The Neo Geo CD first hit store shelves in 1994, acting as a follow-up to the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System from 1990. Created by SNK, a company best known for their exemplary arcade fighting games like The King of Fighters franchise, the system offered significant technological leaps for its time. Boasting a CD drive instead of ROM cartridges and games that were more affordable than before, the Neo Geo CD was a hefty powerhouse, but it wasn’t without its problems.
"With just this handful of basic components and a bit of spare time, you'll be able to run your entire Neo Geo CD library straight from the SD card of your choice."
Undoubtedly, the biggest issue was the load times, which could exceed several minutes for a single game to boot. Luckily, if you’re a console owner who’s sick of waiting for your games to load or a retro enthusiast who wants to spice up some older hardware, we’ve got the perfect mod to fix the Neo Geo CD!
The Best Neo Geo CD Mod to Fix Your System
Waiting around while your game loads up is never fun when it takes forever, which is why the Furrtek Neo CD SD Loader mod is here to save the day. This mod kit is relatively easy to install, with only a few parts to add to your base system. In addition to the main Neo CD SD Loader component, the kit also includes a lengthy ribbon cable, as well as a custom SD card adapter, a 10-pin header and a 3-pin header, as well as some wire to bring it all together. With just this handful of basic components and a bit of spare time, you’ll be able to run your entire Neo Geo CD library straight from the SD card of your choice.
Installing this mod takes a bit of time and patience, but with the right tools and our step-by-step Furrtek Neo CD SD Loader installation guide, you should be able to tackle this project with confidence. In short, you’ll need to remove the top half of the console casing, the controller board, and the AV board, making sure to delicately detach any ribbon cables and wires. Afterward, you’ll need to also remove the mid-frame, exposing the motherboard. This is where the bulk of the installation process occurs and will require some soldering experience. For this portion of the installation, we recommend you check out our aforementioned video guide.
Once you’ve attached all the necessary components, you can feed the ribbon cable back through the mid-frame and begin reassembly, stopping to solder together the SD card adapter and attach it to the board located in the top half of the console casing. Once you’ve attached all the appropriate ribbon cables, you’ll be good to go!
Furrtek Neo CD SD Loader Pros and Cons
Of course, the Neo CD SD Loader will instantly provide you with faster load times, but there are a few more awesome features worth mentioning. Firstly, adding Neo Geo CD games to the SD card is as simple as can be. Simply copy the .BIN and .CUE files from your backed up games to the root folder of the SD card by using PC and you’re all set. Once you boot up the system, all of your games will be arranged in alphabetical order for easier browsing.
Better yet, even with the mod installed, you can still use the CD drive to play your original disc copies. If you want to backup your save data, you can also dump it to the SD card straight from the console for safekeeping. Best of all, this mod is completely reversible and does not require any cutting, so you can remove it at any time.
All things considered, the Furrtek Neo CD SD Loader is an excellent mod that any Neo Geo CD owner should jump on as soon as they become available. There are very few downsides to the kit, as we only experienced a few hassles during the installation process. However, these negatives far outweigh the benefits, as the Furrtek Neo CD SD Loader definitely earns our seal of approval!
