Neo Geo Pocket / Color
SNK's handheld with a clicky stick
- 1998Released
- HandheldType
- SNKDeveloper
Neo Geo Pocket / Color Specifications
- Processor
- Toshiba TLCS-900H, with a Zilog Z80 for sound
- Processor Speed
- 6.144 MHz (TLCS-900H), 3.072 MHz (Z80)
- RAM
- 12 KB, plus 4 KB for the Z80
- Colours
- 8 shades of grey (Pocket), 146 on screen from a palette of 4,096 (Pocket Color)
- Resolution
- 160 x 152 Pixels
- Media
- Cartridges of up to 16 Mbit
Overview
The Neo Geo Pocket is a handheld console that SNK released in Japan in October 1998. It had a monochrome screen and was only sold in Japan and Hong Kong, and it was replaced within a few months by the Neo Geo Pocket Color, released in Japan in March 1999 and in North America and Europe later that year.
The Pocket Color could play almost all games made for the original model, and its microswitched “clicky” joystick was praised as one of the best controls on any handheld. Its 16-bit processor and 40 hours of battery life on two AA batteries compared well with the Game Boy Color.
The library is small, at about 80 games, but it includes well-regarded titles such as SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium, Metal Slug: 1st Mission and 2nd Mission, King of Fighters R-2 and Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure.
Sales in the West were poor, and after SNK was bought by Aruze in 2000 the handheld was withdrawn from North America and Europe. It was sold in Japan until 2001.
Mednafen and ares both emulate the Neo Geo Pocket and Pocket Color accurately, and MAME and FinalBurn Neo run them as well.
Key Features
Clicky Joystick
A microswitched joystick praised as one of the best on a handheld.
40-Hour Battery
Up to 40 hours of play from two AA batteries.
Colour Upgrade
The Pocket Color showed 146 colours from 4,096.
Fighting Games
Known for SNK fighters like King of Fighters R-2.
Advertisement
Neo Geo Pocket / Color Emulators
Which one to pick
Known forA command-line multi-system emulator with save states, rewind and netplay.
Known forA multi-system emulator that puts accuracy and preservation first.
Known forThe reference emulator for arcade machines, which also covers the Neo Geo Pocket among hundreds of systems.
In short
Mednafen and ares both play Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color games well: Mednafen is run from a command line, ares has a full interface. MAME covers the handheld too.