The Handheld That Time Forgot
Jeremy Parish just launched Neo Works, his latest video retrospective series examining every game released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The first episode dropped on December 14, 2025, with the cheeky title “No Boys Allowed: Neo Geo Pocket.” For anyone unfamiliar with Parish’s work, he’s become the definitive chronicler of retro gaming history through exhaustive video series like NES Works, Game Boy Works, and Nintendo 64 Works. Now he’s tackling SNK’s forgotten handheld that almost nobody owned.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color launched in 1999 and died in 2001, lasting barely two years before SNK pulled the plug. It competed against the Game Boy Color during Nintendo’s absolute dominance of the handheld market. Despite boasting superior hardware, a gorgeous screen, and legitimately excellent games, it never stood a chance. Most gamers don’t even remember it existed. That’s precisely what makes it perfect territory for Parish’s archaeological approach to gaming history.
Parish describes this as a “side series” alongside his main NES Works project, which he’s been producing for years. The timing is interesting because he’s also recently launched two other new series: Nintendo 64 Works and a retrospective on Game Boy’s cancellation. That’s three major new projects in just a few months, stretching even Parish’s considerable work ethic. But as one Reddit commenter noted, “He’s the only gaming YouTuber where I feel like I’m actually learning something.”
Why the Neo Geo Pocket Deserves This Treatment
SNK’s handheld library is tiny compared to Game Boy’s hundreds of releases. The entire Neo Geo Pocket Color catalog includes maybe 80-90 games total, depending on how you count regional variations. This makes it manageable for a comprehensive retrospective while still offering enough material to justify the series. More importantly, many of these games are genuinely excellent but have been completely forgotten by gaming history.
Card Fighter’s Clash stands out as one of the handheld’s crown jewels. This SNK versus Capcom card battle game featured characters from both companies’ fighting franchises. Players who owned it back in the day still reminisce about how unique and addictive it was. One Reddit user commented: “I really miss Card Fighter’s Clash. Back in the day, my friend and I were the only ones I knew with a Neo Geo Pocket Color. I can’t imagine that many people owned one, even across the entire country.”
That scarcity is part of what makes Parish’s work valuable. For most gamers, watching his videos represents the only way they’ll ever experience these games. The Neo Geo Pocket Color hardware is expensive and hard to find. The games are even rarer, with some titles commanding ridiculous prices from collectors. Virtual Console releases and modern compilations have made some games accessible again, but the vast majority remain locked away in obscurity.
What Made Neo Geo Pocket Special
- Exceptional screen clarity that was visible in daylight without backlighting
- Clicky microswitched joystick that felt premium and precise
- 40-hour battery life from two AA batteries
- Arcade-quality fighting games scaled down beautifully for portable play
- SNK’s deep fighting game catalog translated to impressive handheld versions
- Card Fighter’s Clash and other unique exclusive titles
- Backwards compatibility with monochrome Neo Geo Pocket games
Parish’s Approach to Gaming History
What sets Jeremy Parish apart from typical gaming YouTubers is his methodical, chronological approach to coverage. He doesn’t just pick popular games or personal favorites. He covers everything, in order, examining each release within its historical context. This creates a comprehensive picture of how platforms evolved over time, showing trends in game design, technological limitations, and industry shifts.
His NES Works series has been running for years, meticulously working through the entire NES library game by game. The format involves detailed analysis of gameplay mechanics, historical context about development and release, and thoughtful criticism about how games hold up today. It’s not just nostalgia pandering or clickbait “Top 10” lists. It’s actual gaming scholarship presented in an accessible video format.
Parish’s background makes him uniquely qualified for this work. He’s been writing about games professionally for decades, contributing to publications like 1UP, GameSpite, and his own Retronauts podcast. He authored the book “NES Works: 1985” which chronicles the first year of the NES in exhaustive detail. When he says he’s covering Neo Geo Pocket comprehensively, you can trust he’s actually done the research.
The Challenge of Three Simultaneous Series
Launching Neo Works alongside Game Boy Works and Nintendo 64 Works represents an ambitious expansion of Parish’s video output. Each series demands extensive research, gameplay footage capture, script writing, video editing, and production. For one person to maintain quality across three parallel retrospectives is borderline absurd. But Parish has built a reputation on exactly this kind of comprehensive coverage.
The strategy makes sense from a content perspective. Each series targets slightly different audiences and interests. NES Works appeals to people who grew up in the 8-bit era. Nintendo 64 Works connects with late 90s gamers. Neo Works serves the smaller but passionate community interested in obscure gaming history. By running them concurrently rather than sequentially, Parish keeps all these audiences engaged rather than making them wait years for their preferred content.
The risk is burnout. Creating this volume of high-quality content requires sustained effort over years. Parish has proven he can maintain long-running series, but tripling his workload tests those limits. The gaming community is watching to see if he can sustain this pace or if something will have to give. For now, the quality remains consistent and fans are thrilled to have this much comprehensive retro gaming coverage.
Why Neo Geo Pocket Failed
Understanding the Neo Geo Pocket Color’s commercial failure provides important context for Parish’s series. SNK released it into a market completely dominated by Nintendo’s Game Boy line. The Game Boy Color had Pokemon, which alone made it essentially unbeatable. Every kid who wanted a handheld was getting a Game Boy to play Pokemon. Nothing SNK could do would change that.
The hardware was legitimately better than Game Boy Color in several ways. The screen was clearer and more vibrant. The controls felt more precise thanks to that microswitched joystick. The sound was comparable. But none of that mattered when Game Boy had the games people actually wanted to play. SNK’s library was heavy on fighting games and other niche genres that appealed to hardcore gamers but not the mass market.
SNK itself was also struggling financially. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2000, just a year after launching the Neo Geo Pocket Color internationally. They discontinued the hardware in 2001 to focus resources on staying alive. A small library combined with discontinued hardware meant the system never had a chance to build momentum. Most people never even saw one in stores, let alone owned one.
The Modern Neo Geo Pocket Renaissance
While the original hardware failed commercially, there’s been renewed interest in Neo Geo Pocket games in recent years. SNK released the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection compilations for Nintendo Switch, bringing classics like SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium and The Last Blade to modern platforms. These releases introduced a new generation to games they never had a chance to play originally.
The Switch compilations include nice touches like digital reproductions of original game boxes, cartridges, and manuals for nostalgia. Players can choose between pixel-perfect display or zoomed modes, apply various filters, and even simulate the original hardware’s screen. It’s the kind of preservation work that gaming desperately needs for platforms that might otherwise be completely forgotten.
This renewed accessibility makes Parish’s timing perfect. Viewers watching Neo Works can actually play many of these games themselves if they own a Switch. That transforms the series from pure historical documentation into a practical buyer’s guide for which Neo Geo Pocket games are worth experiencing today. It’s one thing to watch someone discuss a game you’ll never play. It’s another when you can immediately download it and try it yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jeremy Parish?
Jeremy Parish is a gaming journalist and historian who creates comprehensive video retrospectives examining entire gaming libraries chronologically. He’s best known for NES Works, which covers every NES game in order, and has authored books on gaming history. He also hosts the Retronauts podcast.
What is Neo Works?
Neo Works is Parish’s new video series examining every game released for the Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color. Like his other Works series, it covers games chronologically with historical context, gameplay analysis, and critical discussion.
How many episodes will Neo Works have?
The exact number isn’t confirmed, but the Neo Geo Pocket Color library includes around 80-90 games total. Parish’s series will likely have fewer episodes than his NES Works since the library is much smaller and he may group multiple games per episode.
Can you still play Neo Geo Pocket games?
Yes. SNK released Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection compilations for Nintendo Switch featuring many classic games. Original hardware and cartridges are available but expensive and rare. Emulation is also an option for those comfortable with that approach.
Why did the Neo Geo Pocket Color fail?
It launched during Game Boy Color’s dominance, particularly Pokemon’s peak popularity. SNK’s financial troubles led to early discontinuation in 2001. Despite superior hardware in some ways, it couldn’t compete with Game Boy’s massive game library and market presence.
What was special about the Neo Geo Pocket Color?
It featured an exceptionally clear screen, precise microswitched joystick, 40-hour battery life, and excellent arcade game ports. The hardware was competitive with Game Boy Color and in some ways superior, but the small game library and limited marketing held it back.
How long are Jeremy Parish’s videos?
Video length varies depending on the game or games being covered. His episodes typically run 15-45 minutes, balancing comprehensive coverage with watchability. Complex or significant games get more time, while simpler titles are covered more briefly.
Where can I watch Neo Works?
Neo Works episodes are published on Jeremy Parish’s YouTube channel “Jeremy Parish | Video Works.” New episodes release on a regular schedule alongside his other ongoing series.
Preserving Gaming’s Forgotten Corners
The value of projects like Neo Works extends beyond entertainment or nostalgia. These videos serve as historical documentation of gaming platforms that might otherwise fade into complete obscurity. Twenty years from now, when working Neo Geo Pocket Color hardware is even rarer and more expensive, Parish’s videos will be one of the primary resources for understanding what this system was and why it mattered.
Gaming history tends to focus on winners. We remember the NES, Game Boy, PlayStation, and other dominant platforms because they were everywhere and everyone played them. But the losers and also-rans tell equally important stories about the industry. They show what happens when great hardware meets bad timing, when innovative ideas don’t find their market, when companies take risks that don’t pay off.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color was a legitimately good product that failed for reasons mostly beyond SNK’s control. It deserves to be remembered for what it achieved rather than dismissed as a footnote. Jeremy Parish’s Neo Works gives it that respect, examining each game on its own merits while contextualizing the platform’s brief, tragic existence. For gaming enthusiasts who never experienced this handheld the first time around, it’s essential viewing. For those who did own one back in the day, it’s a validation that their memories of those excellent games weren’t just nostalgia.