There are three things in reference to the Neo Geo CD being simpler:
1) The graphics hardware it uses is not exactly the same
2) The emulator for it is MUCH simpler than any existing MVS emulator because it does not include raster emulation, which is relatively complex and requires a lot of additional processor time. The reason for this is that relatively there are very few CD games that use raster effects.
3) The emulator can be run without sound effects to a much nicer end result than most since (if used legitimately) it can stream CD audio loslessly.
All in all NeoCD is much more portable than any MVS emulator.