Once upon a time, if you wanted to play Neo Geo games, it took serious financial investment. The original Neo Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) home console launched at $650 in 1991, equivalent to about $1,535 in 2025. Games would sell for around $200, around $472 today.
The hook, for an emerging underground of gamers, was that the AES was identical at a hardware level to manufacturer SNK’s MVS (Multi Video System) coin-op cabinets, meaning games played at home were indistinguishable from those played in arcades. If you wanted that authentic experience, you quite literally paid the price.
How times have changed. Now you can get some of the greatest Neo Geo games of all time for pocket money. The Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition packs in 14 titles, built into an ultra-portable handheld console, for less than the price of one contemporary “triple A” game. It’s a delight for nostalgic players or those who want to experience some true gaming classics, but there are several compromises to swallow before you can enjoy it.
Pocketable Fun
Photograph: Matt Kamen
The Neo Geo Edition is the latest entry in an ongoing line of Super Pocket handhelds, each focused on a classic developer or publisher’s titles, made by retro gaming specialist Blaze Entertainment. If that name rings a bell, that’s because it’s the same manufacturer behind the Evercade hardware system, which includes handhelds, home consoles, and mini arcade cabinets, all of which are linked by universal support for physical Evercade game cartridges.
Although released under Blaze’s “Hyper Mega Tech!” brand, the Super Pocket is also compatible with those carts, so at a glance it might appear to be yet another hardware variation, swapping the horizontal orientation of the Evercade EXP for a vertical, unabashedly Game Boy-inspired layout for maximum retro clout.
However, the Super Pocket is quite different to use. It’s even smaller than the Evercade handhelds, measuring 125 mm tall, 78 mm wide, and 25 mm thick—your phone is probably larger overall. That diminutive stature, combined with its vertical orientation, means it can feel too small in larger hands.
It’s surprisingly well-appointed with inputs, though, with a nicely responsive D-pad with clearly defined directions that ensure it feels fantastic under the thumb, four face buttons (A, B, X, Y), and L1/L2/R1/R2 “shoulder” buttons relocated to the rear. Those don’t come into play for the included Neo Geo games, but they ensure compatibility with games on other Evercade carts that might require them—although once again, the small size of the unit makes these relocated shoulder buttons a bit tricky to place your fingers on in a usable way.