Stop sniggering at the back, I know what your thinking, cards eh it's either gotta be a pile of boring steamy old jobs or a cheap Pokemon cash in. Well er.. yes it does fall into the latter catergory actually. But it's actually quite, dare I say it, good. The cartridge is vast, speccy twats out there may wish to know that it's 16megs (thats megabits not megabytes, before you have an orgasm), the same size as the the first Streetfighter 2 game on the SNES. As you'd expect the intro is glossy with a nice bit of sampled speech (always a shock when it comes from a handheld). The plot, being from a Neo Geo game is nonsense. Basically all you need to know is you guide your little fella.. not that little fella, you warped basts, around a number of locations challenging other characters to card games. Why, I hear you ask? Well your little chap wants to go to a grand tournament and to do that he has to collect a certain number of rare cards. Card games are generally won by trying to get your cards with higher values to drub your opponents. Some of this depends on randomness while other parts depend on your knowledge of the cards and special attacks. This version of Cardfighters has the the familiar Street Fighter possey present, as well as a host of SNK characters. It's a great game, though it probably isn't for action fanatics.

Zogging Hell Rating: 8/10

Fatal Fury First Contact

Although the title might confuse a few science fiction nuts in to thinking this is a game with aliens and Jodie Foster. Most of us will remember Fatal Fury as Streetfighter's slightly not as excellent cousin. The pocket version is great however and most enjoyable. The background graphics are great and the sound good (no sampled speech though which is a shame. There aren't as many characters to choose from as King of Fighters, but they seem to be bigger and have more impressive special moves in FFFC. Gameplay wise it's slighty easy, randomly pressing buttons can get you quite a way into the hardest mode. However it's playable enough (like Pocket Tennis) to keep you coming back for more. The two player mode for the few of us with friends who have Neo Geo Pocket Colours, adds a whole load of extra playability.

Zogging Hell Rating: 9/10

King of Fighters R2

A rather good fighting game for a handheld, it's unheard of, but the NGP has two. O.K. it's very similar to Fatal Fury First Contact, but has a whole host of extras. Graphically the difference's between FFFC and KFR2 are minimal. Attractive backgrounds with minimalist colour on the fighters themselves. It certainly isn't Lynx or Gamegear territory here. KFR2 seems to have only a minimal selection of backgrounds (six), but it has 14 different fighters, team battle, character configuration and a bit of a plot, with which it differs. Some of the characters are straight from Fatal Fury. I was a bit dissapointed to find this as the moves vary little between the two games. KFR2 looks a bit better than FFFC in the pre game screens and the damage bar is more like the one in Streetfighter. It plays well, with no easily spottable faults in the opponents defences. In fact you really have to practise as KFR2 is no slouch, it can be tricky even on easy..

Zogging Hell Rating: 9/10

Pocket Tennis (Pocket Sports Series)

Marvellous, if very easy, tennis sim. Well sim isn't strictly the best word for it as it plays more like a pretty version of Pong rather that a full blown simulation. Button A is a fast return, while B is a lob. Pressing the joystick in a direction while you are hitting send the ball in that direction. And that's it. It's very simple to learn and very fun to play. There are quite a few different characters who vary in skills, some being faster at running others having powerful shots. The funniest is a fat punk in a pink vest. He can barely run and when he dives for the ball it takes him ages to get back up again. His shots are extremely powerful however, and his lobs literally dissapear off the screen before coming back down. Graphically its colouful, but not exactly a work of art, similarly, the music is passable even if some parts of the tune seem to have been nicked off Space Harrier. The best bit about Pocket Tennis is the ability to link two Neo's together for a two player bash. The worst bit is the fact that it's too easy. I don't think I've lost a set yet..

Zogging Hell Rating: 8/10

Puzzle Bobble

More familiar to most people as Bust-a-move, Puzzle Bobble is a tetris style puzzle game. Intead of blocks descending from the top of the screen, you have to fire bubbles to connect them together in rows of three or more. You can either do this in a set puzzle mode or play against a friend or the computer (who unfortuantly proved a bit crap, but maybe because I wasted far to much time in Uni playing this game, he was just not ready for an expert. Puzzle Bobble is as every bit as good as the versions for other platforms (see Saturn reviews). The smaller graphics sometimes (but rarely) make it harder for you to aim, but all in all it's immmensly playable. The sound is excellent, those annoyingly addictive tunes from the Saturn version have been brilliantly transfered to the little Neo Geo. I would say this is probably one of the best games about for the Neo Geo pocket and well worth getting hold of.

Zogging Hell Rating: 9/10

Puzzle Link

It's one of those wannabe Tetris/ Bust'a'move beaters. As ever its a fairly playable title with a reasonable learning curve. The graphics are basic to say the least, though the odd genetically mutated rabbit thing pulling facial expressions at you in the status bar is slightly more appealing. The music is quite good. What can I say really, if your a fan of this type of game you'll probably love it, if not then this is unlikely to be the title to change your mind.

Zogging Hell Rating: 8/10