Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition Review: Pocketable Fun

one time Time, if you want to play Neo Geo Games, you need serious financial investments. The original Neo Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) home console was launched in 1991 for $650, and in 2025 it amounts to around $1,535. The game will be on sale for around $472.

The emerging underground hook for gamers was that AES was identical to SNK’s MVS (Multi-Video System) Coinop Cabinet at the hardware level. In the arcade. If you wanted that authentic experience, you literally paid the price.

How did time change? Now you can always get the biggest Neo Geo game for your pocket money. Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition is packed in 14 titles built into ultra portable Handheld Consoleunder the price of one modern “Triple A” game. It’s a joy for nostalgic players and those who want to experience true gaming classics, but there are some compromises to swallow before you can enjoy it.

Pocketable fun

Photo: Matt Kamen

The Neo Geo Edition is the latest on-going entry for Super Pocket Handheld, focusing on classic developer or publisher titles created by retro game specialist Blaze Entertainment. If that name rings the bell, it’s because it’s the same manufacturer behind it. EverCade Hardware Systemincluding it Handheldhome console, mini Arcade Cabinetall of these are linked by universal support for physical Evercade game cartridges.

It was released under Blaze’s “Hyper Mega Tech!”, but the brand, Super Pocket, is compatible with those carts, so at a glance it might look like yet another hardware variation. EvercadeExp For a vertical and embarrassing game boy-like layout The greatest retro influence.

However, Super Pockets are completely different from those used. It is even smaller than the Evercade handheld, with a height of 125 mm, width of 78 mm and thickness of 25 mm. phone Probably large overall. Combined with its vertical orientation, its thin height means that it can feel too small with larger hands.

But it’s surprisingly well-entered, but it has a great responsive D-pad with a well-defined orientation that feels fantastical under the thumb, four face buttons (a, b, x, y), and a well-defined orientation with l1/l2/r1/r2 “shoulder” buttons repositioned at the rear. These will not appear in the included Neo Geo games, but may require compatibility with the games in other Evercade Carts. However, due to the small size of the unit, these relocated shoulder buttons are a bit more difficult to place your fingers in a usable way.