Shinobi arcade game ported to SNK’s Neo-Geo; Golden Axe arcade port coming soon

The Sega arcade classic Shinobi (1988) has just been unofficially ported to the Genes- sorry, I meant the Dreamca- wait! No! It’s been ported to SNK’s Neo-Geo system. That sounds like a first.

Yes. Hobbyist developer h0ffman has just brought Shinobi to the Neo-Geo system by seemingly disassembling the original arcade ROM to make their own source code and then converting it to run on Neo-Geo hardware just to see if they could. They first got the game running from a physical CD on a Neo-Geo CD console and have since released versions that run on that as well as the Neo-Geo AES and Neo-Geo MVS. What’s more, they’re also currently doing the same with Golden Axe (1989), though they have not yet finished that port as of this writing. For now, you can download Shinobi and try it on your favorite Neo-Geo emulator or any Neo-Geo hardware you may own.

For download links, sneak on in past the break.

You can download the Neo-Geo Shinobi port from h0ffman’s itch.io page for the port, where you’ll also find instructions on how to use it with the various flash cartridges available for Neo-Geo AES and MVS. We’ll update this article when their Golden Axe port is ready for the big time.

This is progressing a lot quicker than I thought it would.. Golden Axe but on the Neo Geo. pic.twitter.com/hP74OII2Xn

— h0ffman (@therealh0ffman) January 17, 2025

For those unaware, the Neo-Geo was an arcade system released in 1990 by SNK. It was famous for being able to store multiple games in a single cabinet through various interchangeable game cartridges, much like home consoles. That allowed operators to simply switch out game cartridges to change the games without having to replace or convert the entire cabinet. It’s for this reason that the arcade hardware was called the MVS, meaning “Multi Video System”. It was also famous for its many fighting and shooting games, as well as being the birthplace for many of SNK’s most beloved and enduring franchises, including Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown, and Metal Slug. Its innovative design and the popularity of its games made the Neo-Geo MVS a common sight in many arcades for decades to come.

After the MVS came the Neo-Geo AES in 1991. This home console contained the exact same hardware as the MVS, converted into a home console form with no other compromises in hardware power, unlike any other console, which was typically never as powerful as the arcade systems from the time. This power allowed the AES to run the same games as the MVS, but on special cartridges for the AES unit which could be sold to consumers. This console and its games were prohibitively expensive, however, so SNK later released the Neo-Geo CD system in 1994. This also ran the same games, but this time, those games had to be built onto CD-ROMs, making them a far more economical option for consumers and SNK alike. The main downside was that the slow disc drive meant players had to put up with extra long and frequent loading times, plus the Neo-Geo CD was not supported as long as the MVS or AES, meaning less games overall were released on CD. The AES and MVS saw their final official game release, Samurai Shodown V Special, in 2004, meaning the Neo-Geo system overall lasted a staggering 14 years.

As for what compelled h0ffman to port Shinobi and Golden Axe to Neo-Geo hardware, they explain on Twitter that as they were waiting for a MiSTer Pi (An FPGA multi-retro console) they ordered from Taki Udon, they were suddenly hit with curiosity about how challenging it might be to disassemble an old arcade game into source code. They decided to test this idea with Shinobi, which they chose partially because the Sega System 16 hardware that game ran on used a Motarola 68000 processor for its main CPU. After successfully disassembling the game, they later decided to see if they could port the game to Neo-Geo, which also ran on a Motarola 68000 processor. They first tested it on the only Neo-Geo system they owned, the CD unit, making that the first Neo-Geo port completed. Once their MiSTer Pi arrived in the mail, they used a Neo-Geo core developed for it to test the game for AES and MVS in the absense of either original hardware in their possession.

So are you amazed by this latest homebrew port? Are you a fan of Shinobi or the Neo-Geo? Can’t wait to try Golden Axe on Neo-Geo? Let us know in the comments below.

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