Quote:
Originally posted by dave
Alright vsp, educate me on the ways of the Neo Geo Pocket Color.
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Like many others, it tried to take down the Game Boy Empire.
"They tried and failed?" "They tried and died." (ObDune)
It had superior specs when compared to the Game Boy Color, but it was seriously outmatched by the GBC's game library and Nintendo's marketing, so it croaked. I grabbed three for $20 apiece from my local EB outlet, along with an assortment of games, and I've gotten some pretty serious mileage out of it.
The system has very good battery life -- way into double-digit hours on an average set of two AA's. Its screen is fine in average roomlight, but you'll squint without a good light source, and (unfortunately) the only light I know of isn't a straight plug-in like the GBC's. I have a Worm Light knockoff that plugs into a special rechargeable battery pack, which adds slightly to the bulk of the system.
There is no territorial lockout, much like the GBs; Japanese games work fine.
As for the games:
* Puzzle games include Bust-a-Move Pocket (not bad, though touchy on the small screen), Magical Drop Pocket (similar to the NeoGeo versions), Puzzle Link 2 (just different enough from Magical Drop to be interesting) and Puyo Pop (typical Puyo Puyo blob-dropping fun). I have BaM and PL2, and both are decent.
* There are some surprisingly decent SNK fighters for the system -- King of Fighters, Last Blade, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown 1 and 2, Gals' Fighters, SNK Vs. Capcom: Match of the Millenium. If you can get around the two-button controls, they're not bad.
* Crush Roller and Pac-Man are classic maze games, but hard to control.
* Shanghai Mini is very nice, if you can find it.
* Sonic is exactly what you'd expect from a Sonic game.
* Metal Slug: 1st Mission and 2nd Mission are spot-on arcade ports. VERY nice for being on a small screen.
* BioMotor Unitron is a primitive RPG that's reasonably entertaining. It's about the only RPG on the system worth noting.
* The shining jewel of the lineup is SNK vs. Capcom: Cardfighter's Clash. There are two editions (SNK and Capcom); the core games are the same, but each plays slightly differently in places, and you'd need access to both editions to get certain cards.
It's a deceptively simple card-battle game; there aren't a ton of strategic nuances, but just enough that you'll keep fine-tuning your deck in small increments once you get to know your opponents. You'll spend lots of time battling the same opponents over and over to build up cards (wins earn you 3-5 random cards, depending on the opponent), but it didn't get old for me -- to this day, I can spend ungodly amounts of time playing it, trying to beat my record for winning the game (just over four hours in total speed mode, with some luck). There are also lots of cards that can't be won until AFTER you've beaten the game, along with a new mixed-deck mode.
There isn't much of a story mode to it -- in other words, you won't be wandering the countryside, hunting down the Holy Fondue Fork that the Temple Adept needs before he'll give you the Magic Wobble Orb necessary to defeat the Fudge Dragon, or anything like that. Apart from a few set events, it's straight-up card battling, and what you get is what you earn in matches.
More notes on request.