What is neogeo-rom-extractor?

NeoGeo ROM Extractor is a Python tool for converting legally owned PC releases of classic Neo Geo arcade games into ROM files that emulators like MAME or FBNeo can run. It does not include any ROMs, BIOS files, or copyrighted game data itself, instead it reads files a user already owns from a purchased PC release and rebuilds them into the ZIP format emulators expect. The tool works through per-game modules. Each supported title has its own module that defines where its source files live, how big those files should be, and the exact steps needed to turn them into a working ROM, such as slicing files, joining pieces back together, searching for a chunk by its checksum, applying byte-level patches, or decoding the graphics data the Neo Geo hardware used. About 30 games are supported so far, including titles like Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, The Last Blade, and King of the Monsters 2. Two titles, Metal Slug 4 and The King of Fighters 2003, are flagged as special cases because they are rebuilt from a mix of parent and clone files rather than a clean full set, so the README warns against reorganizing their output with a ROM manager tool. To use it, a person places the extractor's folder alongside their existing game folders, for example next to Steam, GOG, or Amazon Games installs, then runs it. It automatically scans nearby folders, detects which supported games are present, verifies the source files by their hash, and writes finished ROM ZIPs into an extracted_neogeo output folder. It also has an option to copy any existing neogeo.zip files it finds alongside the detected games, though those copied files are the original source or vendor ZIPs and are not verified or rebuilt by the tool itself. The project only needs Python 3.10 or newer and works on Windows, macOS, and Linux with no extra packages required beyond the standard library. It is aimed at people preserving and playing their own legally purchased Neo Geo game collections on emulators, not at obtaining or sharing ROM files they do not already own.