Completed this over the weekend and this game ticks a ridiculous number of boxes, including having the best character roster I think I've ever seen :ptu:
(http://www.hardcoregamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/bossdestructing.png)
Reminds me of Metalslug a bit but you being a Neo Geo owner knows Metalslug is proper good :D
I've been tempted to buy a pre-configured Raspberry Pi MAME setup but i don't know if they are powerful enough