The NeoGeo is a fantastic piece of kit. I love the arcade platform so much that I own my own 4-in-1 cabinet that I play on a regular basis. NeoGeo games and the few home consoles that came out are still wildly expensive and hard to come by. And after the failure of the NeoGeoX Gold hand-held disaster thing from a few years back, the SNK NeoGeo mini arcade was a delight.
What you get is something along the lines of what Nintendo has done with their classic consoles. The difference is that instead of being shaped like a mini console the SNK NeoGeo mini is a full arcade cabinet, only in miniature form. You get an LCD screen, a joystick (not a traditional micro-switch, but works really well), four buttons and a few extra option game buttons.
The buttons are really solid feeling even though the size prevents the unit from using the traditional NeoGeo arcade layout. All of this would have been great and I was on-board with the device, but SNK have really pulled out all the stops with what this little cabinet can do.
The device has HDMI out so you can play the console on your desk and then easily plug it into your HDTV out in the living room. Because of this the SNK NeoGeo mini arcade comes with two controller ports so you can plug in some NeoGeo pads for a real party.
SNK is releasing these controllers that you can purchase separately and they are based on the NeoGeo CD console pads. Those are very solid pads and really expands this little beauty. Everything just works beautifully and it’s also a gorgeous looking device that will surely be a talking piece.
But nothing would matter without games and the SNK NeoGeo mini arcade has them in spades. The international edition has 40 classic NeoGeo games that everyone will surely know. The Metal Slug series, tons of King of Fighters, Mark of the Wolves and so much more.
There is something for everyone and this was easily one of our picks of the show. There is no price point yet, but from our discussions you can expect the international edition to run under $100 and should be more in line with the offerings from Nintendo.
The device should also be ready for sale in the United States by years end, so this should be something that you most definitely stick on your Christmas wish list.
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