I sort of had the mixed opinion about the Neo Geo Mini even before I bought it for real. Firstly, the picture quality isn't that sharp when the console is hooked up to the TV which displays 720p. Secondly, the controller seems to be missing the click-iness as that component seemed difficult for SNK to produce but it is still fine nonetheless. Third, is the lack of the battery feature for the console. People were affected by such opinions but at least, the experience is still enjoyable.
As of this writing, I sort of enjoyed playing the Neo Geo Mini and this is probably my first step in legalized collection of Neo Geo games. Other legal ways to obtain Neo Geo games would be to buy them for PS3, PSP and PS Vita via Neo Geo Station, PS4, Xbox One and Switch via Hamster Arcade Archives, Wii and Wii U via Virtual Console, PC via Steam and so on. The Asian version of Neo Geo Mini is based on the Japanese one but the copyright warning screen obviously applies to the Neo Geo MVS games like there's no need to worry about copyright issues or something as if the stores had the rights to sell the Neo Geo Mini in the first place.
In the sea of Classic/Mini lines of consoles, the Neo Geo Mini suits me the most with tons of arcade games in stores for me although I may be a big sucker at them, mostly fighting games for instance. Needless to say, the boss fighters may be quite tough and the difference of the move lists between the games in the series may be a big confusion. Indeed, there are already differences in the command lists for the same character in the KOF series. Later KOF games have the EX-Mode that is activated by pressing certain buttons at once. Unlike the Neo Geo Station, there doesn't seem to be an official way to look up the move lists for the Neo Geo Mini system. I have to look up online for those moves and see if there are moves that I can pull of.
Controller-wise, the arcade stick felt more like the console controller's analog stick and the same goes with the buttons which are like recycled from the Neo Geo AES controllers.
