A few weeks ago, you may recall our initial report on the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro. Not a lot was known then – it’s honestly just an article of speculation – but a few days ago, SNK finally let rip a bunch of information in a press release. And hey, what do you know? We were mostly right about things.
The biggest nugget of information revealed is that yes, this stick will serve dual purposes. It can be plugged into a Neo Geo Mini as predicted, but as a bonus, it will also include a PC mode where it will act as a USB controller. The stick even includes a storage bin on its bottom to hold a 2m cable – Vectrex style!
But if you plug it via HDMI into a TV, it acts as a self-contained console where a selection of SNK classics will be ready to play. I’m sure most will be buying the stick for these, but the USB modes sure are a cool feature to throw in regardless. Anyway, the game list:
The King of Fighters ’95
The King of Fighters ’97
The King of Fighters ’98
The King of Fighters ’99
The King of Fighters 2000
The King of Fighters 2002
Fatal Fury Special
Fatal Fury 3
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Samurai Shodown II
Samurai Shodown III
Samurai Shodown IV
Samurai Shodown V Special
Art of Fighting
World Heroes 2
World Heroes 2 Jet
World Heroes Perfect
Ninja Master’s
The Last Blade 2
Kizuna Encounter
I held back on making a joke about King of Fighters likely taking up half of the library in the last article, but I guess SNK read my mind. Otherwise, there are numerous other SNK series staples like Fatal Fury, World Heroes and, of course, four Samurai Shodown games.
There a few more tidbits of knowledge to note. I’m sure a few gamers out there will be glad to know that the button layout is completely customisable. And as an added bonus, the ball-top is easily user-replaceable. Overall, the stick is 430mm wide and 214mm deep.
Two sticks can also be connected for two-player action, although the press release doesn’t mention if that Neo Geo CD “inspired” controller can be used as a secondary. Let’s hope it can be. There are also display settings included which are basically becoming standard on retro throwback devices like this. These include scanlines and the like – if you’re into that sort of thing.
It is nice to know all of this, knowledge is power – but ultimately, we still don’t have a release day (and importantly) a price. SNK has confirmed a worldwide release, however.
Growing up while the fifth generation of consoles reigned supreme meant that Brendan missed out on much of the 80’s and early 90’s of gaming the first time around. He either lacked the cognitive ability to play them, as naturally, he was a baby - or he simply didn’t exist yet. Undeterred, Brendan started a blog called Retro Game On in 2011. This followed his exploits as he collected and played everything he could get his hands on no matter what the release date. While RGO is mainly YouTube focused these days concentrating on video reviews and historical features, the itch to do some old fashion writing never went away. More recently, Brendan has been a staff writer for the gaming website, GameCloud, mostly focusing on the indie gaming scene in his locale of Perth, Australia.
