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The 2024 Neo Geo shoot 'em up Project Neon is coming to modern consoles, starting today with Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and the Xbox Windows App.
So, if you don't fancy paying Neo Geo prices, this could be your ticket to finally getting your hands on the title at a much more affordable price.
Project Neon, in case you haven't heard of it before, is the debut title from homebrew developer FULLSET, who is also behind the 8-player Bomberman-inspired party game Overserved, coming to Neo Geo and other platforms.
Originally announced in 2019, the shoot 'em up was released for the Neo Geo MVS and Neo Geo AES five years after that, taking the form of a 1-2-player vertical/TATE-style shmup in which players embark on a mission to track down a visionary scientist who is the key to saving Earth from the brink of ecological collapse.
For years, its project lead, Sascha Reuter, has teased that versions for modern platforms were on the cards, but it seems the studio is just now getting around to it, with Xbox customers being the first, outside of the core Neo Geo audience, to get the opportunity to buy it.
Following that, versions for Steam (Windows, macOS, Linux), Apple (iOS, tvOS, macOS) devices, and the Google Play Store (Android) are expected to drop tomorrow, with PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch owners having to wait a bit longer (August 6th for PlayStation/August 13th for Nintendo).
As FULLSET states in a Twitter/X announcement, the August 1st dates could slip by a day or two depending on approval times, but the rest of these dates are firmly locked in.
"There’s a lot of care that went into these native ports," Reuter told Time Extension in an email. "And all the quality of life improvements, fixes, etc. are also rolling out to our Neo Geo cartridges via over-the-air updates in August with the v1.2.3 update!"
Something to note is that these aren't the only platforms Project Neon will launch on, with further versions also planned for retro consoles, including the N64, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast.