The SNK company, founded in 1978, has developed a lot of games for the arcades and some titles for 8-bit systems, before releasing the Neo Geo and MVS. This article's goal is to retrace the course of the company during the twelve years that preceded the advent of its famous 16-bit machine. This is the time to remember a few hits of the past, or maybe discover some marvels you never heard before... This is also an opportunity to highlight some filiations. You will discover in this article arcade coin-up released in the eighties that inspired some famous titles on the Rolls-Royce of videogames. Welcome dear reader, in the heart of the company that gave birth a few years later to the Neo Geo.

FULL LIST OF SNK GAMES RELEASED BETWEEN 1978 & 1990

1979 

 Ozma Wars

 Safari Rally

1980 

 Sasuke vs. Commander

1981 

 Fantasy

 Satan of Saturn / Zarzon

 Vanguard

1982 

 Lasso

 Pioneer Baloon

1983 

 Joyful Road / Munch Mobile

 Marvin's Maze

1984 

 Gladiator 1984

 Jumping Cross

 Mad Crasher

 Main Event

 Vanguard II

1985 

 ASO - Armored Scrum Object / Alpha Mission

 HAL21

T.N.K. III / T.A.N.K.

1986 

 Athena

Ikari Warriors

Meijinsen

Victory Road

1987 

 Bermuda Triangle / World Wars

Guerilla War / Guevara

Mahjong Block Jongbou

Psycho Soldier

Touchdown Fever

1988 

 Chopper I

Fighting Golf / Country Club

Fighting Soccer

Gold Medalist

P.O.W. - Prisoners of War / Datsugoku - Prisoners of War

Paddle Mania / Touchdown Fever 2

1989 

 Beast Busters

Ikari III - The Rescue

Mechanized Attack

The Next Space

Prehistoric Isle in 1930

SAR - Search And Rescue

Street Smart

Super Champion Baseball

1990 

Crystalis

During its first twelve years of existence, the firm managed to build a serious reputation in the world of arcades, and just by taking a look at the list above, you can see it's fulfilled with various great arcade games. The editor is present on all fronts, and tries its talent at many different styles, offering sometimes remarkable innovations. By 1990, SNK completely abandoned development on other arcade platforms to devote himself solely to MVS and AES. It would be difficult to present here all of the SNK titles released before the Neo Geo, but let's rather review a few emblematic games in which the firm has built its reputation and success, as well as other less famous ones, but which might have generated more or less recognizable filiations on the 16-bit system.