This arrived for me on Saturday morning - having decided to treat myself to one for no other reason than I’d been meaning to get one for ages. After debilitating for a while whether to spend a bit extra and go for the properly boxed versions of games rather than the cart-only games which are available in abundances (I have no source but I’m sure I read somewhere that when SNK realised that they were going to have to stop making the NGPC due to lack of funds, they’d already manufactured a certain amount of game cartridges, and a lot less boxes. Hence, many games are available widely in just their plastic shells rather than the full clamshell cases) I went for the fully-boxed versions and the wretched nerd inside me absolutely loves it.
SNK stuff is renound for maintaining value and attracting collectors. Now I finally own some of their output, I can see why:
That’s a totally mint and complete copy of Puzzle Bobble Mini. There’s the cart, its shell, three instruction manuals (English/Italian/German), an orange warning leaflet and a pink slip with SNK’s worldwide addresses on. The outer case itself is reminiscent of a Megadrive case, only these have a ’snap-lock’ mechanism that keeps them shut. For a handheld, the boxes are ludicrously well-constructed and in many cases can add a fair amount of value to a game.
Naturally, if the pink slip is missing then the value is reduced - any mint-condition collectors won’t be as interested and hence the price you can feasibly charge for it drops.
Yes, it is absolutely crazy but for some reason holding a physically quality product can send people giddy - it appears I’m one of them… I’ve purposefully held off buying the ‘real’ Neo Geo console - I think the absolutely huge boxes and ludicrously-sized carts would just see me spiralling into a huge debt problem!
The games are astonishing too, especially for the era. Standouts so far are Puzzle Bobble Mini - which is basically Puzzle Bobble with slightly different graphics to account for the fact that it’s, er, mini; Metal Slug 1st and 2nd Mission1, which aren’t ports of the Neo Geo AES games, rather brand new titles in their own right; Sonic Pocket Adventure, which is reportedly the best Sonic game in ages; and SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium, which is a one-on-one fighting game in the vein of every other SNK/Capcom offering. What’s strange about this one is just how well it flows and plays - most handheld fighters have been a massive drossy mess, but this manages to capture the feel of a ‘real’ fighter amazingly, somehow. I’m not even going to speculate on how. The NGPC’s mini-joystick controller really helps with the awkward specials, too (Shoryuken, anyone?)…
Definitely well impressed from both a games and sad nerd point of view, a real shame this little thing didn’t sell massive quantities - perhaps it’s just a huge irony that there was functionality in Match of the Millenium to connect to the Sega Dreamcast.
It’s almost worth getting annoyed over; the best doesn’t always win.
1: Metal Slug: 2nd Mission has this gem on the back of the outer case…
‘Works exciusivery with NEOGEO POCKET COLOR. Not works with other hardware.’
