Editorials and Features
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Editorials and Features |
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Article by: MrCHUPON |
 ARTICLE: Handheld Retroview: The Neo Geo Pocket Color [Written 2005-03-17]
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Under the Hood Though the SNK implosion was partially to blame for the NGPC's eventual demise, there were other factors involved, none of which included incompetence on the hardware's part - at least at the outset. In fact, the NGPC was pretty powerful at the time it launched, sporting a 16-bit processor that allowed for smoother gaming. Bear in mind that, while in today's world of 32-bit, 64-bit, and 128-bit processors we see nary a difference (the Xbox's CPU is based on Intel's 32-bit Pentium III / Celeron cores), the leap from 8-bit to 16-bit did show dramatic differences. Here's an outline of how the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the Game Boy Color compare: NGPC CPU: 16-bit Toshiba TLCS900H (6.144MHZ), Z80 sound processor (3.072MHZ) RAM: 12KB for core processor, 4KB for Z80 processor Colors: Pocket 8 / Pocket Color 4096, 146 on screen Sprites: 64 per frame, 3 colors per sprite Screen: 160x152 pixels, Reflective TFT Lpocketc, 45 x 48mm Sound: 6 tone stereo PSG Battery Life: Pocket 20 hours (2 AAA batteries) / Pocket Color 40 hours (2 AA batteries) GBC CPU: 4/8-bit Z80 work-alike at 8MHz (MAX); It has 2 modes, Single (4MHz) and Double (8MHz); designed by Sharp RAM: 32Kb; For carts: 128Kb Colors: 32,768 colors; Supports 10,32, or 56 colors on screen Sprites: 40 sprites of either 8x8 or 8x16 [switchable]; 10 Sprites per line; sprites are 4 colors with one always transparent Tiles: 512 on screen VRAM: 16Kb Sound: 4 Channels FM stereo, Single mono speaker Screen: 160x144 pixels, TFT color liquid crystal display Battery Life: 2 AA Batteries - 30+ hours Trudging through the numbers shows that the NGPC was a capable competitor, hardware wise, to the Gameboy color. Smooth-running games, such as Sonic the Hedgehog and any one of SNK's choice fighting games for the NGPC, show that in some cases it even outran Nintendo's incumbent portable. Developer Crawfish crafted an impressive Street Fighter Alpha port for the GBC to the best of its abilities, but it was hard not to notice how much smoother SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium ran on the NGPC. Dead Pocket Walking Unfortunately, stellar hardware can only get a system so far. For any system healthy, diverse library of games needs to be maintained, and even then, eventually the hardware will be usurped by a newcomer with bigger boxing gloves and flashier trunks. At that point, it's up to the manufacturer's status in the market place to keep the system alive. The NGPC had none of these three. The system was dominated by action games and fighting games, mimicking SNK's core competencies in the arcade and home marketplaces. One look at its full Japanese library will reveal several iterations of Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury. A hardcore fan's dream, for sure, but not one that had a great chance of capturing mass market appeal. As the semi-decent flow of software continued, Nintendo announced that it would be producing the Gameboy Advance, which would launch in Japan in April of 2001. With backwards compatibility with the Gameboy Color, there was little reason for customers to stop buying GBC games. Thus, the mentality was that there was seemingly little reason for an entrenched Gameboy Color customer to go for a different portable right then - when an even more advanced machine, that could still play regular Gameboy games, was on the horizon. Of course, we all know of SNK's fateful 2001 demise before their resurrection as SNK Playmore. Without the games, and with a more robust portable soon on the way, SNK would need the backing to make an aggressive push in the portable landscape. But financially, the capability to market the NGPC and convince developers to make more games for the system just wasn't there. And wouldn't you know it, much of SNK's financial woes were due to - you guessed it - the NGPC's performance up to that point. SNK Appeal With all that ended up going against it however, the Neo Geo Pocket Color seemed to be an SNK fan's dream since, before the NGPC, such fluid fighting games were incredibly few and far between on the Gameboy. Because it's inexpensive today, the NGPC is a more than worthy collectible that one would actually get a lot of playing time out of. Why? As mentioned above, most of the games were limited to SNK's core competencies - 2D shooters and fighters. But those that did come out did so to pleasantly positive reviews. Highlights of the NGPC's library include: Sonic the Hedgehog One of the few 2D platformers available for the system, Sonic the Hedgehog on the NGPC pretty much showcased the smooth and fast gameplay that the system's hardware was capable of.
SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium Long before SNK tried their hand at the cross-publisher fighting scene with SvC: Chaos in the arcades and Xbox, the company produced a little gem of a portable fighter. Combos that cancelled, action that was as smooth as an arcade booth's, an impressive roster of characters with different fighting styles, and different gameplay modes round out what might be the best portable fighter before 2001.
Metal Slug 2D gamers were ecstatic when a portable rendition of the arcade hit Metal Slug was ported over to the NGPC. The frantic and skill-based gameplay was intact from the original, with the only major difference being the visuals - which were still faithful in portable form.
Neo Turf Masters A user-friendly golf game, Neo Turf Masters is a port of SNK's arcade golf game of the same name. Fans of simple but fun golf games like Mario Golf and Hotshots Golf will be right at home here.
Dark Arms As one of the lone RPGs for the NGPC, Dark Arms would naturally stand out. But it managed to provide for some well-received gameplay, with an emphasis on customizable and upgradeable "arms".
Samurai Shodown! 2 Yes, with an exclamation point. Samurai Shodown! 2 was a squished-down "remixed" version of Samurai Shodown, with characters and aspects from different games in the series. Each character has a Slash and Bust form, just like in Samurai Shodown III and IV, and the NGPC's trademark fluid fighting game performance is in full effect.
Strike a Pose: Photos The Neo Geo Pocket Color is not a small, slim portable by any means. In fact, if you lay it flat on a table and look at it from the bottom of the unit, you'll notice it's a bit chunky:   The rectangular, "chunky" ends actually make the unit easier to grip onto.  The screen is roughly the same size and resolution as a Gameboy Color unit's screen, and is not backlit. As such, add-on lights were an invaluable accessory.  You'll see that the d-pad isn't a d-pad, so to speak. It actually resembles an analog joystick, but clicks very clearly when you hit one of the eight directions, so you know where you're aiming. Web Links and Sources There are several fan sites out there with Neo Geo Pocket Color reviews, columns and pictures. These were also sourced (using Google Cache) for the purpose of this article. Neo Geo for Life Cyberia PC GameFAQs NGPC Hardware FAQ Retro-Games UK W2 Forum: Mobile Games Defunct Games Picture sources: NCSX.com Arcade.QrayG.com Cyberia PC Screenshot sources: Gamespot |
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