Evercade

[Alex79]

Hey, I've got a load of Amazon credit and looking to buy a handheld emulation device.

At the moment I'm kind of torn between the official route - Evercade EXP, or getting something that I can throw any ROMs on to.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I like the idea of being able to play PS2 and GameCube games in my hand, but I also really like the more curated Evercade approach.

I notice the Evercade EXP is under £130 on Amazon, and comes with the Capcom and Irem game collections, about 20 or so games I think.

The cons of getting a "play anything" device are that I would spend less time with each game, never really committing to anything because the games are free. The pros are that the game are, um, free.

But I also like "having" things. The Evercade looks like a really nice bit of kit. Leon - you have one, right? Would you recommend? Do you know if they're due to release an updated version any time soon?

For the "play anything" devices it's an absolute minefield, so many different things available. The AYN Odin Pro, the Retroid Pocket, the MiYoo Mini - the choice is endless, and thus more difficult!

Any tips appreciated. Thanks!

(And before anyone suggests it, the Steam Deck is way out of price range...)

[Alex79]

Oh god, I've just spotted the Codemasters collection for the Evercade. It's got Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder on (neither of which I thought were Codies games??)

I have to get the Evercade.

[Alex79]

I've ordered it.

Close the thread.

[GKBracken]

Too late to the party, but big fan of my Anbernic RG351MP, but it caps out at PS1-era stuff into GBA with a touch of PSP. Believe the latest Retroid Pocket (3+, I think?) does a respectable showing for itself up to DC with some GCN and PS2 support.

I find Taki Udon and Retro Game Corps to be invaluable resources when shopping for these retroarch devices, they're both really exhaustive in their breakdowns. Retro Dodo is pretty good too.

[Magical_Isopod]

I have the Evercade and I think it's great... I just don't seem to play it much. I'd say the quality of their releases are steadily improving, but it often feels like a dumping ground for C-tier games for which the licenses are cheap. I'd actually prefer to see more releases like Xenocrisis, which is actually my most-played game on the system - genuinely notable, well-made indie games running on hardware similar to what Evercade is targeting.

I do love their compilations - the Renovation one is by far my favourite thus far. But I feel like their strategy of releasing maybe 1 or 2 notable games bundled in with, let's face it, some crap games, is not winning me over too much. The price for the carts is right, at least - $25 for 6 to 15 games, even if many of them are mediocre, is a great value... Especially compared to absolute goons like ININ who have the gall to release maybe 3 or 4 emulated games in a cart for $60.

You want to know a great, inexpensive emulation handheld though? The 2DS. Pick one up for like $80. It can natively play GBA, DS and 3DS games, plus it has strong emulation support for NES, TG16, Genesis, SNES and others - though it weirdly struggles with GBC games, and it does not have good cores for Lynx, Virtual Boy, WonderSwan and other obscure handhelds. But for the price, and for the ease of modding, it's a circus of value.

[Alex79]

I did think about a hacked 2/3DS but in the end was more attracted to the physicality of having some nice carts and boxes and stuff with the Evercade. I've had a look through the collection, saved a few to my Amazon wish-list but there is huge potential for games not available yet I think. Would love to see a Neo Geo collection or a Sega one - well, loads I can think of really.

[Alex79]

Hey so I have an Evercade EXP now with the Capcom collection built in as well as the Irem and Codemasters cartridges.

First impressions are that it's a nice looking little machine. Possibly slightly on the small side to be comfortable for long sessions but I suppose the nature of most the games on the system don't really lend themselves to marathon gaming sessions.

Also a bit disappointed that the arcade games don't have dip switch settings, but that appears to possibly be coming in a future firmware update. Whether that will retroactively apply to older titles I'm not sure, but most emulators have this built in so it's a strange omissions. It does make some of the arcade games less fun when you can't get more than 30 seconds without dying!

Cannon Fodder and Sensible Soccer are as amazing as they have always been though. Does anyone else have one of these things? Are there any cartridges you'd recommend? I think I'm going to get the Oliver Twins collection next - Dizzy!

Thanks!

[ratsoalbion]

I have one and it's lovely. Toaplan 1 and 2 are my top carts at the moment.

[Alex79]

Ooh they both look nice for shmups! Think I'll grab one of those along with the Oliver Twins one when I get paid, thanks

[ratsoalbion]

Edit controls (beta) has now been added via firmware by the way, Alex.

[Alex79]

Oh cool, that's handy. I always like having jump on the bottom button and shoot on the left button, and most the games don't have them that way by default.

[ratsoalbion]

Same, just been through all my games tweaking them as such.


Just bear in mind if you take the controls off A and B then the TATE mode will be missing functions...

[Alex79]

I've been trying to actually spend a bit of time playing the games properly rather than just 30 seconds on each before moving on, and there are some corkers on the Irem Arcade Collection cartridge.

Obviously R-Type is a classic, and In The Hunt is another fun shmup with a twist, but the two that have really surprised me are Moon Patrol and Battle Chopper. Moon Patrol is a really oldskool scrolling game where you pilot a moon buggy and have to time your jumps to avoid hazards on the ground whilst shooting spaceships out of the sky. It looks very basic, but also really nice for it's age (1982 I think?)

Battle Chopper (AKA Mr Heli in Japan) is a ridiculously fun side scrolling shmup where you collect money throughout the level for gun and bomb upgrades. It's most reminiscent of Fantasy Zone or something like that, but it's super addictive and controls really nicely, and has quite a forgiving health bar which means you get a decent game out of it. I'd almost dismissed this cart as an inessential pack-in with the console, but it's fast become one of my favourites.

Irem Arcade Collection 1 - 4 out of 5.

[ratsoalbion]

"I'd almost dismissed this cart as an inessential pack-in with the console"

WTF! It's Irem!

[Alex79]

"I'd almost dismissed this cart as an inessential pack-in with the console"

WTF! It's Irem!

I know, but I'd only heard of two of the games on the cartridge!

[Alex79]

Evercade to produce 'bigger' carts featuring more CD based games (whilst still keeping them really inexpensive). This is really exciting to me, looking forward to seeing what they come out with!

Here at Evercade, we’ve always had to strike a balance between bringing great games to you on physical cartridges and ensuring they represent great value to you. As we head into the future, and the scope of what our fans want to play becomes more recent, we’ve adapted to provide this the best way we can.

“Giga Cart” is a new type of cartridge we are making that is designed specifically for larger and more modern retro games, mostly originally released on CD. This new cartridge type will be identical in size and shape to your existing carts but will internally have a larger capacity to bring you these more demanding titles.

We’ve always been honest with our community and they’ve always been honest with us. For us to produce a larger cart would mean a higher development and release cost, and the Evercade community has always been open to this if the reasoning behind it was so that they get more from the collection in the quality of the games provided. We believe we’ve found the right balance with Giga Cart.

Giga Cart Evercade cartridges will have an RRP of £22.49/$24.99/€24.99. This means having more of these games in one cart will have a better value for you than breaking a game list down over multiple cartridges. This change does not affect the current cost of other Evercade cartridges and they will remain at their £17.99/$19.99/€19.99 RRP.

Source: https://evercade.co.uk/introducing-giga-cart/

[ratsoalbion]

Very cool.

New firmware update now shows your games and carts collection.

[Alex79]

Yeah it's pretty neat to look at. Still hoping they add dip switch support though. Apparently they're working on it but they've been saying that for about six months!

[ratsoalbion]

Indeed!

[ratsoalbion]