This isn’t just another Evercade EXP review. This is an exploration of the history of the device and how it went from simply an upgraded handheld to the subject of a heist to finally arrive in the hands of what Blaze would dub its heroes.
After months of waiting, the wait is over, and we will discover if the wait was worth it.
This is Everacde EXP: From Heist to Heroes
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The Evercade. A range of handheld and home consoles produced by Blaze that would offer gaming fans a unique gaming experience for the 2020s. That is a retro themed handheld, and later a home console and an upgraded handheld where games come primarily in physical forms on cartridges.
Games would also come in compilations and come fully licensed to support game developers and publishers in a time where emulation devices and rom sharing is so common place that we frequently see them sold alongside official hardware.
As times change and Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft move further and further towards an all-digital future where we subscribe to play games rather than own them, the cheap cartridge collections were a breath of fresh air to gamers. The what was once old idea of owning your games on physical media was becoming new again.
The Evercade game library grew from strength to strength with the addition of Arcade and home computer collections to promise an ever expanding game library. Joining the original handheld console in late 2021 was the Evercade VS home console which made multiplayer became a reality that also introduced online connectivity features.
In 2022 Blaze announced an updated handheld that would replace the original with a range of improvements.
The improvements announced include a better screen, internet connectivity, improved internals for better performance, the addition of L2 and R2 shoulder buttons which bring it in line with the controller of the Evercade VS and perhaps most notably, the introduction of Tate Mode which allows you to play games vertically for games that were originally designed that way.
Initial response to the announcement was mixed within the Evercade community. Some fence sitters who had been holding off getting into the Evercade saw these improvements as the reason to jump on board. There are many Evercade collectors who buy any and every Evercade related release and already had multiple editions of the original handheld and VS in limited edition, standard and purple editions. These were generally pleased even if the introduction of more new hardware may start to strain the wallet for collecting consoles as opposed to just games.
Then there were some who were initially less than pleased. I would know as I was one of them. I had supported the Evercade since the original release of the handheld and had only just got the VS. My worry was and still is that Blaze may continue to release new versions of the Evercade every year as they have done so for the first three years of the brand’s existence.
My initial reaction was that the EXP didn’t offer enough new, and there was talk that in the future that some carts may not be optimised or fully compatible with the original handheld if released after what would eventually become what is said to be it’s final update for the original handheld.
I’m a supporter of the Evercade and my concern with new hardware each year is that it will lead to players being left behind and dropping off the bandwagon if next year we’ll get the Evercade 64 Advanced and the year after that the Evercade 360 Series S.
But after my initial concerns about the announcement of the EXP I decided that I would keep the faith and be a supporter and pre-order the Limited Edition Black EXP. I’ve enjoyed my time with the Evercade consoles and enjoyed making videos and podcasts on them, so accepting the EXP as a reality I opted to get on board with it and see the benefits of the revised handheld.
The EXP is probably the handheld Blaze wanted to make in the first place. A better screen would offer a better experience, sharper graphics and better viewing angles. The internet connection will make delivering system updates much easier and this alone will save a lot of issues players have who find the update process of the original handheld a hurdle to jump over.
Something as simple as this will be the difference between the word of mouth between players being positive as it’s easy to update and there being issues that could be easily fixed that aren’t and which then lead to people spreading less than positive word of mouth as a result.
Also being able to connect to the net will allow for the previously Evercade VS exclusive Indie Heroes Game of the Month series to come to the handheld.
The Tate mode probably is something Blaze or players thought would be cool along the way.
It’s probably true that the Evercade was niche enough at the point that the decided to announce the EXP, that they could foresee that any players who may be disappointed by the announcement of an upgraded handheld would quickly become a minority amount compared to owners of the newer system. This may sound like the original and most loyal Evercade owners weren’t the priority, but I can understand that for the future of the brand and the console line it would be better to have the best possible version of the console as the one most people can go and buy.
Blaze may or may not have expected the reaction to be as mixed, but if they weren’t, they should have been prepared for the reaction to the next big announcement regarding the EXP.
Capcom games would finally be coming to the Evercade! But they would built into the EXP instead of being available as a cartridge collection.
Whatever the finer points of the deal Blaze made with Capcom may be, the bottom line of it was that Capcom, at this stage were only willing to see their games come to the Evercade if they were baked into the system. This would make the games similar to a plug and play experience where you get a device with a set number of games built in and that’s it.
The good news is this meant that Blaze could add the likes of Street Fighter 2, Mega Man and Ghouls and Ghosts to their line-up, but whilst this was a big win, it also added some bumps to the road for Blaze and the Evercade.
Players who decided to stick with the original handheld wouldn’t get the Mega Man action. Players who perhaps had only just bought a Evercade VS would have to accept that two player Street Fighter 2 wouldn’t take place on the Evercade home console that seemed perfect for Ryu vs Ken.
From my perspective I took Blaze on their word. If this was the only way they could close the deal to get Capcom on the system then I’d much rather it was there than not. If this step helps see the collection released physically in the future or another Capcom collection or helps the fortunes of the brand to secure more sales or other elusive publishers then I’m all for it.
But I understand. Original handheld players would now have to upgrade if they wanted the Capcom games. The still shiny new VS consoles wouldn’t get Street Fighter as well as Pac-Man and the rest of the Namco games which Namco vetoed from being playable on the home console.
In this instance it’s the case of with every silver lining comes a cloud.
For me, even though I was initially not happy with the announcement of the EXP I quickly decided if I can’t beat them join them. So when it was later announced that all EXP owners would get 18 shiny Capcom games built right into the system I was stoked. These were exactly the games I’d always thought would be great on the system and now I was going to get them.
All I had to do was wait until the console released in December 2022…
And then it was announced by Andrew Byatt on the Evercade blog that the entire stock of the Evercade EXP Limited Edition consoles due for the UK, USA and anywhere in the world outside of the EU were stolen in a suspected targeted robbery.
This sent a shockwave through the Evercade community. Delays happen. Defects happen. Even theft happens and these can all happen that can affect the ability for gamers from enjoying a console launch for when it was intended.
But never in history has there been a time where the entire stock of a console that is due to release just vanishes like this.
And yes it wasn’t the entire stock, but it was the entire limited edition stock that was due for the UK which is Blaze’s home turf, and for USA which you have to believe is up there as the most important market for the console.
I can’t say how many of the 5000 Limited Edition consoles were to be sent out to France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and such like, but you have to imagine it was relatively few per country and that the majority of the 5000 consoles were now in the hands of criminals.
Blaze must have been reeling from this. A console launch must be a combination of a highly exciting and highly stressful time rolled into one, and with the launch just a few days before Christmas, this would surely have been a huge lump of coal in the stocking for Blaze. It would also be coal in the stocking for many players discovering that their limited-edition consoles wouldn’t be arriving in time for Christmas and at best guess would be months away before Blaze could get new stock of the limited edition systems shipped.
The bitter pill for players was made worse for the fact that it would have been the most loyal of players who pre-ordered the black limited-edition consoles. So now the most loyal and excited Evercade players would be the most disappointed.
Reaction was once again mixed. I understood that Blaze were the victims of theft here. The players were also victims of this theft, and I knew it put Blaze into a very difficult position where they would need to act fast to communicate with players whilst also dealing with police and insurance and everything else they probably never imagined they would have to deal with on launch week.
Many players showed understanding and support, and others vented frustration. The internet being what it is meant that some reactions went beyond civil, with angry reactions, and conspiracy theories of inside jobs or alien abductions aplenty.
Despite this unfortunate situation, Blaze had to continue on and the standard white edition of the console launched as planned, and players in the EU got their shiny new Limited Edition consoles as if there had never been the great EXP heist of 2022.
Some players, without their Limited Edition EXPs, and this once again being the internet, decided to play sleuth and news started emerging on popular Evercade social media pages of sightings of the stolen stock on Facebook market place and on eBay.
These listings were reported back to Blaze and to authorities, and whilst a lot of these units seem to be located in the North of England, it’s in the hands of the Police to investigate, at the time of writing no arrests have evidently been made.
The theft of the Evercade EXP Limited Edition consoles certainly were the icing on the cake of a bumpy road to the release of console. But the console did release.
Limited Edition buyers who were affected by the theft could choose to get a refund, or they could choose to wait until more stock could be created of the Limited Editions variety.
Even though Blaze weren’t at fault as the thieves are the ones who are at wrong here, Blaze still took steps to recognise the disappointment of the players. If players kept their pre-order, they were given a screen protector for the EXP, a 20% voucher for a future purchase on the Funstock website and their name could be added to a future update of the console on a list recognised as Heroes who stood by the Evercade brand in this time of trouble.
But this story of the Evercade EXP launch is not yet over. The Heroes waited patiently until the new stock of Limited Edition Black EXPs would finally reach them towards the end of March 2023, and in the waiting time just watched on as other players enjoyed some Capcom goodness.
Players wondered how we would be able to tell the difference between the stolen Limited Editions and the new batch. As it turns out the actual system itself is identical, but for what some may call a silver lining to the delayed arrival of their EXPs. Some players noted that early cartridges from the Evercade library were getting stuck in the new EXP consoles and that the cart slot was slightly too tight. Blaze have taken steps to see that the new run of systems including the Limited Edition consoles have a slightly larger cart slot. In this sense I’m glad to have the delayed release.
Are there any other changes to the actual system? Apparently not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was some physical or firmware change which has been kept secret form the public so that the authorities can identify stolen stock if need be.
The outer box of the consoles have been updated with different art including an Evercade Official Seal of Quality symbol which isn’t present on the stolen units, so if you’re looking to pick one of these up on eBay look to see if the console is the stolen unit or not.
But now the console is finally here, what are my thoughts? Has this been worth the wait?
How does the console rack up compared to the original? Should you get the EXP if you have the original? Should you get the EXP if you have the Evercade VS? And what does the future hold for the Evercade?
Let’s deep dive head first into it…
The first thing I noticed about the EXP is it feels slightly heavier in the hand compared to the original. This may be negligible or an illusion on the slightly different form factor, but it definitely feels heavier. The console also has a more premium feel to it with texture on the back not to dissimilar to the modern PS5 and Xbox controllers.
The EXP is slightly wider, whilst the original is slightly taller and thicker than the new one. The screen size appears the same.
The screens however are not the same in usage. The EXP screen is much much better than the original. The EXP has an 800 x 480 screen compared to the 480 x 272 resolution of the original, and the viewing angles of the new console are vastly improved. Whilst capturing footage for this video I was stunned how much better the viewing angles were.
The cart slot of the revised Limited Edition has a noticeable extra millimetre gap around the carts which guarantees the carts will all fit.
The size and shape of the dpad and buttons are different on the new EXP, and whilst I’ll get used to them I feel this area has so far not been the improvement I’d have hoped for. Having played some frantic Street Fighter 2 action I started to notice quickly that the Dpad felt a bit sharper on the edge of the directions than was ideal. I had to adapt the way I was pulling off special moves as my usual roll of the thumb to do this move on other Dpads was getting uncomfortable.
The diamond configuration of ABXY buttons are slightly smaller more like on the switch and these are fine. Wouldn’t say either better or worse than the original. The L1/R1 buttons are a definite improvement over the slightly odd dipped in originals. The first Evercade handheld didn’t have L2/R2 buttons as these were introduced in the VS home console, and whilst these feel quite nice, there is again a slight sharper edge feel to them than on the VS buttons and whilst not much of an issue so far I did notice the sharper edge in my grip whilst in Tate mode.
Speaking of Tate mode, there is now a Tate Mode button on the bottom of the console, and for some reason when testing carts for this video I noticed a lot of games just automatically started in Tate Mode which didn’t make sense to me. It’s a great feature to have, but using it does mean you’ll be holding the console right down at the bottom when the console is rotated to view in Tate Mode. There isn’t really a solution to this with the size of the screen and I’m happier that it’s there than not.
Any games seem playable in Tate Mode, but unless you want to hold the console with your right hand pressing buttons above the screen whilst you move the Dpad with your left at the bottom it’s not the most natural experience.
The Tate mode gives you additional A/B buttons next to the Dpad to use, and this does create one issue where I think the original was better. On the original console this position was saved for the Menu button, with the Start/Select buttons being the other side of the console with all three being in a row.
On the EXP the three buttons are now in a vertical row on the right side of the system and with horizontal Start/Select buttons on both the original and the VS these new vertical buttons take some getting used to.
I think I preferred the on/off switch of the original to the power button of the EXP, but both work just fine.
The home menu and interface of the EXP is better than the original in my experience, although as a disclaimer I am one of those people who have never bothered to update my original handheld. Now the final update is out I may do that or I may not just to see how the old firmware holds up with future releases. The new EXP interface is very similar to that found on the Evercade VS with a side menu to choose between cartridge games, settings and the EXP menu where you can choose the Capcom games, Hidden Games and a Coming Soon space which I assume is where Indie Heroes games will live.
One thing that stood out to me and much to my surprise was when I tested the EXP and the Original side by side. Switching them both on at the same time I found that the Original got me to the home screen quicker, and also seemed to load games faster as well. It’s the difference of a couple of seconds, but it was noticeable.
I will save a proper review for the Evercade Capcom Collection for another day, but should take a moment to note that there are many games built into the system which is absolutely a factor you should consider when picking up a system.
The EXP features eighteen Capcom games and five Hidden Games. The five hidden games are fun little indie games, and whilst a nice distraction, you should manage your expectations with them as being system sellers. I forget if these are all the same as is available on the VS home system but think they may be. A sign that I didn’t give them much time on the VS either.
The real big deal here are the Capcom games. You have the trilogy of the shoot em up 1942, 1943 and 1944 games, Bionic Commando, Captain Commando, and Commando, the legendary Breath of Fire RPG, Mega Man, Mega Man 2 and Mega Man X, Ghouls and Ghosts, Legendary Wings, Strider, Vulgus, Wolf of the Battlefield: MERCS, Final Fight and of course Street Fighter 2.
I’m still playing through them, although in my experience they all run as I’d expect them to…other than my EXP seems to start most things in Tate Mode, which I can easily switch back from.
These are some of the most wanted games on the Evercade with Mega Man, Breath of Fire, Street Fighter 2, and Final Fight alone being enough for what would have been one of the best cartridge collections.
Oh, and I should mention that when you buy an Evercade EXP you also get the IREM Arcade 1 Collection, and if you got the Limited Edition, you also get the Toaplan Arcade 1 Collection. IREM gives you R-Type, Moon Patrol, Battle Chopper, In the Hunt, Lightning Swords and 10 Yard Fight, whilst Toaplan gives you Tiger Heli, Alcon, Flying Shark, Snow Bros, Teki Paki, Truxton, Zero Wing, and Guardian.
Once again, I’ll save reviews of these for separate videos later on, but as every EXP owner will currently get the IREM cart as well as the built-in games it means every new EXP owner will start off with a library of twenty-nine games which is not too shabby by any standards.
The Wi-Fi connection was easy to set up and worked fine so far, and it’s worth noting that the EXP uses a USB type-C cable unlike the original which had the less common these days Micro HDMI. Both consoles can be connected to a TV to play on the big screen with a mini HDMI to HDMI cable. This is not a standard cable so you’ll probably need to get one, but is well worth doing if you want to play on the big screen without a Evercade VS and especially if you want to capture gameplay footage.
Battery life is said to be 4-5 hours and so far I’d agree with that.
So, should you get the Evercade EXP?
I can say that if you have the original you will only want to make the upgrade currently if you want the Capcom games, to play games in Tate Mode and want to future proof yourself as I’m sure in about a year’s time we’ll start to see some games that won’t play on the original. I don’t know that for sure, but for now I’m sure Blaze will want everything to work on both the OG system and the EXP to keep everyone happy, but once people have had enough opportunity to get the EXP I’m sure some games will start to leave the old system behind. It’s unfortunate as it probably wouldn’t be necessary, but such is the nature of old tech not getting updates that take time and resources to make happen.
In terms of the controls and screen quality I’m happy enough still with the original, although the screen is much better on the EXP. I think it’ll take me longer to get used to the buttons on the EXP, but as it is I do kinda prefer the originals.
Should you get the EXP is you already have the VS?
Well, the same logic applies if you want to play the Capcom games, although it is worth noting there are already a million ways to play Street Fighter 2 and Final Fight, so if you only would want to double dip on Evercade consoles for the Capcom games, you could consider if there are alternatives that will offer more variety of extra content than just the Capcom games. It’s also worth noting that the Evercade VS doesn’t allow you to play the two Namco cartridges, so if you want both Namco and Capcom it’s certainly worth having the EXP even if you have the VS. The Namco carts do of course work on the Original as it was a licensing issue that prevented them from working on the VS.
Should you get the EXP if you already have both the VS and the Original?
That will depend on you and how into Evercade you are and want to be. For the foreseeable future the only games you’ll be missing out on are the Capcom games and the features of the Tate Mode and quality of life features like the better-quality screen. As noted earlier there are some players who already will have the Original, Original Limited Edition, Original Purple and then have the Limited Edition and Standard Evercade VS consoles. If you are one of these then congratulation you most likely already have both the standard and Limited Edition EXPs. So you keep enjoying your seven nearly identical systems. Go you!
If you’re still on the fence and haven’t got an Evercade at all yet, I’d definitely say to get one if you enjoy retro games. It’s a fun way to play a curated list of games and to get into collecting niche retro gaming stuff. Certainly there are other ways to play pretty much all the games you’ll find on Evercade, but if you want to support the publishers with these licensed releases it’s a great way to discover games you may not have tried before.
There’s about 400 games available to play on the Evercade currently across thirty plus cartridge collections, and generally the collections have all been cheap and great value for the hours of games on there. If no other games were ever released on the system I can say that the library is already one I’d be satisfied with a great library of retro games, but with no end in sight it currently looks like the Evercade and the EXP have a bright future.
So that is the story of how the Evercade EXP had a bumpy road to see its release, but it’s a happy ending…or to badly quote Churchill. This is not the end, or even the beginning of the end, but after mixed emotions from a passionate fanbase and a heist to make the plot of Ocean’s Eleven seem bland, this may be the end of the beginning.
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