NGPC English & European Snapcase game variants - Compiling a list

[Vectorman0]

I have never seen an exhaustive list of all the Non-Japanese snapcase NGPC games, so I figured I would work towards one using pictures I have saved over the years and games I personally own.

There are some variant gaps in the list that I think are likely to exist. If anyone has corrections, additions, comments, etc., please make a post. (I do want an actual photo of the variant before I confirm it on the list) There isn't too much NGPC discussion these days, but I know there are still plenty of us collectors lurking here.

I intentionally don't consider these all "European," because the first variation was distributed worldwide (outside of Japan). Even though there are no NGP variants, I included them because their packaging matches the early NGPC template.

Here are how I define the types of variations:

World: English snapcase with SNK Corp. Osaka address and English manual. Essentially made for distribution everywhere outside of Japan. Commonly found in Europe, but also distributed in Asia. "World" black & white games were available from SNK USA and some of the "World" color games were available in the US through etoys.com. (if anyone still has receipts from their etoys purchases, please send them to me!)

2L: Bilingual insert (French & Spanish). Did all of these come with two manuals?

3L: Trilingual insert (English, German, & Italian). Did all of these come with three manuals?

ELSPA: English-only snapcase with ELSPA rating and barcode. The latest of the snapcase variants. Later releases only came in this packaging. Which ones multiple different language manuals included, and how were they distributed?


Variant Type Pictures:

Spoiler:

The List:

 

[TrueTrials]

Here's your French manual confirmation for Pac-Man

 

[Vectorman0]

Thanks, I wonder how it was distributed and if different regions had different manual options.

Does anyone know more about the European non-English manuals? My main question would be: which NGPC games that didn't have translated rear inserts ("2L", "3L") still had translated manuals?

 

[TrueTrials]

What do the white blocks in the chart mean? You have Green and Grey mentioned but not white.

 

[Vectorman0]

What do the white blocks in the chart mean? You have Green and Grey mentioned but not white.

It means I think there is a decent possibility they exist, but I've never seen them.

The grey ones are assumptions I was confident enough in making about variants not existing, but it's possible I'm wrong about them.

 

[CatBoy]

I own 38 individual titles on that list and none of them contradict what you've documented so far. Great job compiling that, the NGP really doesn't get the love it deserves.

 

[Vectorman0]

I updated a couple more titles, including graying out Non-English Baseball Stars because I think it's reasonable to assume translations were never done for this more American/Japanese sports game.

I think some of the remaining white boxes are likely to exist. I find it hard to believe multiple casino games had ELSPA packaging, but Fatal Fury & Neo Geo Cup didn't. But we don't know how these worked, and it's conceivable that old stock had to run out before another run was made with the new packaging style. It also seems odd Neo Turf Masters would only have one of the multi-language variants, but I can't say I remember ever seeing a 3L version.

I have doubts about Crush Roller having ELSPA packaging, and I don't have an accurate list of release dates, so I don't know if Dark Arms was late enough that it went straight to ELSPA.

I own 38 individual titles on that list and none of them contradict what you've documented so far. Great job compiling that, the NGP really doesn't get the love it deserves.

Thank you for checking your games. I agree that NGPC is still underappreciated. (ignoring the recent prices of the games)