Neo Geo Battle Coliseum

Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (ネオジオバトルコロシアム) (usually abbreviated as NGBC or NGB) is a fighting game designed for the Atomiswave arcade board developed and released by SNK in 2005. The game features characters from several SNK and ADK titles. Subsequently, a PlayStation 2 version of the game was released in Japan, North America, and Europe. The Xbox Live Arcade version was released worldwide on June 9, 2010. In 2020, a homebrew conversion was released for the Dreamcast.

Gameplay
The game system of the arcade NGBC, as previously mentioned, is a 2-on-2 tag battle, regardless of how many players are playing. While the two-player game system is similar to most tag-team systems of other games, the single player system is unusual.

The game's single play is more like a survival battle, where the player must beat enemy after enemy as long as possible. However, the game gives the player 300 seconds, and when time-out occurs, instead of win or lose, the player will face the boss (depending on how well they perform). Only at this point will time-out determine the victor.

During a single-play, the rule is to defeat either member of the team, not both team members. That is, unlike most tag-team systems (but similar to Kizuna Encounter or Tekken Tag Tournament), where all opposition must be beaten in order to win, in NGBC the player only needs to beat one member of the opposite team to win, without the need to fight the other member if the first is defeated.

Plot
The official plot, as given by SNK, is as follows: "In February, 2017 of the new Japanese era there is a man trying to rule the Neo Geo World. "I will topple Neo Geo's most powerful warriors and put myself on the throne!". We knew that if he managed to obtain Neo Geo world's awesome power, world domination would not be far from his reach. This man, who sat at the heart of the "WAREZ Conglomerate" with overwhelming financial power behind him, had already set out on his ambitious path to gain Neo Geo World's power. Those who knew the truth of his intentions were already trembling with fear... As Neo Geo World drew closer to the verge of disaster, a WAREZ sponsored fighting competition was announced. This event is called "Neo Geo Battle Coliseum". The federal government is worried about the situation, and has secretly dispatched its two best secret agents, Yuki and Ai. A world on the verge of eternal darkness... The future of Neo Geo World is now in the hands of the warriors." (The name of the organization that hosts the tournament, WAREZ, is an obvious play on the word warez, as SNK Playmore blames software piracy as one of the contributing factors to its 2001 bankruptcy.)

Characters
The game features 40 playable characters and one non-playable boss. Four characters are original to Battle Coliseum, while the remainder are drawn from 11 different SNK series.

• Ai (original)

• Akari Ichijou (The Last Blade)

• Asura (Samurai Shodown)

• Athena (Athena)

• Cyber Woo (King of the Monsters)

• Fuuma Kotaro (World Heroes)

• Geese Howard (Fatal Fury)

• Genjuro Kibagami (Samurai Shodown)

• Goodman (original)

• Hanzo Hattori (World Heroes)

• Haohmaru (Samurai Shodown)

• Hotaru Futaba (Fatal Fury)

• Iori Yagami (The King of Fighters)

• Jin Chonrei (Fatal Fury)

• Jin Chonshu (Fatal Fury)

• K' (The King of Fighters)

• Kaede (The Last Blade)

• Keiichiro Washizuka (The Last Blade)

• Kim Kaphwan (Fatal Fury)

• King Leo (Savage Reign)

• King Lion (Savage Reign)

• Kisarah Westfield (Aggressors of Dark Kombat)

• Kyo Kusanagi (The King of Fighters)

• Lee Pai Long (Art of Fighting)

• Mai Shiranui (Fatal Fury)

• Marco Rossi (Metal Slug)

• Mars People (Metal Slug)

• Mizuchi (original)

• Moriya Minakata (The Last Blade)

• Mr. Big (Art of Fighting)

• Mr. Karate II (Buriki One)

• Mudman (World Heroes)

• Nakoruru (Samurai Shodown)

• Neo Dio (World Heroes)

• Rock Howard (Fatal Fury)

• Robert Garcia (Art of Fighting)

• Shermie (The King of Fighters)

• Shiki (Samurai Shodown)

• Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury)

• Tung Fu Rue (Fatal Fury)

• Yuki (original)

Reception
IGN gave the game 7.3/10. HonestGamers gave a 4/5 review stating "A fun and challenging fighter with bits of SNK nostalgia makes this a great game." Cheat Code Central gave a 2.5/5 review stating "Neo Geo Battle Coliseum doesn't bring anything new at all to the fighting formula, instead choosing to place all of its stock in the nostalgia factor.", but claiming nostalgic fans of SNK would enjoy the game.