Heard of this? Me neither, but I just read that a collection of some beloved Oliver Twins games are going to be released on it; https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/06/evercade_retro_system_to_receive_oliver_twins_collection_cartridge_all_profits_will_go_to_charity
It'll be a real nostalgic buzz playing some of those Dizzy games again, and I was impressed with the range of other cartridge collections also available.
Have just ordered the basic console pack for £60 on Amazon. Bargain.
I recently reviewed this for Stuff. The review will be in the next issue, but — spoiler — I did rather like it. The carts are a bit variable, mind. Personally, I thought the fighter ones were trash, because they were NES ports, but Atari #1 was pretty great, and the Namco #1 pack-in was solid. The big surprises were the Piko and Mega Cat collections though. Some really good new-old retro stuff on those.
Got this for my birthday earlier this month, it's a really good piece of kit and the cartridges are very good value for money
The Immortal is very tempting
All they need to do is Ikari Warriors and Rastan....although the Commodaore 64 version of the former appears to be different to most versions, including the original arcade, and much better for it IMO?
The Piko cart, if nothing else, offers solid value, with its 20 games. Top Racer is excellent. Many of the platform games are great. Exploding Fist is an oddball, though — a really bizarre take on the original.
As for Ikari Warriors and Rastan, I'd probably hold off to see if they can get the arcade carts up and running next year. Right now, they'd be likely to go for NES ports, which would net you an OK Ikari Warriors. Rastan: I guess they could do the SMS version, which is pretty good, if not as good as the original. Whatever anyone does, avoid the Technōs cart, because it's bloody awful unless you're a BIG fan of NES brawlers.
(And, yeah, the C64 take on Ikari Warriors was pretty great, albeit very different from the arcade version.)
Just noticed that Evercade will be launching a VS console in November, prices starting at less than a ton; https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evercade-VS-Retro-Starter-Pack/dp/B095Z17NFT/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=evercade+console&qid=1629808568&sr=8-3
I've been impressed with this overall, a great range of aneurysm-inducing-difficulty games available to *enjoy* all over again.
Zool is back.
https://evercade.co.uk/cartridges/gremlin-collection-1/
Depressing cart from my standpoint, mind. For me, Gremlin was all about the 8-bits: Monty Mole; Jack the Nipper; Trailblazer. And on Amiga, Lotus, Super Cars and Switchblade were tops.
Of the most recent announcements, Jaleco 2 most aligns with my likes – some quite good shooters and the excellent (if slow down prone) Rod Land. And Morphcat looks pretty solid too.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 16 May, 2022, 04:10:22 PM
Depressing cart from my standpoint, mind. For me, Gremlin was all about the 8-bits: Monty Mole; Jack the Nipper; Trailblazer. And on Amiga, Lotus, Super Cars and Switchblade were tops.
They will surely release another volume - hopefully it ticks a few off your Gremlin wish-list.
As a complete aside - would you have any background knowledge on the commercial success or otherwise of the Evercade, IP?
I really dig what they are doing, and have even bought some cartridges I have little interest in just to support the endeavour.
For me, this cart scratches no retro itch. I don't like any of the games on it. As for inside info: nope. I've reviewed both units but that's it. I think we can infer from their existence (as in, that there was a follow-up) that sales must be at least OK. The ecosystem appears to have a strong following. It does appear, though, that the tendency is towards more obscure licenses. It's a pity there's no Namco Arcade or Taito Arcade cart.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 17 May, 2022, 11:33:06 PM
The ecosystem appears to have a strong following.
Hoping to hear that.
Just seen some pre-orders for more new 'Arcade' cartridges on Amazon - you may get your wish at some stage.
I have all the carts released so far for the evercade, but since getting the Amiga mini I don't play it very often
We've not used our Evercade much recently, but I do find the monthly freebie an interesting idea. (If you're not aware, you get a monthly indie game, which at some point will end up on a cart you'll be able to buy – a nice bonus.) Really, the VS needs some better multiplayer fare – or, at least, a bit more multiplayer fare.
The new exp is up for pre order this week and they have announced it comes with 18 capcom games pre installed
Quote from: moly on 04 September, 2022, 11:07:40 AM
The new exp is up for pre order this week and they have announced it comes with 18 capcom games pre installed
I pre-ordered the EXP recently, looks the business.
New cartridges coming thick and fast too, and plenty of Amiga software on the horizon for 2023 apparently.
Worth noting that some of the old cartridges were discontinued this summer due to licencing lapses, so it's added a bit of collector frisson to my attempt to get em all.
Currently discontinued:
- Namco Collection 1
- Namco Collection 2
- Technos Collection 1
- Oliver Twins Collection
Link prime if your in the uk check out game they seem to have some of these in stock
Cheers Moly, I am in ROI unfortunately (*fortunately ;)) though.
Evercade games are not sold by any retailers over here as far as I can tell, I have ordered everything online over the past couple of years.
I did have a Game.co.uk account for years, but as with pretty much everything after Brexit, Amazon UK is the only reliable and cost effective way to get an item delivered from the UK to ROI.
New 'Super Pockets' recently announced, and they are compatible with Evercade cartridges.
Due for release in October.
https://www.hypermegatech.com/
Do you need one? No.
At that price can you afford not to get one? No.
The Taito one is pretty great value, assuming the emulation is solid. And the things being compatible with the Evercade catalogue is smart. Natch, some are griping about there being no Taito cart for Evercade consoles, but it's pretty clear that wasn't an option. I would have thought widening the ecosystem to make the entire Evercade range more viable would be a good thing, but fandom is strange.
(I'm not talking about response here, note, obvs.)
The Tatio one is a day one purchase for me,17 solid games including New Zealand Story and bubble bobble
This is what I wanted from the Evercade,which for me apart from the Dizzy and bitmap bro cartridges has been a little bit of a disapointment as what I wanted was something that ported the Retro arcade into my pocket rather than lots of fighting and indy games.
Good that you can still use evercade carts on this.
The issue is always going to be rights. The big companies don't want to give anything away – or they are already tied up in deals. Hence no Namco cart for the EXP, no update from that set of NES games to proper arcade Pac-Man, bundled-only games from Capcom, etc.
Personally, I'd say there have been some good arcade carts. Data East 1 has quality stuff: Burger Time (esp in Tate mode), Chain Reaction, Lock 'n' Chase and Tumblepop. Atari Arcade suffers a bit from lacking the original controls, but if you can deal with that then you've Centipede, Crystal Castles, Missile Command, Lunar Lander and Asteroids. Jaleco has Rod Land (albeit with all its slowdown) and some solid shooters. And Irem nets you R-Type, Moon Patrol, Battle Chopper/Mr Heli and the absurdly difficult yet compelling In The Hunt. But, yeah, there are lots of big hits missing.
Honestly, I've enjoyed the indie stuff. Mega Cat 1 is probably my favourite Evercade cart. Xeno Crisis is great. I was less keen on many of the console carts because for me they were the 'wrong' versions. I wanted Amiga Bitmap and Sensi games, not 16-bit console ports. The Lynx collections at worked best, since they were the originals. I guess with the newish blue boxes, Evercade is at heading that way now, although with a mix of publisher and platform collections that feel messy.
I suppose it is what it is. If someone doesn't care about licensed fare and is willing to faff, there are plenty of alternative consoles knocking around, such as those from Anberic and Retroid, which can play pretty much anything you throw at them up to (and sometimes beyond) Dreamcast. They're good units, but I do also like that Evercade is trying to do things properly, and those new handhelds look like they'll offer great impulse-purchase value, even if a buyer never even looks at another cart.
I need to get that data east cart for burger time,used to love playing the u.k Mr.whimpy version on my spectrum
I'd love to see some carts
With ultimate games stuff on Attic Attak,sabre wulf etc and monty mole
Ultimate > Rare > Microsoft. No idea whether that's even feasible, although Microsoft has a couple of times used that old IP, such as with Jetpac Refuelled and Rare Replay. Monty Mole... well, those old 8-bit Gremlin titles should really have been part of the Gremlin cart, but instead we mostly got a fairly awful set of much later games. A pity.
Imagine: Alternative World Games, Avenger, Bounder, Cosmic Causeway, Deflector, HATE, Jack the Nipper, Monty Mole/On the Run/Auf, Re-Bounder, Skate Crazy, Thing on a Spring, Trailblazer, West Bank... You could easily allow people to select versions, to keep folks happy and get them 'their' version of a game.
Stick monty is innocent on that cart and that would be an unbeatable lineup
I see now why an ultimate cart is problematic,but what a waste oF i.p there,shades of the dan dare corperation for me with so many ideas awaiting remastering or rereleasing.
That Gremlin cart is a perfect example of why I am more often than not disapointed with the evercade in that you often have to buy a cart with several games you have no interest in to get two you do e.g codemasters collection Vol 1 for cannonfodder and sensible soccer
Thanks for the heads up on the rare replay disc Indigoprime,the years 83-86 tick the box for the games I wanted to play.
Managed to pick a copy up for pennys and although my Xbox is out of action at the moment at least I have a hardcopy of these classics to play at somepoint.
I bought an evercade EXP and have been so impressed I purchased the VS console too. Just wishes I had nabbed the Duke Nukem limited edition model.
Have to say the evercade really is great value for money. Playing speedball 2 The chaos engine again has been a blast. Really look forward to the latest cart releases.
It's a very easy entry point into a lot of old games – zero-faff. And the cart system is quite clever, in scratching the collector itch. Physical media! One thing I would recommend if you haven't already is looking quite deeply at the catalogue. Some of the old arcade carts are dreadful (unless you really like rubbish NES ports of classics), but there's a solid amount of quality indie fare.
I spent a lot of time playing Mega Cat 1. Xeno Crisis is great (if brutal). The first Pico collection is a mixed bag but as some quality. (The second... is not so good.) If you like puzzlers, Mega Cat 2 is also fab. I've not dipped into the Indie Heroes stuff much yet, though, nor any of the newer collections (Alwa's and more recent eg).
Thanks for the recommendation mate. Those carts look great!
Up for pre-order now:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hyper-Mega-Tech-FG-TAPK-HMT-EFIGS-Pocket/dp/B0CB6DG8R2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2RHTYUQT571E2&keywords=super+pocket&qid=1693323512&sprefix=super+pocket%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-2
I'll try the Taito one first, for sure.