ninja enemies. It was a shooter where your character must defend the Shogun by throwing knives at approaching enemies. It's pretty cool stuff and certainly very original for its time.


The shooter Satan of Saturn was released in 1981 in Japan. The North American version was called Zarzon.


The horizontal shooter Vanguard came out in 1981 and was released in the West by Centuri. This and a few other 1981 games like Konami's Scramble were the first fully side-scrolling shooters that resemble the type that have defined the genre from the mid '80s onwards.


Vanguard was ported to the 2600 and 5200 by Atari. It had a sequel in 1984 but it was quite a bit different. It used an overhead perspective and 360 degree movement.

Released in 1981, Fantasy was in many ways ahead of its time as it mixed in a variety of different game styles. The title screen started off with an intro showing your girlfriend being kidnapped. The game began with you having to land your hot air balloon on a ship. After you did that, it switched to an overhead view where you sword attack enemies. In addition to side-scrolling levels it had a climb the ladders level similar to Donkey Kong. Rock-ola published it in the West but it was never very successful.



Vanguard and Fantasy allowed you to continue from your last played level after it was game over. That concept is taken for granted today but it's likely these were the first games to allow you to do that(not including sports arcade games where you paid another credit for another round).

The 1982 arcade game Lasso involved lassoing your livestock to safety while throwing shit at predators trying to get them. It wasn't a great game but it was something different.


Munch Mobile was another game licensed to Centuri. You controlled a car that has an extendable hand to grab objects.


Almost every company had their own maze-chase game back in the early '80s thanks to Pac-Man's popularity. SNK tried something a little different with their 1983 release Marvin's Maze. It used an isometric view and multiple floors accessible by an elevator. Despite the fancy graphics, it isn't a classic like Pac-Man, although it isn't a bad game either.


I have seen SNK's name credited as the developer of Capcom's 1984 arcade shooter Vulgus. Vulgus wasn't bad but it hasn't aged particularly well. It was ported to the Commodore 64 and more recently to Pocket PC and in Capcom Generations 3 for Playstation and Saturn.

Also from 1984 was the isometric arcade shooter Mad Crasher. You controlled a futuristic car that could jump and shoot. The graphics almost looked polygonal in this game.


The arcade tank shooter TNK III was released in 1985. I haven't played it but it looks very similar to Iron Tank which was released on the NES a few years later. Maybe Iron Tank is a port of it.


http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/nes/01/irontank.html

SNK was branching out more from science fiction games in 1986 and began making more military themed games. The first game in the Commando-ish Ikari Warriors series was released. The three Ikari games were successful in the arcades and on NES. The first game was also ported by Atari to the 7800 and the second game(Victory Road) was ported by Imagine to home computers.

Ikari III: The Rescue(1989)


SNK has long been known for having cute female characters(Me bouncy!), a trend that originated with their 1986 arcade/NES action game Athena. It's too bad the game was kind of dull.




Much better was the 1987 arcade shooter Psycho Soldier, Athena's second appearance. Imagine ported it to the Commodore 64, Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC but it didn't compare to the arcade game, which was one of SNK's better and more memorable '80s shooters. Imagine was bought out by Ocean soon afterwards.


Touch Down Fever came out in arcades in 1987 and was ported to the NES.


Similar to Ikari Warriors was the 1987 arcade game Time Soldiers, an overhead action game with battles fought in various time periods. Time Soldiers was developed by Alpha Denshi(ADK) and published by SNK.


ADK became a major developer of Neo Geo games for SNK in the '90s and I believe the company was eventually absorbed by SNK. ADK wasn't always attached to SNK though. Their 1984 arcade shooter Equites, for example, was published by Sega. And speaking of Sega, they did a quality port of Time Soldiers on the Master System.

Another great Ikari-style game from 1987 was Guerrilla War. It was ported to the NES(and was better than the Ikari ports).



The arcade shooter Bermuda Triangle came out in 1987. It didn't really stand out in any way, although the ship upgrades were kind of cool.
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...a_Triangle.png

P.O.W. was one of the better arcade beat 'em ups in 1988. Its NES port was pretty good as well.


I liked Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf. It was also ported to the NES.


SNK also made Fighting Soccer. This one didn't get a home release.

Paddle Mania was a great four-player paddle tennis game. I loved how the swings were super smooth.

Chopper I was a good arcade helicopter shooter although it wasn't quite as cool as Sega's Thunder Blade or Konami's Ajax.


Alpha Denshi developed the shooter Sky Soldiers.
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...y_Soldiers.png

Street Smart was an impressive fighting in a video game market still deprived of many fighting games. It hasn't aged well though since Japanese-style fighting games improved tremendously after Street Fighter II. Street Smart was ported by Treco to the Genesis.


The awesome NES baseball game Baseball Stars came out in 1989. This series continued on NES and the Neo Geo.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/nes/0...ballstars.html

SAR - Search and Rescue was one of SNK's best pre-Neo Geo games. It was an overhead action game like the ones already mentioned but it was weirder and more gruesome(there were bloody corpses lying around and enemies splattered). I loved how you could side-jump, kind of like Max Payne but without the bullet-time slow motion.


I loved the gun game Beast Busters back then although I can't say I remember it well now. It had a sequel in 1999.


Prehistoric Isle was a neat shooter.
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/screens/G/yGenshi-Tou_1930's.png

Sky Adventure was another shooter by Alpha Denshi. Hey look, there's the Time Soldiers triceratops.


Super Champion Baseball was an arcade baseball game by Alpha Denshi.


For the NES, there was Little League Championship Baseball in 1990.

One of the best Action/RPGs of the 8-bit era was SNK's 1990 NES game Crystalis. NST recently remade it for Game Boy Color although I have heard complaints about that version.


Your thoughts on pre-Neo Geo SNK?