Ahead of the upcoming Evercade Alpha ‘arcade bar’ tabletop system, the next two Evercade cartridges set for release are both arcade collections.
Toaplan Arcade 3 and Data East Arcade 2 launch on 28th November, with pre-orders going live at the end of September. To clarify, they’ll work on any Evercade system as long as the firmware is current.
Toaplan Arcade 3 is shoot’em up centric and will include the following:
- Batsugun
- Batsugun Special Version
- FixEight
- Ghox
- Out Zone
- Truxton II
- Vimana
Data East Arcade 2, meanwhile, boasts a larger selection:
- B-Wings
- Crude Buster
- Edward Randy
- Express Raider
- Joe & Mac Returns
- Last Mission
- Midnight Resistance
- Peter Pepper’s Ice Cream Factory
- Shoot Out
- SRD: Super Real Darwin
- Super BurgerTime
- Trio The Punch: Never Forget Me…
Both collections hold appeal, full of desirable titles. Batsugun, Out Zone, and Truxton II stand out as highlights for Toaplan 3, while Joe & Mac Returns, Crude Buster (aka Two Crude Dudes), Midnight Resistance, and The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy should make Data East 2 shine. The whip cracking Edward Randy (chorkle!) is often championed as a hidden arcade gem, with impressive pixel art. How the earlier Data East games fare today however remains to be seen – the likes of Shoot Out and B-Wings may be showing their age.
We reviewed Piko Interactive Collection 4 yesterday and quite enjoyed its peculiar mix of curios.