Just as it felt like magic to have an official handheld console filled with Neo Geo titles, designed to look exactly like a Neo Geo arcade machine, so too does it feel like wizardry to have a tiny cartridge containing 6 Neo Geo arcade classics.

The reason it’s so special is because each one of these games would originally be found on a massive, eye wateringly expensive cartridge. These things could cost more than an entire rival console for just one game!

Yet they were arcade perfect at a time when that seemed like an impossibility, and SNK, the creators of the Neo Geo, were absolute masters of arcade titles, both from a technical and gameplay point of view. At one time, these games were the absolute cutting edge of technology, and us mere mortals who weren’t blessed with rich parents or too young to have disposable income could only look at them with envy.

Anyway, it’s great to have these six games, and where it’d normally feel like quite a stingy and small collection, the fact that these are Neo Geo titles that so many of us once lusted after makes it feel special regardless.

We’ve got the shoot ’em up, Ironclad; while its pre-rendered backgrounds, which looked phenomenal in their day, haven’t aged as well as the timeless pixel art found in other Neo Geo games, it’s a really strong and unique experience, with plenty of interesting touches.

The King of Fighters 2000 feels like a game tailor made for its fans, with four fighters selected to form your team before you head into battle, and a fairly complex system of mechanics. It’s impressive visually as well as from a gameplay point of view, but it does have a pretty steep learning curve for newcomers.

Magician Lord is a fantasy platformer, which plays much like a run and gun title; I specifically lusted after it in the Neo Geo’s heyday, and it’s fantastic to now own it for a fraction of the price of the original cartridge!

Metal Slug needs no introduction; as the first of a long running series of run and gun titles, it’s missing a few things you might be used to from later games, but it’s a phenomenal game nonetheless.

Sengoku is a beat ’em up with some really neat touches, including an Altered Beast-esque transformation system. It’s pretty fun, but does take a little while to get going.

Finally, Shock Troopers plays like a technically, mechanically advanced version of Commando or Mercs, both titles likely familiar to gamers of a certain age. A top down run and gunner, it’s another great game for Neo Geo Arcade 1.

So there you have it; Neo Geo Arcade 1 is an incredibly strong collection, and there’s good variety in the titles it includes, as well as a pretty high hit rate in terms of quality. Does it feel a bit cyni that Blaze are drip-feeding Neo Geo titles across three (so far) cartridge collections? Perhaps a little, but given the expensive history of these games, it’s really difficult to complain.

You can buy Neo Geo Arcade 1 from Amazon.

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