NeoGeo Pocket Color Blue Console (PAL)

The Neo Geo pocket was released in 1999 in Black and White and then updated the next year with a full colour model, so if you're after the full colour model make sure that you check you're bidding on the right one.

I have both and the b&w one is actually pretty cool as it's a bit smaller and like the original gameboy the screen is really easy to view.

The popularity of the Gameboy color is credited as the reason for the NGP demise, but as it's a much better graphical console it seems more likely that they knew they couldn't compete with the might of Nintendo when the GBA was announced - as production ended the same year.

The NGP has about 85 games in total and these cover most of the popular genres of the late 90's Fighers - Fatal Fury & King of Fighers, Strategy Faselei! and Card games - SNK/Capcom Card Fighters, plus plenty of puzzle and sport titles. There's not many big titles for the NGP though Sonic, Pac Man and Metal Slug are on the system, but mostly the games are little known except by those who own the console.

Most games seem to be easily available on ebay but are more pricey than most GBA games, especially when in their original cases, though it has to be said the NGP cases are built to last unlike the flimsy paper GBA cases.

With good 16bit graphics, superb controls and a long battery life the console is a great little unit to own (the colour takes AA batteries the B and W unit takes AAA) and is a shame it didn't catch on as the games are well made and there are very few lemons.

If I had to choose between this and a GBA SP, I'd probably have go for the SP as it has a back lit screen, rechargeable battery and much more titles including some classic SNES remakes. But this is perhaps an unfair comparison as the GBA SP didn't come out till three years after the NGP was discontinued.

In conclusion, if you are a retro gamer and looking for something different then the NGP is well worth the price, it's fast becoming a collectable console so if thinking of buying one I wouldn't hang around, boxed examples are obviously more desirable but there's bargains around especially if someone is selling some games with the console as buying the games individually can be pricey.

it was class the colour wasw a little faded but apart from that it done what it said on the tin. im a collector so this was a little gem for twenty pounds, the games were a little samey but you dont argue when its so cheap.