An Intro to the Neo Geo Pocket

 

 

1. Neo Geo Pocket • Compatible with all monochrome games • Compatible with roughly 50% color games	2. Neo Geo Pocket Color • Compatible with all games	3. New Neo Geo Pocket Color • Compatible with all games • Smaller size as compared to NGPC • Better audio

 

There really isn’t a reason to own the original monochrome version unless it’s solely for collecting purposes. Either color variation is a worthy purchase.

 

The Neo Geo Pocket line includes 10 monochrome titles and 73 color ones. While there are, unfortunately, quite a few gambling games, the library is, on a whole, incredibly strong. There is also a greater variety of genres than is found on the AES or MVS, but, of course, fighting games still figure prominently. In general, if the game was released in NA or PAL regions, it’s likely worth a look.


Recommendations

Listing all the good games would require writing about half the entire library. As such, written below are just a few of the gems to be found.

SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium is clearly the best game on the system, and was undoubtedly the greatest handheld fighter at the time of its release. (Pretty much all of the other fighting games are also worth a look.)

 

Metal Slug 1st Mission and Metal Slug 2nd Mission are worthwhile run ‘n guns and do the famed series proud.

 

Neo Turf Masters does a more than respectable job representing its arcade counterpart.

 

 

SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter’s Clash is a wildly addictive game suitable for fans of both SNK and Capcom.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure is a great Sonic game very much in the spirit of the original Sonic trilogy.

 

Faselei! is a strategy RPG rather unlike any other in which enemy actions in battle have to be predicted in advance.

 

Dark Arms: Beast Buster is an overhead shooter with RPG elements and a horror atmosphere.

 

 

You also pretty much can’t go wrong with any of the puzzle games on the system.

 

 

 

Battery Life: You can expect an astounding 40 hours of life from two AAA batteries for the Pocket or two AA for the Pocket Color.

Screen: The console's screen is quite visible in decent lighting despite it not being backlit. (This is no Gameboy Advance!)

Microswitched Thumbstick: Rather than have a directional pad like so many other handhelds, the Pocket line boasts a microswitched thumbstick that is an absolute joy to use.

High-quality Library: The quality of the average title is rather high and most genres have at least some decent representation.

 

Cons: ❌

Small Library: While the library has a number of standout titles, it is, admittedly, rather small.

Audio Output: This could have been better and was rectified with the New Neo Geo Pocket Color.