Licensing issues have proven to be a minor issue for the Evercade as its range of software and the scope of its hardware has expanded in the last few years.

For example, the home console Evercade VS is the only machine in the range which won’t play the two Namco Museum cartridge collections – which, it turns out, Blaze had only licensed for use on handhelds.

With the launch of the Evercade EXP, it seems that there was an issue with bringing Capcom games to a physical cartridge too – or perhaps with these also being available to play outside of the Evercade handhelds – as the selection of Capcom games it launched with are built into the hardware.

Which would seem to go entirely against the Evercade’s philosophy of bringing retro games back to physical media – and makes a bit of a mockery of them not making games available on digital marketplaces, in all honesty.

So what are Blaze to do if they can’t get publishers to license their retro games as physical cartridge collections, but they can agree to release them as digital collections?

The solution, it seems, is to release dedicated, publisher-specific handhelds with curated collections of games built into the hardware.

Though I was very sceptical of these consoles at first glance – they seem little different to the underwhelming My Arcade handhelds, albeit with a better selection of games on each device – the masterstroke is that they’re fully compatible with the Evercade’s entire library of cartridges.

So these provide a much cheaper entry point into the Evercade’s ecosystem than the Evercade EXP or the VS; plus, with the Taito console at least, they also feature games you won’t find elsewhere on the Evercade.

So with the first one being a Taito console, what does it include? Actually, just like the Evercade cartridges, there’s a great compilation of familiar favourites alongside more obscure titles – it’s a very well curated selection of games.

Despite Capcom’s library being absolutely stunning, full of iconic, timeless classics, it’s a little disappointing that they were chosen to host the games on the second of the Hyper Mega Tech consoles.

Why, you ask? Well, with 18 Capcom games already built into the Evercade EXP, it’s a shame to see a smaller selection of games offered on a dedicated Capcom console – and all of these games are already on the higher-end EXP.

Admittedly, it’s still a cheaper way into the Evercade ecosystem – but it’s a massive disappointment that this one doesn’t have any different content for existing EXP owners.

That said – if you don’t have an EXP, it’s an incredibly tempting console – the selection of games on here is absolutely fantastic (as we EXP owners already know – though we have more than you will get on here if this is your first Evercade console!).

So, what’s included? Let’s take a look at the list!

As you can see, it’s a great selection of 80s and early 90s classics, that should play really nicely on the new console.

At a price point of £49.99 each, these are great little consoles and could make ideal gifts for the middle aged retro curious gamer in your life.

Funstock are also offering exclusive, translucent plastic versions of the consoles – available only as a limited edition bundle of 2, for £119.99. There are only 2000 units available.

Despite already owning an original Evercade, a VS and an EXP, I’ve not been able to resist the gorgeous translucent versions.

Plus, the form factor of these will be great for taking Evercades out and about – and those Taito games really did call to me.

The estimated release for the Hyper Mega Tech consoles is October 2023 – will you be treating yourself to one or both of the standard consoles? What about those Limited Edition versions that I found myself unable to resist?

Let me know in the comments below!