If something caused the launch of the NES Mini in 2016, it was a fever for retro in the form of special consoles with collections of classics inside. Replay jewelry from the last century and legally in charge of historical consoles such as Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, PlayStation … Or even pioneering companies such as Atari and Intellivision, among other alternatives such as Evercade and Antstream.
In case of Evercade, released in mid-2020, was very striking, being a portable console that marketed Original licensed cartridges brands such as Namco, Interplay, Atari …. While Evercade VS is your evolution natural via tabletop console. So now it’s time to analyze it in depth.
Technical specifications of the new Evercade VS
Blaze Entertainment repeats as the author of this new Evercade VS, instantly palpating an improvement in terms of design and performance over the previous laptop. The main motifs are respected, such as that white tonality and the arrangement of the buttons on the remote, while the console itself adopts a small rectangular figure. As if it were another mini console.
On a technical level, it does not mean a giant leap compared to the notebook, going from a 1.2 GHz quad-core ARM processor to a 1.5 GHz Quad Core CPU, now having, yes, 512 Mb of DRAM. Logically, all Evercade games are compatible (except for the first two Namco collections), so if you invested in the classics of that laptop you will have part of the amortized money. Also, the collections have greatly improved since then.
Obviously, being now in front of a desktop console we no longer have to worry about the battery or the quality of its speakers: the console is connected to a TV via HDMI (cable not included, eye) and the sound comes out of said device . While its power goes by USB, typical of the “minis”.
The dimensions of the console are practically identical (in length) to those of a DVD case, the standard used by Xbox 360 games, for example, while its height is equivalent to the thickness of three cases of those discs. Due to space problems it will not be, of course. Especially considering how big the new generation consoles are, especially because of how huge the PS5 is.
Rectangular in design, it has small ventilation slots in the upper part, already standing out on the front because it offers four slots for the controls via USB. This means that we will not only be able to use the official controller of Evercade VS (somewhat smaller than the Evercade laptop itself), but is compatible with other controllers, like Xbox One, PlayStation …
The finish of the console is better resolved than in the laptop, also facing the slots (yes, in the plural) for the cartridges. Because it has a dual hot system to insert up to two cartridges at the same time. And it doesn’t matter if the console is on: it automatically detects them in less than two seconds.
There is only one downside to the design of the lid, as it does not have a click stop. It slides up easily, but to close it does not give the feeling of leaving it “closed”. It’s a strange feeling. For the rest, the console is turned on by pressing and holding the power button for a few seconds, immediately displaying a series of colors precisely from the cartridge tray.
Seeing in more detail what it brings, these are its main characteristics:
- Evercade VS with 1.5GHz Quad Core CPU and 512MB DRAM
- 1080p resolution via HDMI (cable not included)
- Wi-Fi connection for firmware updates
- Dual system to put up to two hot cartridges
- Ergonomic control (with 3 meter cable) with eleven buttons
- Eight-way digital crosshead
- A, B, X, Y, L1, L2, R1, R2, Select, Start and Menu buttons
- Ratura for four commands (officers or third-parties)
- Save / load games at any time
- A micro-USB cable for power
What feelings does this new console transmit?
Entering more in matter, Evercade VS is still a natural evolution of the Evercade, as we have said, so the changes are not as big as if it were really a new console. The base is the same and in fact the control quite respects the design of that laptop, but with a more compact design (SNES style) where the Start and Select buttons have been relocated to the center along with the menu to pause games, save game, adjust the screen, etc.
The crosshead looks a bit like the one that Mega Drive or more recently the Xbox 360 had, so it is not the section where this new command stands out the most. Although this is a lesser evil to be compatible, we insist, with controllers for PlayStation, Xbox or others from third parties. In any case, the design of the controller is good. It feels robust and comfortable, having a good layout for the A, B, X and Y buttons, as well as the four side buttons behind it.
Unfortunately the buttons cannot be customized to change them at will. This is a problem, since within the console menu we confirm with A and go back with B, while in games almost always the main action button is B, so we will sometimes get involved with the menu from the console. It is a bug that the first Evercade had but that could well be solved here with future updates of the firmware via Wi-Fi. I wish.
The presentation of each game has been improved, with more information before starting to play, but curiosities or more data are missing as they do in Antstream. Now with Evercade VS (and by extension Evercade) the instruction manuals are still a joy and there they are more detailed.
We do not have many parameters to modify as far as the screen is concerned, but we have at least three options regarding the aspect ratio: original, pixel perfect and full screen. It goes without saying that the first two are recommended, that seeing these classics at 1080p so stretched is not recommended. As for the scanlines (soft or strong), it will depend on each.
In the end what matters is how you play And with this console it is as simple as putting the cartridge of a specific collection (there are 26 cartridges that add up to more than 280 classics in total), select it from the menu and start playing after waiting between 2 or 3 seconds for the title to load in question. Then it goes smoothly, as if we were in front of that console or arcade on duty.
With this Evercade VS we will witness the launch of four new cartridges next December 16, 2021 (day the console goes on sale, by the way), all of them dedicated to different stages of recreational activities. And here the expert in sweet is the Gaelco collection, being the first time that classics such as World Rally. Yes, “Carlos Sainz’s game”.
A collection of classics that continues to grow
In our case we have been able to test two of the new collections that are yet to arrive: Data East y Technõs Japan. From the first company there are several acquaintances, such as Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja and Tumblepop, apart from Burger Time; while in the second are two of the Double Dragon as remarkable.
As they are closed collections, everything will depend on how much fan we are of a company or on having patience until more volumes are incorporated. Without going further, of Atari Lynx there are two lots, as well as Interplay, where the Earthworm Jim is not lacking. And Blaze Entertainment will continue to expand them in the future, even if the pace is not as constant as we would like. No, they don’t come out every month.
The price of these cartridges remains between 17.99 dollars (like Data East) and 24.45 dollars (Indie Heroes Collection), so it is not such a large expense compared to other collections. In any case, higher quality classics are still missing from the collections, since there are quite a few fillers that tarnish the whole, with some honorable exceptions.
At least now we have more facilities for saving games, when taking captures of the exact moment in which the state was saved and thus knowing in which zone we were. In fact, there are multiple save slots and with the option also to quick save and resume directly from the menu.
Within the main menu we have three types of classification to sort based on the title alphabetically, the year of publication (without specifying what year it is on the cover) and the number of players. Because thanks to this Evercade VS now we have more facilities to play between four people, not only because of the four slots but also because of the compatibility with other controls. The problem is that in this kind of games, most of them distilled playing alternating or at most with another person at the same time.
More games have to come, of course. The collection goes at a slow pace, although there are pleasant surprises (Bitmap Brothers with Xenon 2: Megablast or the first The Chaos Engine) or even games that are not retro as such, but current indies, such as Xeno Crisis, as much as they are technically retro, Wow.
Good wickers in Evercade VS in the absence of improvements
Evercade VS costs slightly more than the portable Evercade. From those 69.95 dollars we go to about 99.99 dollars in its standard edition with a single remote control and a cartridge (Techõs Japan, in this case). Yes, the improvement is palpable, but it carries certain problems of the first model, such as the absence of remapping the buttons.
It is more comfortable to play, apart from the fact that we are facing a silent console and that it takes up almost no space. The only annoyance for those people who are used to wireless controls is precisely having to use USB cabling, being three meters that of the official controls of that console. But it is a lesser evil thanks to its versatility and its dual cartridge system.
It’s as simple as putting in a cartridge or two and playing. Or swap one for the other and see how it instantly displays in a way similar to the Xbox Series SSD. In addition, if we wish, we can filter the menu by cartridge, so that the content of both is not displayed by default at the same time. Yes, so they don’t mix.
Has room for improvement, of course. Neglect the description of the games when putting them in English, no matter how much we select the Spanish language in the main menu. Or the exposed of not being able to customize the buttons. But it is something that could be solved via WiFi connection, although there is no update on the matter for now. Capcom Home Arcade had it, for example.
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iGamesNews’s opinion
In short, as usually happens in these cases everything will depend on your fever for retro and the available collections. On a personal level, I continue to see its potential and an increase in the quality of the collections is being noticed, with the incentive of being a novelty in some, such as Gaelco. If you liked Evercade, you will notice instantly the quality leap in Evercade VS. But something is missing to achieve excellence. In a year from now we will see what games and improvements it receives in case we change our mind.
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