April 18, 2021|All Reviews, New Fangled Review, Retro Reviews
by Rob Leggo
The Evercade is the most interesting console that has passed across our desks in many years. There have been many, many, MANY cheaply made retro handhelds, of dubious build quality and VERY dubious legal standing…so the big question I had when this first came out was, is there still a place for a cartridge based retro system, in 2021? Can the Evercade stand out amidst the Soulja Boy knockoffs, and carve a niche out for itself?
The Unboxing
Opening up the box, you get the Evercade itself, as well as a USB charging cable (micro Usb, no charging brick included) and the user manual. Included with the premium pack I purchased, you also get 3 cartridges as well, Atari Volume 1, Interplay volume 1 and Data East Volume 1. This pack is currently going for 130 Canadian rupees, but there is a Starter Pack for 99 Canadian dineros that just includes the Atari collection.
The Hardware
Looking at the Evercade itself, you’ve got a sharp looking 4.3 inch IPS 480p display, with a decent Dpad and some nice clicky buttons, setup in an Xbox pattern…which is strange, considering the large amount of Nintendo titles title, but it works.
On the top, there are two more clicky buttons (L and R), the on off switch, a mini hdmi port and the cartridge slot. I’m not the worlds biggest fan of mini-hdmi ports, as the space savings is almost negligible, and its just another adaptor to lose. It works well enough, outputting a clean 720p signal that looks great.
On the bottom, you’ve got a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro usb port for charging and firmware updating, and a volume rocker. The bottom is contoured a little bit like a NES wishbone controller, and is very comfortable to hold. The whole thing has a nice heft to it, and I had no issues holding it during some marathon gaming sessions.
For folks used to some of the options available on some other emulator systems, the Evercade can be a little bit of a let down. You have the option to play in either original aspect or 16:9 Stretch (if you’re a monster). There’s an option for menu sound, changing the language, and for changing the screen brightness. That’s it. Blaze appears to have focused more on making a solid emulating experience vs customization, and it’s something I am personally ok with, as I have not had a single system crash while using this. (well, not entirely true….but what I did get was more related to the HDMI port itself….but more on that later)
The Games
Inside each hard case, you get the cartridge itself, and a full colour manual. Some collections come with other add ons, say like a pack of stickers…but usually that’s it.
The manuals are extremely well made, with full colour screen shots, box art and controls for each game. This is honestly one of my favourite parts of what Evercade is doing here, as the makes each collection more collectible. Also, some of these older games would be a really slog to figure out without some sort of manual (I’m looking at you Atari collection) so it’s much appreciated. I found myself going through each of the manuals like I was a younger lad just picking up a game rental from the local video store and thumbing through it on the way home. Extremely well done, especially for the 20 dollar price tag per cartridge.
Once the cartridge is in and powered on, you’re treated to the game menu. Each game show a little blerb about it, including usually a pick of some box art, system name, year created and what kind of game you’re looking at. Again, a great way to get the gist of what you’re playing, especially if you’re new to some of these games.
And honestly, its once you’re actually in the game that the Evercade absolutely shines. Emulation was spot on for everything I played, with the video and audio near perfectly emulated. I also experienced no noticeable controller lag, whether playing on the screen or on the tv. Each game also supports save states, which I have to admit is a nice touch….even though games like Asteroids don’t really need it, its nice when you get to some longer harder games.
One serious snag I did find with the system was related to the mini-hdmi port however, in that if you plug in the cable or remove the cable during a game, it resets back to the main menu for the cartridge. This can become a bit of a problem, depending on the quality of the adaptor you picked up. Mini HDMI is not a great connection to begin with, and I found myself losing progress a couple of times while playing on the tv as my connection took a hit.
The game list too is an absolute strength. (Full list of available and upcoming games at https://www.evercade.co.uk/cartridges/ ) While I wish there were more Arcade ROMS (games like Galaga and Pac Man are the NES roms), there is plenty of diversity in the collections, with 8, 16 and 32 bit games. My personal favourite collections are the Atari Lynx ones, with some absolute bangers like Zarlor Mercenary and Todds Adventure in Slime World finally getting a better way to play them.
And honestly, this is one of the greatest things about the Evercade, is the amount of support coming for it. Intellivision has just announced an upcoming collection, as have the folks behind Worms, and there are already a bunch of great collections available. Each collection will have something on it worth trying, and darn it, there is just something about getting a honest to goodness cartridge, in a hard case, with freaking paper manual that hits the right spot for a lot of people. And with each cartridge going for roughly 20 dollars, there a lot of value there.
The Verdict
If you had asked me 5 years ago, if the Evercade would have become the success it has, I would have honestly thought there’d be no chance. I would have told you that it’s just too easy to pick up a cheap emulation knock off, or even to build one with a Raspberry pi zero that can do all of this and more. But where Blaze has found their niche, is that there are a lot of us out there who have a lot of nostalgia for not just the games, but the presentation. And while not flashy, they have created a rock solid emulation experience that is as simple as popping a cartridge in and pressing go and they just work. Also, and this can’t be overstated, these games are 100 legally licensed, with no sketchy business practices, which is going to be very important to some people.
Another reason someone might pick this up, is that this is honestly the best way to play a lot of these games. Never mind the obvious ones (cough cough Atari 2600), but as a lot of you know, I have a sweet spot deep in my heart for the Atari Lynx, and I have been happily playing those games on here all weekend. I can finally have save states in Zarlor, which might save my thumbs now that I’m older and a bit more fragile!
There is supposedly some plans in the making to allow multiplayer, and I honestly hope that’s true, however they decide to manipulate it. The exclusion of it at launch is an absolute travesty in my opinion…some of these games just need that second player. And I would love to see some more arcade Roms in the collections as well, maybe even including them with their NES counterparts to show comparisons.
But overall, I can whole heartedly endorse the Evercade for someone looking for an easy way to play some of the retro games of their childhood, especially if you’re a collector who enjoys still having physical media. The cartridge cases look great on a shelf, and I’ve enjoyed reading all of the manuals from front to back. Is it perfect….no, absolutely not. But for the price and for what its trying to bring, its a great value, and I couldn’t be happier that its getting the support it is right now.
The Grumpy Old Gamers 
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