Evercade Retro Console: Everything You Need to Know

If you’re a retro enthusiast, the Evercade retro console needs to be on your radar.

Avoiding the problematic territory of other retro consoles, the Evercade offers an affordable solution to gaming on the go at a, frankly, absurdly low price-point.

Is the Evercade the next must-have retro console? What games are available? What’s under the hood? Here’s everything you need to know about the Evercade retro console.

Evercade Price and Starter Packs

The Evercade Premium Pack

The Evercade Starter Pack comes in at just $79.99. That pack includes the console, a micro USB cable, and the Atari Collection 1 which features 20 games.

Alternatively, there’s the Evercade Premium Pack, which boasts all of the above plus the Data East Collection 1 (with 10 games) and the Interplay Collection 1 (six games). This one retails for $99.99, so that’s an extra 20 bucks for two more game cartridges worth around $40. If you’re after a breakdown of the games available from launch, head on down to the bottom of the page.

I was sent the Premium pack for review, and having spent time with the extra carts, I’d personally advise going for the Premium Pack. Carts cost around $20, so to get two extra for only $20 difference in price is insane.

I still can’t wrap my head around the pricing, in a good way. I’m always the one to grumble about retro consoles costing too much, so to see something of this caliber come in at sub $100 is just mind-blowing.

To put it in perspective, the closest worthwhile rival to the Evercade is the RG350, a personal favorite of mine, but in the processor department, the Evercade thrashes the RG350’s 1.0GHz dual processor with a lush 1.2GHz quad-core.

Again, I have no idea how Blaze Entertainment managed to get the cost so low, but hey, let’s maybe not think about it too hard. A lower price is always a win in my book.

Is the Evercade Worth Buying?

The Evercade Console The Evercade console in action

In short, yes. Absolutely.

There are so many different knock-offs on the market right now. Even though Anbernic’s Retro Game range offers up semi-high-quality consoles, that company is the exception. You can buy a retro handheld for around $20, and honestly, I’d rather just spend $20 on a slab of plastic. It’ll do the same job.

Point being, with low cost comes low-quality components, stuttery emulation, and far too much cheap plastic.

The Evercade isn’t another mass-produced import. It’s been designed with intelligence.

Take something as inconsequential as the face buttons. The four buttons are rounded and feel super-lovely to the touch and press. Not only that, they’re translucent, and viewing the letters creates an almost magnified effect.

If this much thought can go into just four buttons, you know the rest of the console is going to be smart.

In terms of a natural feel, the Evercade nails it. The d-pad moves smoothly (and I really hope we get a Street Fighter II to test it out on), the shoulder buttons’ click is satisfying, and the placement of start and select aren’t within thumb-distance, something often overlooked by other manufacturers.

Even the volume and on/off buttons are in sensible places. You won’t hit them by accident.

Moving on, I’ve not ran into any issues with emulation. Everything I’ve played has appeared full-speed, though there isn’t an in-game way to track framerate, so pinch of salt, yeah.

It’s also worth noting, I haven’t been able to play every single game from start to finish. I know, I know. I suck. But getting through a hundred-odd games isn’t exactly easy. As I say, though, everything I have played has ran beautifully, even when switching from 4:3 to full-screen.

Speaking of which, let’s talk screen quality. It comes in at 480 x 272, which is the same size as the original PSP model.

It’s the perfect size for a handheld. It’s larger than the RG350, and the larger screen helps with spacing the buttons on the main console. The Evercade doesn’t feel too heavy, either, despite the larger screen.

While we’re comparing with the RG350, which is the current king of the retro handheld scene, the Evercade comes in with a quad-core processor at 1.2GHz, compared with the RG350’s dual-core at 1.0GHz.

Of course, the two consoles are harder to compare when you factor in the differences in compatibility. The Evercade, so far, runs up to 16-Bit versus the up to PS1 offered by the RG350. That said, comparing emulation across, say, Earthworm Jim, the Evercade feels faster (though the specific emulators can be a factor in speed as well).

In terms of pure, raw power, you can’t really compare the Evercade directly with other retro consoles. It’s a console designed with a specific range of games in mind, with a specific purpose, which it achieves easily and then some.

One final point, while the RG350 requires some technical knowledge to get working on a TV via HDMI, the Evercade just needs a micro HDMI cable and you’re good to go. Don’t you just love when things are that simple?

Summary

I cannot recommend the Evercade enough. It simply ticks all the boxes retro fans care about. The screen is great, emulation is on-point, the game selection is top-notch, the four-to-five hour battery life is what you want, it’s really, really affordable, and the OS is not only classy, it’s also fast and has all the major options needed.

The Evercade is what we’ve been waiting for; the first AAA retro gaming console. I’m sure some will be put off at having to pay for retro games, but given how utterly freaking cool it is to have old-school, Genesis-style cases and chunky carts back in the modern age, this is one retro console that is absolutely worth backing.

How Long is the Evercade Battery Life?

According to Blaze Entertainment, it’s between four to five hours, which given my playtime on it, sounds about right.

You can also charge it while playing and there’s a rather handy green light that flashes when you’ve got around 20 minutes left. Neat!

Does the Evercade Run ROMs?

Nope. While I’m sure there will be hackers attempting to reverse engineer this thing, the fact games are linked to the cartridges is going to throw up a massive hurdle.

The Evercade pitch is simple: If you like retro games, and don’t want to spend a fortune, you can keep the console alive by purchasing officially licensed games. The longer the Evercade lives, the more games we get (and I’m really hoping we get a Sonic cart at some point!).

What Games Are Available for the Evercade?

EvercadeThe Evercade’s nostalgic game cases.

In short, there’s quite the selection available from release. Below are all the different game cartridges and which games are included. We’ll be updating this guide regularly so be sure to check back later and we’ll add any new games to the list.