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Blaze Entertainment continues to its Evercade ecosystem of devices with new cartridges, supplementing the library of licensed retro games with even more weirdness! We’ve been able to check out the 10 latest releases, so we can let you know what’s worth checking out and why!

The heavy hitters: Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain 6b1v2a

Tomb Raider has served as Blaze’s cornerstone release of the year, with the collection of three PS1 games included in the bundles for both the EXP-R and VS-R hardware revisions. Lara Croft might be the most recognizable mascot character it could hope to license, and even the earliest games in the franchise are more sweeping adventures than have been available in the Evercade’s quick-fun-focused selection. (It also probably didn’t hurt that Tomb Raider began its life at British studio Core Design; Blaze has shown a lot of love for its home.)

Blaze connected with Crystal Dynamics a second time, too, licensing Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver for a dual-pack. Of all five of these games, action-platformer Soul Reaver definitely holds up best for first-time players. The late-’90s theming that tries a bit too hard aside, the traversal and combat controls work totally fine today and it’s worth a play for Evercade owners! These two releases are the start of the “Giga Cart” line for the company. Essentially, these are cartridges with a slight price bump in exchange for higher storage capacity. That seems fine with us! Though we’re sure these games weren’t the cheapest to license either, and maybe that helps bring more publishers to the platform.

Japanese publishers redux: Sunsoft and Data East Collections 1jrh

Sunsoft Collection 2 arguably bests the first release’s lineup, starring NES platformer Ufouria: The Saga and Game Boy Color gem Blaster Master: Enemy Below. It even throws in some Evercade-signature weirdos, like head-to-head fighter Galaxy Fight and surprisingly compelling Game Boy puzzler Pri Pri Primitive Princess!, which in aggregate we think outweighs the first’s Mr. Gimmick.

We spent a lot of time playing Ufouria on this collection — it’s a great game — and were reminded how PAL games can cause some display issues due to their different resolution. As it stands, they’re stretched wider than they should be, and we wish there were a display option to force 4-by-3 and remedy this. Seems doable in a firmware update, right, Blaze?

Data East Arcade 2 offers a handful of fun Tate Mode options, as well as some great co-op beat-’em-ups. Edward Randy is a blast with unlimited credits, and stars an action hero that definitely isn’t Indiana Jones and why would you even bring that up? Trio The Punch brings a different sort of feel to the genre, with lots of super-short levels. Joe & Mac Returns tries a single-screen take on the caveman game, and can be fun to work through with a friend.

We have games at home: Piko Collection 4 1m4x62

Piko Interactive has embraced its niche of picking up licenses for games that feel like store-brand takes on big releases. But on Evercade, where their first-party siblings are likely never going to appear? That’s kind of appealing. Without Mario Kart, you may actually want to play Street Racer. Without a big-name puzzler, it doesn’t hurt to have Mermaids of Atlantis on the menu. Star X may be missing that F and O you’d want in the title, but it’s as close as you’re going to get here.

The centerpiece of this cart is Glover. We have a soft spot for the N64 platformer, and this version got a bit of development attention to make sure it works okay on the Evercade. It’s definitely a game that you want to play on the VS with a third-party controller so you can use an analog stick, but thankfully the system s that through an in-beta menu option.

Tate Mode showcases: Toaplan Arcade 3 and 4 486o2h

One of the coolest features of the Evercade EXP handhelds is the Tate Mode toggle, allowing you to play games vertically on the display. So it’s good to see some more Toaplan collections with a bunch of Tate Mode-friendly options. There are, of course, shooters — Batsugun, Truxton II, Dogyuun and more — but we’re particularly interested in games that use a vertical display and still offer genre variety.

Ghox is a take on the Breakout formula, with the sort of flash and intensity you’d expect from a developer that usually makes shooters. There are tons of collectibles falling at you, and it even starts with two balls to juggle by default! There are also Out Zone and FixEight, which are arguably still vertically scrolling shooters but on foot rather than flying around. This subgenre, perhaps most popularized by Pocky & Rocky or Shock Troopers, offers its own sort of fun and the ability to control the pace a bit more.

Old computer weirdness: Thalamus and Bitmap Brothers Collections 3ad3r

The selection in the Evercade library has always been tinted by the company’s UK origins, and nothing makes that clearer than the wide array of old computer game representation. Thalamus Collection 1 includes 11 Commodore 64 games from the late 1980s and 1990s. In our experience, the C64 library is a sort of “you had to be there” experience, with “there” meaning “Europe in the 1980s,” and it’s not the easiest to encounter for the first time today. Still, we did have some fun with action-shooter Retrograde.

The Bitmap Brothers Collection 2 offers a selection of Amiga games, which are certainly also quirky but a bit more palatable to modern sensibilities. The Cadaver games are isometric adventure games that take a bit of time to learn to control, but they’re charming. The Chaos Engine 2 is the top of the bunch for us, a top-down action game designed for co-op. And platformer Gods is worth it for the title screen music alone. Added to the collection, perhaps confusingly given the cart’s blue-line categorization, is a console game! The PlayStation port of real-time strategy game Z also makes the cut after missing out on the first, red-line compilation.

New-retro showpieces: Metal Dragon / Life on Mars 18682d

We’re on record saying that the greatest value of the Evercade is in giving modern retrogames accessible cartridge releases, so we’re happy to see that continue with the latest dual-pack. Metal Dragon is an ‘80s-inspired run-and-gun game that unfortunately makes the number-one mistake in games: falsely thinking it’s extremely funny. We wanted to enjoy its action levels and modern approach to controls, but its writing — a Metal Gear spoof seemingly penned by an “edgy” teen boy in detention — is pretty much insufferable.

Life on Mars fares significantly better, thankfully. It’s a Metroid-style exploration platformer, set on a Martian base where all the robots are attacking you as you land to re-establish communications and find out what happened. We wish the controls were a bit tighter — jumping in tight spaces can be particularly irritating — but there’s enjoyment to be found here.

Most of these Evercade cartridges are available now. The Metal Dragon/Life on Mars dual pack and Toaplan Arcade 4 are slated for release in December 2024. For more of Siliconera’s Evercade coverage, check out our archive.

The post The Best Evercade Cartridges of 2024 appeared first on Siliconera.

Glover is coming back once again, and this time a new port of it will appear on the Evercade console and handheld. It will show up in the Piko Interactive Collection 4 on April 30, 2024 for $19.99/£17.99€19.99.

Glover started out as an N64 and PC game back in the day, before eventually heading to the PlayStation as well. It stars a wizard’s glove named Glover trying to retrieve lost crystals that were transformed into balls in a platformer adventure. In 2021, Piko Interactive shared an early rom of the N64 version. This was followed by its PC return in 2022. It is also eventually heading to the PS4, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X. 

First, here’s the trailer showing how the new port of Glover looks when running on an Evercade alongside the other Piko Interactive Collection 4 games.

Here are all the games that will appear on that cartridge:

• Bad Street Brawler
• The Fidgetts
• Glover
• Mermaids of Atlantis
• Risky Woods
• Skuljagger: Revolt of the Westicans
• Star X
• Street Racer
• Target: Renegade
• Zero Tolerance Underground

There’s also a general announcement video bringing up how Glover marks the first time the console and handheld will offer 64-bit games. It also offers a peek at how it looks on the system.

The Piko Interactive Collection 4 cartridge will come to the Evercade on April 30, 2024. People can start pre-ordering it on February 29, 2024. 

The post Glover Heads to Another Console With Evercade Port appeared first on Siliconera.

There’s a sort of retrogame fatigue that can sink in with both dedicated handhelds and digital re-releases. After all, it’s usually the same games again. As good as the games may be, why do you need to buy them again?

But then there’s the Evercade.

After a launch lineup that threw a few bones to traditionalists (like Namco Museum), the platform’s release schedule has been a lot less normal. It makes sense! Huge companies will do their own thing, or likely ask for higher licensing fees than the niche platform from Blaze Entertainment can justify. So leaning into the weird? It’s both a smart business plan and a more compelling sell.

Take the two latest cartridges: Jaleco Collection 1 and Piko Collection 2. You may have played a few games on these? Maybe? But probably not in a while. They’re “classics” in the chronological sense, but no one’s naming these to all-time lists. That’s… what’s cool about them, though.

The Jaleco Collection 1 Evercade cart is definitely, the safer, more traditionally “fun” of the two. Maybe you’ve played Earth Defense Force (unrelated to the new franchise) or Bases Loaded! Or Astyanax or City Connection! Even the less common games, like Rival Turf! and Super Goal! 2, follow the game conventions of the time.

If you missed them in that era, there’s almost a Retro Game Challenge quality: they’re not the games you played, but they’re like the games you played. And they serve the same role now that they did then. You’ve played Streets of Rage, but have you played these two games designed for people who like Streets of Rage? Do you like Contra and Castlevania? Here’s another thing you might dig!

The gem in Jaleco Collection 1 is a game that’s gotten a bit more attention in recent years: The Ignition Factor. The top-down firefighting adventure is contemplative but tense in a way that is more associated with modern indies than retrogames. It’s also available on Nintendo Switch Online these days, but Evercade’s a totally solid way to play. (And soon, it’ll also offer both home console and handheld play.)

Taking the meter from “just a bit off-center” to “off the scale entirely” is Piko Collection 2. Piko’s known for rescuing games from obscurity, and the sports-focused pack here is a real reclamation project. After all, old sports games? If they’re not NBA Jam or Tecmo Bowl, no one expects a re-release. Yet here they are.

This cartridge bundles together some small-team European releases, some once-endorsed mid-major games and a couple of real oddballs. If you’ve heard of one of these, it’s likely Shut Up and Jam, a basketball game that originally starred Charles Barkley. Both the original and its sequel are here, stripped of Sir Charles’ likeness. Instead, you have “Joe Hoops,” and the same face, likely a stock photo, covers up every spot a licensed face once appeared. It makes a weird game weirder, honestly! And if that sort of spectacle sounds interesting to you, you’re the target market for this bundle.

The Piko cart also stretches the hardware capabilities to new platforms. There’s a polygonal PS1 game in here! And a GBA racer! We saw some cool Lynx emulation last year that really fits the handheld well, but seeing more is nice. These particular entries, Football Madness and Racing Fever, maybe aren’t the most efficiently-coded games, so it’s hard to judge how well the Evercade truly runs them.

Our favorite in this cart? Soccer Kid. Because it’s weird! It’s a platformer that has you kicking a soccer ball to perform actions. It can be a bit finicky at times, and I bet players at the time might have found it a bit disappointing and frustrating. But these days, in a compilation like this? You can focus on the good parts and move on, and it welcomes that context.

This weirdness is a good look for Evercade. And it’s not just these two cartridges! Last year saw the release of The Oliver Twins Collection, a bundle of games, mostly starring anthropomorphic egg Dizzy, that have an intense following in the UK and basically nowhere else. And these are the NES ports! The UK was kind of an esoteric computer game haven, and those originals had a reach that these later adaptations didn’t. But that makes them weird and interesting.

There are also new-retro Evercade releases, like Xeno Crisis and Tanglewood, that put modern games in their intended context. Not just next to all-stars like Mario! These games are fun regardless, but you can appreciate them more when they’re next to the sorts of stuff they’d actually find neighboring them in a game store of the time.

Evercade cartridges, including Jaleco Collection 1 and Piko Collection 2, are available now at various online retailers. More releases, and the Evercade VS TV-based machine, are on the way later this year.

The post The Delightfully Weird Evercade Game Lineup Keeps Getting Weirder appeared first on Siliconera.

People have a new chance to see firsthand what an in-progress Nintendo 64 game looks. Piko Interactive shared a rom of what it said is the earliest copy of Glover N64 it has found. People with the appropriate program can load the file and see what the in-progress version of the game was like.

Here’s the tweet sharing the updated link to the game prototype. When it shared the file, it said it was made back on February 5, 1998.

try this:https://t.co/HfAz74gSrw

Working for us.

— PIKO (@Pikointeractive) February 9, 2021

Piko Interactive also confirmed that it has other releases planned on Twitter.

This comes after a bit of a misunderstanding about a prototype Glover N64 rom. Piko Interactive teased and is working on a Kickstarter campaign. It then came up that a rom appeared with a bug fix. It was then that the company confirmed it would prepare a Kickstarter with an N64 cartridge that would have a bug-free version of the game.

As part of the events, the company said it would release copies of game builds to aid preservation efforts. This new-to-the-public Glover N64 rom is among those efforts.

Glover debuted on the Nintendo 64 and PC in 1998. A PlayStation version followed in 1999.

The post Piko Interactive Releases Early Glover N64 Rom appeared first on Siliconera.

On February 6, 2021, Piko Interactive ed the Twitter , Forest of Illusion, requesting that they cease distribution of a Glover N64 prototype ROM. The company, who currently hold the rights to Glover, also threatened legal action. This is according to a tweet posted by Forest of Illusion. At this point, the conflict appears to be over and both parties suggest that it was a result of a misunderstanding.

Piko Interactive teased that a Glover project was in the works on December 4, 2020, although specific details as to the nature of the project weren’t revealed at the time. We now know that Piko Interactive is “…planning an N64 cart release along with other ports on a Kickstarter campaign.” The company took issue with Forest of Illusion’s release, fearing that it would imperil any future cartridge release. The misunderstanding came from the belief that both Forest of Illusion's and Piko Interactive's builds of the game were the same. The two builds were, however, shown to differ in several ways.

Piko Interactive went on to say that it s preservation and plan on releasing “lots” of the games it has collected and acquired. The company also believes that the leak was beneficial in a way, as it led to the discovery of additional bugs by community .

Piko Interactive has apologized for "coming off a bit strong" against preservation efforts.

The post Glover N64 Prototype Leak Causes Misunderstanding with Rights Owner appeared first on Siliconera.

We might get to see a Glover Kickstarter. Piko Interactive, the company that holds the license for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and PC platformer and is known for reviving retro games, took to Twitter in an attempt to gauge interest in a crowdfunding endeavor. [Thanks, GoNintendo!]

Here’s Piko Interactive’s tweet. Rather than an announcement, it asked people for Glover Kickstarter stretch goal ideas. It hasn’t responded to any of the more serious suggestions, like people asking for gloves, stuffed toys, soundtracks, or balls.

What Stretch Goals would you like to see on a Glover Kickstarter? pic.twitter.com/MiZohFEdZb

— PIKO (@Pikointeractive) December 4, 2020

Piko Interactive’s tweet only mentioned the original Glover. It didn’t say anything about Glover 2, a potential sequel. However, as GoNintendo pointed out, the company talked about finishing and releasing the prototype. It last mentioned it in April 2018 on Twitter, confirming an interest in finishing the parts that needed work.

In Glover, you are a glove who must retrieve lost crystals that were turned into balls and bring them back to a castle home to restore your other half and the wizard you serve. You’ll need to transform the balls to get them through the world’s levels and by enemies.

Glover is available for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and PC in North America and Europe.

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