When your wallet starts shrieking and you suffer heart palpitations on seeing the price of a new console, spare a thought for those of us who’ve been there since the start. Back in 1983, the venerable Commodore 64 – which still lays claim to being the best-selling computer of all time – launched in the UK for £399. Similar to the Switch 2, then? Except no, because inflation. That £399 in 1983 is more like £1400 today. And the C64 didn’t even have its own display. But for fans of gaming, the Neo Geo was even worse.
If you’re unfamiliar with SNK’s machine, it began as a scheme to make arcade cabinets less financially ruinous. The Neo Geo MVS (Multi Video System) let cabinet owners in arcades and shops swap out games via carts. This saved them cash and space while keeping games fresh. A kind-of win-win-win. And having borrowed the concept from home consoles, SNK figured it could remake the MVS for the home. But rather than strip things back, the Neo Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) had the same innards as its arcade sibling.
This meant the Neo Geo AES, back in 1991, achieved something no rival platform could, no matter how hard you squinted at your Amiga, PC Engine or Mega Drive: arcade-perfect games at home. The tiny snag: it was insanely expensive. Leafing through old copies of CVG magazine reveals each game originally cost £120 – £300 in today’s money. Online consensus suggests many cost more. And even though the machine itself managed to sneak in at a penny under 400 quid, just like the much older C64, you could still buy two Mega Drives for the same outlay.
Pocket change
The result was a generation of gamers glumly staring at magazine screenshots, knowing they would never own a Neo Geo. And that was a shame, because the system was stunning. Early 1990s gaming hadn’t yet been swallowed whole by 3D, and the 2D artistry on show in many Neo Geo titles remains deeply impressive. From the finely detailed backgrounds and characters in Metal Slug X to the sci-fi trappings of blasters like Blazing Star, the Neo Geo was a showcase of dazzling visuals, fortunately backed up by stellar (if often punishing) gameplay.
Which is why it’s great those two titles – along with a dozen others – are bundled with the new Neo Geo Super Pocket, a dinky handheld that finally makes the childhood dream of owning a Neo Geo come true. Sort of. What you do get is a gadget that looks like the offspring of an Evercade and a Game Boy, dressed in AES black and gold. The screen is ideal for Neo Geo fare. It’s pin-sharp in ‘pixel perfect’ mode and just big enough to stop you from getting horribly killed the second you start playing. And the included games? Sure, a few of your favourites might be missing, as are some of mine. (No Magical Drop or King of Fighters.) But this gadget is Evercade-compatible, so some gaps will be plugged by carts.
Purists might baulk. It’s emulation, after all. Also, it’s another ‘unnecessary’ gadget to wedge next to others on the shelf. But it’s enough for me: great Neo Geo games, with an official stamp rather than growling “ARRRRR!” during shady ROM-hunting sessions, and all for less than half the price of one Neo Geo game back in the 1990s, let alone 14.
The HyperMegaTech Neo Geo Edition Super Pocket is available for $69/£49. A sample was provided for this column. I still suck at Last Blade and Blazing Star.