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Coming Soon Update
Torture and SJ's (well, OK, Torture did most of the work :P) latenight translating efforts have uncovered many changes in the Japanese release list. Nearly the entire Japanese list in our Coming Soon section has been updated with new dates and new titles (More titles may be added soon, translations pending).
New FAQ
FAQ-Master Kelvin Koh has written a preliminary FAQ for Fatal Fury: 1st Contact. It can be found in the Games section or via the link above. Thanks Kelvin!
Links Update
The often neglected Links section has been updated with various Developer sites, Pcenginefx.com, and Faust's Homepage. By the way, Faust has some very cool NGP, Dreamcast, Saturn, and PSX FAQs for your viewing enjoyment. Thanks to Zoneman for telling us about Faust's page.
Heads Up
Substance J has pre-ordered Crush Roller and 2 Wrist straps from SNKUSA, and is expecting them on Wednesday. Reviews should follow shortly after, along with a review of Fatal Fury 1st Contact. Torture is still awaiting his copies of Metal Slug, Fatal Fury, and Biomotor Unitron. Reviews of those should be also be available in the near future.
Special Feature
Aaron Nanto's ever-so-slick Pcenginefx.com has posted a cool special feature on Neo Geo Pocket Color. Have a look by navigating Pcenginefx.com, or by clicking Here.
Metal Slug - I was instantly amazed with the graphics and super-smooth scrolling. The graphics are very detailed, and have effects I never expected. Like the front of the Slug Jet lighting up when the Vulcan is fired, enemy soldiers turning to skeletons when shot, idle animations like taking a drink from your canteen, and all kinds of other tiny animations that scream "Quality!". The gameplay was a real shock. It's changed from an all out shoot-em-up, into more of a platformer like Megaman or even Bionic Commando. Instead of just fighting a boss at the end of each level, you often have to find and rescue a specific P.O.W.s, or find an exit into a sewer, etc. There's other very cool gameplay additions, but I'll save those for the review.
Fatal Fury - First of all, the graphics are awesome (it's starting to sound like a broken record, but hey it's true!). The gameplay is totally different from KOF, and it's really refreshing. The combos and move physics have been perfectly reproduced, and did I mention the graphics are awesome? The backgrounds are perfectly in scale, and look way better than in KOF R-2. The presentation is fantastic, and the whole game just feels more complete than other NGP fighters.
These are two games you simply must own. If you haven't imported, be sure to preorder with SNKUSA.Com. No other system can match this kind of excitement!
Slug and Fury on the way
Today, Substance J ordered copies of both Metal Slug: 1st Mission and Fatal Fury: 1st Contact. They are planned for delivery this Friday, along with the NGP protective case National Console Support is now offering. Expect impressions and reviews of these products over the weekend, assuming all goes well in UPS land.
Swan Situation
Torture here, with a rather interesting news item. A reader from Hong Kong, Emerson, let us know the price situation for both Neo Geo Pocket and Wonderswan over there. Neo Geo Pocket carts are HK$120-250, while Wonderswan carts are HK$400-650. Like many of us, Emerson finds that Swan is too geared for the Japanese market, which explains its lack of import success. It is interesting to see what's going on in other territories besides the US and Japan, where news is scarce.
NGP Cameo
An interesting pic we ran across a few weeks ago, which we found rather cool - an NGP as an item in Yumekobo's adventure RPG, Athena - Awakening From the Ordinary Life (for Playstation). Ah...nothing like a little cross-pormotion.
Reviews Updated
New Reviews of King of Fighters R-2 and Samurai Spirits have been added, by Torture and Substance J, respectively. Have a look in the Games section.
Previews Updated
The Samurai Spirits/Samurai Shodown 2 preview has been updated with new screens and new ifno. Check it out in theGames section, as usual.
Biomotor FAQ update
The latest version of Adrian Tepes' Biomotor Unitron FAQ has been added to the Games section.
Delayed Updates
We apologize for the 2-3 day delay in posting these updates. It's mostly due to server troubles, and a bit of laziness. We shall not let it happen again, under threat of bodily harm...
Bust A Move (aka Puzzle Bobble) and Samurai Showdown! 2 will be available Mid-June. The reason for Bust A Move's delay is actually very good. SNK listened to fans' complaints about the colored bubbles being too hard to tell apart, and they've put the game back into development to correct the problem! To view the official press release, click Here
Pretty Pictures
SNK has released new, high quality gifs of Metal Slug and Fatal Fury. The pictures have been added to the respective previews in the Games section, along with some more information about each title
Coming Soon Updated
Coming Soon has just been revamped with a long over due update, including North American software information
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1999--SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color, a system that is smaller,
lighter, faster and can display nearly three times as many colors as Nintendo's Game Boy Color, will be available for
online orders beginning June 1, 1999, directly from the company's Web site at www.snkusa.com. The system will be
available in six different colors: Platinum Blue, Platinum Silver,Anthracite, Aqua Blue, Stone Blue and Clear. At least
10 games will be available for purchase when the system goes on sale. "We've been working for the past month to
make sure we could provide enough software and a competitive price point to show strong support to handheld
gamers who purchase the Neo Geo Pocket Color that our loyal customers have come to expect from SNK,"Susan Barone, vice president,
SNK's consumer division, said. "The recent success of Nintendo's Game Boy Color has reaffirmed the sheer
magnitude of the portable gaming market in the U.S., and we believe there is room in the marketplace for more than
one handheld system, especially one capable of displaying the amount of colors at such a
high-resolution as the Neo Geo Pocket Color."
At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, the company also announced plans for a Winter 1999 release of the long-rumored and eagerly anticipated "SNK vs. Capcom" dream match fighting game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.
"SNK and Capcom have both created some of the most popular fighting game franchises for any platform, such as the 'Street Fighter,' 'Fatal Fury' and 'King of Fighters' series, so an upcoming game featuring characters from both companies is sure to excite even the most jaded of fighting game enthusiasts," Barone said. "This comes in addition to more than 20 titles we've already acknowledged that will be available for the Neo Geo Pocket Color before the end of the summer, and in the next few months, we look forward to announcing and confirming even more titles and third party developers for the system."
The company is still pursuing third party devlopers in the U.S., although the extensive list of confirmed developers in Japan includes Taito, Capcom, Namco, Sega and Sony.
Neo Geo Pocket Color features a custom-designed TFT-format LCD with a palette of 4,096 colors, capable of displaying 146 colors simultaneously. The 45 x 48 millimeter game window, which measures 2.6 inches diagonally across, is easier to see from side angles and in both bright and dim light than other handheld gaming systems.
SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color also features a unique revolving joystick, providing gamers with advanced game control and maneuverability. Two buttons help players perform all the actions.
Titles that are already confirmed for the Neo Geo Pocket Color include "King of Fighters - R2"; "Puzzle Bobble Mini (Bust-A-Move)"; "Samurai Shodown! 2"; "Baseball Stars Pocket;" "Pocket Tennis"; "Neo Turf Master"; "Fatal Fury - First Contact"; "Metal Slug - First Mission"; "Dive Alert"; "The Last Blade "; "Puyo Puyo"; and "Neo Pocket Bass Fishing." A full list of the more than 20 titles can be found on the company's Web site. Two AA batteries will provide nearly 40 hours of continuous play, double the amount provided by the Game Boy Color. Neo Geo Pocket Color also features a lithium battery, which allows for backup and save game capabilities. The unit is able to keep time on the system's built-in clock, even when the system is turned off. The Neo Geo Pocket Color features an alarm, a calendar, an international clock with the correct time in any of six major cities and a horoscope. For more information on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, please visit www.snkusa.com
We love to get ahold of content like this, but sadly it can be hard to find and quite costly at times. If you happen to have anything like these ads to scan, we'd love to have it. Feel free to email Substance J
Biomotor Unitron Review
Torture here...Sorry for recent inactivity, but news is hard to come by these days. A big thanks to superfan Adrian Tepes for submitting a cool review of NGP's first Role Playing Game, Biomotor Unitron. Check it out now in the games section.
