The Evercade range of retro devices has really hit a stride this year, with reports of certain cartridges hard to find and the likes of the Neo Geo Hyper Pocket selling out online.
From its humble beginnings of cartridges featuring nothing but NES arcade conversions and whatever IP holders Piko were able to provide, it has gone on to host some of the best arcade games available in addition to a few of the PS1’s most cherished franchises. Looking back through this year’s output, you’ll find a platform that has gone leaps and bounds, albeit not without the occasional stumble. It’s still easy to say the Evercade has just had its greatest year yet. Let’s look at every release in order, along with the new hardware additions.
2025 began modestly, with the eleven-game strong Indie Heroes 4 and the PS1 based Broken Sword Collection. An Indie Hero collection at the start of the year is nothing new, as this is how Blaze rounds-up their “game of the month” catalogue from the past twelve months. The standout here was easily Murtop, a delightful fusion of Dig Dug and Bomberman, which was given a standalone release on consoles via the dependable Flynn’s Arcade. It appears to have been a popular cartridge amongst fans.
Broken Sword Collection, however, was one of the Evercade’s more controversial releases, lacking a handful of European language options – as per the originals – and reported to run at an incorrect speed due to featuring the later released US versions. This meant that some animations panned out too quickly, even impacting gameplay in instances. Blaze did at least add mouse support to the Evercade Vs, making this collection not as thoughtless as some would have you believe.
April saw the release of Atari Arcade 2 and Tomb Raider Collection 2. The ten titles present on Atari Arcade 2 are some of the publisher’s lesser-known, mostly originating from the early ‘80s, such as Tazz-Mania, Dark Planet and Moon War. Bezerk and Frenzy more or less were able to justify this cartridge’s existence. I’d imagine most Evercade owners would have preferred a new 5200 or 7800 collection. Tomb Raider Collection 2 meanwhile featured just two games compared to the original’s three. While it’s true that these are pretty lengthy experiences, The Last Revelation and Chronicles aren’t exactly franchise high notes, with even Core themselves wishing Lara dead at this point. Blaze did find a way to add an extra level to The Last Revelation though, previously only available on PC.
PS1 fans didn’t have long to wait until the next dollop of PS1 action. June’s Gremlin Collection 2 featured four 32-bit games: Loaded, Reloaded, Hogs of War, and Buggy. Loaded and Hogs of War have been long requested, being cult classics. Loaded was a PS1 launch game that offered top-down shooting thrills, while Hogs of War is essentially Worms in 3D. Reloaded didn’t quite achieve the same level of greatness as its predecessor, but was nevertheless welcome. Curio status suits Buggy perfectly. June’s other cart doesn’t appear to have been a hit, confusingly titled Windjammers, Karnov & Friends and featuring just five games, with those titular friends being Atomic Runner Chelnov, Vapor Trail and Rohga: Armor Force. I can only assume Windjammers cost a lot to license and that Blaze believed it could sell the cartridge alone. Not a bad collection, just a bit confusing.
July saw new hardware in the form of the Evercade compatible Neo Geo Super Pocket and the Data East Super Pocket. For the uninformed, these are £50 handhelds with a similar form factor to the Game Boy Pocket, featuring built-in games and an Evercade cartridge slot. The Neo Geo model is easily the best in the line so far, including several of SNK’s arcade hits. The unit itself is appealing too, resembling genuine SNK hardware with its black and gold colour scheme. The Data East Super Pocket isn’t one I’ve had the chance to sample, but from the game selection alone, it appears decent, with titles including Joe & Mac, Burger Time, Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja and (ahem) Edward Randy.
Going back to cartridge releases, things really heated up in August. Neo Geo Arcade 1 may have only featured six games, but they’re all corkers and a varied bunch. Magician Lord holds additional interest, originally a launch game for the system. It seems most people were relieved Blaze chose not to release Metal Slug and King of Fighters compilations over varied compilations. This collection was joined by Roguecraft DX, a new Amiga homebrew greatly expanded for Evercade. It appears to be a response to claims that the Evercade is lacking deep and mechanically rich modern experiences – because that’s what you’ll find here. It’s a cartridge we’re yet to hear a bad word about.
Two Taito Collections were offered up next. Indeed, simultaneous collections from the same publisher/developer are a rare thing. Taito has long been requested since the release of the Taito Super Pocket handheld in 2024, causing mild jealousy from those who had invested in Evercade hardware already. These collections each have nine games, with highlights including Space Invaders, The New Zealand Story, Bubble Bobble, Growl, Operation Wolf, Rastan and Elevator Action. While Taito Collection 2 has the better selection, with most of Taito Collection 1’s titles being quite early, both carts are still essential.
More hardware came in October. The Super Micro Keychain Gamer isn’t Evercade compatible, but still worth mentioning, with each £19.99 keychain offering a handful of games from Atari, Taito and Data East. User reviews on Amazon are positive, leaving me to believe they’ve reached their audience and hit their mark. As keychains, they should have included something to protect the screen, mind.
Gamers pleaded for more Neo Geo carts, and that plea was answered in October. Or November, depending on where you reside. A manufacturing issue apparently caused a hold-up for Neo Geo Arcade 2 and Neo Geo Arcade 3. Again, only six games were present on each – a fact that matters little as the quality was high. Garou: Mark of the Wolves is often referred to as a 2D fighting benchmark, while Metal Slug 2 and Metal Slug 3 are fan favourite entries. Yes, having all twelve games on a single cart would have been brilliant, but to expect such a thing would be foolish when there are SNK’s licensing costs to cover.
2025 ended with a bang with three cartridges, a couple of which came as surprises – with Rare and Activision under Microsoft’s wing nowadays. Activision Collection 1 has apparently been ready to go for years, but ended up caught in the crossfire of MS’ Activision Blizzard buyout. It focuses on Activision’s Atari 2600 era, back when they were out to make a name for themselves by creating high quality software that looked and played better than Atari’s own. From Pitfall to River Raid, most games present are well known, and there’s still potential to discover a newfound favourite.
The Llamasoft Collection has a resounding 27 titles from Jeff Minter, who would later go on to develop Tempest 2000 for the Atari Jaguar along with a long line of psychedelic modern experiences. Revenge of the Mutant Camels, Super Gridrunner and Llamatron 2112 will keep itchy trigger fingers busy, and the other titles are all quite interesting from design and technical standpoints. Learn their complexities, and you may find another favourite here too.
This leaves us with Rare Collection 1, which I’ve recently had a say on, awarding it a 7/10. It features the excellent Battletoads Arcade and one new addition over Rare Replay – the GBC’s middling Conker’s Pocket Tales – with the rest of the collection being ZX Spectrum and NES games. The ZX Spectrum games are a bit tricky to go back to, and NES Battletoads remains brutal – remember, the Evercade lacks a rewind tool. Cobra Triangle and RC Pro-Am remain fun and control well on Evercade.
Perhaps we were spoiled by Rare Replay, but I was left feeling that if you took Battletoads Arcade away, it would be a difficult collection to recommend unless you have a fondness for the ZX Spectrum and its foibles. More NES games were ideally needed.
Of the fifteen cartridges released this year, around ten come recommended – including the three Neo Geo collections, which are close to essential. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Neo Geo Super Pocket to anyone curious about the Evercade ecosystem, either, not only being sleekly designed but boasting an impressive selection of built-in games.
I have a good feeling that Blaze are going to be able to keep the momentum going in 2026, with The Turrican Collection and Taito Arcade 3 already announced, rumours of Terminator 2D: No Fate making an appearance, and both Rare Collection 2 and Activision Collection 2 highly likely. The Activision partnership could be potentially amazing, opening the door for titles from Sierra and the countless other studios they’ve swallowed over the years.