Evercade Evolution - Magazine Review

Long time readers will know that I've been a fan of the Evercade handheld since it was first released. The idea of a portable console using cartridges is both suitably nostalgic and well implemented in the Evercade and it has grown a steady following. This inspired several people to get together and publish an unofficial magazine for the machine: Evercade Evolution.

Starting off as a free pdf file, you can also buy physical copies produced via Amazon, and it was these I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Issue five is being talked about online so hopefully we'll see that soon, and it was pleasing to see that issue 4 has a lovely note stating that all profits from that issue in April 2022 were being donated to charity. 

As I have said above, these issues are printed on demand by Amazon, which offers high quality binding, good colour reproduction and a decent feel to the magazines. Issue one comes in at 50 pages including the covers, with later issues coming in at the mid-sixties range. 

What is apparent from a general read through is that the team behind the magazine believe in the meaning of the title, as each issue amends and improves the formula. Layouts and content balances change and it's a positive thing to see them alter their approach as the nature of the Evercade market changes too, especially with the addition of the TV-connected VS machine and the Arcade collections. 

Issue one sets the tone with a short news section which is followed by a game-by-game review of the Atari Collection 1 cart. Each game gets looked at and marked (out of five stars) for Graphics, Audio, Gameplay and Fun Factor. A final score out of ten is then awarded, and some games even get a second opinion. After that, we get a "traditional" review of the cart, taking in all the games in a two page piece (by a different reviewer to the individual game section), before finally putting the cart to bed by having a page dedicated to three of the crew scoring it for Game Variety, Game Quality, Play Time and Replay Value - then giving the whole thing a score out of ten. Now I quite like this approach, as you get one person's views on each game, another's of the cart as a whole, then the round up. It makes sense given that this cart alone contains 20 titles and whilst some play reasonably well, others (with their 40-year plus age) most definitely do not, and the team is not scared to say so where needed. 

A small high score section appears before an article on the type of Winter/Christmas titles the team would like to see on the Evercade. James Pond 2 seems to be the popular choice, and I am not one to disagree with that. The next four pages are dedicated to the background of the magazine and the creation of the physical edition, a further page delves further back in to the history of the magazine, and then there's a look at the Fairchild Channel F console. I really did like the approach that last one took too.

Two pages are dedicated to a (then) new TV show based on the game Frogger (I know, but hey, the trailer looks fun), before the last article proper,  a one page interview with Classy Gaming Fun (aka Pete, aka, OEB Pete) of YouTube renown, leads us to the sign off.

Issue two ramps things up with more news pages, and expanded high score section and an interview with Blaze Entertainment's Andrew Byatt. The Namco Collection 2 gets the full review treatment and there are a good few features that a worthy your time (you'll need to read the mag yourself to find out - and remember, it's a free pdf online if you don't want a physical copy...).

EE The Third covers the Evercade, the home console variant of the format, the Data East Collection 1 is the review cart of choice and, once again, the features are a good mix and well written. The most recent issue (as of this post) doubles down on the reviews, with two carts (both of the Interplay Collections) as well as a review of the new Technos Arcade collection. 

I really like this magazine. It's a fan-based publication that not only hit the ground running but also dared to improve itself over the issues produced so far. They've nailed the design and it reads very well. If you're an owner of any of either the Evercade or VS (or have pre-ordered the new EXP handheld (so tempting it is too...), then this mag will have you covered for your reading needs. I know I will be picking up issue 5 when it's available and add it to the other issues in my collection. You can check out the magazine for free here, and buy the physical copies from Amazon here, as well as the Kindle version too. Also check out their Twitter feed for news and announcements.

New arrivals and some thoughts.

Last week saw a couple of parcels drop through the letter box as well as the latest issue of Archive magazine. Alongside those, the tail end of the week also saw a noteworthy news announcement from Evercade and the Wakefield Show for fans of RISC OS took place on Saturday.

Evercade Cartridges and new hardware announcement

The new cartridges first and we have No.15: Jaleco Collection 1 and No.16: Piko Collection 2. Containing 10 and 13 games respectively, there are nice additions to the range and cover 8, 16 and 32-bit software releases. My current favourites in the Jaleco Collection 1 are Earth Defense Force and Bases Loaded, whilst in the Piko Collection 2, Top Race 2 and Soccer Kid have seen the most play time so far. There was a nice mini-poster included in the former collection and some stickers in the latter. I have more carts on order: No.17: Indie Heroes Collection and No18: Worms Collection 1 (both due by the end of May), and there are even more releases due out later in the year: Codemasters Collection, Mega Cat Studios Collection 2 and the Intellivision Collection. According to their own 2021 timeline, Evercade have five more releases due for announcement before the end of the year, so it would be fair to say that they are doing well with the handheld. But that is not all...

On the 23rd of April, Evercade announced the Evercade VS, a mini-console that plugs into your TV via HDMI, has four controller ports and accepts two carts at a time. Funky feature, that one, but it does mean you can have up to 40 titles ready to play without touching the base unit. Following the NES in its styling (that flip up cover is a nice touch), you can also connect other USB controllers as well as wireless dongles to give further controller options. With built-in Wifi for over the air updates and including a controller with a 3m cable, it looks like they have pretty much thought of everything with this addition to the Evercade range. Pricing isn't bad either, £89.99 ($99.99/€99.99) will get you the base machine, though from what I have read, you don't get a power brick or an HDMI cable in the box. Then again, it's not uncommon to have spare cables lying around and to be honest, the last thing my house needs is yet another micro-USB cable and power adaptor. The base pack will get you one cart collection in the box, though they have not announced which one yet and I sincerely hope it's a new release. That way, existing Evercade users won't be duplicating carts if they buy a VS, and if they don't go for the new console, they will still be able to buy the cart separately. One slight issue at the moment is that neither Namco Collections (No.2 and 6) will work with the VS due to licensing issues. That may, however, be sorted by the time the console launches.

As it stands, this is a maybe purchase for me. The price is cheap enough and the Evercade handheld gets a fair bit of use as it is. Ironically, the multiplayer part of the equation isn't the key selling point for me, though I am sure my good lady will kick my backside in quite a few of the titles supporting multiplayer. No, the biggest draw here is the easy connection to a big screen, something that is possible using the handheld but never feels quite right. If I do order this one, it's going to be a busy couple of months later this year, as hopefully I'll receive my Intellivision Amico in early October. Whilst I know that's been getting some stick for delays, the level of communication from the company has never let up, which is promising. It's certainly better than silence as that always puts me off a product that is vying for my pennies and something that has veered me away from supporting the now-released (but not exactly storming it) Atari VCS. That being said, buying one of those if you live in the UK seems nigh on impossible at the moment and that $399 price point is more than a tad off-putting. 

Archive Magazine and the Wakefield Show

Archive magazine 25.3 landed on Saturday and it was quite timely, watching as I was the livestream from the virtual Wakefield Show on YouTube. The latest issue is another packed edition and I particularly liked the final part of the ARMs and Architecture series (focusing on memory) and the now semi-regular column Acorn Retro by Colin Piggot of SAM Revival magazine fame. Incidentally, I have pre-ordered issue 26 of SAM Revival which appears to be getting closer to release. As for Archive mag, some interesting figures were released by Gavin over the weekend: a print run of 500 copies and subscribers in 18 countries. That's bloody impressive! The quality demonstrated in the latest issue bodes well for the future.

On to the Wakefield show and I've had thoughts about visiting this for a couple of years now. Due to COVID, this hasn't happened yet and this was the second year where the show was held virtually via an invite-only Zoom meeting and live streams via YouTube and Facebook. You can check out the Wakefield Show website here for the links to the streams. I dipped in and out of the YouTube feed throughout the day and quite enjoyed the updates provided by the various companies attending.

On the whole, this was informative and worth watching, with plenty of new products and updates to existing hardware and software demonstrating that there is still very much an active community around the OS. AMCOG Games started the show and displayed a range of games for RISC OS. The new range of Pi4-based desktops from RISCOSbits and the existing 4te from R-Comp looked quite tasty, as did the updated Ro from CJE Micros. What is interesting to see is that both R-Comp and RISCOSbits now include a hefty amount of pack-in software. Anything to help the new user in getting some benefit out of their new purchase is always good. There was even a half hour from Cloverleaf about their second attempt at a Kickstater campaign... which although it is stated on the Wakefield Show website that the campaign would have started by the time of the 30 minute presentation was due, as at the time of posting this (six days later), it still hasn't launched. I am feeling more ambivalent about this as time goes on. Still, I'll be giving their offering a gander when it's launched. From the presentation last Saturday, there appears to be more focus and detail on what the funding is to go towards and the idea of a €499 RISC OS laptop is tempting.

All in all, this was a positive show. Some good hardware plans, plenty of software to suit a variety of needs and a very forward looking approach to the future of the OS (it is reassuring to see that there is serious discussion abound as to how to deal with the changes to the ARM architecture). What can be taken away from the Wakefield Show is a sense of optimism and, more importantly, realism. The platform is alive and well, there are plans to try and expand the userbase and there is evidence of further international interest in the platform. These are all good things and, as I have said before, give RISC OS a go, you might like it. Just remember its limitations, manage your expectations and you may find something you'll like.

The Blaze Evercade - 7 Months On

You may recall a post I wrote seven months ago about the Blaze Evercade, a then new entrant into the handheld gaming console market. Well, after steady use of the device and a thorough play through of my ever growing cartridge collection, I thought it time to give you an update on what's good about the Evercade, what's bad and what could be improved. 

The original box. It's kept in a safe place.

The good to begin with and it's pretty much as I said in my original post whilst noting that the build quality has stood up to some heavy use, the screen remains as good as ever and even the battery life has held up to around the three and a half/four hour mark even with fairly steady use every week. Controls remain as responsive as ever and I still really like the hardware. One improvement that has been seen is the ease of which cartridges can be swapped, it's loosened up enough not to be an issue any more. Also, revised firmware has been issued so that controls can be remapped. A small feature but one that some have found very useful, so kudos has to be given for listening to the customer and providing that support.

As for the bad, well, there's not much to say. Really, there is nothing that I would call the Evercade out for after several months of use. The only feature I really haven't used more than once is the HDMI port, which is down to me not being overly bothered about connecting the console to a TV, but as I said, that's just me. It's still a nice feature to have.

Improvements, well, that's a more difficult one to discuss. Whilst I would love Evercade to offer a couple of improvements, I am very aware that this is a device aimed at a specific price point and any changes made to the original hardware might affect that price point so adversely that it would defeat the purpose of the device in the first place. First of these would be a proper glass screen cover, rather than the plastic cover that currently ships. A bigger battery would also be lovely but the current one does the job well enough. Finally, a metal cased version would be fantastic but I am sure that would bump the price up into an area that Blaze would not be comfortable with. As it stands then, these are moon on a stick wishes but hopefully there might be some revised hardware in the future. As it stands though, what you can get now is very, very good. 

The complete collection... so far...

Games then, and when I purchased my Evercade, I managed to bag the first nine cartridges. As you can see from the pictures above and below, I have caught up with the release schedule since then and now have all of the currently available carts. And really, it's the most recent four carts that show the true genius of the Evercade system. 

The packaging of the carts still looks cool!

Starting at cart number 11, we have the double pack of Xeno Crisis and Tanglewood, the former an indie  twin stick shooter, the latter a Kickstarter funded Megadrive title that has since gained a wider release. Compared to the other carts, two games might seem a bit stingy but when it's two titles of this calibre, the equivalent of £7.50 per game is brilliant value indeed, especially when you consider the full price of the titles are £15.99 and £13.99 on Steam respectively.

Who doesn't love a bit of Dizzy?

Then you have cart 12 - The Oliver Twins Collection. Who amongst us as 8-bit computer owners used to look forward to some of the games in this collection? The range of Dizzy titles, both old and new is worth the price alone but you also have classics like Super Robin Hood, BMX Simulator and Firehawk! And if that isn't enough, all proceeds from this cart go to the National Videogame Museum - that's icing on the cake, so to speak. 

I wanted an Atari Lynx just for this game.

Carts 13 and 14 have the same theme, they cover a total of twenty five titles that were released for the Atari Lynx. The first volume is centred around the developer Songbird, the second volume covers Epyx. Whilst not all of the titles were originally released when the Lynx was supported by Atari, it is great that the later games have another outlet for people to experience them. As someone who really wanted a Lynx back in the day (and eventually settled on the Nintendo Gameboy and, for a couple of years, the Sega Gamegear), these two carts finally allowed me to try out those titles that looked so good in Computer and Videogames, and Mean Machines magazines.

I have waited a long time to play this. It was worth it!

This is the beauty of the Evercade. You can have original titles from long gone hardware as well as newer games developed for those same formats. You can have modern day indie titles that may have passed you buy and you can have collections from seminal (and world record holding) developers. There is such a wide variety of titles available on all fourteen currently available carts that there is pretty much something for everyone, excluding text and graphical adventures but hey, you never know!

Showing off that lovely screen!

The good thing about the Evercade is the extremely low cost of entry. For the list price of £59.99 (€69.99 or $79.99) including one cart, it really is a bargain. If you can get hold of the Premium pack for £79.99 (€89.99 or $99.99) with three carts included, even better. The cart prices are low too, £14.99 (€17.99 or $19.99) which could be described as not far off pocket money levels. Note, I have not received pocket money since the early 1990's and that was £4 per week, I have no idea what children today get. Overall, this very much falls into the affordable bracket.

It gets even better though, as Evercade have already announced four new cartridges due for release in early 2021 with Jaleco Collection 1, Piko Interactive 2, Indie Heroes Collection 1 (which includes the awesome Quest Arrest) and Worms Collection 1. This bodes well for even more releases next year. And yes, I'll be adding these to the collection, though I may have to find another shelf as there isn't enough room left on the current one.

There you have it then, the Blaze Evercade remains a brilliant little handheld gaming machine and one that will give you hours of enjoyment over the already wide range of carts out there. It's relatively inexpensive and the value for money from the carts is second to none. It's certainly been the best value gaming purchase I have made this year and I look forward to their future announcements.

The Blaze Evercade

The Starter Pack and 7 additional cartridges.

The Blaze Evercade originally fell into the "wait and see" category when I first heard about it, as I had owned a couple of  Blaze products in the past and hadn't been overly impressed with them. Yet, as early YouTube reviews appeared, it started to grow on me. The reviews were actually decent - noting issues here and there, but on the whole, I got a very positive impression of the device. My only bugbear was the seemingly spongy d-pad that I took an immediate, if unwarranted, dislike to because of the videos. In the end, though, I took the plunge and pre-ordered the Starter Pack and the other 8 cartridges available at the time.

Delivered by what seemed to be the world's cheeriest postman at 7am last Saturday morning, I quickly disposed of the delivery packaging to reveal this:

Are you not excited by this?

The box is good quality and well designed. It reminds me very much of '80's and '90's console packaging that screams about the hardware and software, leaving you without any doubts as to what you're going to get. True, it's quite "busy" but I think it's a good design for the Evercade. The outer sleeve slides off easily and reveals the console box itself which is more restrained. Opening that box reveals the console in a plastic insert and a small Quick Start Guide. Beneath that is the included game cartridge (Namco Museum Collection 1) and a USB to micro-USB cable for charging. No plug adapter is included but it's likely you'll already have at least a few of those dotted around the house. Nor is a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable included either, so you'll need to buy one if you want to use the Evercade with a TV. One last thing to note, the plastic trays in the box are cheap but do the job, though a far cry from the quality of the cardboard packaging.

I can't fault the design...

...though the plastic trays are cheap.

Out of the box, what does the Evercade offer? A 4.3 inch screen, four main buttons (A, B, X and Y), Select, Start and Menu buttons, and left and right shoulder buttons. On the whole, these feel quite good, though the shoulder buttons do feel a little light but give a decent click when pressed. The d-pad is large and actually very good. Certainly any fears I had prior to using it have gone and I find it works very well. Some have commented about the gameplay button layout, leading to a firmware patch to remap them. That's a personal choice but I'm happy with the way it comes out of the box. Around the device, you have a power switch, cartridge port, micro-USB for charging, mini-HDMI for TV display, a 3.5mm headphone jack and volume buttons. There are also a pair of speakers  on the front that provide decent stereo sound.

Start up screen.

The console itself is well built and quite sturdy, measuring approximately 18cm x 8cm x 2cm. It's not overly heavy at 250g and fits nicely into your hands. The plastic is not textured though, so may get a bit slippy.

The screen, certainly on the highest brightness, is well suited to sunlit rooms. whilst on the low setting, it's very comfortable for playing in darkened areas. The screen ratio in games is usually 4:3 as that's their original ratio, which leaves black borders on either edge of the display, but full screen can be selected from the in game menu, as can save and load states for each title. A note of the full screen option - this appears to just stretch the image across the full width of the display that makes a lot of the titles look just plain wrong, so for me, the correct aspect ratio would be the original 4:3 for a lot of titles. Whilst I am on the subject of the screen, the viewing angles from either side are okay, but the vertical angles are pretty poor - not that this is much of a problem as this is a single player system, regardless of whether the titles offer two player options.

The screen is very nice.

The Starter Pack comes with one cartridge, the Namco Museum Collection 1, containing 11 titles. These include PAC-MAN, Galaxian, Dig Dug and Xevious. This is without doubt the best cart to pack in with the console. Given who it is aimed for, these four titles will evoke a heavy sense of nostalgia and draw you in straight away. As for the rest of the titles on this cart, most I hadn't heard of but Star Luster is a forgotten classic in my humble opinion. I also ordered all of the available cartridges at the same time as the console and, as with Namco 1, whilst there were some titles I was familiar with, there were many I wasn't and discovering these was a joy in itself. Several additional cartridges have been announced for the Evercade, taking the total up to 14 at the time of writing and more are planned. These include two Atari Lynx Collections, The Oliver Twins Collection (which not only supports the excellent National Videogame Museum, but also brings back several Dizzy titles), and a Xeno Crisis/Tanglewood double pack, evidence that the Evercade could be a good home to Indie developers as well.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the cartridge packaging. It's lovely. It holds the cartridge securely and the included colour manual for each cartidge provides instructions and a bit of history for the individual games. They are a nice touch and take me back to a time when packaging actually meant something. I don't know about you, but games manuals were often as important (and entertaining) as the games. The cases also look great on the shelf too...

Console gaming how it used to be.

The manuals are very polished and a lovely touch.

Sorry, Bazcardz, you'll have to move when more carts arrive...

Downsides? Well, I would like to see a better quality screen cover, glass instead of plastic. This is a handheld and people will travel with it. I wouldn't feel comfortable shoving this in a rucksack without the accompanying carry case which, by the way, I haven't bought. Battery life could be a smidge better - four hours just doesn't seem quite enough but it's not a major problem either. The only other issue is the cartridge slot itself - it's very tight to fit the carts in and taking them out can result in some worrying creaking from the body of the console, depending on how you leverage the cart out. Evercade have said that it gets looser with use (Oh, Matron!), but I can't help but think that there could have been an alternative mechanism used other than friction. Oh well, it's not a deal breaker and just means you have to take a bit of care, which is no bad thing.

So having played with this for a week, I am happy with the Evercade. The design and build quality are very good and the games selection is varied and entertaining. True, it can be a bit hit and miss depending on the cartridge but let's be honest here, how many compilations (be it music, games or whatever) have you bought where every title was to your liking? The current range of titles covers an awful lot of retro gaming and as noted above, there are plans for several more. Certainly, I get the impression that they're in it for the long run. With the control layout, there would be no issues with games from systems as modern(!) as the Amiga CD32 and the 3DO being released, and I am sure the Evercade could handle those with ease. I would love to see the likes of Guardian and Star Fighter 3000!

You can order the Evercade from Funstock.co.uk, Argos and Amazon. If you are a retro gaming fan and like the idea of a portable console that covers legally emulated games, then have a look at this. For the price, £59.99 for the starter pack, it's a lovely little system and one that I hope to see supported for a long time to come.

Recent goings on

With the back end of April fast approaching, it should come as no surprise to any of you that not much has been happening given the current situation. There are a couple of things to note though...

Beer with Cards (or is that Cards with Beer?)

First up, I have received my edition of Craft Beer Brewer by Bazcardz (via Gamecrafter). A nicely produced little card game, the aim is to end up with the highest number of points by brewing the best beer you can. With cards.

OK, it's a bit more than that. You get a Yeast card and five random ingredient cards. Over four turns, you discard and replace your cards to build a beer that has to have a Yeast with compatible Malt and Hops cards. Additional points can be earned for having suitable Flavour and Brewing cards. Community cards can also be used, but watch out for the "Ale Fail" cards that introduce problems into your brewing and, more importantly, cost you points. The person with the highest number of points at the end of turn four is judged to have brewed the best beer. You also get to name your beer and at that point, well, it's your imagination.

It sounds simple but it is a fun game to play in short bursts, especially if you're drinking beer at the same time. The real benefit of the game is that it is also educational and with several playthroughs, you'll start to learn more about beer brewing than you thought possible whilst playing a card game. It's pretty much obvious who this game is aimed for and it has provided a few interesting hypothetical beers whilst more mainstream bottled beer has been consumed. If you fancy trying this game out, you can purchase it from Gamecrafter here. You can also follow the game's creator on Facebook here, where you'll also find a brief YouTube video that explains the game more fully.

Reviewing games should be fun... shouldn't it?

My most recent review for Retrovidegamer is The Perfect General for the 3DO. It wasn't supposed to be that game though. No, it was supposed to be Flying Nightmares for the same console. Nominally a flight sim based on the Harrier (it seems to be based on the previous Domark title AV-8B Harrier Assault), this is a terrible game. Confusing and complicated controls, poor responsiveness to control input and a horrendous difficulty level, it's just not fun to play. After several hours I had had enough. To hell with it. These things should have some level of enjoyment and that was sorely lacking here. I am not one who gets angry whilst playing videogames and I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have never thrown a controller down but I came close with this one. Flying Nightmares? More like F*****g Nightmares! And no, I am never going back to it.

Avoid this title like the plague...

Reading habits

With the current situation, I have been fortunate enough to be able to work from home, as has my good lady. What this has meant, however, is that I have started to rattle through my reading pile at a vast rate of knots as out of house activities are limited to the odd walk and a trip to the shops. After all, there is only so much television one can deal with and I find reading a very comfortable alternative. Recent titles have included A J Venter's "Battle for Angola", Leopold Scholtz's "The SADF in the Border War", James Barr's "Lords of the Desert" and Cary Elwes' As You Wish. The latter, an unexpected present from my good lady, is a whimsical and funny tome about the making of The Princess Bride - arguably one of the most perfect movies ever made. If you've never read the original book by William Goldman, you should. Never seen the film? Inconceivable! And once you have read or seen either of those, buy "As You Wish". Next off the reading pile is something closer to home (geographically), George MacDonald Fraser's "The Steel Bonnets".

Videogaming

Finally, onto that other relaxing past time, playing videogames for pleasure. Over the last couple of months, I've managed a replay of Mass Effect's 1 and 2. A good time was had and a realisation that whilst ME 1 was a good start to the trilogy, ME 2 really did get a whole lot better, in story, characterisation and presentation. Following those two came Bioshock and Bioshock 2, the latter of which I am still progressing through now. Old games, to be sure, but still very playable and entertaining. Not something I could really say about quite a few modern day titles, especially those with a focus on online play. That's just me though. On the side, there is Cold Waters, a PC based Cold War submarine simulator that's proving challenging and rather fun.

Speaking of old games though, I have finally put the money down for a Blaze Evercade handheld console. With an eye firmly on licensed emulated versions of dozens of retro titles released on cartridges (how quaint...), this has had my attention since it was announced. You can find out more about it via the link above and make your own mind up, but for me, it ticks the retro box in a nice, legal package. With a release window between May 22 and the middle of June, I'll let you know what I think of it when mine is delivered.

And so, back to The Steel Bonnets. If you're never read any MacDonald Fraser before, certainly give the Flashman series a go. The Pyrates is also a hoot and his non-fiction work is similarly good. Until next time...