SNK Hyper Neo Geo 64

The Hyper Neo Geo 64 was an arcade system board, and the only one made by SNK capable of rendering 3D polygon graphics, it also had the purpose of replacing the older and more successful Neo Geo MVS.

It was originally intended to be launched in 1995 but delays lead it to launch in 1997, and it had barely lasted two years.

Why It Was A Hyper Flop

 * 1) The system cast aside the multi-cartridge concept of the MVS, which was what popularized the original Neo Geo system in the first place, choosing instead one game at a time on the board. This caused arcade owners to opt for other options, including the old MVS.
 * 2) Only seven games were made for the system; Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, two Samurai Shodown games (Samurai Shodown 64, Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage), Buriki One (a fighting game), two racing games (Road's Edge and Xtreme Rally), and Beast Busters Second Nightmare (the only rail shooter for this system).
 * 3) Very limited launch outside of Japan. This explains the low sales.
 * 4) There were four different versions of this board, but none of them could play all the games, the fighting version could only play the four fighting games, the shooting version could only play Beast Busters Second Nightmare (the only rail shooter for this system), the racing version could only play the two racing games and the "Korean" version could only play the two Samurai Shodown games.
 * 5) It was hard to develop games for it.
 * 6) A home console version of the system was planned, but it was ultimately cancelled.
 * 7) * In fact, SNK designed the Hyper Neo Geo 64 to be feasible for this unreleased home console version, which explains why its specs were weak when compared to the competition in the arcades. The home console was slated to compete with the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, and the like. In that respect, it did offer superior performance to the field at the time.
 * 8) It failed to compete against Sega Model 3 and Namco System (Super) 22, due to low sales of the hardware.
 * 9) It lasted less than two years, which caused SNK to return to their older Neo Geo hardware, and later with the Sammy Atomiswave.
 * 10) Only one of the seven games was ported to home consoles; that game being Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. (Samurai Shodown: Warrior's Rage for the PlayStation is not a port of the Hyper Neo Geo 64 title, despite sharing the same subtitle)
 * 11) SNK, at the time, had little to no experience at all in developing 3D polygon games.
 * 12) Emulation for the Hyper Neo Geo 64 isn't exactly the best, to put it kindly, as in reality, it's barely developed at all.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The games themselves were pretty decent, though they haven't aged too well.
 * 2) The Samurai Shodown games on the system were far better 3D fighters than the other attempts to make a 3D Samurai Shodown game (Samurai Shodown: Warrior's Rage for the PS1 and Samurai Shodown Sen for the Xbox 360).