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| The Three Faces of the Neo Geo: MVS, AES, & CD |
Unfortunately, things could only last so long for SNK. A mixture of all sorts of factors (hyper-specializing in fighting games, having to rely on outdated hardware, lackluster console game sales, rampant piracy, etc.) resulted in pachinko manufacturer Aruze acquiring SNK in early 2000, with the American division being closed later that June. On October 22, 2001, SNK filed for bankruptcy, but luckily company founder Eikichi Kawasaki had seen the writing on the wall & left the company earlier that year to found Playmore, in hopes of reviving his old company after it finally was put down. Once the bankruptcy came & all of SNK's properties went up for auction, Playmore successfully bid & won everything back, eventually leading to the company being renamed SNK Playmore. Fifteen years later, Kawasaki would sell his stock to Chinese companies 37Games & Leyou Technologies in 2016, who decided to drop the "Playmore" name, which brings us to the current existence of SNK. But enough of SNK's post-Neo Geo history, we're here to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the hardware that truly put SNK on the map, so let's go over seven more games, one for each of the remaining seven years of official support for the Neo Geo.
After 1997, there'd be no more double-digit amounts for new games for the Neo Geo every remaining year. The year 1998 saw the most in this second half of the hardware's life, with nine games seeing release. Overall, the stuff that came out was really good, as well, with Yumekobo (formerly Aicom) developing excellent horizontal shooter Blazing Star, Visco putting out the extremely good Breakers Revenge, & Saurus developed the fun Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad. Meanwhile, SNK itself put out Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, followed by The King of Fighters '98, a "dream match" entry that's generally considered the greatest in the entire franchise. However, I am NOT going with KOF '98 as the pick for 1998, because to do so would require me ignoring another outstanding fighting game that SNK released this same year; in fact, it's the final game SNK released in 1998. After all, it'd be a crime if I didn't give proper respect to Bakumatsu Roman Dai-ni-maku: Gekka no Kenshi ~Tsuki ni Saku Hana, Chiri Yuku Hana~/Romantic Tale of the Bakumatsu Part II: Swordsman of the Moon Flower ~Flowers that Bloom with the Moon, Flowers that Scatter~, better known internationally simply as The Last Blade 2.
Taking place one year after the events of The Last Blade, which involved the trio of Kaede, Moriya Minakata, & Yuki stopping Shinnosuke Kagami from unleashing demons from "Hell's Gate" & avenging the death of their master Gaisei (who Kagami killed), the story of the sequel sees everyone wanting to return to Hell's Gate, as a mysterious force has revived Gaisei as Kouryu, who now has the power of all Four Symbols. When you really dug into the story of Last Blade 2, it showed itself as a much darker & somber plot, with numerous playable characters dying at the end (though there were light-heartened endings, as well), and many of the stages either had a darker tone to them (if not outright taking place at night) or took place in areas of harsh disrepair or destruction; "Fire at the Wadamoya" in particular is often cited as a great example. The music was also just as likely to rely on ambiance & near-silence as it was to play actual songs, giving things a more grounded feel. To emphasize the darker tone, new character Hibiki Takane even had two different endings, with one of them requiring you to finish opponents with a super in each match, which results in killing your opponent; by the end, Hibiki became an emotionless killer, which was the version later seen in Capcom vs. SNK 2. In terms of gameplay, the game followed the same style as what came before, with a four-button layout of two Slashes (Light & Heavy), Kick, & Reflect, which parries an enemy attack, leaving them open. When choosing a character, you could also select between Power or Speed mode, with the former emphasizing a Samurai Shodown-esque focus on finding openings & exploiting them for big damage, while the latter emphasized stringing together longer combos; the sequel also featured EX mode, which was a mix of the Power & Speed. The end result was a fighting game with deep mechanics & a mix of slower, more methodical combat with the faster fare that was becoming more popular. To some, The Last Blade 2 is considered SNK's greatest fighting game of all time, and as such has seen some re-releases, most recently on the PlayStation 4 & Vita, with online play via Code Mystics. While both entries in this short-lived series are considered excellent, almost no one talks about the first game, and that's simply because the sequel is simply a case of doing everything the first game did, except with more (& maybe a little bit better, too).
Finally, while the game credits four directors, only one of them has actually been properly identified: Hidetaka Suehiro, a.k.a. Swery65 (though here he's credited as Swery100Liter). Yes, the man who would go on to create Spy Fiction, Deadly Premonition, & D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die got his start at SNK, where he worked under the watchful eye of producer Hiroshi Matsumoto himself.
The final year that saw SNK exist as an independently-run entity, 1999, was one of two sides of the same coin. In terms of hardware, this was the year SNK realized that it had no choice but to rely on the MVS & AES when it came to the Neo Geo. The Hyper Neo Geo 64 got retired after Buriki One's release in May, while the Neo Geo CD stopped seeing new releases after The Last Blade 2 (which included some extra voice work still exclusive to this release) & The King of Fighters '99 at the start & end of the year, respectively. Meanwhile, console releases like Athena ~Awakening from the ordinary life~ & Koudelka weren't exactly blazing up charts, either. Things were looking up with the handheld market, though, as the black-&-white Neo Geo Pocket from 1998 was discontinued & replaced with the Neo Geo Pocket Color, which actually earned a profit for SNK of America & looked to find itself a niche against Nintendo's Game Boy... Before Aruze killed it all in 2000. In terms of the Neo Geo, however, things looked about as good as before, with eight games that were mostly great. Taito ported Puzzle Bobble 2 over, Nazca Corporation improved on a flawed Metal Slug 2 from the year prior with Metal Slug X, Yumekobo & Saurus teamed up for horizontal shooter Prehistoric Isle 2, Visco Games did its usual mixed fare with unique vertical shooter Captain Tomaday & generic platformer Ganryu, & Psikyo made a one-time appearance by throwing out the largest third-party offering ever with Strikers 1945 Plus (at a rocking 681 megabits). Meanwhile, SNK's two personal offerings were all about introducing a new generation. A new storyline & main character were introduced with The King of Fighters '99, while the fighting game that started it all for the Neo Geo, Fatal Fury, made its final appearance ever with my pick for 1999, Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
Taking place a decade following the events of Real Bout Fatal Fury, in which Geese Howard once again fell to his death from the top of Geese Tower (this time for real!), Garou revolved around the King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem tournament run by Kain R. Heinlein, Geese's brother-in-law, and now stars Rock Howard, the son of Geese that Terry Bogard adopted who wants to know the truth behind his mother. Taking a page from what Capcom did with the Street Fighter III games, SNK made this game focus on a new generation of characters, though Garou did feature more direct relation to previous Fatal Fury (& Art of Fighting) games, like Kim Kaphwan's sons being playable or Kushnood Butt/Marco Rodriguez being a student of Ryo Sakazaki. As for the gameplay, it continued the dual-level "S/P-Power" gauge for super moves from Real Bout, but otherwise played pretty differently from previous Fatal Fury games by completely removing the alternate planes, focusing solely on a more traditional fighting game style. Garou's own original gameplay elements came in the form of the Just Defense, where you defended at the last possible moment to regain some health & get the chance to strike back (essentially the inverse to SFIII's parry), & the Tactical Offense Position/T.O.P.. After selecting a character you selected a portion of your health as the T.O.P., and upon reaching that part of your health you got powered up slightly, could regenerate health slowly, & gained access to a special T.O.P. move. The end result was a fighting game so finely tuned by masters of the genre that it remains one of the greatest of all time, and it's just astounding at how beautiful the sprite work is; this is the same exact hardware that powered Fatal Fury in 1991, but it sure doesn't look like it. SNK had started work on a sequel for the Neo Geo, which would have continued the story set up in this game, but it never got finished; some info, including the sprites for the entire cast, were shared in 2016. SNK Playmore would continually try restarting development for "Garou 2", but never manages to actually go anywhere; it's a personal goal for Samurai Shodown [2019] director Nobuyuki Kuroki, though.
As clichéd as it sounds, Garou: Mark of the Wolves truly is SNK's equivalent to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
I'm sure at least one of you has been thinking, "Why they hell hasn't he included a King of Fighters game in this list yet?!" I've certainly mentioned them in passing, but considering the history of SNK, there really wasn't any other entry to pick. As mentioned, the year 2000 started with Aruze purchasing SNK, but it's not like the new company overlords were actually interested in making video games; no, they only wanted to use SNK's properties for pachinko machines. That being said, games were already in development, so it's not like Aruze was just going to say "No" to earning some extra money on the side, so the year saw just four new games released for the Neo Geo (plus Cool Cool Toon for the Dreamcast, SNK's last "console" release). There were two third-party releases, as Visco Games seemingly snuck out Bang Bead at some point, while ex-Kaneko staff united to form the short-lived AM Factory & develop Nightmare in the Dark, which technically wasn't even published by SNK, but rather pachinko & stamp machine maker Gavaking/Eleven; SNK only seemed to handle marketing for it. Meanwhile, the staff at Nazca Corporation finished up Metal Slug 3 before bailing, leaving only the pick for this year, The King of Fighters 2000.
In terms of plot, KOF 2000 was the middle entry in the NESTS Saga, which starred K' ("K-Dash"), an amnesiac human cloning experiment by the organization NESTS who wants to destroy the group for good. This year the tournament was secretly run by Zero, a NESTS agent who went rogue & wanted control of the military satellite weapon Zero Cannon so as to destroy NESTS himself & rule the world; instead the Zero Cannon destroyed Southtown, no doubt a commentary on SNK's looming death. While the gameplay still followed the traditional 3-on-3 team combat, the NESTS Saga featured four-person teams, with the fourth character chosen being allocated as a "Striker", which acted similar to the "Special Partner System" seen in the original Marvel vs. Capcom. It wasn't exactly an especially well-liked addition, though high-level play did show the potential it had, but that was SNK's ethos with the NESTS Saga, in a nutshell: Changing things up, as the staff didn't want a yearly franchise to feel stale over time. To be fair, KOF 2000 wasn't exactly one of the all-time best entries in the series (it's obvious that SNK's slow death affected things like play testing for bugs, & the like), and even the development staff were disappointed with some elements, namely Zero himself; they still felt that final product was a fun game, though. What makes this game worthy of being the sole representative for KOF in this list, though, is the fact that this was the last King of Fighters game (& last Neo Geo game, period) ever developed & released by the original SNK... And the staff knew this was the case. Therefore, the game's Striker system included "Another Strikers", alternates that could be chosen for each playable character that got put into the fourth slot before a match; some even had "Maniac Strikers", secret third options. This allowed the staff to includes characters from any SNK franchise ever made, with Burning Fight, Metal Slug, Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, The Last Blade, Savage Reign, Buriki One, Athena, Psycho Soldier, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, & Quiz Daisosasen all seeing representation in this game, alongside amusing inside jokes, one-off alternate forms, & even prototype versions of characters; they even snuck in the original Neo Geo mascot! The King of Fighters 2000 was a giant celebration of SNK from a team that truly loved the games they made, & had no idea if they would ever get the chance to do so again.
KOF 2000 said it best at the end of the credits: "THANK YOU ALL WITH LOVE."
And now we finally reach the year 2001, a.k.a. the last year the original SNK was still in business. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if many people didn't even think any games would even come out for the Neo Geo during this time, since there'd be a literal one year gap between KOF 2000 & the next release. Work had started on The King of Fighters 2001, but after the bankruptcy proceedings a South Korean company named Eolith picked up the rights to that franchise for the time being, resulting in easily the worst entry in the main KOF series, bringing the NESTS Saga to a poorly executed end. Prior to SNK's ultimate demise, though, two games did manage to see release. One was ZuPaPa!, a Snow Bros. "clone" originally developed by Face back in 1994 that never saw release, only for SNK to purchase the rights following Face's closure in 2000 & give it a quiet, MVS-exclusive release. The other, however, was truly something special, and not just because it wound up being the last "original" game ever released by SNK; ZuPaPa! did post-date it, technically. Let's talk about Sengoku 3, easily one of the greatest beat-em-ups ever made that few actually give credit to. The first two Sengoku games, known as Sengoku Denshou/Folklore of the Warring States in Japan, were basic beat-em-ups developed internally at SNK & released in 1991 & 1993, respectively. They're best known for their wild mixture of Eastern & Western motifs, as a nameless warlord from the Warring States period attempted to take over the world (first by conquering the present, & then by trying to conquer every major battle in history), with only a ninja & cowboy being able to stop him, as they're descendants of the two samurai who stopped the warlord centuries ago; the ninja & cowboy could also transform into different forms, depending on the power-up.
Why it was decided to bring back the Sengoku name for this third entry, titled Sengoku Denshou 2001 in Japan, is a mystery because it had absolutely nothing to do with the previous two, including the staff. Instead of being developed by SNK, Sengoku 3 was handled by the now-defunct Noise Factory, which caught the eye of SNK with 1999 beat-em-up Gaia Crusaders. In fact, Sengoku 3 had nearly the same exact staff as Gaia Crusaders, some of which had also previously worked on Atlus' Princess Crown, from which the studio Vanillaware would form out of, & lead by Noise Factory founder Keiko Ijuu, who had previously worked for SNK during the 80s (& created Ralf & Clark for Ikari Warriors). In terms of plot, the game starred the "Ninjas of Peace", who remain sealed away until an evil entity called the "Timeless Soul" (or just "Evil", as the game says for the final boss) returns, and now the Soul has revived. However, two of the Ninjas (Byakko & Okuni) betray their old allies & side with the Soul's forces, though after fighting both by the end of Stage 3, they rejoin you & became playable characters for the second half. As for gameplay, Sengoku 3 was absolutely years ahead of its time, with a focus on delivering combos by mixing up your attacks. You could start with punching, switch over to swinging your weapon, before returning to punching, followed by finishing up with the weapon again; you could even juggle your foes when they were in the air. You could also end your combo with one of two "Ninja Arts", which use up some of your special gauge (which can charge to two levels), or throw a projectile to stagger your opponent (& even the projectiles had different attributes, like knock down or going through); you also had access to an "Ultimate Ninja Art", which used a full level & attacked everyone. Finally, appropriately for ninja, you could also use "Emergency Flight" (a.k.a. a kawarimi), in which you countered getting attacked with a wood fake, followed by explosions to hurt your foes; in fact, you could even combo into it, allowing you to prepare for a counterattack. The gameplay of Sengoku 3 was something that you wouldn't really see in beat-em-ups until only the past decade, specifically with Guard Crush Games' work, like Streets of Fury & Streets of Rage 4. Even then, it's honestly rather rare to see this game imitated, which keeps it feeling fresh, even today. Combine that with the fact that enemies (though arguably not having variety) were programmed to be tough & would absolutely take advantage of openings in your offense & defense, and Sengoku 3 was instantly addicting. Had it come out earlier in the Neo Geo's life it would definitely be considered one of the greatest of all time today & a true trailblazer.
At the very least, SNK has made efforts to keep it available, whether through Wii Virtual Console, PC via digital download, or Hamster's ACA Neo Geo line.
The year 2002 was easily the most bizarre & likely uncomfortable year in the life of the Neo Geo. While Playmore had managed to save the future of SNK, it was no in way ready to start developing games on its own. Therefore, all three games released in this year were technically developed by third-parties, even if Playmore handled the distribution; Kawasaki won the intellectual rights to SNK's catalog, but others had won production & developmental rights. Eolith was still in charge of the KOF series, which resulted in The King of Fighters 2002, a dream match entry for the NESTS Saga; luckily, it fared a bit better than KOF 2001. Meanwhile, South Korean developer Mega Enterprise worked with Noise Factory to produce Metal Slug 4, the first game not handled by the original staff at Nazca. Really, Noise Factory was the glue that helped keep everything together, as the staff there also assisted with development of my pick for this year, Evoga & Brezzasoft's Rage of the Dragons. Before we get into the game itself, though, first a primer on two of the studios in charge of this. First, Brezzasoft was the company that Eikichi Kawasaki founded prior to Playmore, this one being where he & a number of SNK development staff went to following the closure of the company; KOF 2001's initial work was by Brezzasoft, & Playmore absorbed it once SNK's rights were taken care of. On the other hand, Evoga's history is a much larger story (translate to English), but the simple gist is that it was a Mexican studio that formed in 2000 by fans of SNK's catalog that worked alongside Brezzasoft. In fact, company director Ángel Torres became the namesake of KOF's Angel, after he beat SNK's staff in a KOF tournament; hey, Latin & South America REALLY love KOF.
As for Rage of the Dragons, Evoga originally intended to create a full-on sequel to Technos Japan's Double Dragon fighting game for the Neo Geo, but since the rights to that property were purchased by Million (which was formed by ex-Technos staff), it was switched over to being strictly an homage, though one that really pushed things, like Billy & Jimmy Lewis, Jimmy's girlfriend Mariah, Abubo Rao, & his assistant Linda (a generic enough name, so fair play); saying that "They are comin' back!" really, REALLY pushed it, though. A team effort, Evoga designed the game, Noise Factory did primary development, & Brezzasoft helped Noise Factory. The end result, eventually, was a 2-on-2 tag team fighter with 14 characters, plus two bosses (Abubo & Johann), complete with some interesting (or at least neat) mechanics in play. Tagging saw your partner run in from the side of the screen you were on, making it useful for when stuck in a corner (but risky when far from an opponent), but you could also tag in via a multi-tiered tag combo super (up to two levels) if you had an "official" team; character supers also came in 1 or 2-level forms. The size of the arenas also felt restricted at first, but that's only because you could break through the walls on each side, which also contributed to combo potential via wall bouncing. Finally, there's also the "First Impact", where you could knock the opponent in the air, followed by delivering a pre-set combo (which the game helpfully showed on screen), either on the ground or in the air. What really set the game apart, however, was the simple fact that it just didn't quite feel like an SNK fighting game. It's hard to really explain, but I played this for the first time ever for this article (via emulation, since it only ever saw MVS & AES release), and almost everything about Rage of the Dragons felt different. The visuals were in a very different style (even Sengoku 3 felt like an SNK game, due to the character designs being done by Shiroi Eiji), the music sometimes had that Mexican flair (no doubt Noise Factory staying true to the game's origins), the gameplay felt like an interesting mix of KOF (you could both roll & stationary dodge) & non-SNK sources (there were definitely some Vs. Series & Guilty Gear influences), and overall it almost felt like a fan-made fighting game released on the Neo Geo... Only with the money & approval of "SNK" (read: Playmore) behind it. There's word that the staff at Evoga felt that Playmore may have taken "too much influence" from Rage of the Dragons when it came to The King of Fighters 2003, which utilized a tag system of its own, but I've played that game & there's just enough differences between them that I don't agree; sure, the Playmore staff may have been inspired by RotD, but they made it their own thing.
Unfortunately, while Evoga had plans for a sequel to Rage of the Dragons, plus a PS2 port of the original, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2004... Maybe? If you check the Wayback Machine, you'll find that Evoga's website was still running in 2007, complete with a "Coming Soon" teaser image, while going to the website today shows nothing but a giant Evoga logo, a 2019 copyright, & an e-mail address. Apparently, the rights to Rage of the Dragons are split between SNK (title & programming) & Evoga (concept & characters), so who knows if this game will ever see a re-release of any sort; allegedly, there were talks in 2015, but Kawasaki's sale of SNK to 37Games & Leyou killed it. I am sad to see that Rage of the Dragons may wind up being lost to time, because it's definitely a solid & enjoyable fighter that simply had the bad luck of coming out during what was easily the rockiest part of the Neo Geo's life; at least KOF 2002 & Metal Slug 4 have since seen numerous re-releases (& even an upgrade, for KOF). Had this come out earlier (or even later), it would have gotten a fairer shake.
After needing a little over a year to gets things back in order & square out rights & deals following the liquidation auction in 2000, Eikichi Kawasaki's company was finally ready to do real business as the new SNK Playmore in 2003. While it still wasn't quite as many games as even the last two years of the 90s, the Neo Geo saw six new releases in this year, which is definitely impressive. By this point, the PlayStation 2, Gamecube, & Xbox were duking it out, yet here's 13-year old arcade hardware seeing new games released; in fact, Capcom even brought back the CPS-2 board this same year for Hyper Street Fighter II. As for the games the Neo Geo saw, Noise Factory pulled double duty, developing not just Metal Slug 5 but also Matrimelee, the fifth entry in Atlus' uniquely bizarre Power Instinct series of fighting games; some NF staff had worked on Groove on Fight, which likely is what allowed this game to happen. Meanwhile, SNK teamed with Yuki Enterprise to bring back Samurai Shodown, and The King of Fighters 2003 just barely managed to maintain the series' tradition of yearly iterations for the 10th (& final) time by releasing in mid-December. Even then, though, the penultimate Neo Geo game wound up being Pochi & Nyaa, a Taito/Compile co-production that originally started on Sega's NAOMI board, but Compile's bankruptcy kept it from being finished, until Aiky (found by former Compile staff) moved development to the Neo Geo & released it on Christmas Eve of 2003. However, there's really only one game that's truly worthy of a spot in this list, and that's SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom.
SNK & Capcom's relationship always had a feeling a destiny to it, even going all the way back to 1984, when SNK published Vulgus, Capcom's first ever game, in North America. Then in 1990 came Takashi Nishiyama & Hiroshi Matsumoto's departure from Capcom to SNK, which in turn led to SNK & Capcom becoming heated rivals in the arcade scene, especially when it came to fighting games. Eventually, the two companies decided to work together & create crossovers, which started in 1999 with SNK's two SNK vs. Capcom games on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, followed by Capcom releasing two Capcom vs. SNK games on the NAOMI arcade board in 2000 & 2001, the latter of which is often touted as one of the greatest fighting games of all time. Unfortunately, the success of Capcom's games looked to do nothing to help save SNK financially, which has lead to fans guessing that the contract stated that only the developing company would receive profits from their own games. Come the middle of 2003, though, SNK Playmore suddenly released SVC Chaos for the Neo Geo, which has lead many to guess that the contract also stated that each company had to produce two traditional fighting games, & while Capcom did just that, one of SNK's games was a card-battler/RPG. To be honest, it's an educated guess to make, because SVC Chaos felt kind of sloppy, especially for a game made by "SNK". While the roster was interestingly unique, replacing many "obvious" picks with more curious replacements (like Hugo instead of Zangief or Genjuro instead of Haohmaru), fans quickly realized that SNK simply drew over old work in order to adapt some of the Capcom characters; for example, Balrog was based on Heavy D! from KOF, while Dan's Super Taunt uses Joe & Yuri traces. Not just that, but the gameplay felt oddly simple, featuring none of KOF's maneuverability options (there's no rolling), a bizarre twist on a three-tier super gauge (it's really just two, but getting to three gives you unlimited supers for a short time, before returning to level two), & the "Exceed" (a super-powerful move that can only be done once per fight, & requires being down to half health) felt kind of tacked on. Combine all of that with extremely barren & generic stages, seemingly unfinished music compositions, and a general feeling of "jankiness", and it's easy to feel that SVC Chaos was simply SNK Playmore getting a game out ASAP in order to fulfill an contract made during the old SNK days. After all, it's understandable if Eikichi Kawasaki also inherited any pre-existing contracts with other companies that were still active.
All that being said, though, there's still an innate charm to SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom. Even with it feeling rushed out, it still plays well enough to be enjoyable, showing that the staff at SNK (& Playmore) were just that damn talented. The quick pre-battle conversations between characters remain fun in that traditionally quirky SNK translation style. The roster still remains unique to this very day, and it's the only time we ever saw anyone from Darkstalkers (Dimitri) given new sprite work! Hell, it's still kind of surreal to see Capcom characters done in the "Neo Geo style"; it's like when Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared on a Nintendo console. Finally, the game's vaguely indicated concept, in which everyone is seemingly dead & is fighting to make their way out of Purgatory, almost reads like a meta commentary on how everyone at SNK Playmore was likely feeling at this point; they just wanted to finally move on & be done with old SNK matters. Sadly, though, the chances of this game (or any of the SNK/Capcom crossovers) ever being re-released look to be rather low, as neither SNK nor Capcom look to be interested in working together anymore; we'll just have to rely on third-party deals for that, like Tekken 7 or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Here we are, everyone... The year 2004. The same year Nintendo announced, & later released, the Nintendo DS, & just one year before gaming entered the "HD era" with the Xbox 360, the Neo Geo saw one last, final game; kind of fitting, if you think about it. Released only in Japan on April 22 for the MVS, followed by an international AES release on July 15, Samurai Shodown V Special sounded like nothing more than a simple update of what came before. Known as Samurai Spirits Zero in Japan, as it was a prequel to all prior games, the "vanilla" Samurai Shodown V from 2003 was generally looked at as a bit of a mediocre entry; it didn't really do anything horrifically wrong, but it didn't really feel like a triumphant return after seven years, either. No doubt wanting a chance to proves themselves, the staff at Yuki Enterprise (later becoming the now-defunct Examu) decided to make V Special more than just a remix, but rather a true successor to the SamSho name. One major thing the game did to differentiate itself from the "vanilla" release was aim for a darker tone & mood, with darker colors emphasized, music either being harsh, violent, or simply missing (allowing ambient noise to take priority), & new character portraits done by the late Satoshi "Project" Itoh, making everyone look more serious. Not just that, but violence was emphasized more, with not just generic fatalities (like cutting your opponent in half) brought back, as they were missing from "vanilla" V, but brand new "Zetsumei Ougi/Overkill" moves added, which allowed you to kill your opponents instantly, ala Guilty Gear (but with much stricter requirements). Still, these Overkills were notably dark & violent (some rivaling Mortal Kombat, honestly), with Suija's being notably so, as he posed while being soaked in a rain of his opponent's blood; even Nakoruru & Rimururu, who were immune to fatalities in III & IV, could be killed. The game was so violent, in fact, that the AES release was censored worldwide, with the Overkills completely removed, due to the Sasebo slashing a month prior to release.
Beyond that, a little roster change removed Sankuro, Yumeji, & Poppy (yes, Galford's reliable dog), but added in Amakusa, Mizuki, & Zankuro, the bosses of the previous games, for a total roster of 28 characters; to no surprise, V Special was a "dream match" entry with no actual plot. As for the gamplay itself, outside of the previously-mentioned additions, it was still the same game as "vanilla" V, complete with the "Concentration One" concept that allowed those who were behind a chance at a comeback via slowing down the opponent & allowing for a sudden "Issen/Fatal Flash" (which debuted in IV) for big damage. When all combined with SamSho's usual focus on finding openings, a Sword Meter that lowered damage output the more you attacked, defended, or got hit, the ability to catch your opponent's weapon & disarm them (if you're gutsy), a default timer set to just 60 seconds, & other fixes & balances made from the original, the end result was a game that became so nuanced & competitive that matches between the best players could literally be all about them simply standing still or playing footsies, waiting for the other to make the first move, lest their opponent literally defeat them with a single hard slash; you could even commit suicide for one round, so as to start the next powered up as a gambit. Whereas the "vanilla" original was a flawed entry that had potential, Samurai Shodown V Special became so beloved by the fanbase that it's now considered one of the absolute best, right up there with II & IV; arguments could be made over whether II or V Special is the better game. Similar to World Heroes Perfect, Shoyuken.com even did an interview feature about the game in 2014, sharing what makes it so outstanding. Thankfully, today this game can be easily found, & without any of the AES censorship. When SNK & Code Mystics announced the PS4 & Vita port in 2017, they teased it by showing the Overkills in their bloody glory, to show that it was 100% uncensored. Meanwhile, Hamster's ACA Neo Geo re-release (which was, fittingly, the last one to come out) is of the MVS version, which was always uncensored, and still had a complete English translation to access, even though it was Japan-exclusive.
This almost didn't actually become the final Neo Geo game, technically, as a further upgraded release titled Samurai Shodown V Special: Final/Perfect Edition did see location testing in Japan. Unfortunately, much like Kizuna Encounter: 4Way Battle Version, it never saw actual release, but unlike it's 4-player-compatible compatriot, a rom of Final Edition has never been found, and the only proof of its existence comes from a single Japanese blog that provided info about the update, with the biggest addition being an actual Story Mode (or at least ending sequences). Regardless, Samurai Shodown V Special wound up being the absolute best way to end off the Neo Geo's long, 15-year life.
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Of course, there's way more to the history of the Neo Geo than what I covered in these two parts. There are 141 games that I didn't include, not to mention the post-life support the hardware has seen since 2004, like Last Hope, Fast Striker, Gunlord, or (most recently) Xeno Crisis. Then there's the numerous prototypes & unreleased games, some of which did eventually see release (or at least leaked) years after the fact, like Sun Shine/Fun Fun Bros, Bang Bang Busters, & Ghostlop. Honestly, if I had infinite time, resources, & drive, I'd definitely go over the entire catalog of the Neo Geo, similar in style to what Retronauts' Jeremy Parish does with his Nintendo-themed Works series of videos, because I just absolutely love the Neo Geo. As it is, though, I'm glad to have been able to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of SNK's iconic arcade hardware, and I hope this inspires you to check out at least one of the games I mentioned in these two parts.
After all, the only ones not currently available (officially) on modern consoles or PC are Rage of the Dragons & SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom. Now's an excellent time to dive in for newcomers, honestly.
The Last Blade 2 © 1998 SNK
Garou: Mark of the Wolves © 1999 SNK
The King of Fighters 2000 © 2000 SNK
Sengoku 3 © 2001 SNK
Rage of the Dragons © 2002 Piko Interactive
SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom © SNK 2003 © Capcom Co., Ltd. 2003
Samurai Shodown V Special © 2004 SNK
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