i’m going to use this post to reminisce over something i TOTALLY forgot existed. so i was going through my closet the other night and rediscovered my Neo Geo Pocket Color!
some of you may be saying “what the fuck is this Neo Pocket Color Geo Color doo hickie?”. well my friends, you’re in luck, because i’m going to remind you. the Neo Geo Pocket color was one of the very few hand held competitors that actually held its own for a short amount of time against Nintendo’s infamous GameBoy.
the NGPC was created by the company SNK back in 1999. SNK were very well known for their Neo Geo home console in Japan as well as numerous famous arcade games. These include Metal Slug, Fatal Fury, and yes, King of Fighters. there was actually first just a Neo Geo Pocket which was the same thing but black and white only. the color version is one of the few systems that was forward compatible with the games.
READ MORE ABOUT THE NEO GEO POCKET COLOR AND ITS BEST GAME AFTER THE JUMP!
when turning on the NGPC for the first time in years, i was reminded how horrible it was playing hand helds without a back-lit screen. i was also reminded of how awesome the system’s joystick was. it had an actual joystick that clicked like an arcade stick on it. this was perfect for fighters.
the system itself came in six different colors which were all much cooler than any other hand held out at the time. the chiptune-esque music that came from the NGPC’s games were extremely well done and had a specific feel to them that other game systems never replicated.
while the system’s lifespan wasn’t very long in the United States, it continued to be sold in Japan for years. i feel that if the NGPC had a back-lit screen and maybe wireless multiplayer instead of a link cable it could still do well in the world of hand helds today. some noteworthy games for the system were Metal Slug 1st & 2nd Mission, King of Fighters R-2, SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters, Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, and of course SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium.
SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium is to this day still considered the absolute best traditional fighting game for a hand held. it was very similar to Capcom Vs SNK 1 & 2 for the arcade. the game even received a perfect 10/10 on IGN.com when it released. it used a specific style of “chibi” sprites of famous characters from Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Darkstalkers, etc.
check out the video below demonstrating some of the possible combos in MOTM complete with really strange music some d-bag threw in. for a hand held to pull off such polished gameplay for a fighter is very impressive; even today.
nothing was more satisfying than landing a super-360 pile-driver with chibi Zangief on your friends dick while you sat in the back seat of your mom’s mini van.
so yeah, forever will the NGPC hold a close place in my heart. it had a ton of potential. but as usual, not the right audience in America at the time. are Neo Geo Pocket Colors going to be the new “hip” way to game while you’re waiting on the metro? who the hell knows. what i do know is if you’re a fan of old shcool games and want to try a great fighter with friends when you travel, pick this system and game up on eBay right now.
Tags: Ryu, sonic, sakura, kyo, iori, neo geo pocket color, ngpc, capcom vs snk, match of the millennium, terry bogard, fighters
July 7, 2009 at 5:11 pm |
lol my friend had an NGPC. He loved it. He was really into fighting games. I thought it was cool, but I didn’t dish out the dough for it since I was happy with my Gameboy and NES at that time.
July 7, 2009 at 5:14 pm |
I picked one up a few months ago, and I still use it. It’s so fucking good.