The Evercade VS is dropping into retro gamers’ homes around the world. But is it any good?
Back in May 2021, I, like many others, put my hand in my pocket for a project I believed in: the Evercade VS. By ordering so early, I had the opportunity to order an Evercade VS Founder Edition, choosing the standard option without additional controllers. A few months later, I added my credit submission (GRUK on the console’s credit screen, for Gaming Retro UK) and waited patiently. And then waited some more when it become clear that my 11pm order was way down the pecking order and wouldn’t be shipped with the more prompt pre-orders.
https://twitter.com/gamingretroUK/status/1473629449958662151?t=_Q3wpgi_1gR3mLH5c8JHjQ&s=19
Last week, the VS finally landed here, promising to answer all my retro gaming dreams this Christmas.
I’ve produced a full review of the Evercade VS (using the Founder Edition) for MakeUseOf.com, which should be live in a few days’ time. However, I wanted to share with you my first impressions of the Evercade VS.
- The packaging is excellent. It wisely avoids 1980s style polystyrene (if only other companies would!).
- The steelbook case is pretty useful, although I wouldn’t use it with the VS as this beauty isn’t leaving the house.
- Moe unique certifiates of authenticity(numbered?) would be nice for future Evercade limited runs (see also: Evercade Handheld Purple Edition)
- I have placed the Evercade VS alongside the family Xbox One and Nintendo Switch consoles. Only one of the consoles has been used in the past week…
- While the controllers are well made, they’re not ideal for some games (e.g. Speedball II) so I’ll need to start tryng out a few alternative joysticks.
- As the Evercade VS doesn’t come with a HDMI cable, you’ll need to use your own. Make sure it’s decent, however. The one I used turned out to be defective, leading to some screen tearing and missing audio, prompting me to buy a brand new cable.
- The whole user interface, menu, and presentation is superb. The Evercade VS designed have clearly put considerable work into providing a consistent experience, and it shows.
- Some games that say “two player” have – at best – esoteric methods of activating the second player.
- I’ve yet to try out the magic cable to turn my Evercade handheld into a third controller.
No doubt I’ll develop some new thoughts on the Evercade VS as time progresses and I try more and more of the cartridges. At the time of writing, I haven’t opened half of the carts that shipped with the Founder Edition, for example.
Ultimately, though, I love the ability to just switch on the console, choose from an ever changing catalogue of games, and not have to worry about whether the system is online or if whoever I’m playing with can understand it or hit all the buttons on the controller.
It’s fun, just the way gaming is meant to be.
You can order an Evercade VS from Amazon now.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.