Blaze’s range of Evercade-compatible consoles, which now encompasses full-size and handheld consoles, soon to be joined by bartop arcade-style machines in the form of the Evercade Alpha. The Evercade has come a long way since its origins as a single, handheld retro gaming device, and the same can be said of its range of officially licensed cartridges too.
Though originally the Evercade’s cartridge selection focused on compilations of console titles (distinguished by their red cases), you can now collect different categories of cartridge, such as arcade collections in purple cases and home computer titles, identifiable by their blue Evercade cases. Each different range’s cartridges are numbered separately too, making each type distinct as a library of cartridges to collect.
The first Bitmap Brothers Collection launched back in 2021, and at the time there was no home computer series of cartridges; the purple, arcade emulation collections had not long launched, adding a second range of cartridges for retro gaming fans to collect. As such, the games on The Bitmap Brothers Collection 1 were all console titles, despite the fact that the titular programming team made their name on computers such as the Amiga, which played host to a far greater selection of their software.
In fact, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that The Bitmap Brothers Collection 1 was a bit underwhelming, despite how hyped Evercade fans (including myself) were for the compilation’s arrival. Though it featured bona fide classics such as The Chaos Engine, Xenon 2: Megablast, and Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (pictured above), the fact that the other two games featured were other Speedball titles (namely the first Speedball, along with the very disappointing 32-bit title Speedball 2100), both inferior to the mighty Speedball 2) meant that more than half of the titles were basically versions of the same game, which was pretty disappointing when so many Bitmap Brothers classic games weren’t present.
However, Bitmap Brothers fans are in for a huge treat this year, as a second collection of their titles is on the way, with The Bitmap Brothers Collection 2 launching on September 30th, 2024. As part of the home computer range of cartridges, with officially licensed Amiga emulation now possible on Evercade-compatible devices, it features a selection of games that feels a lot more expansive and more representative of The Bitmap Brothers at their peak, while still leaving room for more of their titles to appear on the Evercade in future collections.
So, what’s included in The Bitmap Brothers Collection 2 for the Evercade? First up is fantasy game ‘Cadaver’, an isometric adventure title with plenty of brain-teasing puzzles to overcome. Notable for featuring lots of clever, environmental, and object-based puzzles, it’s also joined on this cartridge by its pseudo-sequel, an expansion pack named Cadaver: The Payoff.
Platformers Gods (pictured above) and Magic Pockets are up next; the former is notable for its mature fantasy aesthetic (reinforced by stunning cover art, by iconic comic book artist Simon Bisley), and the latter for its more light-hearted, cartoony style and Betty Boo (that’s a blast from the past for fans of a certain age!) theme music.
The Chaos Engine (known in the US as Soldiers of Fortune for its SNES and Genesis ports), with its top-down, relentless steampunk action, featured on the first Bitmap Brothers Collection, and was notable for being a great co-op title. The second game is included in The Bitmap Brothers Collection 2, and it’s notable for reversing the cooperative nature of the first game completely, being a competitive, deathmatch style experience where one player is pitted against either another player or a computer-controlled opponent, in split-screen action.
Finally, there’s the underrated 32-bit RTS title Z, one of the last non-sequel games produced by the Bitmap Brothers team. It’s another excellent title to add to this fantastic collection, which has already become one of our most highly anticipated Evercade cartridges!
With those aforementioned new Evercade-compatible consoles on the way, which also includes more Super Pocket consoles (and you can also check out our review of the Super Pocket), it’s arguably never been a better time to get on board the Evercade train. If you’ve yet to take the plunge, but the thought of revisiting classic Bitmap Brothers titles officially has piqued your interest, check out our thoughts on the best Evercade cartridges, from what’s now a very extensive and comprehensive range that has something for everyone.
Pre-orders for The Bitmap Brothers Collection 2 will be available from August 30th, 2024. The cartridge will be compatible with all Evercade and Super Pocket devices, providing they’re running the latest firmware.
