NEOGEO ARCADE PORTS
The NEO-GEO hardware was officially abandoned by SNK in July of 2004. However, many retired game systems are kept alive with continued after-market software support designed and programmed by its greatest fans. Other sections of this website have covered the typical hacks and homebrews but this section is dedicated to ports. Ports of arcade games to home consoles have been done for decades by programmers and they had always been a key component to the success or failure of a home console. They were also often used to showcase just how powerfull a home console could be. Beginning as early as Space Invaders for the Atari 2600 back in 1979. Some efforts have been brutally critisized while others have been heavily praised. In the case of the NEOGEO, seeing as the system is already "arcade hardware", it is a unique and interesting concept to "port" another arcade game to it. There are but a few "official" examples of such work, Bust A Move Again would technically qualify, as it is a 1999 neogeo game based on a 1995 Taito arcade game. And to a lesser extent, it could be argued that Aero Fighters and Fighters History were "indirectly" ported to the NEOGEO, but in reality are sequels.

68000 PROCESSOR

My personal connection with Sega's Shinobi Shinobi was released by Sega back in 1987. My first memories of playing it date back to the summer of 1988. I had my first part time job back then working at a store in a strip mall near my home and I would often go to the mall's video arcade during my lunch breaks. Shinobi was my favorite game there. Shinobi was a success for Sega and had a large distribution in the coin op industry. At the time, the NES and SMS were the two best home video game consoles available. And it was not long before Sega released a port for the SMS console. For the time, and given the limitations of the current technology, it was a descent port that at least came somewhat close to capturing the game. An NES port also soon followed, but it was inferior to the SMS version in most ways. Unbeknownst to me at the time, and way over in Japan, the PC Engine received an incredible port which was extremely faithful to the arcade in both graphics and music. But, at the time, the Turbografx-16 had not yet been released in the USA, nor was it ever translated and released here in the states anyhow. But I would come to discover this in the coming years, and eventually acquire the game. It was indeed an excellent port, which for the first time truly felt like having the real game at home, but my biggest disappointment with it was the omission of stage 2 due to memory limitations. That stage, specifically the helicopter boss at the end, really defined Shinobi for me. But this disenchantment with the home Shinobi ports, as well as any and all of my previous let downs with ports would all come to an end in December of 1991. EDITOR'S NOTE: It was in the December 1991 issue of EGM that I first learned about "the Super Gun" and it wasn't long after that I obtained a Super Gun and Shinobi was literally one of the very first arcade boards that I acquired. HOFFMAN - SEGA SYSTEM 16 INTRODUCTION: Hoffman is a very experienced programmer and reverse engineer. And the way he does ports ensures that the game logic is 100% accurate. The process starts by disassmebling the original program ROM back into source code, which can then be edited and rebuilt for the NEOGEO. As part of the process, he identifies where all the graphics are held, data formats, etc. and runs them through his Sega system 16 to NEOGEO graphics conversion tools which he built. When doing so, graphic and sound specific functions need to be re-written mostly from scratch to deal with the new data and graphic formats for the NEOGEO. Non system specific things such as most of the game logic, like player, enemy, and boss logic, usually just gets copied into the new code base and usually works, which helps to speed up the process. And sound wise, Hoffman wrote his own z80 sound driver. So he just records everything and places it on ADPCM ROM and uses the z80 to drive it through. So, in essence, this is a PORT, however, because of the powerfull NEOGEO hardware, and because Sega and SNK both used a Motorolla 68,000 as the systems main processor, and because Hoffman is so skilled at what he does, this all results in not just a "port", but an "extremely accurate port". In fact, it results in what we have come to call "a source code port". HOFFMAN'S FIRST RELEASE: SHINOBI - RELEASED JANUARY 2025 Words cannot describe just how amazing it is to play this arcade masterpiece in all its original glory on an actual legit home console game system. And the biggest irony of it all, is that the console used was the first home console which truly was identical to it's arcade hardware and truly did have arcade perfect games. Hoffman even included an accessible options screen which allows access to change the games region, dip switch settings, and added extras such as a much needed final stage continue feature and some game genie like features. HOFFMAN'S SECOND RELEASE: GOLDEN AXE - RELEASED FEBRUARY 2025 As an almost immediate follow up, Hoffman then released Sega's Golden Axe. Now mind you, unlike Shinobi which never got a faithfull translation on Sega's Genesis, this game did, and with all due respect had an excellent port and was even arguably one of the mega drives killer app titles for sure. But again, Sega's arcade hardware was superior and some details had to be cut out. And so of course, now all of these elements are fully intact and help to make the game even better.   Will Hoffman do another Sega system 16 source code port? It isn't yet known (as of this writing) wether or not Hoffman will work on another Sega system 16 port. And while we certainly all hope that he does, there's really no way of knowing which title he might choose. Logic would point to Altered Beast as being the most well known and recognized of the remaining games in the library. And speculation would certainly be higher for titles like Alien Syndrome and E-Swat as they were recognized and popular as well. But again, nobody knows for sure except himself. Time will tell. But unless and until that ever happens, we are certainly more then happy with these 2 great titles and they complimented the NEOGEO library quite well.     Can Hoffman do a Sega system 18 source code port? Well, I think the first question here is, can the neogeo handle a sega system 18 port? System 18 was a bit more powerfull and closer to the neogeo's 1990 launch. But if so, then Sega's library of available titles is also quite strong there as well. Alien Storm had a great Genesis port, but as a spiritual successor to Golden Axe it would be great to see a more accurate version of it. The arcade version of Moonwalker never had a home port and would make for an amazing choice for an original game concept not found in the neogeo's library. And while Shadow Dancer was a great Genesis game, it wasn't a direct port of the arcade game, and the SMS version although a great effort, was far inferior.   CLICK HERE TO GO BACK NEOGEOPROTOS.COM HAS BEEN THE NUMBER ONE RESOURCE FOR PICS AND INFO SINCE 1999.