Neo Geo CD
SNK's Neo Geo on CD
- 1994Released
- Home ConsoleType
- SNKDeveloper
Neo Geo CD Specifications
- Processor
- Motorola 68000, with a Zilog Z80 for sound
- Processor Speed
- 12 MHz (68000), 4 MHz (Z80)
- RAM
- 7 MB (56 Mbit), used to hold each game after it loads from the disc
- Graphics
- 380 sprites, 4,096 colours on screen from a palette of 65,536
- Resolution
- 320 x 224 Pixels
- Media
- CD-ROM (single speed, double speed on the CDZ)
Overview
The Neo Geo CD is a home console that SNK released in Japan in September 1994, with a North American launch in 1996. It uses the same processors and graphics hardware as the Neo Geo AES and MVS, but loads its games from CD-ROM instead of costly cartridges, which brought the price of a game down from 200 dollars or more to about 50.
Because the console has only a few megabytes of RAM, games must be loaded from the disc in stages. The first models used a single-speed CD-ROM drive, so load times were very long, especially for large fighting games. SNK released the Neo Geo CDZ in 1995, with a faster drive, but it was only sold in Japan.
Most of the Neo Geo library was released on CD, often with CD audio soundtracks, and a few games, such as Crossed Swords II, were only released on CD. The console sold about 570,000 units, far fewer than SNK had hoped.
FinalBurn Neo is a good choice for the Neo Geo CD on Windows, and MAME emulates the Neo Geo CD and CDZ on every platform it runs on.
Key Features
Cheaper CD Games
CD-ROM games cost about 50 dollars instead of 200 or more.
Neo Geo Hardware
The same processors and graphics hardware as the AES and MVS.
CD Soundtracks
Many games were released with CD audio soundtracks.
Faster CDZ Model
The 1995 Neo Geo CDZ added a faster drive, sold only in Japan.
