Pre-orders for two new Evercade cartridges have gone live today. The first of the two new collections – due for release in October – heralds the arrival of a new line of Evercade compilations. With red case cartridges covering console games and purple case cartridges for arcade titles, The C64 Collection 1 is being released in a blue case, denoting the start of the home computer sub-category for the Evercade.
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What’s included in THEC64 Collection 1?
It’s a really strong collection, with a range of highly regarded, fondly remembered games alongside lesser-known titles. The C64 Collection 1 also has a good variety of genres in the games it includes; sports games, platformers and shoot ‘em ups are well covered, but Blaze have also seen fit to squeeze in an action title – and even an action RPG.
The 14 titles included are as follows: Summer Games, Winter Games, Impossible Mission, Jumpman, Lee (formerly Bruce Lee – this is the same game without the license – and is a title that made it onto our best Commodore 64 games list!), Gateway to Apshai (the aforementioned action RPG!), The Movie Monster Game, Marauder, Stormlord, Subterranea, Iridis Alpha, Battle Valley, Alleykat and Street Sports Baseball.
It’s great to see yet another retro gaming sector getting some representation on the ever-more versatile and impressive Evercade, which has built up quite the library since its release in 2020. Commodore’s 8-bit C64 was a computer that had a long shelf life and was particularly beloved in the UK – it was launched in 1982 and discontinued a remarkable 12 years later, in 1994. With thousands of games having been released in that time (and, amazingly, with new games still being made by dedicated homebrew developers), this is almost certainly not going to be the last time we see a collection of Commodore 64 software for the Evercade.
What are Alwa’s Awakening and Cathedral?
The second cartridge that’s due in October – and is now available to pre-order – is the Alwa’s Awakening/Cathedral dual cartridge. Much like the earlier release of Xeno Crisis/Tanglewood, this cartridge contains only two titles, but both are ‘new retro’ games that have recently been created and released for Nintendo’s 8-bit NES console.
Alwa’s Awakening is a gorgeous platform adventure inspired by such classic titles as Battle for Olympus and Solstice, featuring a large and interconnected map that places it firmly in the Metroidvania genre.
Next up is Cathedral – and despite being NES-inspired (as well as previously being available for Switch, PS4 and PC), the version included is the first game built natively for the Evercade, rather than running via emulation. It’s another beautiful platform adventure, with more than 600 rooms to explore and lots of secrets to uncover (and five menacing bosses to defeat too!).
Where can I get these two cartridges from?
Both THEC64 Collection 1 and Alwa’s Awakening/Cathedral are available now from a variety of retailers – check out the Evercade page’s list of country-specific retailers here to see where you’re able to get your hands on these, regardless of where you’re based.
Two New Evercade Arcade Collections Out Now
But wait – there’s more! Two arcade collections have also just been released for the Evercade this week – Jaleco Arcade 1 and Gaelco Arcade 2.
What’s included in Jaleco Arcade 1?
Jaleco is likely a more recognisable brand for gamers, though there’s the usual excellent mix of more familiar games included – such as cute single screen platformer Rod Land and hack-and-slash title The Astyanax – alongside more obscure titles, with the likes of beat ‘em up 64th Street and unusual run-and-gunner Avenging Spirit (which, coincidentally, also releases in a slightly enhanced form on current generation consoles today). A total of four shoot ‘em ups are included – EDF, Saint Dragon, P-47: The Phantom Fighter and Cybattler – making this an excellent collection for classic shmup fans.
What’s included in Gaelco Arcade 2?
Spanish developer Gaelco are much less well-known that Jaleco; the first collection featuring their games contained a small but interesting selection of games that many gamers had never seen or even heard of for the most part – and that continues with this second cartridge. Six games are included: Egyptian-themed hack-and-slash Big Karnak, run-and-gun platform sequel TH Strikes Back: Thunder Hoop 2, pseudo-top-down racing sequel World Rally 2, Columns-esque puzzler Maniac Square, surprisingly addictive sports sim Squash and finally, volleyball title Touch and Go.
Both are now available to purchase from a variety of retailers – see here for further details.
What are the best games for the Evercade?
I’m glad you asked! You can check out what we at Retro Dodo think are the essential cartridges you need to get your hands on, as last year we took a look at the best Evercade games!
Jason – who lives in the UK – has had a lifelong interest in video games, which all started when he discovered Space Invaders in the early 80s. The first game he ever completed was Wonder Boy in Monster Land on the Sega Master System – which remains one of his proudest gaming achievements. Jason is a passionate writer – and has been writing about gaming since the late 90s. He currently runs pop culture blog midlifegamergeek.com, which he updates on a daily basis (and has written more than 700 articles on the blog alone!).
Outside of video games, Jason is a keen tabletop gamer, film buff and comic book fan.
