Your Top 5 Neo Geo Games (MVS)...Which are best?

[knave]

I need to find some good games but I have no idea.

Samurai Shodown looks good as does World Heros.  Which Versions are the best?

Are there any reviews or ratings around?

Please help me learn what to look for.

What are your top 5 Neo Geo Picks?

Thanks

[Jeff AMN]

My top 5:

Metal Slug 3
King of Fighters '99
Mark of the Wolves
Samurai Showdown II
Bust-a-Move

[Crowquill]

As mentioned in the "bringing home the cab" thread, there are a ton of great games. Here are some of my favorites:

Fighting - King Of Fighters (any, but 99 is my favorite), Samurai Shodown (I favor 2), Mark of the
            Wolves, Last Blade 2, Rage of the Dragons

Puzzle - Bust-a-move 1 & 2 (AKA Again), Puzzle de Pon, Magical Drop (any)

Beat-em-up - King of the monsters, Sengoku 2 & 3

Shooter - Prehistoric Isle 2, Blazing Star, Strikers 1945 Plus, Shock Troopers, Nam 1975 is OK.

Platform -  Any Metal Slug (3 is my favorite), Spinmaster, Magician Lord isn't too bad

Sports - Baseball Stars 2

1st-person fighting/shooting - Super Spy, Crossed Swords (always liked both of these but they don't
            really fit in any other category).

For the most info on Neo-Geo hardware see: www.hardmvs.com
For the most info on software: www.neo-geo.com (lots of reviews)

There are also several other decent fan sites that I can't find right now.

[ahofle]

Metal Slug series
Bust a Move/Puzzle Bobble
Viewpoint
Irritating Maze
Aerofighters/Sonic Wings 2/3, Strikers 1945 plus (all good shooers)

[DarkBubble]

Fatal Fury Special
Burning Fight (Sure, it's a blatant Final Fight rip-off, but it's still fun.)
Samurai Shodown 2
King of Fighters (Tie between '95, '97, '98, and '99)

I just realized that I stuck mostly to the fighters and beat-em-ups.  I think the first game I played on Neo was Magician Lord in '90.

[CheffoJeffo]

The carts that get the most play in our house are:

Metal Slug
Bust A Move
Spin Masters
King Of Fighters 98
Shock Troopers 2

Out of those, and the other carts, the only games that I really like are the Metal Slugs and Spin Masters, but Mrs. Cheffo plays Bust-A-Move a lot and the little chefs dig on the fighters and Shock Troopers.

Cheers.

[KenToad]

Definitely, Last Blade 2, Samurai Shodown 2 (with Last Blade ranked much higher) and the Metal Slug Series, which is comic frenetic fun for everyone.

[NoOne=NBA=]

The top 5 most played at my place are:

Bust-a-Move Again (Puzzle Bobble 2)
Neo-Bomberman
1945+
Neo Turfmasters (Much better golf game than Top Player's Golf)
Metal Slug 5 (I haven't gotten MS3 yet)

[pointdablame]

Most of my favorites have already been posted, but Windjammers is another great game that I didn't see mentioned.

[TOK]

All of the biggies have been covered. I also really enjoyed Neo Mr. Do. Fun to play, and really catchy music.

[notaburger]

i know that it was already mentioned buuuuuuuuut

windjammers all the way
it's the most frequently played game on my arcade
probably because it goes by so fast, so we can fit games in often

i didn't see snk vs. capcom mentioned
i haven't tried to run it but isn't it an mvs game?
maybe i'm mistaken

[MaximRecoil]

i know that it was already mentioned buuuuuuuuut

windjammers all the way
it's the most frequently played game on my arcade
probably because it goes by so fast, so we can fit games in often

i didn't see snk vs. capcom mentioned
i haven't tried to run it but isn't it an mvs game?
maybe i'm mistaken

It was available as both an MVS cartridge and as a complete JAMMA board.

[shardian]

Another vote for Windjammers.
Also really like Super Sidekicks soccer.

[JoyMonkey]

Last Resort is a nice horizontal shooter.
I'm a fan of Neo Turf Masters too.

[tetsu96]

Samurai Shodown II - arguably the best one control wise though the button configuration started changing after this one.

King of Fighters 98 - Huge roster of fighters, very fun feel to it.

Last Blade 2 - Probably about as perfect as fighters get (LB1 is great also).

Blazing Star - Fantastic game for showing off the Neo's hardware, lots of fun too.

Magician Lord - absolute Neo classic here (heck of a 1st gen title too).  I was never able to beat it on 1 quarter but could get up to the end boss on just one if I was hot.  Fair but not very forgiving.

Burning Fight?  Nah, take that off the list, it's pretty crappy (fun with other ppl, but still crappy).  There's worse though - Legend of Success Joe and Fight Fever immediately come to mind.

[Loki]

Pretty much most of my favorites have been mentioned in the posts before me... KOF, Metal Slug, Samurai Showdown... Last Blade 2 being the best

[KenToad]

Regarding Last Blade 2, yeah, the deflect button, where you could deflect most attacks and strike back by simply hitting the deflect button just as the opponent tries to attack, was a stroke of genius.  It's so satisfying, really well animated, and it levels the playing field a lot for people who don't care to learn the special moves.  You still have to time the moment when you hit deflect and it won't work if they duck at the last minute and hit you low.  It's one of the few fighters where I've seen actual parrying.  Also, people realize that they might get punished if they try to attack, so they wait or walk back and forth or just jump over, hoping to goad the other player into attacking.  The perfect counter to the button mashers from SFII and an absolute gem of a fighting game.

[Glaine]

Last Blade 2 hasn't left my Neo. It's just that good.
Ken: There have been other fighters like Garou (which used "Just defend") and SF (uses "alpha counters"), but I'll agree I can't time any counters well besides LB2...

Samurai Shodown 4. Uses 3 slash & 1 kick, way better than their traditional 2 slash 2 kick system IMO.

As others said, Metal Slug & Puzzle Bobble.
If you can afford and find them, Waku Waku 7 & Garou: Mark of the Wolves.

I also like King of Fighters 2000, 2001, and 2003.

2003 is uneven mainly because when you knock someone down, you can almost always perform a super on them when they stand up and the only thing that works typically is to roll out of the way on standing up, which the computer doesn't do. And the final boss isn't crazy hard like most other KOFs.

I would play SvC if it weren't for the fact that you aren't allowed to jump...every time you do, the computer air cancels you with an uppercut at an unbelievable success rate, the folks on killercabs.com seemed to agree. I DO suggest Capcom V SNK 2 for dreamcast, PS2, Naomi (it's arcade hardware motherboard), etc. WAY more, it rocks hard. But it isn't on neo. And I would still buy SvC if it weren't $60 most of the time on ebay, it isn't a bad game, but I find it's flaws irritating.

[4Aaron GE]

In no particular order, I've been playing mostly

Power Instinct Matrimelee
Metal Slug (choose one)
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Bust a Move
Strikers 1945

[fjl]

Nobody mentioned Pop'N Pop. Well actually I don't think it's a Neo-Geo game. Whatever, its made by the same company as the Puzzle Bobble series.

[vidmouse]

Personal Picks:

2020 Super Baseball (robots and chicks playing ball, what's not to love)
Ghost Pilots (critically canned but worth it to see a wide-angle shmup)
Last Blade 2 (try Samurai Sho 1 and 2 first, then try this)
King of Fighters 96
Metal Slug 1 (a first-love, no matter how good the rest are)
Samurai Shodown 1 and 2

[notaburger]

magical drop 3 is one of my most favorite games ever

[hbm*rais]

Most of my favorites have been mentioned, but I would add:

Money Puzzle Exchanger
Ultimate 11 (Super Sidekicks 4)

[RichSorr]

I don't really have a top 5. but I think Metal Slug and puzzle de pon is my favorite combo. I can play both of those games forever

[knave]

--Update--

I ended up ordering:

Last Blade
Magical drop 2
Puzzle bobble/bust a move

This brings me up to six games, these and three metal slugs. 
I am considering going for Neo turf masters for something different.
And I will continue to look for the other must haves once I get more $$$. 

Thanks for all the suggestions and keep them coming...