NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 Reviews
While I used to have nearly every Nintendo handheld system and enjoyed both of the ones from Sony as well I was never inclined to take a chance on the Neo Geo Pocket...
While the games themselves haven't aged terribly well and there are too many fighting games here, NeoGeo Pocket Color Selections Vol. 1 demonstrates the best way to preserve old games. On top of simply playing the games themselves, you can take a look at everything that came with the cartridges way back when on top of taking advantage of convenience features like rewind. Unfortunately, this is undermined by the incredibly small screen size which you cannot change.
Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 is a great collection that includes most of the must-haves from the SNK handheld. However, the Metal Slug games still suffer from noticeable lag, which hurts their inclusion. Despite that, retro gamers and those who love SNK fighters should own this little piece of magic handheld history.
NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 offers a quality retro experience. The collection features an interesting selection of action and fighting adventures, and all titles together offer hours of fun. When it comes to features, there are basic options and a few extras, and it's a shame that some of the issues in the individual titles persist here. In the end, NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 is a great way to get to play some of the biggest highlights of the SNK portable console.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.1 is a fantastic (and cheap) way to play some of the best games available on possibly the best portable system you have never managed to put your hands on. I wish they have added some other cult classics like SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash and Sonic Pocket Adventure, but I’m pretty sure SNK and Code Mystics will eventually release them in a second volume. I for one, will eagerly look forward to it.
NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol.1 is as good as you'd expect a collection of 10 portable games from the turn of the millennium to be. Throw in a couple of hidden gems and some cool features and you're left with a decent offering from SNK.
The whole collection features a promising ten games from a sorely underlooked handheld console, all of which hold up well today. The collection doesn’t have the same sheer value for money that something like the SEGA Mega Drive Collection does, but you shouldn’t underestimate how well all of these handheld titles told up today. While Volume 1 does lean heavily into the fighting game genre, it’s SNK – you knew what you were getting into. I especially liked the way that the handheld ports simplified and distilled the core of each property, but not in a limiting way: I felt like I was getting the proper Metal Slug, KOF and Last Blade experiences, but simplified down to be more accessible for a newer player. With an excellent multiplayer mode and opportunities for replay value across the titles, Neo Geo Pocket Color Collection Vol. 1 is a welcome addition to the retro compilations across the Switch eShop.
Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 is a must buy for anyone who has wanted to enjoy what the classic portable had to offer and missed out on the individual releases.
A decidedly niche retro fix for fans of the beloved if underappreciated Neo Geo Pocket Color.
NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 is a fantastic collection of NeoGeo Pocket Color games that fans of fighting games and Metal Slug alike will thoroughly enjoy.
I have to say I’m very impressed with NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1. The game selection here is great, the extras (such as the boxes and manuals) are a nice touch, and the price is very reasonable. You get 10 great classic games for the low price of $39.99. The Metal Slug titles, SNK Gal Fighters’ and SNK vs. Capcom are worth that alone. I feel this is a great pickup for any SNK fans, fighter fans, or anyone that is looking for some fun classics to play on the go.
NEOGEO Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1’s timing has weird optics, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a quality compilation of underappreciated classics. The historical features are great, so is the emulation. And it helps that this is a pretty powerful set of games by themselves. The physical release is icing on the cake, and I hope this means the brand has been successful enough to keep things rolling.
A strong showing for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, this is an eight-game compilation with seven avowed recommendations. That's a pretty high ratio, and that tantalising "Vol. 1" in the title makes us hope and pray that more SNK handheld goodness is to come. Now that Match of the Millennium has been accounted for, after all, there's surely no reason to hold out on us vis-a-vis Card Fighters Clash, the absolute best game on the system. Sonic Pocket Adventure would be ace, too. But that's all speculation – in the here and now, Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 is a great little compilation and all the better if you didn't buy all the previous standalone releases. If you did, is it worth the money? To this writer, yes, but you can quietly seethe about the financial imposition.
All in all the NeoGeo Pocket Colour Selection Vol.1 is a fascinating, if not slightly unbalanced look into the history of SNK and its short-lived foray into handheld gaming. What is commendable is the dedication to getting fighting games working well on their handheld project, but also putting out stuff like Dark Arms which was quite unexpected for the market at that time. While this is a A+ emulation collection with some nice extras, filling it with 6 fighting games really puts this title into a niche. If you’re a fan of SNK/NeoGeo history and curious about the Pocket this is an easy purchase. On the other hand for people less versed or not interested in fighting games, it’s a rather pricey lesson in death by excess. It’s a quality product – just laser-pointed directly at a certain audience.
If you’ve yet to pick up the six previously-released games on this collection, then Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 is easy to recommend. Packed with hours upon hours of retro-gaming goodness, it’s as close as it gets to a definitive look at SNK’s 16-bit handheld. I only hope that Big Tournament Golf, Dark Arms, and Metal Slug: 1st & Second Mission are added to the eShop down the road so that those who purchased the earlier releases don’t have to shell out another $40 to play these titles.
Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 will be a letdown for those who've already purchased some (or all) of the fighters released prior. But if you've been wondering why SNK hasn't bundled these handheld games together, wonder no more. While very much a mixed bag, there's enough here for the curious, and more so for fans. Bring on Vol. 2.
There’s one other feature that is fun and worth mentioning, which is that it’s also possible to play the black and white versions of these games thanks to the color filter options. If you’ve yet to read our history of NeoGeo Pocket Color feature, SNK originally launched a colorless version of NeoGeo Pocket—only to be aghast to learn that Game Boy Color would debut soon after. Not wanting to be instantly outstripped by Nintendo’s latest handheld, SNK swiftly updated to NGPC soon thereafter, and the rest was history. SNK has been doing wonders keeping its back catalogue of games alive through retro hardware and compilations like NGPC Selection Vol. 1, and we sincerely hope that fans take the time to pick this one up for themselves.
Best part is that I don't have to try and find a working NGPC in good condition anymore.
Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol 1 is a fantastic selection of games, even if it does tilt a little heavy towards the fighting side of things. Given that the title has ‘Vol 1’ in there, I wonder if we’ll see one or two more of these collections (the Pocket Color had 31 games released for it). Assuming you haven’t already picked up all of the previously released fighting games, this is a very worthwhile collection for old school gaming enthusiasts.
NEOGEO POCKET COLOR SELECTION Vol. 1 is the compilation that includes 10 games from the extinct SNK portable system that was on the market in the late 90's. The selection includes some of the best titles in the system, which is remembered for its conversions of Neo Geo's star franchises. For the rest, a highly recommended compilation for those who were lucky enough to enjoy this laptop, or for all those who could not enjoy it, and are curious about the interesting but unsuccessful Neo Geo Pocket Color.
Review in Spanish | Read full review