Neo Geo Pocket Color - System Review & History - Is It Worth Playing Today? - Top Hat Gaming Man

[@anarki4717]

I picked up a Neo Geo Pocket Colour from Ninja Games (before they went under) with 6 games for £20

[@basileosalexios9200]

Really good stuff THGM. Didn't knew you had already covered the Neo Geo Pocket. Such a a underrated portable system, it deserves this kind of love.

[@slopesgameroom]

wait... what... this system linked with the dreamcast???

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Indeed mate, if I remember correctly it was part of the marketing campaign we got too, however sadly no one seems to have uploaded the old UK adverts. I can recall seeing them though in my teen years.

[@irongiant775]

I can answer that before I even watch this: HELL YES ;D It's a seriously underrated handheld system. Also, love your channel!

[@ASMRgreydeth]

Iv'e said it once and i'll say it again, Your channel never dissapoints. Each review you make is packed with info and top quality presentation. I don't have a neo geo pocket at the moment but man are the games hard to find out in the wild, there was a store near me called Game funk sadly they closed and had tons of Neo geo stuff and also a lot of Sega dreamcasts. I remember that was the only store that had Neo geo pocket color games , it was about 5 games , i believe one of them was Samurai shodown and some baseball game. I really need to get my self a neo geo pocket color now! awesome review by the way.

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Thank you for your kind words, for this video I finally have a good microphone too! Since people had been complaining about it for so long haha

[@ASMRgreydeth]

I never noticed the microphone quality in the past videos! but your videos keep getting good! for some odd reason i keep rewatching the firemen review and the panzer dragoon saga videos!

[@RoboBlue2]

Great video! I still go back to Match of the Millennium on a regular basis.

[@dbpooper7512]

I always found the design of the system itself particularly attractive on these.

[@JacaboBlanco]

been binge watching all these videos. I'm seriously so much more well informed now on the history of this marvelous industry. thanks

[@markhollingsworth2881]

snk was the reason i got into MAME..great vid

[@AfroToad75]

Damn. I love your stuff! So well edited and professionally narrated. I pretty much suck at this KZbin-stuff, but I still enjoy doing it. You deserve so many more views and subscriptions. Keep up the good work!

[@MrSonicAdvance]

I've still got my Neo-Geo Pocket colour. :-)

[@Aqua_Xenossia]

To anyone who picks up a NGPC: Make damn sure you put some tape over the cell battery cover, because it's loose as hell, and you can't normally operate the handheld without a working cell battery! Oh, and don't get too lost in that addictive micro joystick, just do like three clicks. Four. Twenty.

[@tranter147]

found this channel through larry bundy. ive watched every video and subbed. the top hat man charater is hilairous i love it.

[@jupreindeer]

The Neo-Geo was a fantastic arcade idea. In a market where most main brand machines cost thousands, (brand new) the Neo-Geo's were a super bargain, even with four games inside the cabinet. They easily became the favorite choice of no name fast food joints, laundromats, various other places...and even arcades. In this market, they were bargain basement entertainment devices that packed a lot of punch. It was almost a mistake to try and take that idea up against the public home market, where they were practically the rich kid's showpiece. They really should have stayed in the arcade scene and just released a new model with more power, every few years. Still, this arcade has a legacy, uniquely it's own. There would always be taco shops, willing to snatch them up.

[@itsyaboi3854]

you have only 5.000 subs?! I thought you have like 100.000-500.000 subs! Really Great Quality Man! Keep it up!

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Thank you! The Channel is still only a year old. Hopefully Ill slowly build up.

[@sonic6677]

Ah nice shenmue music at the beginning, so glad I subscribed to this channel. Good video as always man

[@G-MaJillz]

Faselei! is a great game. I have the Japanese version and even though I can't understand the story it still has that "something" that a lot of other games just can't match. The Last Blade rocks as well.

[@LaceyFilm]

G-Ma Jillz the English version was cheap when I bought it 8-9 years ago.

[@CandisClassicGameShrine]

There's one sitting in my local retro game's shop complete in box for $79. I've been tempted to pick it up.

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Sounds a tad pricey to me, probably cheaper to import from Japan, well it would be for a Brit anyway. Not sure how much posting from Japan to the US costs.

[@CandisClassicGameShrine]

Cheers! Good to know. I will continue my search for a better deal then. Hope you enjoy your trip. It looks beautiful over there.

[@HandlebarOrionX]

Oh hey a new episode on my birthday! Neo Geo Pocket Color is such a fun name to say. It has the same rhythm as T. U. R. T. L. E. Power.

[@coffee84]

great video as always :) Love the neo geo pocket color. own one for several yeas and still playing today :)

[@GreatSageSunWukong]

I've got 3 of em, bought my first in virgin mega store, used to take one to work back in 2009, its still tne best bloody handheld ever.

[@ColpoRosso]

Nice hair. I see you already embraced local fashion. Joking aside, great video as always! Ta-ta!

[@jhl5093]

Fantastic handheld. When is the Wonderswan system review?

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

James Langston Next few weeks!

[@LaceyFilm]

SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash is another of the best games on the system.

[@tamashiieater1889]

The aes was not a failure. They made just enough systems that they made a pretty decent profit. Originally the aes was intended to be sold to hotels so people could play them there. However, their popularity and power drove players to demand one for the home at which point snk complied, and the first arcade perfect system made its way to peoples' home. They were the console for video game enthusiasts. Considering they were arcade perfect, the aes was much cheaper than owning an actual arcade cabinet.

[@jasontodd1896]

It was a failure

[@Pagaugezero]

@@jasontodd1896Depends what your definition of failure is. The AES was never designed to be a mass market product like Nintendo. The President of SNK America said its goal was a 10% of the market share. It was a side project to the massively successful MVS and could never be a SNES because of the price to produce.

[@MonkeyZeroX]

really loving your videos!

[@RetroGamePlayers]

I love the Neo Geo pocket color, dear lord what an awesome little machine.

[@Xtatic_Shock]

You gotta love the opening. ☺. Nice vid man keep up the good work

[@BainesMkII]

It might be worth mentioning the state of SNK at the time of the NGPC. The NGPC's life was cut short because SNK itself was facing bankruptcy at the time. SNK was promoting the system on the internet because it could afford to do so. SNK thought it found a savior in its purchase by Aruze. The purchase was going to lead to an influx of cash and renewed long term support. This was also to help the NGPC, which was to see a heavy promotional push. Except... It then came to light that Aruze itself was in serious financial trouble. I don't know if there have been any public management accounts of the deal and its aftermath, but it did seem to catch by surprise some SNK employees that were further out of the loop. Fans quickly turned on the Aruze purchase, seeing Aruze not as a savior but rather a vulture that was out to ransack what was left of SNK in order to save itself. (And Aruze was interested in pachinko and pachislots, not videogames.) Allegedly Aruze went as far as to start taking back unsold NGPC carts from stores, in order to repurpose the carts' flash memory for use in Aruze's pachislot machines.

[@unknownninja1]

If that's the case, then neo geo pocket color games are more rare than people think 😔😔😔😔!!!.

[@FrazerRhodes]

The NeoGeo home console games were the same as the arcade counterparts - they were not conversions. Enjoyed the video, cheers.

[@chriswyatt]

I used to drool over this in the Argos catalogue. Would get one, but the games are so expensive now.

[@omegasupreme1970]

great vid as always glad the games are working well for you did you ever work out the baseball hand held?

[@danielwarr7010]

I've had my transparent NGPC for over 15 years now and it still kicks ass 💯

[@Bangkokian1967]

Welcome to Thailand mate! Never did own the NGP but these games looked ace

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

thank you! I am loving it here thus far!

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

0:04 Is there anyone who cannot love that smile?

[@asaelpolanco8151]

I want to say this but, the Neo Geo Pocket is also home to a port of "Puyo Puyo Tsu" (Puyo Puyo overall remained an all-time favourite since last year) that is the only console version released outside of Japan under the title of "Puyo Pop", since the rest of the versions are exclusively released only in its homeland of Japan.

[@skins4thewin]

99 was FAR too late to the party for SNK. This thing needed to be released at least 5 years earlier to have been able to stand a chance, and they should have released the color version from the start. If they had done so they may have saw some success with the device.

[@Darkdjinn79]

I remover seeing these on sale at Funcoland in the late 90s. I regret not buying one for $30. The games were going for $10 each.

[@Staack117]

Man, I loved my NGPC handheld!

[@ElricSowrd]

I thought it was weird that it has connectivity with Sega's Dreamcast.

[@KnightsTechUk]

KnightsTechUk LOVES this video!!

[@atomiswave2]

I didn't see a single top hat in this video. I'm sad

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Sky Man I'm afraid you won't, when I am shooting on location in 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It's a challenge even wearing a shirt and trousers!

[@RevJR]

I must say I can relate to that struggle. Nice video though.

[@jbinminot]

Top Hat Gaming Man Ha Ha! Even the Top Hat Gaming Man ain't that tough!

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

I have just bought completely new threads to wear in future shoots. Stay tuned.

[@crowningchristopher8273]

One doesn't want to stand out too much as a tourist in some countries. A Top Hat would be a dead giveaway.

[@BfDelano]

SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash is a really fun card game on the system. It came in 2 different versions like Pokemon does. The Pac-Man that's on the system is also a fantastic port.

[@IrishKyokushin]

You had to go to a Video Game specialty shop to buy it. Definitely not one you could find in general shops that happen to sell Gameboys. I had the Neo Geo Pocket Colour. Loved the SNK vs Capcom game.

[@dcb99filmz]

Why do ppl use pixel smoothing filters? It irks me.

[@captainatt]

I got my pocket colour for £14. I'm a big SNK fan so it was a great console for me.

[@ryanbunce7946]

Top hat gaming man HE-ARE. I've been practicing the HERE portion lately.

[@mach1mustangguy992]

My sister had one. And she had the Dreamcast hook up. Made me and my gba and GCN gameboy player look bad. Kinda was jealous but I’m a Nintendo fanboy and she was more into Japanese gaming anyway and fighting games.

[@Jikyuu]

No stores near me had any NG items

[@adultmoshifan87]

Luckily I got my (loose) copy of English language Faselei pretty cheap off Play Asia in late 2005! My first PayPal purchase!

[@thepickles8833]

Love the inclusion of Mystical Ninja music toward the end

[@indioallinson8242]

i saw someone buy one with sonic pocket adventure for £10 at the doncaster retro convention last year

[@unknownninja1]

Lucky bastard 😭😭😭lol.

[@jbinminot]

Is the Neo-Geo Portable color backwards compatible?

[@SharifSourour]

This is a good wishlist item.

[@NateDawgKotN]

dood, good vid! loved it keep it up!

[@jevansturner]

How do you *know* you haven't seen any ladyboys yet in Thailand? I've got news for you...

[@BygPhattyPlus]

Back in the day, I almost got one of these, but ended up getting an SNES.

[@SockyNoob]

There's a Neo Geo Pocket Color for sale for like $50 at my local game stpre that I've been staring at for ages now. Kinda want it after watching this video.

[@Marzimus]

Socky Noob Do it!

[@captainnintendo]

I remember around 2000-2001 when me and my family took me to London and I saw some of these fancy NGPC in a couple of windows but had no idea what it was. The GBA wasn't out yet but it had a bit of a similar layout so I guess I just wrote it off as some knock off product ^^;

[@JamesLewis2]

I noticed that you said you spent "one night in Bangkok", and it does seem like, to quote the old Murray Head song, "the world's your oyster".

[@KombatGod]

1:07, wait a minute, why are you using Michelle's Stage Theme (PlayStation remix) from Tekken 2 when talking about SNK? Well, okay Tekken 2 has some of the best music in gaming, you don't need a specific reason to use it :)

[@talorguitarowner5]

Great video!

[@SegaCDUniverse]

My favorite Handheld. Great little console!

[@SusuperHands]

That dpad alone makes it worth checking out

[@ajsmotolife5641]

I remember seeing these in an off Brand game store back in the day. Sadly I had no idea what it was, so even though 6 games and a system in a value pack for $50 was probably an amazing deal. I thought it was just some weird Chinese Gameboy clone.

[@stuffandnonsense8528]

Love this system, its one of the best systems I've owned.

[@TG_Sponge]

I cant believe its been 4 years.

[@Dementiumfan1990]

I think the reason the Neo Geo Pocket Color failed was how SNK advertised the system. They didn’t advertise on places like MTV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, no. In all SNK's infinite wisdom, they chose to advertise on PAX TV. PAX TV was a family friendly religious TV network. That’s like advertising fucking Night Trap on Smile Of A Child

[@ZILtoid1991]

What about the GP32?

[@fabianvargas3930]

Long live NEO GEO POCKET COLOR. get a NEO GEO POCKET GD and you are all set.

[@swafflemanish]

I had one! I played a ton of the sonic game on it. Like, all the time. I wish I had kept it. Good little system.

[@kingsknightuk]

fuck me, you're fast becoming one of my top youtubers!!! Does your full time job take you around the world or are you travelling out of your own pocket?

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

I am traveling out of my own pocket. I hit 30 years old and thought, fuck! I want to do more with my life. So I remortgaged my house, so that I could travel for a year and also thought about pursuing a new career. So since then I have also applied for post-graduate courses and I have successfully got into teacher training! So when my travels are all done in September, I train as a school teacher for a year. After that I'll be all qualified up and will have 14 weeks off a year to go on silly traveling adventures with forever. Most productive year of my existence, travel broadens the mind!

[@kingsknightuk]

That is an amazing story. I must admit I found you a little odd to start with but you have such a passion for gaming and your youtube channel. by the time September comes around you maybe able to be a full time youtuber!! I've now watched every single video you have made! You set the bar very high from the get go!

[@bpcgos]

You should travel to my country,Indonesia and visiting Bali,Lombok,komodo island,etc... They're beautiful and located next to each other though,you wont be dissapointed... Besides, I Live in Bali ,maybe we can meet here and I became your guest in your channel... Although retro game culture here not as strong as other countries

[@Michirin9801]

A lot of people love the heck out of this little system, I've tried my hand at it a little bit, played about 20 games give or take and well... I'm not quite as impressed as some people seem to be about it >w>'; The first thing that I noticed about the system was how weak the sound is... It sounds like a nerfed Master System, and that's because I already thought the SMS had weak sound... And then there's the graphics, the system sure is capable of producing well-animated sprites, but so is the GBC, and although the NGPC has a 2nd BG layer which the GBC lacks, that layer is barely used! The colour count per sprite and tile is the exact same as the GBC, but it apparently has more palettes that it can use at once on the backgrounds, but what it does well on the BGs it messes up on the sprites! All the sprites seem to have 2 hard-coded colours (black and white) and only one custom colour, that makes all of the games on the system look so samey! No wonder why they've only used one BG layer so often, they probably were using the other to render your player sprite in a lot of games... "Oh forget about graphics and sound, what matters is the gameplay!" Absolutely correct! The thing about the NGPC though is that it only seems to offer watered-down versions of games that I can play much better versions of elsewhere...

[@Sc0pee]

I don't remember ever seeing a Neo Geo Pocket here in Finland ...

[@Mace2.0]

I was thinking about coining in the ol' "x console has no games" on it, but that was overdone to death.

[@motherbrain86]

mr top hat you are alongside kim justice my favorite british game reviewer, and man do i love snk to death, play kof games weekly and i think snk never did make i game i hate playing

[@faithplus1588]

I remember EB games selling these for around 20 quid in the early 2000's. Wish I bought one at the time....fuck!

[@pferreira1983]

A hidden gem of a machine. A shame it failed as it was better than the GB Colour.

[@PercyPanleo]

Simething I should mention. about 20 of the NGPx's games were all casino games.

[@Fellipe2k5]

No Top Hat?

[@DavidMedsker]

Seems if this thing was the rage nobody knew about. I know if I seen this thing back then I would've been drooling.

[@Taakabron211]

I remember having one when i was like 12 i had about 10 games on it but i forgot what happened to it...till this day i think about it.

[@jacob_1311]

Top hat, have you been to the Grand Palace in Bangkok yet? It's worth a visit!

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

Not yet, Ill try to go over the next couple of days and if I do not get round to it, Ill go when I come back to Bangkok at the end of the month.

[@jacob_1311]

Top Hat Gaming Man now is the best time of year to visit, as in the summer it is absolutely packed.

[@willman85]

Why do all the character sprites have thick black outlines?

[@MonsieurSansHonte]

Faselei! fucken rocked! Still have my NGP. :-)

[@kennethforman5265]

top hat gaming man likes shenmue!

[@texastoast7514]

I actually had one i purchased from Gamestop for $20 with two games, metal slug & last blade 2. I never could find any other games, stuck it in a box and it sat for 12 years. Sold it on eBay for $125. Would've kept it but the game's are expensive for my budget ie im a parent.

[@brucewayne-px4lv]

Excellent.

[@Hijynx87]

Thank yeebus for Neogeo emulators! I'm not dishing out thousands for some 90s arcade games.

[@Drinkabeerandplayagameofficial]

Getting some more travel in before you start teaching I see? Nice. This is a console I don't remember at all at the time...saying the marketing was shit is an understatement

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

I actually remember it being marketed quite heavily at home. I remember seeing a commercial for it and having my mind blown seeing a Sonic Game on a non Sega console. Sega was Huuuuge in the UK, much bigger than Ninty.

[@Drinkabeerandplayagameofficial]

Yeah the US wasn't so lucky :(

[@verconsystems]

Never even heard of it in Canada.

[@TheTrueDecepticreep]

AES wasn't a near perfect of the MVS, it was a perfect port of the MVS. They used the same EPROMs as the MVS. The size of the boards were modified so you couldn't use the AES games, which were cheaper at the time, on the MVS.

[@edwest2263]

NGPC succeeded in the UK? You Brits have excellent taste in gaming.

[@steelrain762fmj]

What happened to your theme song whenever you talked about fighting Fanboys I always thought about punching you in the face I love that song

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

+steelrain7.62API this is episode was filmed nearly a year before I wrote that song.

[@calculateddeclination5534]

I love this system but the prices are insane as well as the prices for the games. I can buy a modded 2tb original xbox with 12k games built into it for cheaper than one neo geo pocket color with or without a backlight and a couple of games. It's insane.

[@marcraygun6290]

I worked in game when this came out, i loved it, only sold 2 though :(

[@robmitchell7570]

Before Sega went third party, you would'nt happen to know why Sega put some of their games on non Sega consoles before backing out of the hardware market? What are your theories? Mine was that Sega was hoping to make alittle bit more cash in their pockets to attempt to stay afloat financially since they weren't doing very during the middle of the 4th generation and definetly in the 5th generation. Especially since Sega released Sonic R and like you said Sonic Jam on the GameCom. What do you think?

[@julianf147]

23 years ago my mother was alive

[@TheNsider]

I could have got one at Frys... I've lots of life regrets.

[@avideogameodyssey3204]

I can hear that sly Tekken music!

[@manuelarturog]

Good video