Legend of Success Joe
Japanese Neo Geo AES cover art
Developer(s)	Wave Corporation
Publisher(s)	SNK
Producer(s)	Teruo Ohira
Designer(s)	Kenichiro Matsumoto Koji Tomoto
Programmer(s)	Hirofumi Sakaue Takashi Iehara
Series	Ashita no Joe
Platform(s)	Arcade, Neo Geo AES
Release	Arcade JP: July 1991[1] Neo Geo AES JP: 30 August 1991[2]
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up, fighting, sports
Mode(s)	Single-player
Arcade system	Neo Geo MVS

Legend of Success Joe^[a] is a boxing video game developed by Wave Corporation and released for the Neo Geo arcade and home system. The game is based on Tomorrow's Joe , a manga created by Tetsuya Chiba and Asao Takamori in the early 1970s that was also adapted into several anime series. The game is also the first Neo Geo title developed by a third-party company. The game had a home system launch price of approximately US$200. While not released outside of Japan, a complete English translation can be seen when played on non-Japanese systems, which retitles the game's name.

Gameplay

The player stars as Joe Yabuki, an aspiring boxer, as he goes from an unknown kid from the rough side of town to a boxing champion. The game follows the traditional beat 'em up format, with some portions taking place inside a boxing ring and others taking place in the back alleyways, as Joe trains, fights thugs, and then fights in the boxing ring.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Legend of Success Joe on their August 15, 1991 issue as being the tenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as Hat Trick Hero.^[8] Despite the notability of the source material, the game was reviewed very poorly and did not receive a release outside Japan. It is widely considered one of the worst games for the Neo Geo system, with common complaints being very poor gameplay control, inadequate graphics and poor animation on a system that was touted as not having these issues.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]}