SNK certainly scores points when it comes to sheer aesthetic charm with the Neo Geo Mini it's adorable. Neo Geo Mini: The Hardware Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension Rather than slavishly clone Nintendo's approach, the company has decided to give its new hardware a unique hook which respectfully references its arcade heritage – in short, the unit itself is shaped like a mini arcade cabinet and even has its own LCD screen. Yet for some, that captivating allure remains it is these people that SNK is clearly targeting with the Neo Geo Mini, its take on the whole 'Classic Edition' concept. The catch, of course, was that the AES console – which was the domestic version of the MVS coin-op hardware – was vastly more expensive than its rivals and each game cost around £150-£200 a pop as a result, the Neo Geo became an unobtainable object of desire for many a young gamer growing up in the '90s, but never a system that they could realistically own – unless of course, they had very rich parents.įast forward to the present, and Neo Geo games can now be purchased for the price of a decent sandwich via the Switch eShop.

Notably dubbed 'The Rolls Royce of games consoles' by one outlet in the UK gaming media back in the day, this extravagantly expensive system was a contemporary of the SNES and Mega Drive, but offered arcade-quality graphics, sound and animation that put Sega and Nintendo's machines well and truly in the shade. Shin Nihon Kikaku, as we all know, is the company that launched the legendary Neo Geo arcade and home hardware back in the '90s.

Since then we've seen another Classic Edition as well as a considerable surge of interest in 'reheated' vintage hardware Sega, which ironically has had a presence in this field for well over a decade thanks to its association with AtGames, is set to release a new 'Mini' console based on the Mega Drive / Genesis later this year, but it has been beaten to the punch by one of its erstwhile rivals, SNK. Nintendo may not have been the first company to come up with the ingenious idea of leveraging the unbridled nostalgia of your average gamer to sell bucketloads of ROM-filled micro-consoles, but the arrival of the NES Classic a few years ago certainly gave this previously niche sector of the market a swift kick up the backside.

Neogeo on snes classic