PixlBit

 

And I think I failed

I don’t remember the first SNK game I’ve ever seen, or played, or even owned for that matter. But I’ve always felt that I was predestined to be a hardcore SNK fan. Though I never have shown it, SNK stands right up there with Sega in my book when it comes to loyal dedication. I want to say it’s because the company SNK was formed on my birth year (1979) but when you look back on all the great games and game series they’ve released, one would be hard pressed in denying the pull they can have on any given gamer.  Even looking back in my gaming past there were subtle hints that SNK would play a big part in my gaming consumption. It never dawned on me that arcade coin-op titles like Ikari Warriors and Time Soldiers were brought to us by SNK, (though technically ROMSTAR gave us Time Soldiers in the US) instead being wowed by the game’s control scheme.  

If I had to characterize myself I’d have to say I was a “borderline” fan of SNK during the 90’s. I knew “of” what SNK had to offer but didn’t have that “spectacular insanity” moment when the “mainstream gaming” veil that was Nintendo and Sega was pulled from my eyes to show me the sheer awesomeness that SNK could fully provide.  I recalled seeing something call the “gold system” as a prize offering in the videogame game show Video Power if they found the mystery game. I remembered talk of a special game console in school that only the super-rich could own, a system that could bring a true arcade experience home better than what the Sega Genesis ever could. Blasphemous words to a Sega Sonic fan like me but oddly I didn’t cry foul to such a statement. I even remember gleaming something about an SNK system in my dog- eared copies of my EGM magazines. But for the most part I knew not of what SNK was besides some of the games I enjoyed at the arcade and on the NES/Master system offerings.

But when that time did come I did all I could to catch up.

I don’t recall what one game was “the game” that opened my eyes to SNK Awesomeness, but I can remember the setting of each SNK game I experienced when I first learned of them:

At an Aladdin’s Castle video arcade that I found “Fatal Fury”. I only played it because I couldn’t get a chance to play Street Fighter II due to the crowds gathered around that game. After that fateful encounter I didn’t bother trying to play Street Fighter II.

At a local Wal-Mart I found the quirky arcade game “Eight Man”. I thought it was a knock off of “Mega Man” at the time, but was pulled in by the “anime-ish” introduction and simple beat-em up offerings.  When I went back to that Wal-Mart during my next visit I didn’t see it there. I never saw it again.

At one of the few remaining “7-11”s in my area did I find the arcade game “Metal Slug”. It took me half an hour (and almost five dollars’ worth of quarters) to realize that the Metal Slug they were referring to in the game was actually the tiny tank you ride and not an actual Slug that happen to be made of metal. Funny that I didn’t catch the gun reference despite the many troops I killed in game.

At a place called the “KD Stockyards” did I find the arcade game “Samurai Shodown”.  I thought the game was stupid with its poor translation, historical inconsistencies and weapons based combat.  But after playing the game (and making it to the third fighter WHO IS A CHEATING WHORE) I thought the idea of an american ninja from the California territories wasn’t such a bad idea…

It wasn’t until I revisited Aladdin’s Castle did I learn that all these games were brought to us by the same company (once again missing the obvious despite seeing that Neo Geo boot-up screen countless times on all of these games) when I saw on a Jumbo TV screen with the game Samurai Shodown II displayed. I guess it had to take a jumbo tv display to help me see what was probably blindingly obvious to any other gamer that wasn’t myself.  (I was a dense child at times….) From there the rest was history as I began to immerge myself in everything and anything that was SNK related. I learned of the MVS coin-op system that brought all of these games together, sometimes in one cabinet. I learned what a NEO GEO AES was along with other games that were released on that system.

 

So why did I go thru the trouble in explaining in all too broad a detail of my love for SNK just now? In truth you could see this as my poor attempt of overcompensating for the fact that despite being an SNK fan, my “hardcoreness” could be called into question. Despite collecting every single magazine that has a mere mention of SNK and NEO GEO, despite pumping quarter after quarter and playing hours upon hours on various MVS's, I have little to show in terms of games and consoles. Like most out there I didn’t have the money to afford an Neo Geo AES. I barely had the money to buy a sega Genesis back in the day, let alone any of the ports that were seen on the 16 bit consoles. Sure I rented some of these games for the Genesis, SNES and even on the Sega CD, but I never was able to “OWN” anything that represented that era of videogaming. Even to this day I am hard pressed in wanting to own a Neo Geo AES, foreign or domestic, given how they are seen less as a retro console and more of a future investment.  Nor can I bring myself to try to own a MVS cabinet despite how cheap they can be compared to their console counterparts. The closest I got in owning a SNK console was the short lived NeoGeo PocketColor that I bought in NYC many years ago at a Chinatown market. Yet I ended up giving that away as a Christmas present to a friend who was a budding gamer that needed to be introduced to SNK just as bad as I did back in the day.

If I truly allowed it I would’ve fully opened my wallet to not just relive those nostalgic moments of my arcade gaming past but to cement my true status as a hardcore SNK fan. But practicality always got in the way, which is for the best for I’m sure MysticalMist might not care for me spending big bucks on retro goodness.

So instead I did the next best thing.

 

So far I’ve collected almost every single SNK complication/anthology offering that was released on the PS2, minus one or two depending on one’s preferences. If I couldn’t afford the original, the best I could do was get the next best thing. I’m not sure that would consider me “hardcore” but for me it was enough.  It was enough for me to consider myself “hardcore” when it came to SNK. Yet despite this my “hardcoreness” was put to the test last February, during my birthdays, and I fear I may have lost.

 

When word came out that SNKPlaymore was releasing a console earlier this year I knew I had to have it. I missed out on the AES back in the day so I didn’t want to miss the boat this time around. It wasn’t till later that I learned the console being released wasn’t exactly a console at all, but a handheld system called the Neo Geo X.  Basically it was a handheld system that came with several SNK games preinstalled into the system and came with a docking station (that happens to look like an old Neo Geo AES system) along with an arcade controller.  It even had the ability to connect to a TV via HDMI cable that came packed with the system. Finally I thought! I can own an actual Neo Geo system and play the games I wish I could’ve played back in the day in the comfort of my own home. No more PS2 or PSN Neo Geo Station offerings! This was the real deal. I was about ready to ask for this as a birthday present until I read some of the reviews about the system. Despite it being designed to cater to the “retro” crowd, the system didn’t offer much better in gameplay features. Word spread that all the games were still emulated and that the TV out function via HDMI wasn’t all the best. It had several nitpicks going against it that included inconsistent audio, 16:9 stretch screen ratio, muddy visuals, screen tearing and lackluster build of the docking station. It seemed that most of the negatives outweighed the positives of the system offerings. You’d think I’d be able to overlook most of that and go for the buy. But then I saw this review from Ashens about the Neo Geo X on youtube.

 

When I learned on my twitter feed that Ashens had a Neo Geo X, I among many voices, commanded that he reviewed the system on his youtube channel. Upon seeing his review it pretty much cemented my decision in not getting the Neo Geo X. My rational was simply that Ashens was right, I could get the same offerings that the Neo Geo X offered by simply owning a PSP and downloading these games off of the PSN Neo Geo Station. Obviously I chose the legal route in owning these SNK games than trying to emulate them. Sure the easiest route would be to emulate but I want to give my money to SNK, even if it wasn’t toward the purchase of the Neo Geo X. Practicality won yet again!

Yet despite all of this I feel I failed the test of the SNK hardcore. I’m sure there are many SNK fans out that there were able to overlook the cons of the Neo Geo X and were able to buy it with good reason. But sadly I couldn’t reason with myself in getting the system even when I actually had the money to afford it. It’s bothered me since then but I’m not sure if it’s because I missed out on a chance to see if the system was worth my time and money or if because I may not be as hardcore as I thought when it comes to SNK. I did write them off as DOA back in 2001 and didn’t celebrate too hard when SNK came back as SNKPlaymore.

I know I can be weird like that but the feeling still remains: Did I just face an SNK Hardcore test?

And did I fail it?

Ta-ta
“N”