golf games can provide a more laid back multiplayer experience while still being competitive. you aren't forced to be totally engaged 100% of the time like say, a fighting game, which makes it great to play with relatives who might not be serious gamers around the holidays while you're eating snacks and drinking beer.
KoF is generally known for fast aggressive gameplay. Samurai Shodown is on the opposite side, it's slow, with big accent on neutral, short combos and lots of esoteric mechanics. Fatal Fury is like SF but with planes and more chill and simpler. that's the gist of it.
KoF98 is like the Super Turbo of the series. Undisputed old classic that established everything in KoF for years. KoF02 has a bit more combos and a different roster. this and the 98UM/02UM games are a great intro into the series. 95 is closer to SF2T. XIII is closer to SFA3/SF3—longer combos, complex cancels, EX, etc. rest is either attempts to use assists (99-01), or tag (03-XI), with varying degreee of success.
when it comes to SamSho, people generally pick 2 or 5 special. 2 is your old timey fighting game much like SF2T, but with big hits and some supers. 5 Special is full of unusual characters, special mechanics, etc.
Garou has always been a fan favorite on par with KoF and SS. it is in a slightly different spot than Fatal Fury. it's close to SF3 on a surface—gorgeous animations, parries, etc. Though it has surprisingly simple basic mechanics—no super cancels, no EX, few simple supers—, underneath the surface is a pretty complex system with braking / feint canceling moves that makes it feel pretty unorthodox / broken if you actually know how to play it.
Fatal Fury has never been quite as highly regarded as these 3, but Real Bout FF Special or 2 is often considered peak of the series. it has simple autocombos, and a refined plane system. Fatal Fury Special is also good and arguably more popular—it is very much a SF2T clone, but far less refined and the planes are broken.
of course there's more, but it's kind of downhill from there. Last Blade is a neat fighter, though perhaps not too original. Art of Fighting 1-2 were janky SF2 clones, 3 went the way of a mix between SF and Virtua Fighter. rest, like World Heroes and Kizuna, really would only interest die hard SNK fans.
Wasn't into fighting games, wasn't a Japanese person with lots of access to high quality arcades, didn't own a Neo Geo. So it's hard for me to care about SNK, programmed blob of catchphrases and memes masquerading as a fat, unhappy human who weakly pretends to be a healthy human. Despite your command I will continue to do what you merely appear to do from some angles: living
>SSVSp
One of the few fighting games which manages to achieve both great balance and broad character variety, all thanks to there being a huge amount of system mechanics for characters to use, but with none of them being overbearing to the point where the game revolves around them (e.g. Alpha 2 with its Custom Combos). The dynamic between Rage Explosion and Time Slow as your comeback mechanic, but with both being available to you before you choose one, is emblematic of this and is also genius in its own right. It stands on its own even against many modern fighters, but it blows other Neo Geo fighters out of the water. >SSVI
Fixes a lot of pet peeves one may have with VSp and gives everyone fun new tools. Both games were made by Examu, who went on to make the excellent Arcana Heart games, and VI's Spirit system is a precursor to Arcanas in how it partially serves as a balancing tool. However, IV Spirit's Combo Slash and VI Spirit's ability to store WFTs indefinitely are really strong and the game centralises around them as a result, which takes away from how one of the best things about SamSho is its character variety. It also suffers from looking like a Flash cartoon, but Examu was never great with visuals. >RB1
Essentially Fatal Fury 3 made good, it's still really busted. Every character is extremely good at what they do, but it's taken to the point where some matchups are damn near unwinnable. Add the ring out system and not being able to block on the side planes and you get total chaos, which in the end is what makes it click. The stages are few but detailed and the presentation has heart. >RB2
Many characters feel limited and one-note after all their nerfs from RBS, but still distinct enough from one another. It's basically KOF-lite but with more interesting dynamics between characters. Meter drizzling out once it's full means you can't hoard it forever, preventing the hyper-focus on meter management you see in modern fighters. Very fun to pick up and play.
I didn't mention it because it's the middle child nobody who doesn't already play RB1 or RB2 plays. Mainly because it's relatively simple. You either pick a character who can reliably get a knockdown and go for crossups on the other plane (e.g. Duck or Mai, who are also standout in other areas), or you pick Billy who can do that while also poking with heavies on the other plane, which nobody else has the range to do much about. That combined with the chains being straight-forward makes it easy to get into, but it's still kinda shallow. It's fun to play every once in a while.
I would also recommend RBSDM, which switches up characters' chains, gives them new moves (and canned super cancels to go with them) and eschews the plane system for a forward-moving parry. It also has Alfred playable, which is cool
Over Top
top down arcade racer with a variety of vehicles that handle terrain differently (jeep, big rig, motorcycle). The music is good and every vehicle has a different song - its designed around replay variety
Do you have to be really into fighting games to love SNK? I like some of their games but some people worship them and put them on the same level as Sega, Capcom, Konami and Namco and I just don't get it. The scope of what they do is pretty narrow compared to those companies.
>some people worship them and put them on the same level as Sega, Capcom, Konami and Namco and I just don't get it.
They ARE on the same level as Capcom. SNK was Capcom's direct rival in the 1990s. SNK made billions of dollars with Neo Geo cabinet sales.
Also your ranking is wrong.
Biggest Game Companies:
Sega
Namco
Smaller:
Everyone else.
Sega and Namco were in a league of their own. They were huge and dwarfed everyone else during their peak. They owned chains of arcades, theme parks, consoles, lots of games, and merchandise.
SNK and Capcom mostly fought eachother. Capcom had better name brand games like Street Fighter, Mega Man, etc. But SNK had better arcade machines like Neo Geo and slightly less name brand games like King of Fighters, Metal Slug, etc.
Konami just did their own thing and made beat em up games like TMNT, X-men, Simpsons, etc.
I guess the difference to me is Capcom and Konami had more of a presence outside the arcade. Capcom had Mega Man, their Disney games and also console-type games like Breath of Fire, Resident Evil. Konami had Silent Hill, Metal Gear, Castlevania, TokiMemo, all that jazz. SNK feels closer to Irem or somebody. And I like Irem so that's not an insult
SNK dominated in 2D games. But was not able to make the jump from 2D to 3D effectively.
Their Executives also made some very bad financial decisions. They opened a bunch of Neo Geo Theme parks in Japan to try and compete against Sega and Namco. We're talking full theme parks with roller coasters, rides, and other stuff. This was a bad mistake. The Neo Geo theme parks did not do well. It put SNK into debt and they never really recovered.
And then Namco got even bigger and became the undisputed top company in Japan after merging with Bandai. I don't know if there's a bigger corporation in Japan aside from maybe Toyota.
>pointlessly different story >new, worse music >tiny resolution so you have a small field of vision but enemies can attack you from off screen
Avoid it.
KoF 98
Fatal Fury Special
Neo Turf Masters
>Neo Turf Masters
Why did this start getting so memed?
It's not a meme. Game legit kicks ass.
How could a golf game kick ass though?
Play it and find out. Good music, great art, fantastic gameplay depth, not hard to learn and very difficult to master.
Incredibly easy to start, surprisingly depth, everything is good in that game.
agreed it kicks ass, and ive played it with my zoomer friends and they found it novel/cool/interesting/fun
and the music is hilarious
golf games can provide a more laid back multiplayer experience while still being competitive. you aren't forced to be totally engaged 100% of the time like say, a fighting game, which makes it great to play with relatives who might not be serious gamers around the holidays while you're eating snacks and drinking beer.
It’s always been a “meme”. Turf Masters is one of the best golfing games ever made if not the best.
tpbp
Go play it and find out. this is coming from someone who can't understand how anyone can spectate golfing events and not shoot themselves.
Metal Slug X
SAR
Is there a tier list for SNK fighting games? I'd like to get into them some after enjoying Last Blade and Samurai Shodown. Garou looks good.
>Garou looks good
It looks good, but KoF 98 is probably their best
>I want to play thing but only the things people tell me are good
Either play the games you think look cool or frick the hell off.
KoF is generally known for fast aggressive gameplay. Samurai Shodown is on the opposite side, it's slow, with big accent on neutral, short combos and lots of esoteric mechanics. Fatal Fury is like SF but with planes and more chill and simpler. that's the gist of it.
KoF98 is like the Super Turbo of the series. Undisputed old classic that established everything in KoF for years. KoF02 has a bit more combos and a different roster. this and the 98UM/02UM games are a great intro into the series. 95 is closer to SF2T. XIII is closer to SFA3/SF3—longer combos, complex cancels, EX, etc. rest is either attempts to use assists (99-01), or tag (03-XI), with varying degreee of success.
when it comes to SamSho, people generally pick 2 or 5 special. 2 is your old timey fighting game much like SF2T, but with big hits and some supers. 5 Special is full of unusual characters, special mechanics, etc.
Garou has always been a fan favorite on par with KoF and SS. it is in a slightly different spot than Fatal Fury. it's close to SF3 on a surface—gorgeous animations, parries, etc. Though it has surprisingly simple basic mechanics—no super cancels, no EX, few simple supers—, underneath the surface is a pretty complex system with braking / feint canceling moves that makes it feel pretty unorthodox / broken if you actually know how to play it.
Fatal Fury has never been quite as highly regarded as these 3, but Real Bout FF Special or 2 is often considered peak of the series. it has simple autocombos, and a refined plane system. Fatal Fury Special is also good and arguably more popular—it is very much a SF2T clone, but far less refined and the planes are broken.
of course there's more, but it's kind of downhill from there. Last Blade is a neat fighter, though perhaps not too original. Art of Fighting 1-2 were janky SF2 clones, 3 went the way of a mix between SF and Virtua Fighter. rest, like World Heroes and Kizuna, really would only interest die hard SNK fans.
Thanks good info, I'm a big fan of SF2T over SSF2.
Why did you only talk about Last Blade for one sentence, what the hell dude. Last Blade 2 is a hidden gem.
I mostly play KOF98 and Real Bout 2
SSV Special for me
SSV and Vspecial are absolutely soulless, post-bankruptcy jank
SS IV is peak
The Metal Slug games are really good. I really like 1 and 5, but 2/X and 3 are also great. The Pocket Color ones in particular are pretty impressive.
Neo Turf Masters.
Crystalis is the only one I've ever cared about. I'll probably enjoy Metal Slug though when I get around to trying those
kys tendie homosexual.
Wasn't into fighting games, wasn't a Japanese person with lots of access to high quality arcades, didn't own a Neo Geo. So it's hard for me to care about SNK, programmed blob of catchphrases and memes masquerading as a fat, unhappy human who weakly pretends to be a healthy human. Despite your command I will continue to do what you merely appear to do from some angles: living
Owned crystals. Nes
Shock Troopers or Metal Slug
Try Cyber-Lip so you know how bad a NeoGeo game can be when little effort and imagination is put into a game.
>SSVSp
One of the few fighting games which manages to achieve both great balance and broad character variety, all thanks to there being a huge amount of system mechanics for characters to use, but with none of them being overbearing to the point where the game revolves around them (e.g. Alpha 2 with its Custom Combos). The dynamic between Rage Explosion and Time Slow as your comeback mechanic, but with both being available to you before you choose one, is emblematic of this and is also genius in its own right. It stands on its own even against many modern fighters, but it blows other Neo Geo fighters out of the water.
>SSVI
Fixes a lot of pet peeves one may have with VSp and gives everyone fun new tools. Both games were made by Examu, who went on to make the excellent Arcana Heart games, and VI's Spirit system is a precursor to Arcanas in how it partially serves as a balancing tool. However, IV Spirit's Combo Slash and VI Spirit's ability to store WFTs indefinitely are really strong and the game centralises around them as a result, which takes away from how one of the best things about SamSho is its character variety. It also suffers from looking like a Flash cartoon, but Examu was never great with visuals.
>RB1
Essentially Fatal Fury 3 made good, it's still really busted. Every character is extremely good at what they do, but it's taken to the point where some matchups are damn near unwinnable. Add the ring out system and not being able to block on the side planes and you get total chaos, which in the end is what makes it click. The stages are few but detailed and the presentation has heart.
>RB2
Many characters feel limited and one-note after all their nerfs from RBS, but still distinct enough from one another. It's basically KOF-lite but with more interesting dynamics between characters. Meter drizzling out once it's full means you can't hoard it forever, preventing the hyper-focus on meter management you see in modern fighters. Very fun to pick up and play.
>no mention of RBS
I know some prefer the line system of RB1/2 but imo chain combos in RBS just feel so much better
I didn't mention it because it's the middle child nobody who doesn't already play RB1 or RB2 plays. Mainly because it's relatively simple. You either pick a character who can reliably get a knockdown and go for crossups on the other plane (e.g. Duck or Mai, who are also standout in other areas), or you pick Billy who can do that while also poking with heavies on the other plane, which nobody else has the range to do much about. That combined with the chains being straight-forward makes it easy to get into, but it's still kinda shallow. It's fun to play every once in a while.
I would also recommend RBSDM, which switches up characters' chains, gives them new moves (and canned super cancels to go with them) and eschews the plane system for a forward-moving parry. It also has Alfred playable, which is cool
Over Top
top down arcade racer with a variety of vehicles that handle terrain differently (jeep, big rig, motorcycle). The music is good and every vehicle has a different song - its designed around replay variety
*every vehicle color palette has a different song
correction
need i say more
Shock Troopers, Metal Slug, Baseball Stars 2, Samurai Shodown IV, Guerilla War, Magician Lord
Do you have to be really into fighting games to love SNK? I like some of their games but some people worship them and put them on the same level as Sega, Capcom, Konami and Namco and I just don't get it. The scope of what they do is pretty narrow compared to those companies.
>some people worship them and put them on the same level as Sega, Capcom, Konami and Namco and I just don't get it.
They ARE on the same level as Capcom. SNK was Capcom's direct rival in the 1990s. SNK made billions of dollars with Neo Geo cabinet sales.
Also your ranking is wrong.
Biggest Game Companies:
Sega
Namco
Smaller:
Everyone else.
Sega and Namco were in a league of their own. They were huge and dwarfed everyone else during their peak. They owned chains of arcades, theme parks, consoles, lots of games, and merchandise.
SNK and Capcom mostly fought eachother. Capcom had better name brand games like Street Fighter, Mega Man, etc. But SNK had better arcade machines like Neo Geo and slightly less name brand games like King of Fighters, Metal Slug, etc.
Konami just did their own thing and made beat em up games like TMNT, X-men, Simpsons, etc.
I guess the difference to me is Capcom and Konami had more of a presence outside the arcade. Capcom had Mega Man, their Disney games and also console-type games like Breath of Fire, Resident Evil. Konami had Silent Hill, Metal Gear, Castlevania, TokiMemo, all that jazz. SNK feels closer to Irem or somebody. And I like Irem so that's not an insult
SNK dominated in 2D games. But was not able to make the jump from 2D to 3D effectively.
Their Executives also made some very bad financial decisions. They opened a bunch of Neo Geo Theme parks in Japan to try and compete against Sega and Namco. We're talking full theme parks with roller coasters, rides, and other stuff. This was a bad mistake. The Neo Geo theme parks did not do well. It put SNK into debt and they never really recovered.
And then Namco got even bigger and became the undisputed top company in Japan after merging with Bandai. I don't know if there's a bigger corporation in Japan aside from maybe Toyota.
Namco tried to buy Sega during the early 2000s. It's a shame it didn't work out. I wonder what kind of games "Namco-Sega" could have made.
Bust-a-move/'tude sonic crossover.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as they both make lots of appliances and almost all of Japan's military equipment.
Crystalis
Metal Slug and Shock Troopers.
>What are the best SNK games?
Zupapa!
Metal Slug 3
Garou Mark of the Wolves
in that order.
Also Shin Gouketsuji Ichizoku Matrimelee, but that one wasn't made by SNK.
HAHHH HAHHH HAHHH
STREET SLAMMMM
Crystalis
Metal Slug 3
Samurai Showdown 2
There is an snk fighting game so good, but so difficult. Nothing is like it afaik. Extreme difficulty. Too much.
Legend
Of
Success
Joe
absolutely is the second thing but not the first
Metal Slug 1, X, 3
Real Bout Fatal Fury
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
KOF 98, 2002
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2. The best fighting game ever made. Garou MotW is also nice, I hope they show more stuff for the new one soon
KoF XI but I'm in the minority.
I like XI a lot. The tag team mechanic was exactly what KoF needed to spice things up. Also, it has playable Adelheid.
How is the game boy version of Crystalis? I’ve heard it’s very different from the original and even has a new ending.
>pointlessly different story
>new, worse music
>tiny resolution so you have a small field of vision but enemies can attack you from off screen
Avoid it.