Neo Geo Pocket

The Neo Geo Pocket is a monochrome handheld game console released by SNK. It was the company's first handheld system and is part of the Neo Geo family. It debuted in Japan in late 1998 but never saw an American release, being exclusive to Japan, Asia and Europe. The Neo Geo Pocket is considered to be an unsuccessful console. Lower than expected sales resulted in its discontinuation in 1999, and was immediately succeeded by the Neo Geo Pocket Color, a full color device allowing the system to compete more easily with the dominant Game Boy Color handheld, and which also saw an American release. Though the system enjoyed only a short life, there were some significant games released on the system such as Samurai Shodown, and King of Fighters R-1. The Neo Geo Pocket is forward compatible with the majority of Neo Geo Pocket Color titles, although games for the color system will play in monochrome on a Neo Geo Pocket. Likewise, the Neo Geo Pocket Color is backward compatible and the entire Neo Geo Pocket library can be played on the color system. Only ten monochrome games were released for the Neo Geo Pocket before it was discontinued.