The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny (Switch) Review
Release Date: October 28, 2020
Publisher/Developer: SNK
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Price: $7.99
The Neo Geo Pocket Color was out of my league back in the day. I was a Nintendo fan, lucky enough to get an original brick Game Boy, but didn’t know much about Neo Geo, let alone their handheld devices. The two worlds have merged lately with a slew of classic Neo Geo games coming out on the Switch. Now, players are even getting a chance to play the handheld’s titles via the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection series.
The Last Blade and it’s sequel have both been out on the eShop for a couple years now as faithful arcade ports by the ever quality Hamster Corp. Therefore, it’s a bit of a strange oddity to see the Neo Geo Pocket Color edition released at an identical price, despite the quality put into the port. This is my first foray into the Neo Geo Pocket Color line of eShop titles, so I can’t say whether the perks here are for this particular title or for the series in general. Gamers can change the skin of the Neo Geo Pocket Color displayed on the screen as a frame (or remove it entirely). If you keep it normal sized, off-screen players can even use the on-screen buttons to run the unit. While the game does not have online modes (local or otherwise), thereby eliminating the trade function in the game, you can play two player versus. I enjoyed thoroughly how the screen would split in two for the times where each player would see something different (such as your score or the win/lose screen) but merge for full size, traditional fighting game bliss. My absolute favorite was when I realized that if you play in handheld mode and select two players, the system will default into a mode that uses the two attached Joy-Con as Player 1 and 2 and rotate each screen 90 degrees so it’s like you’re playing two linked consoles head-to-head and joined at the hip. It reminded me of what I always imagined a multiplayer Atari Lynx game would be like.
The Last Blade’s handheld release dealt with the fact that there were only two action buttons by changing the attack based on how long you held the individual buttons down. I feel this changes a fighting game into more of a strategy title, as feverish button mashing can’t really get you as far. The roster is robust with plenty of unlockables, and even a character that has the power to clone their opponent. Earning credits in game let you unlock story bits or the ability to rewatch the endings, and there are even a couple silly mini games to discover.
If I were to have played The NGPC version of The Last Blade back in the day, I would have been flabbergasted. Characters are large, well detailed and animated for a handheld title. The backgrounds are lush and detailed for some little pocket-sized machine from the mid/late 90s. Yet, in the modern market, I have a hard time recommending it to any but the die-hard Last Blade/SNK Fighting fans simply because walking into the eShop with $8 can get you either this handheld recreation or a perfect facsimile of the arcade, replete with brighter colors, bigger action, and more intricate control schemes. I’ve loved my time reviewing this title, and yet it disappointed me to see that I could be playing what one could consider a better “version” of this a couple years earlier at the same price. Yet, the strategy inherent in this portable edition does change the formula up enough to warrant a look. Besides, several “better” versions of Tetris are out there, but many people flock back to the old green graphics of the Game Boy cartridge, which goes to prove that nostalgia can change your whole perception.
If you had a system as a child and long to play your old Neo-Geo Pocket games again, this series is everything you want and more. The presentation of the title makes you feel as if you’re really playing the old unit, whilst still being able to pop it up on the big screen. The NGPC did a great job of translating arcade action to the tiny screen back in the 90s, but it is hard to suggest jumping on this download first when a literal perfect arcade translation is on the very same machine for the very same price, no matter how impossible 90’s Me would find it to even exist.
Pros:
-There’s a lot of love and respect put into the Neo-Geo Pocket Emulation on the Switch, with functioning buttons, skins, the works
-Head-to-head linking on one Switch, even with Joy-Con connected
-Limited button options brought strategy to the fight
-Rich, lush details show that the NGPC was an amazing little machine for it’s time
Cons:
-Same price as an arcade perfect game from the same series on the same platform
-Did lose the connectivity option for trading
Special thanks to SNK for providing a code for review!