ATARI7800fan Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) What is your guy's opinion of the Neo Geo Pocket Color. What about its games, Did it deserve the fate it got. Are there any homebrew games for it. Edited April 12, 2011 by ATARI7800fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 It didn't deserve the fate it got, but damn are there a lot of fighting games on it.. Take that for better or for worse. Anyways, great little handheld with some great titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 What Austin said. Depending on your side of the fence regarding fighting games, you'll love it or hate it. I'm not a fan of fighting games but I still get a lot of play out of Puzzle Bobble, the Metal Slug games, and the golf game they made for it (which is a very well done golf game, but the name escapes me!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I liked the control stick, and a number of games. NGP was forward compatible with it too--which was neat. Overall, it was fair competition for the GBC, and tended to do a few game genres better. But life just wasn't going to go well for it. If it didn't fail in 2000, it would have just been crushed in 2001 with the launch of GBA anyway. And if it wasn't for the budget re-release in 2003, I wouldn't have the number of games for it that I do. I wish all dead consoles were rereleased at bargain prices with crap-tons of games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smatchmo Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) I thought it was an absolutely wonderful handheld, one with real character and some really great games; CFC(both versions), Faselei! & MotM being the best. And the click-clicky joystick is superb. The watch battery thing was really annoying tho. I had about 100 AA batteries, 2 NGPCs, plenty of games and a link cable (but only 2 watch batteries) in my hurricane kit for when Katrina hit. It was a sanity saver, but with no watch battery (cr2025, iirc?) you couldn't save progress or hi scores and you'd have to enter in all the personalized data each and every time you switched off & back on, IF the (sometimes) finicky creature felt like cooperating. Edited April 12, 2011 by Smatchmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatta Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 The watch battery thing was really annoying tho. I had about 100 AA batteries, 2 NGPCs, plenty of games and a link cable (but only 2 watch batteries) in my hurricane kit for when Katrina hit. It was a sanity saver, but with no watch battery (cr2025, iirc?) you couldn't save progress or hi scores and you'd have to enter in all the personalized data each and every time you switched off & back on, IF the (sometimes) finicky creature felt like cooperating. Good god man, how long were you out of touch that 2 CR2032 batteries died on you? It's only there to power the SRAM. Batteries serving similar purposes in SNES/Genesis carts and on PC motherboards are good for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARI7800fan Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 Thanks for all the responses. Once you think about it SNK with the Neo Geo Pocket color was the only company to get a formula that might have been equal or beaten the Gameboy, A handheld that is compact yet comfortable to hold, got incredibly good battery life, was a good price if maybe a little cheaper then the gameboy, had good graphics but was not so over the top that it effected battery life and a good selection of games. I wonder how long the batteries would have lasted if they had put a 32-bit processor in it like the Gameboy. Too bad other companies like Sony can't seem to figure that one out with the PSP. If SNK could have had the money to keep on going and got more third party support I think it would have done better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blarginatorr Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) Neo Turf Masters is dangerously addicting. If the console had a lit screen, I'd probably play it forever.' Also, anyone ever actually measured how long the CR2032 battery lasts? It's a lithium battery, which tend to have a very good shelf-life (8years+), so stockpiling them shouldnt be much of an issue. Edited April 12, 2011 by Blarginatorr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) I think I had to replace my battery once. I might be imagining that, though. Bought the system new in '99 or whenever it first launched in the US. Awesome system, I love the somewhat-minimal graphics. Samurai Shodown, Capcom vs SNK, Gals Fighter are all great fighting games. Sonic the Hedgehog is an amazing best-of collection of the first three Genesis games with new material too, and it plays better than any other portable Sonic game at the time of its launch. I just wish it'd gotten a beat 'em up. The screen's great, considering the competition of the time. Battery life was good. The controls were great, though the clicky control stick tends to annoy anybody within earshot who's not playing it. More opinions here. Edited April 12, 2011 by Rex Dart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HatefulGravey Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I got one a few months back from Ax with a few games and have picked up a few more since. Its pretty cool. I think what put it over the top for me was the Metal Slug games. I really like Metal Slug so having it on the go is pretty cool. The fighting games on it work a lot better then I would have thought they would so they are pretty cool. There is no region coding I'm aware of and I have a few imported titles that play well, so thats cool too. Its cheap to collect games for it for the most part, and like a few others have mentioned the control stick is nice. Over all its a buy if you can get it for the right price. The only real downside is the screen isn't back lit. Same problem the original GBA had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smatchmo Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) The watch battery thing was really annoying tho. I had about 100 AA batteries, 2 NGPCs, plenty of games and a link cable (but only 2 watch batteries) in my hurricane kit for when Katrina hit. It was a sanity saver, but with no watch battery (cr2025, iirc?) you couldn't save progress or hi scores and you'd have to enter in all the personalized data each and every time you switched off & back on, IF the (sometimes) finicky creature felt like cooperating. Good god man, how long were you out of touch that 2 CR2032 batteries died on you? It's only there to power the SRAM. Batteries serving similar purposes in SNES/Genesis carts and on PC motherboards are good for years. I don't quite quite know what the deal with the watch battery life myself; I bought all of my ngpc systems new (1 from eBay, 2 from GameStop) and brand name cr2032, and the all of 'em would give out-- you'd lose all game data & save abilities and would have to reenter in the language, date, time, birthday on next powerup-- after 6 months to a year (at best). I'd replace the watch battery and everything would be fine. And I burned through two CR2025 in 5 weeks; mostly due to Card Fighter's Clash (Capcom & SNK versions have exclusive cards that you can only get by trading with someone with the other version), Match of the Millennium (everyone knows how to play 2d fighters, or they quickly learn), and a whole lot of bored neighbors with a whooooole lot of free time on our hands. I'd say the NGPC has the best overall quality library, judging by the ratio of good games to bad, of any system I've ever played. Edited April 12, 2011 by Smatchmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Pac Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I honestly wish I own one right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Manhattan Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Love it. Fantastic library of portable fight games. Still my favorite portable to play fight games. The last two years of the GBC were pretty rough. I'm happy the NGPC came along to help me though that dark time. I'm an avid portable gamer and the NGPC is one of my all time favorite portable game systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smatchmo Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 The cr2032 consumption issue is probably a result of a design flaw in the console. It didn't matter how clean your cart & NGPC were, you would rarely get a game to play the first time you power on a NGPC. You couldn't just insert the cart all the way in either because you'd get the PDA screen, have to power down & reinsert cart (often multiple times). I'd have to push the cart all the way in, edge in up ever so slightly with my thumb, power it up and hope for the best. The constant powering on & off from having to get the cart in that Goldilocks Zone is most likely cause of the problem, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blarginatorr Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 The cr2032 consumption issue is probably a result of a design flaw in the console. It didn't matter how clean your cart & NGPC were, you would rarely get a game to play the first time you power on a NGPC. You couldn't just insert the cart all the way in either because you'd get the PDA screen, have to power down & reinsert cart (often multiple times). I'd have to push the cart all the way in, edge in up ever so slightly with my thumb, power it up and hope for the best. The constant powering on & off from having to get the cart in that Goldilocks Zone is most likely cause of the problem, I think. Design flaw? You sure your unit isnt just a lemon? I havent noticed that my NGPC would had any more issues with this than any other cartrige based system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smatchmo Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 (edited) Maybe I just had really bad luck and managed to get 3 consecutive new NGPCs from 2 sources thousands of miles apart that were all lemons, I don't know. I doubt it though. I belong to a game trading forum, traded 7 or 8 of my NGPC games a few month back, and had to tell the guy how to put the carts into his NGPC to find that Goldilocks Zone because he was a NGPC newbie and thought the games, which I also bought new, were all broken. I don't think it was my individual system that was a lemon, it was a design flaw with the NGPC itself. Maybe SNK sent their refurbished and/or crappy NGPC consoles (carts?) to the North American market? Edited April 14, 2011 by Smatchmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blarginatorr Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Thats actually something worth some research. I mean, I've been wondering about the production number of NGPC units, well NGPs in general i guess, and if at somepoint they fixed these cart issues. Seriously. I didnt even know the NGPC has these cartridge problems until now. I guess being a toaster NES owner, I didnt find an occasional cartridge error that strange. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARI7800fan Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 I have never had a cart problem before and I have owned mine for a couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blarginatorr Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Oh yeah, I think there were some homebrew demos for it, but the flashcarts were extremely expensive if I remember correct. But really, would be great if people would start making proper homebrews for it, of course, some affordable flashcarts would help that too. I guess the system is too obscure/unknown to attract programmers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN12BIRD Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 It's a nice little system. The controls are awesome. I love the clicky switches in the thumb stick. The screen while not backlit does seem more reflective than the GBC. I don't like most of the games on it though. I'm not a huge fan of fighting games and most of the games I have for mine are fighting games. Metal Slug and Sonic Pocket Adventure are fun though. One thing I noticed it all the games I have and I'm guessing it's a limitation to the hardware is the lack of colors on the sprites. The backgrounds can be very colorful and than your character only has like 2 colors! Whats up with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuplayer Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I got mine in that Pocket Color Arcade rerelease from around 2003, and I never had any serious cart issues. I also didn't need to change the CR2032 battery at all until just this past New Year's Eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 None of my favorite games on the system are fighters. It is my second or third favorite portable. Well worth the low low price they go for these days. For under $30 you can get a nice system and a game or two. $60 a really nice set with 8+ There are plenty out there too. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Man, I found the Picross game for it locally not too long ago for like $15! Been looking for that since, well, 2000 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smatchmo Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 (edited) Found a possible reason for the cr2032 battery drainage from a member on a neogeo forum in a thread on lithium batteries (http://www.neo-geo.c...hp/t-24131.html): If you play a game like Faselei, or Cardfighters Clash, and suspend the game while playing, then turn it off, then start off right back where you stopped, that will wear down the battery. The reason a "temp save" goes away when you pull the cart is because the backup battery is keeping power to the game, making the the game think it is on. Basically like a pause, but without the screen. It is a big drain on the battery. Edited April 15, 2011 by Smatchmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychedelicShaman Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 I really haven't played with it much. Whenever I see it, I leave it turned off and play with the joystick for a couple mins. It's great:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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