Let’s get the bad news out of the way first, shall we?

Earlier this year, Blaze announced that a number of cartridges were being removed from the Evercade’s line up.

This has been really disappointing, especially as someone who’s been fully on board with the Evercade ecosystem as a way to preserve and spotlight old games that deserved another chance.

The dream of preservation is once again faltering in the face of the reality of, presumably, costly licensing and restrictions.

So the current list of collections in the Evercade range that are now classed as ‘Legacy’ (ie discontinued) is as follows:

Namco Museum Collection 1 (02)
Namco Museum Colllection 2 (06)
Piko Interactive Collection 1 (09)
Technos Collection 1 (10)
The Oliver Twins Collection (12)

What’s especially irritating to myself, as a collector, is the fact that cartridges are numbered. What happens when a new Evercade owner seeks to complete their collection and finds that numerous numbered cartridges are impossible to get hold of?

It’s an irritation that I may well be placing too much importance on, but it does seem as if it’s a situation that shouldn’t be happening.

It’s especially annoying for genuinely brilliant collections such as Piko Interactive Collection 1 and The Oliver Twins Collection, both of which are absolutely essential for any Evercade owner.

Of less importance is that the original Evercade handheld is now also a Legacy product, but given the improved functionality of both the Evercade VS and Evercade EXP, I’m only a little bit sad to see the original, much cheaper handheld disappear.

It does – or did – provide a really cost effective way of getting on board the Evercade train, but with much improved consoles on sale, it’s not a great loss. I tend to play on the Evercade VS much more these days in any case.

Better news is here too, thankfully; the superb Game of the Month feature made a return in April 2023 – and each month’s game has been pulled from the upcoming Indie Heroes Collection 3 cartridge.

Even more of a bonus for the latest Game of the Month offerings: as the Evercade EXP has WiFi connectivity, this brilliant added feature is no longer just available to Evercade VS users either. So that’s good too!

Evercade 2023 Releases

This year has probably been one of the most exciting yet for Evercade owners; not only has there been plenty of great new cartridges, but even new, more affordable consoles are on the way – perhaps confusingly, without Evercade branding, instead known as HyperMegaTech – with different selections of built in games too.

Though these may be of limited use to existing owners – the Capcom themed handheld in particular, as the games are the same as those found on the Evercade EXP – they’re attractive and cost effective ways for new gamers to get on board the Evercade train.

With us heading into the last third of the year, there’s still six cartridges to look forward to.

In September, there’s the Delphine Software Collection 1 and Sunsoft Collection 1 cartridges, both of which bring some great 90s gaming to the platform.

Home Computer Heroes 1 and Full Void see more ‘modern retro’ goodness arriving on the Evercade in October.

The latter is the very first Evercade cartridge to feature just one game.

How about even more ‘modern retro’? Well, you won’t be waiting long – two dual title cartridges (along similar lines to the Xeno Crisis/Tanglewood release) are on the way in December, in the form of Goodboy Galaxy/Witch n’Wiz and Demons of Asteborg/Astebros.

Oh – there’s also Duke Nukem collections arriving in November, with a special edition of the Evercade VS too!

So despite the negatives, there’s a lot to look forward to if you’re an Evercade owner.

Those aforementioned Legacy cartridges do still seem to be available at retail too, so if you’re new and thinking of jumping on board, do get your hands on those discontinued collections as soon as you can!