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Pokemon TCG: Neo

July 4, 2024

Don't Want to Read?

The Pokemon Trading Card Game, but the cards are swapped out with those from the NEO era of the TCG, with some changes. No new types, and unfortunately not much in the way of AI. Still, a great time revisiting the TCG gameboy game with new cards.
  • Patch version that lets you play as Mint, the female protagonist from the sequel.
  • Great new artwork that converts the card art into the gameboy style.
  • Interesting new cards that let you make unique decks with cool strategies and effects.
  • Dark and Metal type cards are folded into other types due to limitations of the engine.
  • The AI is still not great and struggles to use draw cards properly..
3.5/5 Stars

Summary

The Trading Card Game game, but with all new cards featuring the NEO era of the TCG and Generation II Pokemon. The Pokemon and trainers are modified for balance and flavor, but a version that more accurately replicates the real life cards is also included.

Major Features

  • Gender Selection
  • Buffed Evolved Pokemon to help incentivize running them over strong basics.
  • All cards are available in the game, nothing locked behind having a gameboy color with an IR sensor.
  • All new decks for every NPC.
  • New art for every card with a greater focus on colorful variety than the original game.

Review

The Pokemon TCG for Gameboy was one of my favorite games growing up, and I always wanted a sequel that added new cards and added more of a mainline game overworld. While the latter seems unlikely, a new crop of ROM hacks are providing the former.

This is still from the era of the TCG I had cards of when I was a kid, so it was a lot of fun seeing the artwork of cards I owned worked into the GB style. Honestly, seeing the new pixelized card art is my favorite part of seeing all these new hacks.

The new card effects also made deckbuilding fun and provides different strategies than the original. Once I had the cards for it, I ran a control deck that used Gengar and Umbreon to constantly switch out the opponents Pokemon to target weaker basics and move damage counters around to keep the opponent from attacking. The AI, like in the original, struggles to provide much of a challenge if you're familiar enough with the Pokemon TCG, but I did some self-imposed challenges like using decks that were weak to the club leader to shake things up some.

I've gotten into playing the Pokemon TCG recently, and while I do think there's been a bit too much power creep, I would be interested in seeing some features ported to the GB game. I haven't looked at the disassembly for the TCG game like I have for Crystal and Emerald, but all the attention and interest hacking this has gotten in the last year has me hopeful. Supporter cards (A category of trainers that you can only play one of per turn) would be a very helpful balancing tool.

As for TCG Neo, it's a conceptually simple hack, it's the TCG game with new cards. You still beat all the type clubs, you still get the legendary cards. But obviously as a card game, swapping out every card makes it a whole new experience. One I recommend checking out if you have any nostalgia for the original gameboy game.