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"WIP" King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match AES/MVS

I also have a Backbit Platinum, but if I understand correctly the backbit has 512Mb of CROM and it seems this romhack is provisioned for 768Mb.
 
I have just tested the pure ROM version on MiSTer after noticing that XML supports ROM ZIP files, and the same bug still occurs in the traffic stage. At this point, it may either be a limitation related to running on what would be considered original hardware, requiring some modification to the core to function properly.

Have you ever actually tested this on a real Neo Geo MVS or AES system, or was it only tested using emulators?
 
I'm working on an emulator that allows me to edit in hexadecimal in real time. For the graphics, I use various tools. I haven't tested it on real hardware, which is why I asked for help creating the .neo file, to share it and get feedback
 
I will wait for someone to test it on real hardware before opening an issue in the Neo Geo core’s Git repository. I do have both the AES and the MVS, but I do not have the EverDrive that is currently available on the market.

And once again, thank you very much for this hack, which is fantastic. In my opinion, KOF ‘98 is the best King of Fighters ever made, and the addition of the Ultimate version is the icing on the cake. 🤤
 
@patamar4 if you share the .neo file you're using, I'll run it on the NeoSD Pro.

I tried making a .neo file with NeoBuilder Homebrew, but the whole bottom row of characters is corrupted on the NeoSD Pro on real hardware. Not sure if I made the .neo right.
 
Danyo send me this message.

Here is the neo File:
https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/355dcf98-0e8c-4ffd-a64b-7cbf4027757a

The file is correct, as defined in the specifications. If it doesn't work on NeoSD Pro, it's a firmware issue. I just tested it quickly in Geolith. It works there. I did notice one small bug: When you play through the intro, the "CH" on the title screen for "Match" appears in black. But that was already the case in the old version.
Let me know if I can help you again.

Attachments​

  • Screenshot_20260527_192302_RetroArch Lite.jpg
    Screenshot_20260527_192302_RetroArch Lite.jpg
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  • Thx Danyo 👍
 
elrayzeur said:
Danyo send me this message.

Here is the neo File:
https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/355dcf98-0e8c-4ffd-a64b-7cbf4027757a

The file is correct, as defined in the specifications. If it doesn't work on NeoSD Pro, it's a firmware issue. I just tested it quickly in Geolith. It works there. I did notice one small bug: When you play through the intro, the "CH" on the title screen for "Match" appears in black. But that was already the case in the old version.
Let me know if I can help you again.

Attachments​

  • Screenshot_20260527_192302_RetroArch Lite.jpg
    Screenshot_20260527_192302_RetroArch Lite.jpg
    118.7 KB · Views: 0

  • Thx Danyo 👍
Click to expand...
Thanks. I tried that .neo on the NeoSD Pro. The graphics and some of the ADPCM are completely scrambled on this one.
 
elrayzeur said:
Danyo send me this message.

Here is the neo File:
https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/355dcf98-0e8c-4ffd-a64b-7cbf4027757a

The file is correct, as defined in the specifications. If it doesn't work on NeoSD Pro, it's a firmware issue. I just tested it quickly in Geolith. It works there. I did notice one small bug: When you play through the intro, the "CH" on the title screen for "Match" appears in black. But that was already the case in the old version.
Let me know if I can help you again.

Attachments​

  • Screenshot_20260527_192302_RetroArch Lite.jpg
    Screenshot_20260527_192302_RetroArch Lite.jpg
    118.7 KB · Views: 0

  • Thx Danyo 👍
Click to expand...
Is this version different from the 2020 version?

Thank you very much for sharing.
 
Thanks for sharing. I second the scrambled graphics. I tested it on the Neo Sd Pro vengeance Hunter edition and same result:

2026-05-27 22.39.58.jpg
 
Looking at the timer, I realize it's not the correct ROM version. I must have made a mistake when I sent it to Danyo. The graphics and sound issues are because the ROM isn't fully loaded. I'm going to work now; I'll check everything when I get back. Sorry, guys.
 
I tested the .neo file you just shared and it has the same CRC as the .neo file I had converted, so they must be the same files from 2020. The game runs normally (graphics and sound) on MiSTer — I’ve already finished it twice. Only the traffic stage has that video issue. I believe that none of these flashcarts will work due to limitations when loading such a large ROM.
 
That's expected unfortunately. The hardware itself is fine — the Neo Geo LSPC2 has a 20-bit sprite address space, so it can theoretically address up to 128 MB of C-ROM. The NeoSD Pro also has plenty of flash (480 MB). The bottleneck is the firmware: no official SNK title ever exceeded 64 MB of C-ROM, so the firmware was never built to handle anything beyond that. It most likely maps the C-ROM data incorrectly once it hits that boundary, which would explain both the scrambled graphics and the broken ADPCM.

The BackBit Platinum is out of the question entirely — its specs explicitly cap C-ROM support at 64 MB (512 Megabit), so this ROM exceeds its hard limit by 32 MB.

The Darksoft Multi MVS unfortunately won't work either. Each slot holds 768 Megabit (96 MB) for the entire game — P, S, M, V and C combined. Our ROM is 123 MB total, which exceeds the slot capacity by about 27 MB.

At this point MiSTer and Geolith are the only platforms where this runs correctly.
 
I did some research during my lunch break in french forum; i think if you usé the Bad Apple Demo method, the ROM should run on the SD Pro. You need to either empty slots 1/2 or 3/4 and then load it into slot 1 or 3. This is the method used to launch the Bad Apple ROM on the SD Pro. Bad Apple is 110MB.
 
elrayzeur said:
I did some research during my lunch break in french forum; i think if you usé the Bad Apple Demo method, the ROM should run on the SD Pro. You need to either empty slots 1/2 or 3/4 and then load it into slot 1 or 3. This is the method used to launch the Bad Apple ROM on the SD Pro. Bad Apple is 110MB.
Click to expand...
Good find. That might work.

Here's a comparison of the Bad Apple demo and KOF98UM .neo files:

Bad Apple Demo:
- P ROM: 4.00 MB
- S ROM: 128 KB
- M ROM: 64 KB
- V ROM: 5.00 MB
- C ROM: 98.00 MB
- Total: 107.19 MB

KOF98 Ultimate Match:
- P ROM: 7.00 MB
- S ROM: 256 KB
- M ROM: 256 KB
- V ROM: 20.00 MB
- C ROM: 96.00 MB
- Total: 123.50 MB

The C-ROM of Bad Apple is actually 2 MB larger than KOF98UM, and it already works on the NeoSD Pro using the two-slot method (flash to Slot 1 or Slot 3). Both ROMs fit comfortably within the 192 MB that two combined slots provide. The extra 16 MB of KOF98UM over Bad Apple comes entirely from the larger P, S, M and V ROMs — not the C-ROM. This strongly suggests the two-slot method should work for KOF98UM as well.

elrayzeur said:
Looking at the timer, I realize it's not the correct ROM version. I must have made a mistake when I sent it to Danyo. The graphics and sound issues are because the ROM isn't fully loaded. I'm going to work now; I'll check everything when I get back. Sorry, guys.
Click to expand...
I just checked again. You actually sent me the old version.
 
Last edited:
Sorry Danyo, i view that this morning, i will send you a New rom , after my work.
 
elrayzeur said:
I did some research during my lunch break in french forum; i think if you usé the Bad Apple Demo method, the ROM should run on the SD Pro. You need to either empty slots 1/2 or 3/4 and then load it into slot 1 or 3. This is the method used to launch the Bad Apple ROM on the SD Pro. Bad Apple is 110MB.
Click to expand...
This worked! Thanks.

The Esaka background with the cars is really glitchy. There's a brown vertical bar that's always toward the left side of the screen, and the screen turns completely blank at points.

There's also a popping sound playing in the audio constantly.

20260528_102715.jpg
 
Link to the latest .Neo ROM version 2025.
Compatible with Mister, Neosd Pro, and Geolith emulators.

To run the ROM on Neosd Pro, you need to erase slots 1/2 or 3/4 and upload the ROM to slot 1 or 3, depending on which slots you cleared. Tip found on neogeo-system.com, in the thread "How to run Bad Apple demo."

https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/7c6d281a-3c2b-4ac1-9f62-ca21140ae7ed

Many thanks to Danyo.

Ciao++
 
Unfortunately, even in the most recent version of the hack, the bug in the traffic stage still occurs. Additionally, during the introduction of the Korea Team, there was an instance where a character’s voice did not match the opponent. The opponent was Choi, but the voice sounded like Kim’s. This happened precisely at the moment when the two characters were facing each other before the fight. However, during Choi’s introduction, both his animation and his voice played normally.
 
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