Handheld heroes

SNK's NeoGeo is a quantum leap over Game Boy and a pocket-sixed phenomenon.

by Jon M. Gibson
3/22/00

Taking full advantage of its awesome screen display abilities.

It would seem from all the hype and cultural ubiquity that Nintendo has conquered the handheld market, using its latest Game Boy Color and the powerful allure of Pokémon to attract hordes of Pikachu-hungry children. But there’s a dark horse in the race.

What U.S. consumers have overlooked is SNK’s new NeoGeo Pocket – a tiny, lightweight game system that proves itself both more enthralling and a better value than its more hyped competition. So, once the Pokémon-obsessed have sobered up and realized the world doesn’t just revolve around cute, sewer rat-looking creatures, they might realize they’d be better off indulging in NeoGeo Pocket.

When you compare the differences, the advantages of NeoGeo’s handheld are obvious: 146 simultaneous colors versus Game Boy’s 56; up to 40 hours of uninterrupted play on the same batteries; built-in memory to house saved games; an interactive timekeeper which gives gamers the option of using an alarm, checking an international clock, glancing at a monthly calendar or even viewing a daily horoscope; and a TFT-format LCD screen which allows for play in locales from tremendously dim to abnormally bright. Game Boy doesn’t even compare to the ingenuity, superiority and complexity that this compact NeoGeo offers.

But gaming consumers with anything more than an ADD attention span will surely recall past contenders to the Game Boy throne, such as Sega’s bulky handheld Game Gear. Could NeoGeo suffer a similar fate – disappearing from the marketplace without warning, leaving consumers in the lurch? Not likely. Although SNK has yet to sign up a majority of the game industry’s publishers, one glance at the companies they’ve already attracted is quite impressive: Capcom, Taito and, coincidentally, Sega have already shown support for NeoGeo by releasing games for the system.

And games are the means by which the marketing gods (and the consumers) dole out success to those who engineer quality and failure to those who shove drivel onto store shelves. While Nintendo offers only Pokémon and vintage Nintendo transfers as entertainment for Game Boy owners, the NeoGeo takes full advantage of its awesome screen display abilities. In Match of the Millennium (Capcom, $29.99), miniature fighters (each known as a chibi in Japan), such as Street Fighter’s Ryu and Fatal Fury’s Terry Bogard, battle for the crown of world champion in amazing color.

Sega’s franchise leader, Sonic the Hedgehog, also utilizes the power of the handheld in Pocket Adventure ($29.99), glimmering with graphics nearly identical to Sega’s Genesis. And actioneers such as SNK’s original Metal Slug: 1st Mission ($29.99) rock the boat, offering an array of different combat motifs such as hand-to-hand, jet plane, armored tank and skydiving sequences, all presented in the glory of a side-scrolling environment. Both the need and popularity for such a title is already obvious, as a sequel is due next month (thus potentially making Metal Slug the Contra of the personal gaming age).

A variety of other, nonbattle games are available, too, including sports and strategy titles. Neo Turf Masters (SNK, $29.99) incorporates chibi characters, but it sets them on a golf course instead of in an arena(!) In this first in a continuing line of "Pocket Sports Series," hitting the links has never been so convenient.

From basketball to baseball, the spectrum is covered with current and upcoming titles specifically for the NeoGeo. Games such as Bust-A-Move (Taito, $29.99) fulfill the gamer’s urge to spend some time in a Tetris-type setting and Dark Arms (SNK, $29.99) is the ultimate in wishes come true, feeding handheld content to the ever-expanding role-playing game (RPG) market.

With such a huge assortment of titles, lagging plane trips, layovers and excessively monotonous car rides won’t seem so dull, either. Two-player action is facilitated by means of a simple accessory – the link cable. Bust-A-Move and most tournament cartridges are thus linkable – an obvious feature that Game Boy rarely employs.

With Christmas approaching in about nine months, the game industry might introduce yet another giant into the handheld derby (likely, this blockbuster will be the 2.5-dimension Game Boy Advance). But, for now, the clear alternative to the childish and often colorless world of Nintendo’s system is NeoGeo Pocket.

Hell, it even comes in cooler colors than Game Boy.

Jon M. Gibson writes about digital culture for the Metro Times.