STRANGE FACTS AND CRAZY COINCIDENCES

(Interesting information that I have compiled over the years)

In this section, we bring to light several NEOGEO anomolies, most of which are relatively unknown, many of which seem completely improbable, and some of which make absolutely no sense. But rest assured, they are ALL nevertheless true and factual.

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CRAZY FACT:

SNK, after 1994's Top Hunter (which itself is a massively delayed 1992/93 era game) only makes one on one versus fighters! (with the exception of 4 soccer games, 1 of which is merely a rom hack) and "technically" the later metal slugs as they end up buying NAZCA after MSX) But think about it... NO MORE original game ideas are developed by or come from SNK themselves after Top Hunter. For the last DECADE of the systems lifespan! (1994-2004)

That is a crazy fact and it explains why SNK needed fillers so badly in 2000, that they summoned Face's Zupapa from their own vault.

SIDE STAT: 50 of the 148 released games are versus fighters. (33% of the NEOGEO library)
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TECH TIDBIT: The NEOGEO game with the lowest meg count is NOT the 26 meg League Bowling or the 22 meg Joy Joy Kid / Puzzled. It is actually the 18 meg Puzzle de Pon. Puzzle Bobble was also 18 megs, however, because it's official release was piggybacked onto Power Spikes 2 carts, it is technically disqualified.

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CRAZY FACT:

Despite having TWELVE (yes 12!) puzzle games developed for the system, ONLY ONE game (Puzzled / Joy Joy Kid) from 1990 no less and ONLY for the Japan and Euro markets actually sees release! WTF?! Now THAT is an INSANE fact! (Puzzled, Gururin, Panic Bomber, Puzzle Bobble, Puzzle de Pon, Zintrick, Magical Drop 2, Magical Drop 3, Money Puzzle Exchanger, Puzzle de Pon R, Puzzle Bobble 2, Pochi n Nya) That's 11 of 12 puzzle games that NEVER make it to a USA home cart system.

SIDE STAT: There were 8 more (unreleased) puzzle games developed for the NEOGEO which ALSO never saw release! Making for 19 of 20 puzzle games unavailable as USA home carts! (Sun Shine/BP/FFB, Treasure of the Caribbean, Girl Puzzle KO Club, Droppers, Magical Stone War, Pair Pair Wars, Ghost Lop, Brick Block/Magic Master)

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MINOR FACT: Baseball Stars Professional is the ONLY NEOGEO game with a PASSWORD feature! (progress can also be saved on the memory card) It is also the ONLY NEOGEO game that does not show gameplay during attract mode. Strangely, it simply loops the introduction sequence over and over.

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STRANGE COINCIDENCE:

The Irritating Maze and Pop n Bounce both support unique controllers and were assigned sequential NGM software product numbers.

SIDE STAT: It is possible to play The Irritating Maze with the standard joystick and it is possible to play Pop n Bounce with a spinner controller.

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STRANGE COINCIDENCE: NGM-012, NGM-013, NGM-014, and NGM-015 are all related. 3 of the 4 were never released and the 1 that was (NGM-014) underwent a name change and was subjected to a major delay of over a year. This area of the software product code list contains the most remaining unsolved mysteries.

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PRODUCTION ANOMALIES

In 1994, unsold copies of Power Spikes 2 (068) were repurposed for the Bust A Move (083) release. On the PROG board, EP1, V3, and V4 are populated with (083)/(D96). On the CHAR board, S1 and M1 as well as C5 and C6 are populated with (083)/(D96). And any remaining (068) rom chips are simply left on the boards.

In 1997, unsold copies of Savage Reign (059) were repurposed for the Kizuna Encounter (216) release. On the PROG board, P1, V2, and V4 are swapped. On the CHAR board, C3, C4, S1, and M1 are swapped. Kizuna Encounter was a limited release with a short production run on both MVS and HOME cart.

In 1997, unsold copies of Puzzle de Pon (202) were repurposed for the Puzzle de Pon R (235) release. On the PROG board, P1 is swapped and on the CHAR board, S1 is swapped.
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EARLY MISTEPS: In 3 of the first 5 releases (Nam, Baseball, Mahjong), the HOW TO PLAY screens were programmed with the extra RAM available on the MVS system which the home console does not have. As a result, the home carts do not have them and even if forced by DEBUG/UNI bios modification, they will display heavily glitched.

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RECYCLED ROM HACKS

1995's Super Sidekicks 3 (158 megs) was barely modified by SNK and re-released in 1998 as Neo Geo Cup '98 (162 megs)

SIDE STAT: Research Required - Samurai Showdown 5 mask roms can be found in 3 releases.

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STRANGE COINCIDENCE: 4 of the 8 CD exclusives just so happen to be right next to an unreleased software product number on the list.


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