There are too many to cover in the four pages we have (after all, there have been 32 carts to date), so here’s a quick summary of the first 12 carts. More to follow in issue 2.
Cart 01 – Atari Collection 1
Unlike most of the carts, this opening release features a whopping 20 games covering releases on the Atari 2600 and 7800. There’s the obvious big hitters like Centipede, Asteroids and Missile Command, but also includes deep dives of the catalogue with the likes of Ninja Golf and Desert Falcon. Interestingly, the cart also includes prototype games that didn’t receive a launch on initial release. On this collection are Aquaventure and Tempest, both released in 2005. The cart also features Yars’ Return, also released in 2005 and made as a sequel to Yars’ Revenge (which is, confusingly, on Atari Collection 2). There’s a good mix of genres on offer here, and while the games themselves can be relatively short and simple (unsurprising for the time they were made), there’s enough on offer to warrant repeat plays.
Cart 02 – Namco Museum Collection 1
The two Namco carts are interesting in that they don’t work on the VS due to licensing issues. To date they are the only carts that won’t work on the console and are limited to handheld only – so you can still play them on the handheld and thankfully will still work on the EXP when that arrives later this year. The cart includes 11 games including the obvious Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian and Xevious. Mixing things up are the likes of Metal Marines, Quad Challenge and Battle Cars which offer a good mix of game types and design. Interesting curios include Libble Rabble (which sounds like a great song sung in the Club Style), and the Mappy/Mappy Kids platformers. It’s a real shame the cart isn’t accessible on the VS, but maybe one day a fresh licensing agreement can be signed and a firmware update pushed out to allow this.
Cart 03 – Data East Collection 1
Data East were a company with hands in many pies. In addition to making arcade hardware and porting their games to home consoles, they were also involved in building pinball machines. Quite an interesting mix. This collection features 10 games, leading with the classic Burger Time. There’s a heavy emphasis on fighting games – no surprise given Data East’s arcade background, featuring no less than four titles in that genre. But never fear, because Burnin’ Rubber offers some Micro Machines-style racing action, Joe and Mac 2 provides platforming fun, and Magical Drop II is a Tetris-style puzzler. Rounding off the set are run and gunner Midnight Resistance and the pool game Side Pocket. This is the enhanced version released on the SNES/Mega Drive rather than the original 1986 edition. And to be honest, I’m perfectly fine with that.
Cart 04 – Interplay Collection 1
Interplay was a favourite developer of mine back in the day, and this collection of 6 games, including both 8-bit and 16-bit titles, offers a good idea as to why. The star title for me is, of course, Earthworm Jim (see the review after this feature), a weird and wonderful platformer. Clayfighter is another fun game, a quirky and unusual clay-based variation of the Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat style fighting game. The remaining games are an interesting mix of genres. Battle Chess combines the classic game with a modern fight/brawler game style, while Boogerman is a snot-based platformer. Ideal for kids of all ages, naturally. Incantation is a latter day 16-bit platformer for younger gamers, although from a design perspective there’s plenty to recommend for gamers of all ages. Finally there’s Titan, a fast paced puzzle game first released in 1990.
Cart 05 – Atari Collection 2
Following on from Cart 01, this second Atari collection adds another 20 games to the system. Once again covering games released on the 2600 and 7800 systems, there’s another wide variety of styles and genres provided, including RealSports Tennis, Submarine Commander and sci-fi shenanigans in Solaris. For the first time there is a little bit of duplication (which will become a recurring theme on the Atari carts), with 7800 versions of Centipede, Asteroids and Desert Falcon appearing on this collection (the 2600 versions appeared on Collection 1). An interesting opportunity for comparison, perhaps, but it feels like a potentially wasted opportunity to add more variety. Still, given the volume and variety of other games on the cart, in this instance it’s a relatively minor point.
Once again there’s a 2005-era prototype included, namely adventure game Wizard. Oh, and try popping both Atari Collection carts into the VS – you’ll find a secret 41st game in your list…
Cart 06 – Namco Museum Collection 2
As with Collection 1, this cart does not work on the VS and will only play on the Handheld and the forthcoming EXP. Featuring another 11 games from Namco’s extensive back catalogue, the lead title is Pac Attack, a Pac-Man inspired take on the Tetris formula. There’s a heavy emphasis on shooters elsewhere on the cart, featuring Burning Force, Dragon Spirit, the superb Galaga, Phelios and Warp Man. The collection is rounded off by fighters WeaponLord, Splatterhouse Parts 2 and 3, and finally Dig Dug II and maze RPG The Tower of Druaga. On that note, why no Splatterhouse Part 1? It feels like an odd omission, more so when you consider that the game is available in the Namco Museum collection on Switch. Whatever the reasons may be, overall this is another solid collection but again a shame that it’s not available currently on the VS.
Cart 07 – Interplay Collection 2
Collection 2 arrived with a further 6 games from Interplay’s catalogue. The lead titles here are sequels from the first collection, with Earthworm Jim 2 and Clay Fighter 2 both making an appearance. The remaining four titles all offer something a bit different. Claymates is a cartoony platformer lampooning the pre-rendered games that were popular in 1994-95. The Brainies is a 1996 maze/puzzle game that riffs on Marble Madness. And finally there’s Prehistorik Man and The Adventures of Rad Gravity, both platformers with their own unique styles. I would say there is slightly less to recommend with this second release, but if nothing else there’s plenty of value provided by Earthworm Jim and the Clay Fighter games.
Cart 08 – Mega Cat Studios Collection 1
Mega Cat are a relatively young studio that develop games with a retro aesthetic. All of the 10 games here, despite being 8-bit or 16-bit productions, were made and released between 2016 and 2019. And as with all the other carts released on Evercade, they include a good mixture of styles and genres, from brawlers (Coffee Crisis, Creepy Brawlers) to sports (Log Jammers) to puzzle games (Little Medusa, Super Painter, Old Towers), you’re pretty much covered no matter what your interests are. While there are benefits to playing the older games on Evercade – mainly save states and reduced loading times – the Mega Cat titles also benefit from their modern approach to making retro-styled games.
Cart 09 – Piko Interactive Collection 1
This first set from Piko Interactive features another whopping 20 games. The selling point here is that many games were not localised and translated for foreign markets. Piko’s role is to take these titles, often many years or decades after the fact, and provide this service and, hopefully, give those titles another lease of life. They also have a hand in publishing previously unreleased titles, and this collection is no exception. Dorke and Ymp, for example, is a puzzle platformer that was slated for release in 1990 but couldn’t find a publisher until Piko finally released it in 2015. Other highlights here include Power Piggs of the Dark Age (who doesn’t love an anthropomorphic pig?), Top Racer, and the RPGs Dragon View and Drakkhen. Honestly, there’s a lot to like on this collection.
Cart 10 – Technos Collection 1
Technos are best known for the Double Dragon series, which features prominently here on 3 of the 8 available games. There’s less variety on this set than we’ve seen on other Evercade carts, with the focus being on beat em ups (for obvious reasons). In addition to the Double Dragon games River City Ransom and Renegade also follow suit. There’s a bit of variety in Crash N The Boys, which sees you engage in a variety of different sporting activities, and Super Dodge Ball (sadly, you are not required to dodge a wrench, but you can probably Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge). The final game on the collection, Super Spike V Ball, is a simple to play, difficult to master volleyball sim. Double Dragon is absolutely worth the price of entry, however if you’re not particularly enthused with beat em ups or sports games, this may be one to miss.
Cart 11 – Xeno Crisis/Tanglewood
The first dual game cart, and while it’s limited to just two games they are both absolute bangers. Tanglewood started life as a Mega Drive game released via Kickstarter in 2018 (and it didn’t do too badly at all – almost £55,000 raised, albeit from a £48,000 target). It’s a game in the classic platformer tradition, but with an intriguing day/night mechanic. The other half of the cart is Xeno Crisis, a top down shooter also designed for the Mega Drive and funded through Kickstarter in 2018. Covering 7 areas and hundreds of rooms, there’s a lot of game here with a wide variety of weapons to use and enemies to face – including the beautifully named Nemecyst. It proved a point quite early on in the Evercade system’s lifecycle that a smaller number of games, even two, can still soffer good value for money.
Cart 12 – The Oliver Twins Collection
The profits for this cart were donated as part of a charity drive for the National Video Games Museum – obviously an incredibly worthy cause and completely in line with Evercade’s approach to game preservation. This cart features seven games with everybody’s favourite gaming egg, Dizzy (who you will have already seen in the Gaming Mascots feature). While Dizzy was hugely popular (but you know, still just an egg), that wasn’t the Oliver Twins’ only contribution to gaming history, and that’s reflected by the other games on this cart. First up is Super Robin Hood, an 8-bit remake of their very first game. Next is Firehawk, an air combat game where the aim is to rescue paratroopers and take down those dastardly drug dealers. Also included is Professional BMX Simulator, a top down bike racer. There’s also three games that weren’t published back in the day – Dreamworld Pogie (a victim of the schedule for Dizzy The Adventurer taking precedence in 1993, but finally seeing release in 2017). We also have two new Dizzy games in the shape of Wonderland Dizzy and Mystery World Dizzy. The source code for these and Dreamworld Pogie were discovered in Philip Oliver’s loft a few years ago.