# Neo Geo CD

> The Neo Geo CD is SNK's 1994 CD-ROM version of the Neo Geo. Its games were far cheaper than cartridges, but its slow CD drive meant long load times.

Web page: https://emulationking.com/snk/neogeocd/
Page updated: 2026-09-28

- Developer: SNK
- Released: 1994
- 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)

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.

## Neo Geo CD Emulators

- [FinalBurn Neo](https://emulationking.com/arcade/arcade/emulator/fbneo/index.md): FinalBurn Neo is an arcade emulator that continues FinalBurn Alpha. It runs Neo Geo, CPS, Cave and many other 2D arcade games, plus several consoles.
- [MAME](https://emulationking.com/arcade/arcade/emulator/mame/index.md): MAME is the open source reference emulator for arcade machines. It also emulates hundreds of consoles, handhelds and computers.