Ganbare Neo Poke-Kun

Ganbare Neo Poke-Kun (ガンバレねおぽけくん) is a simulation game developed Neo Geo Pocket Color released in Japan on June 6, 2000. So far, the game remains exclusive to Japan. It drew direct inspiration from the majority of video game history.

The game was divided into two modes; observing Neo Poke-Kun in his tiny studio apartment (a stripped-down homage to Little Computer People), and playing the minigames that Neo Poke-Kun would create for you as long as you kept him happy. In a manner that pre-dated Nintendo's WarioWare Inc. series, the minigames that Neo Poke-Kun invented were very short, and usually parodies of popular video games. He would begin simply, creating his own versions of Pong and Breakout, and would gradually move up to historical sims (a'la Nobunaga's Ambition), shoot 'em ups, and fighting games. The game used the Neo Geo Pocket Color's internal clock to control the speed at which Neo Poke-Kun created games, when he slept, when he went to work, etc.

The observation mode mostly involved giving Neo Poke-Kun random visitors (including a beautiful woman, a naked man with floor-length nose-hairs, and an old man who slowly inches his way into the room then dies of a heart attack), and generally annoying him by dropping things on his head.

Trivia

 * Since this game, Neo Poke-Kun was used as the Neo Geo Pocket mascot until the end of the console's life.
 * This little character wasn't forgotten by SNK and has since appeared in various artwork for the company: part of Falcoon's artwork for KOF 2001 (in one of his "character cards"), and when Li Xiangfei is playing a Neo Geo Pocket with Neo Poke-Kun on her shoulder.
 * In SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expansion Edition, Neo Poke-Kun is featured on reaction card R012.
 * Neo Poke-Kun appears recently in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, being the mascot of one of the protagonists of this game: Ai. Also appeared in almost all Ai's artworks.
 * He also makes a background cameo appearance in The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match (as a special cameo) and The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match (in the Neo Geo World and Ancient Ruins stages).