Best arcade soccer games of all time

Genres Video game : Racing video game, Vehicular combat game. Donkey Kong. Space Invaders. Out Run. Dig Dug. Dragon's Lair. Pole Position.

Street Fighter. After Burner. Both in visual and technical aspects. This title follows the Elta the Magician in his quest to defeat the evil sorcerer Gal Agiese. On his way, the pointy hat hero must defeat hordes of demons and other monstrosities, and even shape-shift into different creatures to overcome diverse challenges. The gameplay was excellent. But the game was also incredibly colorful and detailed, which made it the perfect game to draw players towards the big red Neo Geo cabinet.

After SNK went into bankruptcy in , its intellectual properties went up for grabs in a public auction. The fourth and fifth installments in the series were developed by retro-engineering Metal Slug X and taking things from there.

The result is a surprisingly good pair of games with lots of new characters, scenarios, and the same quality gameplay. You can sink weeks into this game without feeling repetitive as you try out every character to find the perfect one for you.

Like its predecessor, Blazing Star features pre-rendered pseudo-3D sprites that give its giant bosses a truly massive sense of scale. There was a lot of interest in the Japanese Samurai back in the day. Beginning in , this weapon-based fighter featured several Samurai and contenders from other Japanese backgrounds.

Rather than focusing on endless combos, this game values landing the right hit or parrying at the right time to turn the tide of battle. While the second installment is widely recognized as the best by long-time fans, subsequent releases introduced plenty of technical and graphical improvements that warrant giving them a try. This game was made by developers who knew the system inside-out, allowing them to push it to its very limits.

This resulted in killer animations, flashy visual effects, and wonderful spritework. All coupled with tight, responsive controls that make combat in this beat-em-up a thing of beauty. With deep combo systems and a lot more character variety than its predecessors, this is one of the best beat-em-ups on the Neo Geo and the genre in general. Like Sengoku 3, Garou: Mark of the Wolves was made to push the Neo Geo as far as it could go in terms of graphics and fluidity.

But the Italian, considered to be the sport's greatest ever referee, managed to do it two years running. Following the previous entry is the game's predecessor.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 had the crown jewel of improvements to yearly sports games, a new and improved engine. The engine improved upon the game's graphics, balanced the gameplay, and improved opponent AI. Impressively, Konami managed to secure licensing for some of Italy's top teams. Roma, Juventus, and A.

Milan, who were at the height of their powers at the time, were all officially licensed. Furthermore, it was the series first game to allow 3 or 4 players to play together. Again, the previous entry is followed by its predecessor. Winning Eleven 7 may have improved upon the game's engine, but could still only match Winning Eleven 6 's score of Winning Eleven 6 is not the optimal game to revisit retrospectively, but it deserves its spot on the list for kicking off no pun intended the golden age of Konami soccer games.

The game is remembered fondly for its iconic opening cinematic that featured Queen's We Will Rock You. IGN gave the game a 5. Despite this setback, the game is still among the highest-rated video games ever scored on the site. The PlayStation exclusive surpassed its predecessor's for featuring club teams for the first time and introducing the iconic Master League mode. Get it right, and you move to the next level. Get it wrong, and you have to work your way through a rock-hard level with tonnes of enemies.

Can you push back the invading forces and destroy the evil Cyber-Lip? Two mavericks against the alien world — I like those odds! Still, the graphics are good, the detail in the players is pretty ahead of its time, and the game plays really well. There are 18 teams to choose from and two difficulty settings that you can play through.

Critics at the time even went as far as to say that this was the best sports game that they had ever played. World Heroes Perfect is the first in a long series of arcade-style fighting games in our list of the best Neo Geo games.

All of the previous fighters from the series return for World Heroes Perfect, and you the player must compete in a tournament to discover who is the strongest fighter in history. Each fighter has his or her own special ability, and you can play the game through in either 1-player mode or battle a friend in 2-player multiplayer mode.

Apart from adding a few new features and a new character, this game is essentially an update of the previous instalment in the series. It was one of the first games of the time to have a MB cartridge too. That seems crazy in a world where we now have 1TB memory sticks. There are similarities to the King of Fighters series in that Roddy and Cathy have special moves that can be pulled out when facing off against bad guys. Apart from that, the series has a Donkey Kong country feel about it.

The worlds in Top Hunter are colourful and fun to play through. They must travel through four worlds; Ice, Forest, Wind, and Fire. Top Hunter received great reviews from critics at the time and high praise for its soundtrack and memorable bosses. Give it a go and let us know your thoughts! While Nazca were creating Metal Slug, they were also working on a very different type of Neo Geo game.

Neo Turf Masters is a golfing title. While golf might not be for everyone, this is a fun, competitive game for players. You can either test your skills in Stroke Play or go head-to-head in Match Play. Neo Turf Masters has six players from around the world for you to choose from.

They each have different playing styles and signature looks. There are 4 courses to chose between, and the on screen information relating to weather conditions and hit-power are all designed to help you become a better virtual player. I never knew that golf could be any of those things. But, I sure like Turf Masters, so maybe it can! Last Resort is set many years in the future. Not content with wrecking one planet, Humans are now trying to colonize space too.

A computer virus messes up their plans and brainwashes some of the humans to take its side, and all hell breaks loose. The next title in our list of the best Neo Geo games is treasure-seeking action at its finest.

Jonny is a treasure hunter who finds a piece of said map. I wonder if the developers just ran out of names and thought that would do?

Wielding a yo-yo and a brain brimming with the need for adventure, Jonny must head out to save his girlfriend from a mad scientist you know the type. He also has to retrieve his piece of the map that was stolen at the same time. Play 1-player or team up with a friend to bring sweets and candies back to the world. They recently appeared in our list of the best Commodore 64 games with Bubble Bobble. Puzzle Bobble went on to inspire games like Beehive Bedlam and all of the other Candy Crush-style mobile games that you can pick up on your smartphone.

Bob and Bub are back, but this time the aim of the game is to match up coloured bubbles in order to clear your screen. It is, however, incredibly addictive and frustrating in equal measure. The single player mode sees you trying to clear screens with a pre-determined pattern of bubbles. There are 32 levels, each varying in their difficulty.

The 2-player mode has no levels, but bubbles that you eradicate will appear on your players screen. Crossed Swords had a loose RPG feel to it. They defend and strike at the perfect moment, bringing honour to Belkana and not dying in the first ten seconds like a berk.

You can either team up with a mate or go solo on this game. Magical weapons can be collected, and the game has multiple paths that you can travel down. You may well have played Sengoku on the Super Famicom. Transforming is the key to getting ahead in Sengoku. You can become a noble samurai, a bad-ass armour-plated wolf, and a stealthy ninja.

You need to keep your wits about you and your mashing finger supple if you have a hope of surviving.