I just run Metal Slug 1 - 5 (including X) on my softmodded Xbox. FBA-XXX Pro is a great Neo Geo emulator. You could also always try to find a good deal on the MVS Metal Slug games, I hear they go for much more reasonable prices.
And of course, it's worth paying for the satisfaction of not having 4 or 5 in your collection in any form.
ive played about 350+ hours of metal slug on mvs and probably about 100 on ports, none of the ports are really that worthwile, if you really enjoy playing metal slug mvs is the best option. you get used to the ports and the inaccuracies but if your going to be spending serious time on the games then go for mvs otherwise just enjoy whatever port you chose for what it is, it doesn't really matter what port as there isn't a perfect port in terms of gameplay they all have pretty similar disadvantages over the original format. if you get an mvs system get one that you can use the original classic neo geo sticks with, dont get a kidney stick or cdz pad they're horrible
I'm not too familiar with Neo Geo, what console plays the MVS cartridges (aside from the original arcade machine that is)? The home console version plays AES carts doesn't it?
aes is the home system so is plug and play with a tv, the mvs system (multi video system) its basically just a console but it has arcade outputs for video, sound and controls so doesn't work directly with a tv. you get an "adapter" called a supergun to run it on a tv through a scart cable and small speakers and you can have a custom arcade stick or various standard console pads to play it with depending on the supergun. otherwise a mvs wired cabinet to play it in, a jamma cabinet will work but the sound will be messed up. check - hard mvs for info about the different types of mvs motherboards (consoles) and their respective wiring types one or two or jamma the rest are mvs (sound problems with a jamma supergun) and what ones have built in controller ports and look into jamma as an arcade format to familiarise yourself with how it works if you decide to get a cabinet. i can only quote prices in uk£ and it varies dependant on region us/japan being the cheapest because of supply uk isn't too expensive but probably about 25% more expensive than stuff in america/japan and i havent really seen autralian prices for neo stuff so couldn't say what sort of prices your looking at there, but i would look at getting stuff from japan if i were in australia looking for neo stuff motherboard - 30-70 for a single slot (there are 2 that are more desirable one due to size and the other having controller ports they are at the higher end of the scale most are 30-45), 60-80 for a 2 or 4slot (both have controller ports and the 2 slot has a built in memory card reader) i would recommend the 2 or the 4 as it saves swapping round games and has controller ports so you can use official controlers/sticks rather than a snes or megadrive pad or making a custom stick. games english cartridge only reasonable to good condition, japanese/poor conditon carts are about 20% cheaper ms1-25-40 ms2-25-30 msx-35-45 ms3-35-50 ms4-35-45 ms5-50-65 you can get a multi game with them all on it for about 60-85 i think but ive never played one so couldn't say what the quality is like but i think its 1:1 with the originals controllers - classic neo geo stick - 25-40 pretty scarce at the minute (dont bother with the other official controllers) custom stick - ~30 if you can put it together yourself ~60-70 if you get one made or have an official stick for a console system modded supergun - anywhere from 15-250 -the cheap ones do the job but are no frills (you need to get speakers, psu, scart and controllers spearately) and were what i used when i first got my neo, the expensive ones have everything built in in response to the comments above - 350+ hours is across all the games on mvs format, i can 1cc 1 any day of the week and have got 3 down to about 3-4 credits regularly. i'd personally rather pay £40+ on a classic arcade game in original format i know ill come back to regularly than something on a modern system that will interest me for ~20 hours and ill never think about it again. i spent over £100 for an original rainbow islands board but have spent over 200 hours on it s to me it was worth it. as for aes games they are not worth the price people are asking for them imo. but if i had the money sitting spare they would be on a list of things to acquire