On the face of it, Blaze’s Evercade joins a long line of emulation-based multi-game handhelds – but this is a system with a twist. It uses actual cartridges, licensed games and bespoke emulation software included with each cartridge. It’s a fascinating approach but also a contentious one. Surely it’s all too easy simply to dump a complete set of game ROMs onto an SD card and call it day? Clearly that’s one way forward, but the curated approach provides some interesting benefits, while behind the scenes emulation choices deliver a level of quality beyond my expectations.
Hardware-wise, the Evercade is a well-designed piece of kit. It’s a reassuringly sturdy handheld with four face buttons, a pair of shoulder buttons and a surprisingly decent d-pad. It’s also rather chunky which is perhaps it’s best design feature – it’s more holdable and surprisingly comfortable. Handheld systems have been focusing increasingly on thin design, but I feel this reduces overall comfort especially with buttons pushed out to the edge. By contrast, the Evercade, is a thick beast that sits more comfortably in the hand as a result. It has a nice weight and doesn’t feel like a cheap, hollow device.
The system includes the expected inputs and outputs including a micro-USB charging port, a 3.5 minijack for headphones and a mini-HDMI output for playing the system on your television if you’re looking for a big screen experience to complement handheld gaming. Inside, the Evercade features a 1.2GHz Cortex A7 SoC running a customized Linux setup. The 4.3-inch screen delivers a resolution of 480×272 just like the PSP. Battery life is listed as four to five hours which is consistent with my experience as I ran the battery dry three times during capture.
Turn on the machine with no cartridge installed and not much happens, and this leads us on to what sets Evercade apart from the pack – its status as a cartridge-based system. All emulation software and games live on these carts. Insert one, and it loads up very quickly with a slick menu design that is responsive and easy to navigate. The carts themselves contain the emulators and games stored using flash memory. What makes these carts appealing, though, is the overall packaging. The games ship in plastic cases complete with full colour manuals within, while the quality of the packaging is surprisingly high – and recalls systems from the past.
Getting into the action is quick and easy to set up and feels great in the hand, but there are a couple of critiques I have regarding the hardware functionality. Firstly, I ran into an odd issue when using HDMI output – if I started the unit with a certain cable plugged in, I could hear an audible squealing noise from the internal speaker. The solution I found was to power on the unit and plug in the HDMI cable, but it is strange that this should be necessary.