Neo Geo Pocket Color

In March 1999, SNK released the Neo Geo Pocket Color (NGPC) in Japan as a successor to the monochrome Neo Geo Pocket. The 16-bit handheld console was launched later that year in the US and Canada with six launch titles, and was available in a variety of colours, such as Crystal White, Carbon Black, Platinum Blue, Camouflage Blue, Stone Blue and Platinum Silver.

The unit was backwards compatible with the original Neo-Geo Pocket games, and could also be connected to the Sega Dreamcast for King of Fighters themed games. In addition, several users were able to play together in close proximity by using a wireless connector. The time and date could be set on the system, which even provided customised horoscopes when the user's birth date was entered.

Although the system did well in North America, sales were hurt by several factors, including the company's lack of communication with third-party developers and the decision to ship US games in cheap cardboard packaging, rather than the hard plastic cases used for Japanese and European releases. Eager anticipation of the new Game Boy Advance system also led to a drop in sales.

Following SNK's purchase by Japanese Pachinko manufacturer Aruze in 2000, the Neo Geo Pocket Colour was dropped from both the European and North American markets, with remaining stock repackaged and sold in Asia.

Games

There were over 80 games released for the NGPC, about a third of those for the Japanese market only. Some of the most popular included:

• Baseball Stars Colour (Basketball Sim)
• Bio Motor Unitron (Strategy)
• Dark Arms (Action Role-Playing)
• Fantastic Night Dreams: Cotton (Shoot-'Em-Up)
• Fatal Fury: First Contact (2D Fighting)
• Metal Slug: First Mission (Shoot-'Em-Up)
• Neo Turf Masters (Golf Sim)
• Puyo Pop (Puzzle)
• Puzzle Link (Puzzle)
• SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash (Card Battle)
• SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium (2D Fighting)
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure (2D Platformer)
• The King of Fighters R-2 (2D Fighting)
• The Last Blade (2D Fighting)

Specifications

Processor

• Core: Toshiba TLCS900H (16-bit), 6.144 MHz,
• Audio: Z80 at 3.072 MHz

Memory

• RAM: 12 k for 900H, 4k for Z80
• ROM: 64 kbit boot ROM

Video

• Resolution: 160x152
• Colours: 16 palettes per plane, 48 palettes
• 146 colours on screen out of 4096
• Neo Geo Pocket mode: 20 colours out of 4096
• Sprites: 64 sprites per frame, 4 colours per sprite
• Scrolling: 2 scrolling planes, 8x8 character tiles, 4 colours each

Sound

• PSG 6 tone simultaneous output
• Stereo sound
• Storage
• Cartridges: Maximum 4 MB (32 Mbit) with 4-16 Mbit flash memory

Interfaces

• SIO 1 channel 19200 bit/s, 5-pin serial port

Power

• Batteries: 40 hours on 2 AA batteries
• Lithium CR2032 battery backs up memory and clock