Evercade?!

[+Intellivision Master]

2 minutes ago, Hwlngmad said:

Hopefully even more obscure consoles like the Fairchild Channel F, Odyssey 2, and/or Super Cassette Vision can come into being.

That would be cool.  Hopefully it happens.

[Tanooki]

I forgot about Renovation being out today, so before going to bed later than I should have last night I dropped payment on it.  I hope it ships in a timely fashion as it's in stock.  There is so many beyond excellent Genesis games on there it's amazing it's only $20 as it could have still been that broken over 2 carts.  Renovation were the masters of excellent games on the system in the earlier-mid 90s.

[7800Knight]

Just ordered Bitmap Brothers and Intellivision Collection 1.  Can't wait!

 

The Atari & Gaelco arcade collections are still on my to-get list but I'll hold off until next month once they get back in stock.

[TheClassyGamer]

I'm late to the Evercade party and wish I had gotten into this sooner.

 

Been burnt out on games and such for a good while and didn't pay any attention to this until recently.  I'm really surprised by it.

 

Maybe I'll get smacked for saying it but, the Evercade is what I would have wanted the Retro VGS / Chameleon to have turned out to be like.  Cool games on collectable carts, with manuals and in a nice cases, plus regular releases to be excited about.  There seem to be a lot of games on the carts that are things I've not seen or ever played so it's pretty interesting to get introduced to things. 

 

I was able to pick up the VS console and a few carts, but haven't found the handheld anywhere for a reasonable price yet. 

 

 

 

[7800Knight]

1 minute ago, TheClassyGamer said:

I'm late to the Evercade party and wish I had gotten into this sooner.

 

Been burnt out on games and such for a good while and didn't pay any attention to this until recently.  I'm really surprised by it.

 

Maybe I'll get smacked for saying it but, the Evercade is what I would have wanted the Retro VGS / Chameleon to have turned out to be like.  Cool games on collectable carts, with manuals and in a nice cases, plus regular releases to be excited about.  There seem to be a lot of games on the carts that are things I've not seen or ever played so it's pretty interesting to get introduced to things. 

 

I was able to pick up the VS console and a few carts, but haven't found the handheld anywhere for a reasonable price yet. 

 

 

 

You made a wise choice.

 

The Evercade Vs. and handheld are a good investment.  You get a fair selection of games, both more popular titles as well as lesser known ones.  You also get licensed cartridges.  Some of the retro gaming consoles out there are cheap knockoffs, using ROMs (which can be a legal & moral grey area).  You know what you are getting with an Evercade.

[RREDDWARFF]

Licensed games/cartridges is what sold me on the Evercade.

Edited April 2, 2022 by RREDDWARFF

[Songbird]

39 minutes ago, TheClassyGamer said:

I was able to pick up the VS console and a few carts, but haven't found the handheld anywhere for a reasonable price yet. 

Songbird will have the handheld back in stock in a couple weeks. Pre-orders are open now. Happy gaming!

[8th lutz]

51 minutes ago, TheClassyGamer said:

I'm late to the Evercade party and wish I had gotten into this sooner.

 

Been burnt out on games and such for a good while and didn't pay any attention to this until recently.  I'm really surprised by it.

 

Maybe I'll get smacked for saying it but, the Evercade is what I would have wanted the Retro VGS / Chameleon to have turned out to be like.  Cool games on collectable carts, with manuals and in a nice cases, plus regular releases to be excited about.  There seem to be a lot of games on the carts that are things I've not seen or ever played so it's pretty interesting to get introduced to things. 

 

I was able to pick up the VS console and a few carts, but haven't found the handheld anywhere for a reasonable price yet. 

 

 

 

You are not the only one that said the Evercade is what you wanted the Retro VGS/ Chameleon turned out to be like. My younger brother is the same way in terms of Evercade being what the Retro VGS/ Chameleon should've been.

 

You made a wise choice getting it. The homebrew/little known carts is what I got me to Evercade. 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by 8th lutz

[Tanooki]

Same here what finally did it really was beyond my preference largely with handhelds, the fact you can get on average at least 6-10 games on each cart just for a cheap $20-25 price tag...and that they're licensed, backed, and put into real physical cartridges.  NO slimy internet predator bs, you pay a pittance and the developers actually get something they deserve for their efforts, not who can scalp it the slimiest.

 

But well beyond that, discovery, simple discovery.  That mega cat cart, the piko #1, a few others...things I'd never have paid for on their own, but having them now and investigating them I've found some pure new old fun out of quite a few solid unknowns and missed gems.  There's also fairly put, games that are disgustingly overpriced now and you can get them for squat compared, and enjoy them in fine form with the little perks of the hardware too.  I can't wait for that Renovation cart, check the list...could be the most expense saving game of the lot of them or damn near it.

[+Intellivision Master]

8 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I can't wait for that Renovation cart, check the list...could be the most expense saving game of the lot of them or damn near it.

I pre-ordered the Renovation collection.  It's on the way.  It has a good list of games on it.

[Tanooki]

6 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

I pre-ordered the Renovation collection.  It's on the way.  It has a good list of games on it.

The game list on that is a dream, and really give how much they could have been utter tools and made 2 carts out of that and easily still sold both.  I think they still have some catalog left another could happen but that would need double checking to be certain.

 

With a couple Valis games, Exile, El Viento, Granada, Sol-Deace, and Gaiares to name enough of them that's a very slick deal.

 

Unless there's a hold up Gain Ground, Whip Lash, the stunning Elemental Master, Arrow Flash, Master of Monsters, Vapor Trail, Earnest Evans, Todds Adventures, Grand Slam, (licensing probably not on Ys 3), and one more with Syd of Valis too.  I really hope a second pack happens, it might, since it's listed as Pack 1.

[roots.genoa]

I got it this week but haven't found yet the time to even try it, since I've got tons of other games recently.

[Reaperman]

So I finally got my Evercade Renovation Collection in the mail yesterday, popped it in and wow, it's not great. Exile's almost unplayable due to the accept and cancel buttons almost feeling like they're on turbo-fire. Way too easy to miss dialogue or use menus.

 

I've got to be one of the last people to get their preorder (amazon), so it's weird all this stuff hasn't all been identified and ironed out. 

 

this is on the latest vs firmware, had to update that again today to see if it handles HDMI differently/better, which it doesn't.

handheld confirmation was done on somewhat older firmware before the vs changes.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Reaperman

[+Intellivision Master]

I got the Renovation collection yesterday.  

[+Intellivision Master]

On 4/2/2022 at 3:15 PM, Tanooki said:

I really hope a second pack happens, it might, since it's listed as Pack 1.

There should be a second collection at some point.

[RREDDWARFF]

22 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

I got the Renovation collection yesterday.  

Have you had a chance to play it yet? If so, what do you think so far?

[+Intellivision Master]

3 minutes ago, RREDDWARFF said:

Have you had a chance to play it yet? If so, what do you think so far?

No.  But I will be later today.

[Tanooki]

We can only hope, because really there is more than just Genesis titles, they had their hands in the Super Famicom and PCE as well, should make it easier to do a fair sized 2nd maybe 3rd cart, probably 2.

 

I went through my EC games today I actually pulled out 4 I have no intent of ever touching I got saddled with when I got the 10 game pack bundle which are both the Atari and Interplay carts.  I wonder how easy those will be able to move as a trade or something.

[+jgkspsx]

Exciting news! New free downloadable game coming Friday. Flea is one of my favorite homebrews yet so I am looking forward to this. Copied and pasted from the website:

 

—
 

With the launch of Evercade VS and the addition of WiFi for updates, we really wanted to take advantage of the new ease of content delivery. Not just for essential updates, bug fixes, and tweaks, but also to implement new features and be able to really push the boundaries of what our retro gaming system can offer.

 

The first of these features is now ready. Today we’re proud to announce a brand new digital feature exclusive for Evercade VS users – Game of the Month, launching this Friday (April 8th).

For the rest of 2022, Evercade VS users will be able to play a new indie game direct from their system, every month. This will be an indie game that’s brand new to Evercade! And the best thing is it’s COMPLETELY FREE!

 

On the first full week of that month, you’ll be offered a new update which will download the new game to your console. You’ll be able to play this game for a whole month before the next update is available and the game is replaced with a brand new Game of the Month.

 

Between now and December, ten games will be released with Game of the Month, which means there will be a time when two games are available instead of one!

 

This feature is exclusive to Evercade VS users, BUT the complete collection of all games published under Game of the Month will be available at the end of this year and published as a physical cartridge – Indie Heroes Collection 2. Pre-orders and further announcements will be coming for that collection later this year.

How to get Game of the Month

It’s really easy to get started on Game of the Month. Simply update your console when prompted to the latest firmware version (2.1.0). Once updated, you’ll have a new option on your Evercade menu screen on the left-hand menu bar – a star icon. That will take you to the Game of the Month section.

 

(redacted)

 

NOTE: Save states will only work for the game during the month it is live. They will be wiped when the next game is installed via the update process, and will not transfer to the physical Indie Heroes Collection 2 cartridge when released.

Tapeworm Disco Puzzle

As you may have already noticed, the first game in our Game of the Month feature will be Tapeworm Disco Puzzle by Lowtek Games. Created by Alastair Low, the creator of Flea!, this wonderful spin-off sees you navigate puzzles as a Club Owner and DJ tapeworm (that lives in a tape) in order to keep the Fleas happy.

[RREDDWARFF]

30 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

 

The first of these features is now ready. Today we’re proud to announce a brand new digital feature exclusive for Evercade VS users – Game of the Month, launching this Friday (April 8th).

For the rest of 2022, Evercade VS users will be able to play a new indie game direct from their system, every month. This will be an indie game that’s brand new to Evercade! And the best thing is it’s COMPLETELY FREE!

Wow!! Thanks so much for posting this!

[King_Salamon]

This is a great way to advertise upcoming games as a free to play 'demo' for a month at a time.  

 

Just shows how the people at Blaze/Evercade are constantly coming up with more and more cool ideas!

 

And here I was merely hoping to hear/read about the next collection announcement.  I guess this was just that but not the way we are used to learning about them.  lol

[Hydro Thunder]

GF got me a BestBuy Gift Cert, so I FINALLY have a VS on the way, along with Intellivision Collection 1.  Super excited!!  Fell in love with Shark Shark and others back in the Game Room days on Xbox 360...this is going to be great

[+GoldLeader]

I never had an Intellivision growing up, though I do have game comps for PS1, and the Intellivision Flashback (Still sealed actually) etc...So,  I've been lightly checking out the Intellivision collection 1 on my Evercade Handheld, mostly the other day as I got a booster shot (COVID) and a Shingles vaccine at the same time,  so had to pass the time in the waiting room.   As expected Shark Shark, SNAFU, and Astrosmash were fun.  But then I hit Night Stalker with great expectations,...And I thought it sucked.  Don't get me wrong;  The graphics were cool, the music & SFX were nicely done, but maybe it just wasn't tuned for the Evercade?  The controls I mean.  I read the manual for the Intellivision version and it appears they've mapped out the 4 firing directions to the 4 buttons along with a D-Pad push* (so far so good),  except that it rarely works like it should.  Firing Left or Right is easy on mine.  Firing Up sometimes works and firing Down almost Never works!  And is there no bullet counter anywhere?  FWIW,  I don't have trouble with any other game.  Anyone else have any problems?

 

So from what I can tell  Night Stalker is sluggish and average with bad control (at least on mine)...But Dungeon Stalker on the Atari 7800,  with its very responsive controls (which has arrows instead of bullets and shows how many you have onscreen) is 20 times Better!   And Dark Cavern, which is fluid and finely tuned, and allows you to collect bullets (up to 99 of them) on Atari 2600 is 50 times Better (at least)!

 

*EDIT:   I just figured it out.   It only shoots (presumably) when there is NO D-Pad press going on at all, but this is squirrely.  For example,  if I push the Fire UP button with No Direction on the D-Pad it Fires UP (As it should),  But if I press Fire UP While pressing the D-Pad Down it also works just fine (this is wrong), but if I press Fire UP while pushing the D-Pad UP it will not fire (I think this is correct)...So it is goofy, but it plays a little better having figured that out...

 

That other paragraph is still true though,  I still Absolutely prefer Dungeon Stalker or Dark Cavern to this.

Edited April 6, 2022 by GoldLeader
Turns out, Bad controls were merely squirrely controls...

[roots.genoa]

My (short) reviews if you care:

- Astrosmash: this game has clearly a balance problem. I reached 43.745 on my first try, and almost thought I would have to commit suicide to stop playing. The auto-fire makes it really easy, but the real problem to me is gaining a new life every 1.000 points. For a moment (a little above 30.000 iirc) I had no lives but I quickly won 4 again...

- Buzz Bombers: interesting take on Space Invaders. Quite strategic since you can (but shouldn't) destroy the honey. The collision detection is not very forgiving though, and this damn bees are hard to hit but I suspect it gets easier when you're used to the timing.

- Frog Bog: Speaking of timing... Each time I thought I had it right, the other frog stole me the bug anyway. Lost 90 to 180. Didn't understand how I was supposed to restart a new game. The type of Game & Watch-like game that would work better as a mini-game from Mario Party.

- Night Stalker: Interesting take on Pac-Man, having to grab your gun first and being able to hide in the bunker instead of ghosts. The robot is trigger happy so you almost always have to hide just after you shoot at it before it hits you back, which conveys the game a "stalk and gun" vibe like a proto-Crack Down. The "music" is just a pulse but it clearly gives it a nice mood like the OG Space Invaders imho. That being said, it's obviously very basic and sorely needs different levels.

- Pinball: Pleasantly surprising. The screen format is not very convenient for that kind of game but it plays really well and I managed to send my ball to a different table, while I usually suck at that kind of game. It's obviously not the best pinball video game I've ever played, but it's quite decent given the hardware.

- Princess Quest: a famous 2014 homebrew game from Nanochess, which is basically a Ghosts 'n Goblins clone, but way easier. You start with 10 points of health and probably 10 lives too, and when you lose one you restart at the current screen (and bosses don't get their health back). That being said, enemies can be tedious because they can swarm next to you but most importantly, they tend to fly just above your head so you need to jump before shooting or get the triple shot to hit them. Worst, some fly slightly below you (when you're on elevated ground) and you can't kneel. If that game had been released at the time, it would have crushed the competition (I think it was released first on ColecoVision though, not sure about that).

- Shark! Shark!: I can understand how little kids can enjoy it, but it can be very frustrating when the shark appears just when you try to eat a small fish at the edge of the screen. You're supposed to be able to bite its tail, but it's impossible to predict when he'll make an instant U-turn unfortunately.

- Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey: it's ironic Intellivision was supposed to beat the VCS with "more realistic" sports games, with this one being some kind of not fun, slow version of Pong. I used a handicap to make my team the best possible and the opposing one the worst possible, but it managed to beat my ass, mainly because the AI-controlled players seem to move faster than the one you control. I guess it's way more interesting with a second player, though.

- Snafu: The real snafu is figuring out you're the blue player (the rightest one, which is unusual) and the 16 game variations (combinations of 2 or 4 players, obstacles or not, dead players remaining or not, diagonal movement or not, having to trap your opponents or bite their tail to win). The AI is dumb but can turn perfectly though. Obviously more interesting with 3 other human players.

- Thin Ice: Once I understood the goal of the game (to be fair, you just have to watch the opening animation ), it's quite a nice game but that seal can be a real mofo. Fortunately, it can't swim even if it's not very realistic.

- Thunder Castle: Took me a lot of time, even with the manual, to understand what I was supposed to do, and it took me also a while to grab a single item since they disappear quickly and you move slowly. But when I understood, I beat the first level (three dragons to kill) very quickly while I had no life left. I even killed two dragons in a row because the new one appeared on my way while I was still "energized" by a magical bat. The second level is very different (two wizards instead of one big dragon, just one magical mouse instead of two bats), so it seems to offer good variety compared to Night Stalker.

- Word Rockets: A shooter in which you must shoot vowels between pair of consonants to form 3-letter words. It's not that easy though because you have to grab vowels first and there are only 4 available at a time, and some words fly very fast. The game stops after 50 words anyway. I got 25.

[+Intellivision Master]

I like the free game of the month deal.  This is awesome.  I'm glad to hear it's exclusive to VS users.  Perhaps it'll be for those who use the handheld as well.