Also on: PC
Publisher: SNK
Developer: SNK/Code Mystics
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-2
Online: No
ESRB: T
Given that the Neo Geo Pocket Color only had 31 games released in North America, the fact we?re now on Volume 2 of Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection is probably overkill. Even if you take into account the fact that this compilation includes three games that were previously only available in Japan, that still means we?ve had half of the system?s games featured as Selections — and still no sign of Pac-Man or Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure.
That said, even if the Neo Geo Pocket Color didn?t have a 50%+ hit rate as far as good games go, Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 makes a pretty convincing argument that the handheld had more than its fair share of solid games. We?ve written about Biomotor Unitron before, and its take on the Pok?mon formula is still worth checking out in this collection. Likewise, I?d direct you to Stan?s take on SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters? Clash to see why that game is fun on its own, and it?s still fun (if a little confusing) here.
Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 also features some pretty good sports games. You get soccer in Neo Geo Cup ?98, wrestling in Big Bang Pro Wrestling (which Stan also wrote about last year), baseball in Baseball Stars Color, and tennis in Pocket Tennis Color, and all of them do pretty decent jobs of representing their sports. Neo Geo Cup ?98 is definitely the best of the bunch, but the other three are enjoyable enough in short sessions.
The oddest games are, unsurprisingly, the ones that are only in Japanese. Mega Man Battle & Fighters is easy enough to figure out as a fighting game, but if you want to figure out the story, you?re out of luck. That said, it?s still easier to understand than King of Fighters Battle de Paradise, which finds the venerable series branching out into board game territory with a fair amount of text, and Ganbare Neo Poke-Kun, which is?truthfully, I have no idea what?s going on there. The manual contains minimal information, and all I know is there?s a guy sleeping on a floor and people occasionally pass through his room to go into the bathroom.
Even with those left-field selections, however, Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 is still a pretty decent collection. It complements Volume 1 nicely, and shows that for a little-loved handheld with a small library, the Neo Geo Pocket Color had a pretty impressive collection of games.
SNK provided us with a Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 Switch code for review purposes.