The Neo Geo, stylized as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a ROM cartridge-based video gaming system released on April 26, 1990, by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. Designed as both an arcade system board and home video game console, the Neo Geo was marketed as the first 24-bit system; its CPU is actually a 16/32-bit 68000 with an 8-bit Z80 coprocessor, while its GPU chipset has a 24-bit graphics data bus. It was a very powerful system when released, more powerful than any video game console at the time, and many arcade systems such as rival Capcom's CPS, which did not surpass it until the CP System II in 1993. Neo Geo hardware production lasted seven years; it was succeeded by Hyper Neo Geo 64.
SNK Corporation is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing coin-op games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company produced many in-house games and now-classic franchises during the 1990s, including Aggressors of Dark Kombat, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of the Monsters, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters, The Last Blade, Twinkle Star Sprites, and World Heroes; they continue to develop and publish new titles in some of these franchises on contemporary arcade and home platforms. Since the 2000s, SNK have diversified from their traditional arcade focus into pachislot machines, mobile game development and more recently character licensing.
Art of Fighting is a fighting game series originally released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It is the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series, and is set in the same fictional universe. The original Art of Fighting was released in 1992, followed by two sequels: Art of Fighting 2 in 1994 and Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior in 1996. A new Art of Fighting game is currently in development.
Karnov is a platform game released in arcades in 1987. A Nintendo Entertainment System port followed. Players take control of the title character Jinborov Karnovski, or "Karnov" for short. Karnov is a strongman popularly illustrated as being from an unspecified part of the Soviet Union's Central Asian republics as shown on the arcade flyer and again in Karnov's Revenge.
The King of Fighters '95(KOF '95) is a fighting video game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1995. It is the sequel to The King of Fighters '94 and the second game in The King of Fighters series. It is also the first game in the series to be ported to other home consoles besides the Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD with versions released for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Game Boy.
The King of Fighters '98, subtitled Dream Match Never Ends in Japan or The Slugfest elsewhere, is a 1998 2D arcade fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo system MVS, AES, CD. It is the fifth game in The King of Fighters series and was advertised by SNK as a "special edition" of the series, as it features most of the characters who appeared in the previous games from KOF '94 to '97. The game provides no storyline in contrast to the previous games and instead is labelled as a "dream match" like its subtitle where the player selects a team composed of three characters to participate in a King of Fighters tournament until reaching the boss Rugal Bernstein even though the character dies in The King of Fighters '95. Two fighting styles can be selected to fight and several characters have alternate personas to select with their classic moves from previous games.
The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle, also called KOF '99, is a 1999 fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS arcade and home consoles in 1999. It is the sixth installment in The King of Fighters series following The King of Fighters '98, introducing a new story arc known as the "NESTS Chronicles" which is centered around a young man named K', who is formerly associated with a mysterious organization known only as NESTS. The game introduces several changes to the established KOF format, most notably an assisting character labeled "Striker". The game was ported to the Neo Geo CD and the PlayStation. Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows versions were also released under the title The King of Fighters' 99: Evolution whose stages were remodeled in 3D.
Trio The Punch: Never Forget Me... is an arcade game released by Data East in 1990. Chelnov and Karnov were produced by the same director, and the three games are grouped together by Data East as the Deco-gē Trio.
The King of Fighters '96(KOF '96) is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1996. It is the third game in The King of Fighters series, following The King of Fighters '95. Like its predecessor, the game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD, as well as the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Unlike the previous game, the PlayStation and Saturn versions were released only in Japan, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. The game would later be ported to other consoles such as the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii Virtual Console, and PlayStation 4 as part of the King of Fighters Collection: The OrochiSaga, as the story follows a story arc that begins in The King of Fighters '95 and ends with The King of Fighters '97.
World Heroes Perfect is a 1995 fighting arcade game developed and published by ADK with the assistance of SNK. It was originally released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet on May 25, 1995. It is the fourth and final title of the World Heroes series.
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, known as Garō Densetsu: Shukumei no Tatakai in Japan, is a 1991 head-to-head fighting game originally released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. Fatal Fury was ported to other platforms including Super Nintendo in 1992 and Sega Genesis in 1993, published by Takara. Fatal Fury was SNK's first fighting game for the Neo Geo system and served as the inaugural game in their Fatal Fury series. The three playable characters are the Bogard brothers Terry and Andy alongside their friend Joe Higashi. In the story they oppose their nemesis Geese Howard, the host of "The King of Fighters" tournament where the player must use to defeat enemies until becoming the champion and reach Geese.
Art of Fighting 2 is fighting game developed and released by SNK first released in arcades on 3 February 1994. It is a direct sequel to Art of Fighting involving both new and returning characters. They all fighting each other in the King of Fighters tournament, with Ryo Sakazaki and his friends working together to take down the mafia host Geese Howard whose forces manipulated them in the first Art of Fighting game. It retains most of the characters from the first Art of Fighting characters rather than just Ryo and Robert Garcia. The gameplay remains faithful to the original Art of Fighting including Desperation Moves and taunts that are use strategically. but this time playable This game was promoted with The King of Fighters '94 released in the same year by the company. It was ported to the Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD and Super Famicom. It would be later ported as part of the entire Art of Fighting trilogy for more modern consoles.
The King of Fighters '94 is a 2D fighting video game produced by SNK in 1994, released on the Neo Geo MVS arcade system, AES and CD home consoles. It was the first game in The King of Fighters series; KOF '94 is a crossover featuring characters from SNK's fighting game properties Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting and also includes revised versions of characters from their older games Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier, as well as original characters created specifically for the game. The plot revolves around the eponymous tournament created by a criminal, Rugal Bernstein.
Karnov's Revenge is a 1994 fighting game developed by Data East, released for the Neo Geo. It is the second game in the Fighter's History series. The game was later ported to the Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD and Sega Saturn home consoles.
Savage Reign is 1995 weapon-based versus fighting game released by SNK for their Neo Geo arcade and home platform. It was ported to the Neo Geo CD, as well as for the PlayStation 2 along with its sequel Kizuna Encounter in Japan only. This compilation was re-released in the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4 in December 2016.
Atomic Runner Chelnov is a Japanese runner arcade video game developed and published by Data East in 1988.
Breakers is a fighting game developed by Visco Corporation, which was released for the Neo Geo. It was followed up by Breakers Revenge in 1998 and Breakers Revenge Chicago developed by exA-Arcadia and to be released in July 2024.
Fighter's History is a 1993 arcade fighting game developed and published by Data East. It is the inaugural game in the Fighter's History series. The main unique feature of the Fighter's History is its weak point system, which allows the player to temporarily stun an opponent by repeatedly hitting their weak point.
Fighter's History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!! is a 1995 fighting game developed by Data East. It is the third game in the Fighter's History series, and the last one published by Data East. The gameplay system is largely unchanged from its predecessor, Karnov's Revenge, but a few new additions made it to the game, including a new game mode where Mizoguchi is the protagonist, and the new character Chelnov, the hero of Data East's action game Atomic Runner Chelnov.
Ghostlop is an unreleased 1996 puzzle arcade video game that was in development by Data East and planned to be published by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS (arcade), Neo Geo AES (home) and Neo Geo CD. In the game, players assume the role of ghosthunters Bruce and McCoy from the Data Ghost agency to evict mischievous ghosts across multiple locations. Its gameplay mainly consists of puzzle mixed with Breakout-style action elements using a main two-button configuration.
Ray McDougal (レイ・マクドガル, Rei Makudogaru) – the lead character in the first two games, he is a detective from Los Angeles with a unique fighting style.
Makoto Mizoguchi (溝口 誠, Mizoguchi Makoto) – a high school delinquent from Osaka who is in his late 20s after being held back repeatedly for many years. He is the most prominent character in the series, having appeared in several games outside the Fighter's History franchise, including SNK's KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A .
Liu Feilin (劉 飛鈴, Ryu Feirin, Chinese Pinyin: Liú Fēilíng) – a top actress in the Chinese classical opera world, she is also a master of the Chinese murderer's fist, which appears to be Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Feilin appears as a playable character in the remake version of Night Slashers , where her backstory reveals her status as the victor of the two Great Grapple tournaments.
Matlok Jade (マットロック・ジェイド, Mattorokku Jeido) – a punk rock guitarist from England who seeks a legendary guitar.
Samchay Tomyamgun (サムチャイ・トムヤムクン, Samuchai Tomuyamukun) – a muay Thai fighter from Thailand who seeks to support his younger siblings in the absence of his parents.
Jean Pierre (ジャン・ピエール, Jan Piēru) – a French gymnast who has always achieved perfect scores until the day he scored a 9.98. Since then, he began picking martial arts in order to improve his grace and strength. He participates in the tournament in order to see the results of his training.
Marstorius (マーストリウス, Māsutoriusu) – a professional wrestler from Italy in his 40s who believes that wrestling is the strongest martial art. In the versus screen of Karnov's Revenge, his name is misspelt as Marstrius.
Karnov (カルノフ, Karunofu) (Карнов) – the main boss in the first two games, originally a character from a previous Data East game of the same name. The second son of a poor Russian farmer, his full name is Jinborov Karnovski. He earned his reputation as a brawling ruffian at a young age by picking fights at neighboring places. He was forced to become a servant of God in the past as punishment for his past behavior, but has since renounced the heavens in order to host his own martial arts tournament, where he is the undefeated champion. After losing in the first game, he hosts the second tournament in Karnov's Revenge in order to seek revenge for his defeat. In Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!, Karnov leaves the heavens from his retirement in order to defeat the people mocking him.
Zazie Muhaba (ザジィ・ムハバ, Zajii Muhaba) – one of the new characters introduced in Karnov's Revenge. A nature-loving practitioner of the Hokutō Shinkan Karate (北東真館空手) style from Kenya, he participates in the Great Grapple tournament in order to fund his self-made environmentalist organization and protect the African wildlife from poachers.
Liu Yungmie (柳 英美, Japanese: Ryū Yonmī, Korean: Ryu Yeongmi) – the other new character introduced in Karnov's Revenge. A young female taekwondo practitioner from Korea whose parents were both top-class martial artists, she participates in the Great Grapple in order to investigate her parents' disappearance. When she defeats Karnov, she is told that her father committed suicide after losing to Karnov and that her mother disappeared afterward. In Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!, she participates in Chelnov's Great Grapple tournament in order to face her rival Feilin. In her ending in Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!, she becomes a tour guide who travels the world.
