Another day, another Neo Geo product. But what does the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro do to separate itself from the crowd? Well, for a start, it's big, not as long as the Capcom Home Arcade, but it's way chunkier. It looks kind of like a big mushroom. But With that size comes a degree of comfort that you can't get on a twin stick. You're not fighting for legroom like you are when you use the Capcom Home Arcade.
There's also 20 games built in (4 more than the Capcom stick), but they're all fighting games. To some people this might seem to be overkill, but if you're a diehard fan of SNK then you already know the drill. Fighting games are SNK's bread and butter, and if you're in the market for the Arcade Stick Pro then you're well aware of this already. It's worth noting that there're more games on here, but SNK decided to keep them hidden when the Arcade Stick Pro launched. They've been drip feeding them ever since to users at a rate of 2 games every month. When SNK have finished this the Arcade Stick Pro will have 40 games onboard. I personally don't know why they've decided to release games in this manner, I'd have much preferred the 40 games from the get go.
What is nice though is how connectable the Arcade Stick Pro is. With an adapter (which was supplied with mine) you can use the stick to control your other games on different consoles like the Nintendo Switch. You can also use another Arcade Stick Pro for two player bouts of Garou Mark Of The Wolves, or you can attach a couple of SNK's much maligned joypads.
Best of all though, you can connect the Arcade Stick Pro to the Neo Geo Mini and use it with all 40 games that come with that platform. Even though I'm a fan of the pads you can get for that, it's night and day in terms of the difference in control because SNK have listened to the criticism levelled at its' miniature arcade machine. For a start this joystick has microswitches which allows a greater degree of control. And the games that come built in display a little better as well. (they still only output at 720p though).
With all being said, the stick retails at about £140, which is good value for an Arcade Stick that you can use on multiple platforms. The stick itself is nice. It's not as premium as the Capcom Home Arcade with its' Sanwa sticks, but it is good enough to game on for hours at a time.
+
20 built in games with another 20 to be released
Ultra connectable
Better display options than the Neo Geo Mini
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The 20 built in games are all fighting games (which is fine if you're like me, but they're not for everyone.)
8/10