What do you think of present-day SNK compared to the prestige that they had in the 90's?

[danmaku]

better than erotic violence
as a weird aside: i still remember seeing Metal Slug 1 for the first time, maybe the year it came out, maybe one year later, and thinking it was already a "retro game" which now seems so odd to me.

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Same here. When Metal Slug came out I thought it looked excellent, but it was still 2D and it was hard to get excited about 2D games. 3D felt so new and advanced, full of possibilities, while 2D was a known quantity. Today I'm much more impressed by Metal Slug than any early 3D game like Virtua Fighter or Tekken, especially considering the hardware they were working with (the Neo Geo was already 6 years old by that point!).

I'll never forget 90s SNK. To me they'll always be the epitome of arcade gaming.

Today's SNK is a totally different company making modern games. I'm glad it still exists, especially for KOF, but it has a different place in the market. It's a small studio making fighting games for consoles, SNK was an arcade company making arcade games.

 

[IrishNinja]

probably the only larger fall from grace than Sega saw

 

[arcadepc]

You have to consider why SNK games were popular outside the USA.
Arcade machines were far cheaper and could be bootlegged and copied easily, something that SNK also provided support for in Latin America. This made it a much better choice than Capcom's CPS2-3 encrypted machines in China and Latin America. In the second half of the 90s there was a better chance to find an SNK arcade fighting game than SF Alpha or III.

Also SNK focused mainly on Neo Geo ports, while ports of their games to other 16bit consoles were not as good, especially compared to Capcom. This also mattered during the SNES/MD era.

SNK also suffered in promoting their brand. Eg Capcom had sponsored a whole animated TV series and movies with SF, making it even more popular. SNK only produced some movies and ova that left a lot to be desired.

It would be ideal if just like Capcom they returned to their glory days and made other genres too. Only other effort was a KOF based shmup...

 

[Futaleufu]

You have to consider why SNK games were popular outside the USA.
Arcade machines were far cheaper and could be bootlegged and copied easily, something that SNK also provided support for in Latin America. This made it a much better choice than Capcom's CPS2-3 encrypted machines in China and Latin America. In the second half of the 90s there was a better chance to find an SNK arcade fighting game than SF Alpha or III.

Also SNK focused mainly on Neo Geo ports, while ports of their games to other 16bit consoles were not as good, especially compared to Capcom. This also mattered during the SNES/MD era.

SNK also suffered in promoting their brand. Eg Capcom had sponsored a whole animated TV series and movies with SF, making it even more popular. SNK only produced some movies and ova that left a lot to be desired.

It would be ideal if just like Capcom they returned to their glory days and made other genres too. Only other effort was a KOF based shmup...

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Oh look, another "SNK/Neo Geo was more popular in other countries because it was cheaper/easier to pirate, not because their games were just better" post.

 

[Krozur]

SNK is still trying to get back to where they were at their zenith. I believe they've made good progress since they were almost a pachinko only asset of Aruze at one point.

 

[arcadepc]

Oh look, another "SNK/Neo Geo was more popular in other countries because it was cheaper/easier to pirate, not because their games were just better" post.

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Arcade operators≠arcade players

 

[Nature's finest mango]

Way worse today, since the royal Saud family holds majority shares.
Won't be giving them any business.

 

[xir]

Same here. When Metal Slug came out I thought it looked excellent, but it was still 2D and it was hard to get excited about 2D games. 3D felt so new and advanced, full of possibilities, while 2D was a known quantity. Today I'm much more impressed by Metal Slug than any early 3D game like Virtua Fighter or Tekken, especially considering the hardware they were working with (the Neo Geo was already 6 years old by that point!).

I'll never forget 90s SNK. To me they'll always be the epitome of arcade gaming.

Today's SNK is a totally different company making modern games. I'm glad it still exists, especially for KOF, but it has a different place in the market. It's a small studio making fighting games for consoles, SNK was an arcade company making arcade games.

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so, i looked and it was released in april 1996, so even if i saw it a year later that's 97. I was a 16-17, but already into retro stuff, hunting atari carts, playing mischief makers on my n64, but i think it being an ARCADE game and not really knowing the limitations of the neo geo ahrdware, made me think it was a retro contra with so much cartoon style.

kind of insane how in a way quickly dated that hardware got but also how long they kept it alive.

 

[King Kingo]

like with any legacy publisher, different market different world and different time

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Exactly. The same can be said for Taito.

 

[Billy Awesomo]

SNK was and is still one of my favorite japanese video game companies. The Neo-geo had such a huge impact on me as a gamer while growing up. There Arcade games were fun and back in those days you were almost guarantee to see at least one big red cab like everywhere when traveling whether it was a hotel or at a rest stop (Back when rest stops and hotels had arcades). SNK may not be the same company they were back in the 90s but at least they are trying. KOF XIV wasn't super great graphically but it was at least fun and Sam Sho is really good probably my favorite fighting game of this past generation. I will continue to buy and play whatever offerings they make (although I will stop collecting for my AES because that's too expensive). Honestly though I feel like SNK is doing better now than they were say 2001-2008.

 

[ToD_]

When the company essentially collapsed in the early 2000s, it signified the end of what I loved about SNK games. About anything released after Metal Slug 3, KoF2000, and Garou just missed the kind of quality I expected from SNK. Not saying there weren't any good games anymore but they missed something, which is probably explained by a lot of people either leaving or forming new teams at the time.

 

[Orioto]

Art wise for me SNK went from god tier to trash tier, but otherwise.. Maybe ot's because arcade were never that big in france but.. 90's SNK was a mega niche company with a console and games nobody could dreamed of having. Saturn and PLaystation ports of SNK games probably barely made it to Europe. From my point of view, their games are way more mainstream and accessible now. They are a bigger company.

 

[looprider]

I root for SNK. They were an important part of my childhood.

First of all, the Neo Geo was ridiculously expensive back in the day so I had to get good at making friends with kids whose parents had money lol

And the arcade games were top notch. World Heroes, Samurai Showdown, Art of Fighting... countless classics.

I'm glad many of their classic games are available on current consoles for new generations to discover. The sprite art has aged like fine wine.

I'm also glad they've found their footing recently with KoF14 and the new Samurai Showdown and I hope they continue to make strong fighting games. My wish is they would go back to sprite art in their games. KoF 13 was a masterpiece.

 

[Chumunga64]

I mean, they're climbing back up but nothing is better than the 90s snk

 

[Lylo]

I just think that, like many other companies, they had a hard time adapting to the industry's changes.

 

[thomasmahler]

I always sorta saw SNK as the Porsche of the games industry, especially also because their stuff was unaffordable to most. Even to this day my AES (bought it MUCH later cause I could never afford one back in the 90s) feels like me owning a Porsche 911. A classic, beautiful piece of hardware. And yes, I even own a bunch of extremely expensive carts and those just feel like value. Nobody makes stuff like that anymore cause it would make no economic sense (and maybe it didn't even back then...), but you gotta tip your hat to them for going down that route and being persistent. A Super Nintendo or a PlayStation was a normal console - But a NeoGeo was a statement. The amount of insanely talented artists they had at SNK was just utterly mind-boggling.

I remember many jawdrop moments throughout the NeoGeo's lifecycle - Seeing Samurai Shodown 2 for the first time back then, Metal Slug in the Arcades (Yes, 3d was around and was kinda more impressive at the time, but that spritework was still astounding), Metal Slug 3 was incredible even though the Dreamcast was already around, Mark of the Wolves was the smoothest fighting game I've ever seen and Last Blade 2, holy smokes. I didn't even like that game as much as Mark of the Wolves, but the Art Direction / Animation was just mindblowing to me back when it released.

Today's SNK has little if anything to do with that old stuff anymore, sadly. I'd love to see them make a proper comeback. There's a bit of a potential 'Apple' story there - The NeoGeo brand screamed 'luxury' from top to bottom, that in itself is worth a LOT, that's not something you could easily build now even if you throw unlimited money into that endeavor. I honestly wonder sometimes what would've happened if they never even tried to go for the mass market and kept making another AES-like luxury console in the 32/64bit age. And no, I don't mean the Hyper NeoGeo, that architecture didn't even outdo the consoles already on the market at that time. I mean a system that would've basically been a Dreamcast, but launched during the PS/N64/Saturn era...

 

[Sumio Mondo]

They were definitely a bigger deal in places like North America I think, here in the UK the only games I knew about from them was Metal Slug and King of Fighters but definitely nowhere near the level I knew the likes of Capcom (where our arcades were flooded with their games in comparison). My ignorance of them was a good thing anyway since I later discovered their gems through Nintendo eShop and SNK game collections and gaming events. Their consoles didn't even register in the 90s over here. I really enjoyed playing their games via emulation in the 2000s though.

SNK nowadays in comparison? Shadow of their former self. Not even a patch.

 

[Atolm]

For all intents and purposes, for me SNK died in the bankruptcy of 2000. The later Playmore Neo Geo games were already garbage tier. KOF2000 was a broken and unbalanced, but from a music and visual point of view it curbstomps KOF2001 or
2002. I remember hearing how 2001 sounded (worse than a mobile phone from those days) and I knew SNK was gone.

 

[jett]

They're in the pits.

 

[NeonZ]

For all intents and purposes, for me SNK died in the bankruptcy of 2000. The later Playmore Neo Geo games were already garbage tier. KOF2000 was a broken and unbalanced, but from a music and visual point of view it curbstomps KOF2001 or
2002. I remember hearing how 2001 sounded (worse than a mobile phone from those days) and I knew SNK was gone.

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I love Metal Slug 5's soundtrack though, which was after their bankruptcy.




Too bad the game itself was basically released incomplete and never got a finished version.

 

[Celine]

It's cool that SNK still exists albeit under a different form and it's good they are still trying to release new console games for their most popular franchises but it's hard these days to be excited for them.
To me SNK and Neo Geo will always be identified with the '90s and with what THAT SNK (the real one) accomplished during those mythical years.

I never really saw them as a prestigious company. To me they always just felt like the company that lost to Capcom.

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But seriously Capcom was simply on fire in the late '80s/early '90s.
SNK started to be competitive only from around 1993 on ward IMO (though there are earlier Neo Geo games I really appreciate like Magician Lord, Last Resort and Art of Fighting).
The other thing Neo Geo had over the CPS platforms was a sizeable (for to be an arcade platform) third-party support which gave additional flavors and variety to the SNK arcade board.

I always sorta saw SNK as the Porsche of the games industry, especially also because their stuff was unaffordable to most. Even to this day my AES (bought it MUCH later cause I could never afford one back in the 90s) feels like me owning a Porsche 911. A classic, beautiful piece of hardware. And yes, I even own a bunch of extremely expensive carts and those just feel like value. Nobody makes stuff like that anymore cause it would make no economic sense (and maybe it didn't even back then...), but you gotta tip your hat to them for going down that route and being persistent. A Super Nintendo or a PlayStation was a normal console - But a NeoGeo was a statement. The amount of insanely talented artists they had at SNK was just utterly mind-boggling.

I remember many jawdrop moments throughout the NeoGeo's lifecycle - Seeing Samurai Shodown 2 for the first time back then, Metal Slug in the Arcades (Yes, 3d was around and was kinda more impressive at the time, but that spritework was still astounding), Metal Slug 3 was incredible even though the Dreamcast was already around, Mark of the Wolves was the smoothest fighting game I've ever seen and Last Blade 2, holy smokes. I didn't even like that game as much as Mark of the Wolves, but the Art Direction / Animation was just mindblowing to me back when it released.

Today's SNK has little if anything to do with that old stuff anymore, sadly. I'd love to see them make a proper comeback. There's a bit of a potential 'Apple' story there - The NeoGeo brand screamed 'luxury' from top to bottom, that in itself is worth a LOT, that's not something you could easily build now even if you throw unlimited money into that endeavor. I honestly wonder sometimes what would've happened if they never even tried to go for the mass market and kept making another AES-like luxury console in the 32/64bit age. And no, I don't mean the Hyper NeoGeo, that architecture didn't even outdo the consoles already on the market at that time. I mean a system that would've basically been a Dreamcast, but launched during the PS/N64/Saturn era...

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More than a Porsche maker, SNK was a Porsche rental service.
Consoles were just a profitable (due to the high prices) side business to their main business based on arcades.
If by selling 1 million console units you only have a niche console (Neo Geo AES/CD sold in total 980K), selling 1 million arcade boards (which is what Neo Geo MVS accomplished) net you the most widespread arcade board in the world.

 

[Futaleufu]

More than a Porsche maker, SNK was a Porsche rental service.
Consoles were just a profitable (due to the high prices) side business to their main business based on arcades.
If by selling 1 million console units you only have a niche console (Neo Geo AES/CD sold in total 980K), selling 1 million arcade boards (which is what Neo Geo MVS accomplished) net you the most widespread arcade board in the world.

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SNK is more like the Lamborghini of the gaming world: quality products, limited quantities and several owners through the years

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Saudi situation casts a dark shadow on their current state for me, plus their latest couple of games having terrible netcode. The visuals don't bother me a ton, though.

I'm not sure what to think presently.

 

[OrochiJR]

Their status is not really comparable to their prime. They were great in the 90s/ early 2000s and had a very steady and numerous output of high quality (fighting) games.

SNK today rather has a non-presence. In the last 10 years they had like...3 releases (Kof XIII, XIV, Samurai Shodown 2019), ports of old games/ compilations notwithstanding. They were not really able to make the jump to newer consoles when the Neo-Geo died and their atomiswave games, while being good to great, where already niche and graphically outdated when they released in the mid-00s. That is when they kinda lost touch with the industry.

 

[RM8]

SNK owned Mexico in the 90s. I mean you can still go to the arcades and play KOF in Mexico, but you can't compare their current situation to how it was back then. A shame, really :(

 

[PachaelD]

probably the only larger fall from grace than Sega saw

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I'd say that Sega's surprisingly smart acquisitions have saved the day for it (Atlus, Sega Europe) , but otherwise agree re: their older internal units.

 

[gozu]

SNK fucked up in their last decision to make their new 3D engine not have rollback code.

That's so fucking moronic.

Yes, let's kill all competitive online play immediately! Who cares about that in a fighting game? People can just go to the arcades amirite?

What the fuck is next? Make their fighting games 30FPS? Because I can't think of a single thing that is worse than no roll-back code.

Remember SFV in 2016 and the shit reception it got? (not from me, I loved it!) Well that game HAD rollback code. AND god-like graphics.

I bought Samurai Shodown for PS4 and online was dead after launch thanks in large part to the shitty, disgusting "netcode" that someone deemed acceptable.

So, after spending $64 on your game. It's a single-player fighting game unless you have local opponents. That's like..what? 0.1% of players?

Whomever made that decision at SNK is an incompetent clown and I hope they are removed and banned from videogames ASAP.

Seriously. Would you invest in a company that makes cars that run on coal (apparently, the murderer ruling Saudi Arabia will..) ? Because that's what the fuck SNK is doing. I would say "gas", since designing gas-powered cars today is also ridiculously stupid, but SNK's netcode doesn't deserve to be compared to gas. Nope, it's coal. They decided to design a coal powered car. That's the level of craziness on display here.

I'm just utterly disgusted, as a longtime SNK fan.