¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: SNK
- Year of release: 1990
- CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 12 MHz
- Sound co-processor: Zilog Z80 @ 4 MHz
- RAM: 64 KB
- VRAM: 84 KB
- Resolution: 320x224
- Colors: 4096 on screen from a 65,536 color palette
- Sound chip: Yamaha YM2610, 15 channels
- Media: cartridge
¶ Presentation
The Neo-Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) is the home version of SNK's MVS arcade system, released from April 1990 in Japan. Its defining trait is unique in video game history: it is not a cut-down adaptation of the cabinet, but the very same hardware in a living-room case. Games were therefore strictly identical to their arcade counterparts, at a time when home conversions were always downgraded versions.
That faithfulness came at a price, quite literally. The console and its cartridges — among the largest ever produced, up to 716 Mbit — cost a fortune, which confined the AES to enthusiasts and to the rental market. SNK also offered a memory card allowing players to carry their game between the arcade cabinet and home, an idea well ahead of its time.
The Neo-Geo owes its legend to its fighting games and run'n'guns: the Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters series and of course Metal Slug. Its longevity is just as remarkable — new games kept coming out until the mid-2000s, nearly fifteen years after its launch.
¶ Emulators
New in Recalbox 10.1: the Geolith core, a dedicated Neo-Geo emulator, gains Neo-Geo CD support. It is now the default emulator of the Neo-Geo CD system.
Emulator availability per board:
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro fbneo | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro mame2003_plus | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro mame2003 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro mame2000 | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Libretro mame2010 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro mame2015 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro geolith | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
On RPi5/500, the MAME 2003, MAME 2010 and MAME 2015 cores are no longer shipped as of Recalbox 10.1: use fbneo (the default), MAME 2003-Plus or Geolith. MAME 2000 is only available on RPi3 and RPi Zero 2.
The default emulator is Libretro fbneo, available on every board and perfectly suited to the Neo-Geo catalogue. Geolith is a modern alternative dedicated to this single machine, but it requires a specific rom format (see below). Every emulator of this system supports netplay and RetroAchievements; CRT output is handled by all of them except MAME 2000. Light guns are not used on the Neo-Geo, and softpatching is supported by no core.
To play the Neo-Geo just like in the arcade, Recalbox plugs into a cabinet with the Recalbox RGB JAMMA 2 complete kit.
¶ BIOS
The Neo-Geo BIOS is mandatory: without it, no game will start, whatever the emulator.
| File name | Description | MD5 | Emulators |
|---|---|---|---|
neogeo.zip |
Neo-Geo BIOS (mandatory) — several revisions accepted | — | fbneo, mame2000, mame2003, mame2003_plus, mame2010, mame2015 |
geolith/aes.zip |
AES BIOS (mandatory for Geolith) | ad9585c72130c56f04ae26aae87c289d | geolith |
geolith/neogeo.zip |
Neo-Geo BIOS (mandatory for Geolith) | 00dad01abdbf8ea9e79ad2fe11bdb182 | geolith |
Place your BIOS files like this:
/recalbox/share/bios/
├── neogeo.zip
└── geolith/
├── aes.zip
└── neogeo.zip
neogeo.zipis also accepted in the roms folder, at/recalbox/share/roms/neogeo/neogeo.zip. Both locations work: pick one, do not duplicate the file.
neogeo.zipis a MAME-style romset: keep it zipped, do not rename it and do not extract it. Many BIOS revisions are accepted; if yours is rejected, it matches no known version. To use the Universe BIOS, see the Unibios guide.
¶ Roms
Put your games in:
/recalbox/share/roms/neogeo/
Supported extensions per emulator:
| Emulator | Extensions |
|---|---|
| Libretro fbneo | .zip .7z |
| Libretro mame2003_plus | .zip |
| Libretro mame2003 | .zip |
| Libretro mame2000 | .zip |
| Libretro mame2010 | .zip .7z |
| Libretro mame2015 | .cmd .zip .7z |
| Libretro geolith | .neo |
Neo-Geo games are arcade romsets: leave them zipped, do not rename them (the .zip name is the game identifier: mslug.zip, kof98.zip…) and do not extract their content.
As with MAME, the romset must match the chosen emulator: an FBNeo set for fbneo, a MAME set of the right version for the MAME cores. This is by far the most common cause of games refusing to start.
Geolith is the exception: it does not use zipped romsets but .neo files, a container format bundling a complete cartridge into a single file. Those files are generated from an existing Neo-Geo romset with the tools provided by the Geolith project. If you would rather not convert your collection, simply stay on fbneo.
Also have a look at the Neo-Geo guide for configuration and controls questions.