NeoGeo Pocket. any suggestions?

[dj2times]

Just went to my gf parents house this weekend a couple hours away from my home town. Decided to go "huntin" at some of their local game stores and ran into a NeoGeo pocket... i hadnt heard of this handheld before since im not too familiar with the NeoGeo family... but i picked it up since i hadnt seen it in any of the many local game stores located in Columbus, Ohio (where i live).
Picked it up for $25 with 3games. Fatal Fury, Samouri Showdown and Turf Masters....
Curious if this was a good purchase?
any one else have one that has any suggestions on games to look for ect?

[ganonbanned]

it was and ok deal, my brother got one with 6 games, the batteries (including the memory thing) all unopened for $45.

[RetroYoungen]

The Pocket Color is an awesome handheld, some of the best handheld games I've ever played are on that thing. Samurai Showdown 2 is a lot of fun, SNK vs. Capcom is unbelievably great (not JUST for a handheld system), Cardfighters Clash (a card-battle game kind of in the style of the Pokemon TCG on Game Boy) is one of the best portable RPGs... and a lot of the imports I've found are definately worth the price (which isn't that high to begin with).

As for other games to look for, here are my suggestions:

Oekaki Puzzle/Picture Puzzle - It's the same basic premise as Mario Picross on the GB, color in the right squares on the grid to uncover the picture.

Cardfighters Clash - Already talked about it, but worth a second mention.

Sonic Pocket Adventure - Sonic 2 from the Genesis on a handheld with all of the speed and NO slowdown.

NeoGeo Cup '98 - A good soccer game that might have made it to Europe, but not released in the US. A good portable soccer game.

Biomotor Unitron - An RPG that has you building up your robot to fight monsters and other 'bots in a stadium. A solid (but simple) portable RPG.

Puyo Pop and Bust-a-Move Pocket - Two of the best arcade puzzle games on a partable system, and translated to that system PERFECTLY. All of the charm is still there, even with the little cutscenes taken out.

Yeah. I love the NGPC, there's some great stuff for it. That's just the beginning.

[MrRoboto19XX]

Based on the fact that you now have the system needed to play cardfighters clash alone, $25 is worth it.

Turfmasters is great, as is Motm. Only things Id steer clear of are Crush Roller, and Bust a move pocket (or whatever its called).

Great system, both to play and to collect for.

Oh, dynamite slugger is good too.

[cyberfluxor]

NeoGeo has some sweet stuff. I have yet to break into what they have to offer but right now I have a pocket color on hold that's mint, complete with box/instructions that's nearly new. I think he said either $29.99 or $39.99, can't remember but it's all good because you can pick up bulk games on eBay easily. He had a few games in there awhile back but they sold out and the games rarely pop up in the stores around me.

The price is pretty good for those games and I'm sure some good gameplay will be taken out of them for those are some of the best for the system.

Some games to get too:
Metal Slug, Pac-man, Puzzle Bobble

Also, this belongs in the classic discussion.
Don't forget to add it to the "June Finds" topic!

[c0ldb33r]

Good find! I'd really like to get into Neogeo pocket myself. I've never had one.

Good job

[j_factor]

A good 90% of all released NGPC games are worth playing. It's a nice little system, if a bit too low-tech.

Of interest, though I'm not sure if it's really worth tracking down, is a cable they released that connects the NGPC system to a Dreamcast. It's similar to the GC-GBA cable; there are link functions between games such as King of Fighters Dream Match and King of Fighters R2. What you actually get, I'm not sure.

[Vectorman0]

You need these spectacular games:
SNK vs. Capcom Match of the Millenium
SNK vs. Capcom Cardfighters Clash (either version)
Metal Slug 1st Mission
Metal Slug 2nd Mission
Neo Turf Masters
Any of the other fighters

Other less involved but fun games include:
Magical Drop Pocket
Bust a Move Pocket
Shanghai Mini
Pac-Man
Crush Roller
Pocket Tennis

These games are good, but they may not be right for you:
Biomotor Unitron
Dark Arms Beast Buster
Faselei!

The other games like the casino ones are pretty decent, but they are what they are and aren't very deep at all. Baseball Stars Pocket is pretty lame, and I don't recommend it.

[SolidZach]

Faselei! is a great game. There is a guy on e ebay that will put a internal light in your system for 40 bucks.

[Candycab]

Is it a Pocket or a Pocket Color ?

There are quite a few games that are Pocket Color only ,so beware of that if its not a Color.

Ive owned a Color for several years now and its a pretty good little machine with many enjoyable games. i pretty much agree with the games that others suggested but will dump my 2cents in aswell.

You already have one of if not the best handheld golf games ever made in Turfmasters, something I didnt see mentioned that is worth picking up is Baseball Stars Professional.
Dynamite Slugger is also worth a look and sports some very nice graphics that probably rival a GBA.

In short I think you did ok at that price ,sure you probably could have gotten more games in a deal elsewhere but I think once you get into it you will find it was money well spent ,provided its a Color model.

Even if it is just a standard black and white model the games available are still worth getting into.

[Trebuken]

All I can add is that I've been to every game store in the Columbus OH area many times and can testify that you will likely never see a Neo Geo Pocket game for sale...maybe at one of the Flea Markets...

Later,
Trebuken

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

If you guys ever get to the Toledo area, check out Video Game Underground (they have a website www.vgug.com). I've never been there myself, I don't even life anywhere near Ohio, but I know the guy that owns it and he's cool and it sounds like he has a pretty good selection, including Neo Geo Pocket stuff (actually, I know him from a Neo Pocket web forum).

My recommendations for the Neo Pocket:

First of all, Ganbare Neo Poke-kun. This is the best game on the system and one of the best video games ever. It's a mix of a sort of virtual pet-like section with incredibly off humor and a bunch of minigames satirizing the history of video games from the Pong era to puzzlers and 2d fighters to girl-get sims, mech battles and rhythm games. Many of the minigames are incredibly enjoyable and would make great games on their own (others are throw-aways, of course) and the sim part has such a great sens eof humor and such mysterious mechanics and "gameplay" that it's sure to keep you entertained. I really can't say enough about Ganbare Neo Poke-kun. It's a truly fabulous game.

Second, of course, has to be all the fighters. It's what SNK is known for and the Neo Geo Pocket lives up to the name. The two that you already have are actually the least impressive on the system in my opinion (is it Samurai Shodown! 1 or 2 that you have?), but even they are really better than any 2d fighters on any other handheld system. My favorite on the system is Last Blade, it's just magnificiently solid, lacks absolutely none of the gameplay of the MVS versions. Most people rank Match Of The Millenium as the top and it's only a hair nehind Last Blade in my opinion, especially when you add in all the minigames. My only criticism of it is that it doesn't quite hold together as well as Last Blade or the King Of Fighters Neo Pocket games, but that's really only because all the various fighting styles of all the characters in it from all their different games are so well captured (much better than in the other Capcom vs. SNK and SNK vs. Capcom fighters) but don't always mix well. Lastly, Gals Fighters also deserves a mention. It uses the same engine as the King Of Fighters games on the Neo Geo Pocket, so it's really something like King Of Fighters R-3. Both King Of Fighters games on the Neo Pocket (the fighters, not Battle de Paradise, that's crap) are good, but Gals Fighters is a little nicer in my opinion. It doesn't have all the options and modes of KoF:R-2, but the actual fighting is more polished and perfected.

Since no one else has mentioned it, I'll also recommend Puzzle Link. That's my favorite puzzler on the system. I found the AI in Puyo Pop too hard, Magical Drop is a bit too frenzied and Bust-a-Move...well, Bust-a-Move is lame. Puzzle Link is just right, though, like a Puzzle Game should be. It's an original puzzle concept and a lot of fun. There's not really much difference betweeen Puzzle Link 1 and 2, get either one you can find.


...word is bondage...

[Julio III]

Card Fighters Clash
One of my favourite games ever and is just really good fun. I guess even better if you are a Capcom or SNK fan. If you like collectible card games or pokemon style things then this is for you. Out of the games i've played on the system easily the best

Any of the fighters, I've only got KoF-R2 but i can play that for hours. Match of the Millenium probably has the biggest line-up and well, get whatever you can get your hands on / feel like paying.


And to Sweater Fish - you really think Ganbare Neo Poke Kun is the best on the system? I played it for a couple weeks and then put it down because it was frustratingly slow at unlocking new games faster - any hints on how to do it. The virtual pet animations are amusing the first time, but after the 10th, not so, and after the 100th, well. Some of the minigames are great fun so far and i guess they get better as the game goes on but i think i've hit a section of annoying ones i didn't like much. Its a grand idea though and maybe i'll pick it up again. I want to try Cool Cool Jam also, have you tried that? I remember why i stopped playing now - ran out of AA batteries.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I have absolutely never figured out how to advance in the story mode of Cool Cool Jam. I managed to add a couple people to my band with a handful of new instruments, but that was apparently be sheer luck since I had no idea what I was doing and haven't been able to progress from there in the past couple years. Usually games in Japanese don't give me nearly so much trouble, I can read Katakana fine and some Kanji and I can usually figure things out, but Cool Cool Jam has just bee totally confounding. It's a shame, too, since I really wanted to like it, the aesthetic is great and the seesion play on the instruments is unique and enjoyable. I have Cool Cool Toon on the Dreamcast and enjoy that immensly, but Jam, I don't know...

As for advancing in Ganbare, there are some hints, but in my opinion they ruin the fun of the game since they put all the emphasis on unlocking minigames, which it shouldn't be. I advise just relaxing and enjoying the sim part for what it is. First you have to figure out what it is and how it should be enjoyed, of course, and that's not always obvious. Personally, I love the way the game challenges my expectations of what a game should be, I find that that fits well with the theme of the minigames as well. It may not be for all people, though, of course. But it's definitely for me, I'm not exagerating at all when I call it possibly one of my favorite video games ever.

But then, I don't really like Cardfighters Clash at all. I found the card battles themselves interminably boring and couldn't wait until they were over so that I could back to the overworld and hopefully find something more entertaining. So obviously these things are relative.


...word is bondage...

[jboypacman]

Great little hand-held.Had one myself but i traded off for some 2600 games that i needed.Turf Masters was my favorite for it but i liked CrushRoller for it as well.