The Evercade arcade range, easily identifiable by the purple cases each collection is packaged in, features the games that I generally play the most on my Evercade compatible hardware.

The games are well suited to be picked up and played for relatively short game sessions if you choose, and they’re easy to dip in and out of too. Even better if you have an Evercade Alpha, which makes them feel even more satisfying (though the Alpha’s small screen can render the vertically aligned games a little less practical to play).

I also find that the more obscure Evercade collections hold the most interest for me too; I enjoy finding games that I’ve never played before, and in some cases haven’t even heard of before.

That’s the case with this Visco Arcade 1 cartridge, which features 8 games I have never seen in real life, and I don’t believe I’ve even heard of any of them before either. Let’s take a look at the games the cartridge contains in release order, and find out if this collection is worth your time and hard earned cash.

Asuka & Asuka

This 1989 vertically scrolling shoot ’em up feels a little basic in gameplay terms, but it’s aged pretty well from a visual point of view, with straightforward pixel art that has just the right amount of detail. It plays pretty well too, though sometimes the collision detection can feel slightly off. Still, this is a fun little game, and with a 2 player mode it’s worth taking a friend into battle too.

Maze of Flott

Another 1989 release from Visco, Maze of Flott is a real oddity; a unique blend of maze game, top down racing and combat. You’ll drive into buildings looking for specific objects, and must keep an eye on your fuel as well as enemy vehicles. It’s well worth trying out, as there’s nothing else quite like it on the Evercade, and it’s pretty enjoyable too!

Ashura Blaster

Another of the several shoot ’em ups on the Visco Arcade 1 cartridge, Ashura Blaster is a 1 or 2 player game which sees you flying a helicopter into battle. It’s notable for having a varied selection of bomb types to choose from before you start, as well as having the great presentation you’ll also see on other Visco games, with brief moments of story to set up the action.

Drift Out

Full props to Visco for trying something different to the usual arcade racing games with Drift Out. This rally racing title gives you a decent selection of cars to choose from, with varied stats, and has a vertically scrolling view too. It also has a dizzying, sprite rotation style not unlike Mode 7 on the SNES, which looks impressive, but can be pretty punishing to play. It’s very tough, unless I’m just terrible at it, but it’s at least a good break from the number of shoot ’em ups we have on this cartridge.

Andro Dunos

Another shoot ’em up, 1992 title Andro Dunos does at least differentiate itself by being horizontally scrolling. It also has an appealingly chunky, almost cartoony look to its sprites, as well as excellent visual effects in general. Excellent power ups and a choice of weapon styles, as well as smooth, responsive and multi-directional gameplay (not to mention an excellent soundtrack) make this one of the best games on the cartridge for me.

Earth Joker: UN Defense Force

Another vertically scrolling shooter? Yes, the rather awkwardly titled Earth Joker: UN Defense Force is yet another vertically scrolling shoot ’em up. Superb pixel art graphics, a real sense of speed, a varied selection of characters with their own weapon loadouts and 2 player simultaneous gameplay do make this a worthy inclusion, however.

Galmedes

The final shoot ’em up on this cartridge is Galmedes, which feels a little bit like a throwback to late 80s vertical shooters, despite being a 90s game. It has a great weapon selection mechanic (with you losing access to your current weapon system when you lose a life), that you’re able to switch between on the fly. Did this cartridge really need five shmups out of eight games, though?

Goal! Goal! Goal!

Though I’m not a sports fan, I do like many football (sorry, US readers, that’s soccer to you) video games. Particularly arcade style ones. And Goal! Goal! Goal! plays a brilliantly straightforward, nicely featured but very accessible game of footy. Though it’s fun against the CPU, 2 player mode is where it really comes into its own. Probably my favourite game overall on Visco Arcade 1.

So there you have it: a great selection of little-known arcade games, if somewhat heavy on the shoot ’em up genre. If you’re a fan of classic shmups, you’ll be in heaven here, but at least two of the non-shooter games here are well worth spending time with too. It’s a great collection for Evercade EXP owners, considering 6 of the 8 titles work in TATE mode, and it’s also great for 2 players on the VS or Alpha, given how many titles support multiplayer gameplay. All in all then, not essential (except for shoot ’em up fans, perhaps), but still a worthy collection for the Evercade.

Visco Arcade 1 is available now from retailers such as Amazon.

Hi! I’m Jason, and I write for midlifegamergeek.com, every single day. If you’re interested in supporting original, regularly published, human created content (which has never been plagiarised or otherwise copied from the hard work of other writers), you can donate and help me to keep this site running.

Not only do I earn no income from my writing here (though I may earn small fees from affiliate links posted on my pages; as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from these links), but it seems that my work has, at times, been stolen and re-used by lazy, morally bankrupt idiots.

There’s no pressure of course, but I’d be truly grateful for any support that you could offer – and it’s easy to do so at either of these links: Ko-Fi.com/geekmid or PayPal.

Any donations are truly appreciated – and I also appreciate you taking the time to read my articles. Remember: this whole article was by Jason Brown, and appeared on midlifegamergeek.com. Take that, Skynet!