At the time when the Neo Geo Pocket Color was released, I, like many others, didn't buy it because I wanted a Game Boy Color. SNK, although extremely successful in Japan, was not able to match the popularity of Nintendo's well-marketed new handheld console in America. Sadly, SNK USA eventually went under and the Neo Geo Pocket Color disappeared from shelves.
Although the Neo Geo Pocket Color didn't sell as well as Nintendo's Game Boy Color in America, that is not to say that it didn't deserve more credit than it was given. The NGPC arguably has the best fighting game titles of any handheld console. Games such as SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Milennium, King of Fighters R-2, Samurai Showdown 2, and Fatal Fury: First Contact are part of what the NGPC is still best known for. The built-in thumbstick also gives fighting game fans the option of straying from the traditional directional pad on a handheld console and allows for a much better way of playing the quarter-circle oriented games. Aside from the SNK fighting game titles, the NGPC hosted a slew of wonderful (and very addictive) puzzle games, including Bust-A-Move, Puzzle Link, and Magical Drop.
For some people, the problem with the Neo Geo Pocket Color was the lack of variety on the part of its games' genres. For those who weren't fans of fighting or puzzle games the NGPC really didn't have a lot to offer (at least not enough to buy what used to be a $69 console.) Although the NGPC had a fair number of sports titles and classic hits such as Pac-Man, Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure, Metal Slug: First Strike, and Pocket Sports Series - Baseball Stars, it just wasn't enough to compete with Nintendo's ever-growing list of popular games. There were a few RPG's made for the NGPC, but most kids fell to the lures of Nintendo's new Pokemon games instead.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color has the ability to play imported games, which is very nice since some NGPC games, like Last Blade, were not released in America. The games will obviously still be in Japanese when you play them, but they can be played on the American console. My only real complaint about the NGPC is the lack of a backlit screen, but when the NGPC came out most handheld consoles didn't have that feature (if they did, they ate batteries like crazy - *cough* Sega Game Gear). The thumbstick was a wonderful addition to the console and allowed for much better gameplay than did consoles with only directional pads. Overall, the Neo Geo Pocket Color was a very sophisticated (and sadly, overlooked) console with the best good-to-bad game ratio of all handheld systems. I would recommend any serious gamer to get one, especially if you enjoy great fighting games. The Neo Geo Pocket Color didn't get all the attention it deserved, but it really did bring a whole new dimension to the world of video games.
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