There are two image options, one of which provides an aggressive smoothing filter while the other presents images in a more smeared fashion, with no ability to simulate scanlines and little else besides. It's a device that you can hook up to a TV, but to do so you'll need to supply your own HDMI cable - and a mini-HDMI cable to boot, which you're unlikely to have lying around your house but which SNK are more than happy to provide you separately at a price.Īnd even then, when you're playing on a TV, you'll be met with an experience that's slim on options and that doesn't go out of its way to preserve each games' splendour. This is a handheld device but sadly there's no battery, so you'll have to use the included USB-C cable to hook up to a power source. Unfortunately it's not the only mark against the Neo Geo Mini, which boasts a whole collection of compromises. It's a small shame how one oversight can have such a major impact on the experience as a whole. They're decent enough replicas of Neo Geo controllers, with big, bold and beautifully coloured buttons and carrying a decent amount of weight, but the sticks are equally floaty and simply not up to the task of 2D gaming. The problem isn't remedied by the optional controllers that can be plumbed into the Neo Geo Mini. Whether you're playing a fighting game or attempting to waltz through one of the shooters, there's always the nagging feeling that something isn't quite right.
What's here feels more like an analogue stick that's been called to work for digital duty, and it's an awkward fit. While you wouldn't expect Sanwa-style components on the control panel, what is there falls short of the standard you might expect given the price-tag - the buttons are soft and offer little tangible feedback, while more criminally the stick lacks the microswitches common in older hardware and that are essential for precision inputs. It all helps give the Neo Geo Mini that same swagger that was synonymous with the SNK name back in the 90s, and a look at the 3.5 inch LCD screen only helps bolster those initial good impressions, offering up decent viewing angles and all proving a neat fit for the 320x224 resolution of the Neo Geo catalogue.īeyond that the hardware begins to disappoint, though. That same exuberance is evident in the cabinet, even if the International edition is more muted than its pre-existing brethren here the control panel is a simple black and grey, the cabinet above it a bluish-grey with just enough space above the screen for you to place one of the marquee stickers included in the package. You can place stickers in the marquee - and some are provided for you, which helps nail that authentic look. Judged by its box alone, the Neo Geo Mini feels like it stays true to the brand's premium heritage. Indeed, even before you get to the machine itself the packaging captures some of that 90s exuberance, brimming with colour and attitude and finished off with a neat neon strip that lights the joystick when turned on, the finished product looking like a still printed out from Saved By The Bell's credit sequence. I've spent the past week with the International Edition of the Neo Geo Mini that's due out towards the end of October, and it's an arrestingly gorgeous piece of hardware.
There's a cute blue glow around the joystick when the Neo Geo Mini is powered up. This time out, with the SNK name in the midst of something of a resurgence, it's taken on the duties itself with the Neo Geo Mini, a beautifully proportioned and fully functioning arcade cabinet that sits in the palm of your hand, giving you access to some 40 games from the Neo Geo back catalogue.
NEO GEO METAL SLUG SERIES
They played premium games, too, from the style and swagger of The King of Fighters series through to the impeccably detailed and winningly characterful pixel work of Metal Slug.Īnd now there's a new attempt to distill some of that luxury into something a little more diminutive and a lot more affordable, following on from 2013's Neo Geo X, a handheld developed by licensee Tommo that fell a little short as well as falling foul of SNK Playmore itself. These were once premium machines, with premium price-tags to boot - as a kid I'd look wistfully at the shelves that contained those gloriously oversized AES clamshell cases with their muscular artwork, wondering if there would ever be a time when I'd be able to sample the pleasures within. Even now, all these years later, there remains an air of luxury around the Neo Geo.