5 Games for 5 Years

Evercade turns 5 in just a few days. In that time, they've released dozens of cartridges and nearly a dozen devices (counting Super Pockets, and depending on how you measure it) totaling hundreds and hundreds of games.

I didn't join the party until mid-2022, so I don't have first-hand experience of those early days. But I have of course gone through and played all the games from prior years.

Anyway, someone asked the other day in the official Discord for everyone to choose one game for each year. The actual prompt was "5 years, best game of each year go!!" but with so many games to sift through I'm not even certain I could find my best games, much less an objective set. Indeed every time I try, I come up with an entirely different set of games.

So instead, here are five games I feel like writing about, one for each year. Will I use calendar years or May-to-May Evercade years like their old roadmaps? I haven't decided yet.

2020: Dragon View (Piko Collection 1)

A lot of the carts from 2020 are now legacy, meaning they are no longer being printed due to contracts expiring. Most of the Ataris, the Namcos, the Technii, the Silly Little Egg Men. There was a lot to like about the 2020 line-up.

But I've gotta go with a game from Piko 1 here. Even though I didn't get into Evercade until 2022, Piko 1 was the first cart to spend significant time in my console. And Dragon View is the first game I beat on the console.

Evercade isn't exactly overflowing with RPGs, depending on your definition of the genre. But Dragon View is one of the best if you can track it down for a reasonable price.

It doesn't precisely fit in the "JRPG," "CRPG," or "action-adventure" molds, but it offers a solid chunk of game with some interesting gimmicks in the first-person overworld and side-scrolling dungeons.

Just make sure you use the in-game save function at least once after beating the first boss - saving, quitting, and loading. Else you'll hit a bug further down the line that will prevent progress. By the way, this isn't an Evercade-specific tip.

2021: Tumblepop (Data East Arcade 1)

2021 put the "cade" in Evercade, if only just at the very end of the year. And with arcade came a parade of single screen elimination platformers.

The first batch of arcade carts contained one of the best: Tumblepop.

I don't need to describe elimination platformers to you. Tumblepop is that, with the charm dialed to...well I won't exaggerate here, just dialed to 10. It's no Rod Land. But it's colorful and cheerful. It's got cameos from all your Data East friends.

It's just got the sort of vibe to pull you over to it in the arcade and keep you feeling good as you pump coins into it.

2022: Micro Mages (Morphcat Games Collection 1)

Finally, we're in 2022, where I enter the ecosystem. And one of the games that sold me on the system was Micro Mages.

Evercade has plenty of options for multiplayer these days. Maybe not quite so many back then. But even now, Micro Mages is pretty singular in the library. A straightforward but quite frenetic multiplayer platformer that is also a very impressive technical accomplishment. What a great game.

My wife's taste in games is pretty particular and she... doesn't love this game. But she'll still agree to play it with me sometimes, and I always have a great time with all the chaos.

The worst part about all the games on the cart is they're over too soon.

2023: Sword of Ianna (Home Computer Heroes 1)

Man, choosing for 2023 was tough. What a great year. And I think choices are only gonna get tougher from here on out.

While 2023 had a lot of great games, Sword of Ianna was the biggest surprise for me. A substantial and super high quality homebrew game for a computer platform I really didn't know anything about.

It's got great visuals and a really well-designed control scheme that gives the combat and exploration a lot of depth. It's got...one puzzle that I had to look up and still don't understand how I was supposed to discover the solution.

But other than that, it is absolutely top notch.

2024: Ufouria: The Saga (Sunsoft Collection 2)

Another huge year and another tough choice. We got some absolutely incredible carts from all three lines with some real great games. And I have to choose just one?

After an absolute ton of deliberation, I landed on Ufouria. I feel like I've written about Ufouria before on this blog, but I'm not sure where it would have been.

I have a massive soft spot for the NES. It was my first console as a kid and aside from a few years I've maintained at least a small collection all my life. But I'd never heard of Ufouria until I saw it on Sunsoft 2. It is just pure, distilled NES. The way every game is in my mind but only about 5 are in reality.

I've played it through 2.5 times since the cart came out because it is just an absolute joy to play. It's got exploration, but not too much. It's got challenge, but it's not hard. The music is perfect.

Forget 2024, Ufouria is a strong contender for best game on Evercade as a whole. Which I guess everything else on this list is, too. But I feel it more here.

2025 (so far): Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (Broken Sword Collection)

It feels a little silly picking a game for 2025. Given we've only got a few carts out, I don't know enough about video games to have an opinion on announced but unreleased carts, and we're right on the verge of a showcase, this spot is unlikely to survive until the end of the year.

But for now anyway, the first Broken Sword game is an absolute gem of a game. Evercade may not be the best way to experience it (though recent patches may get it closer), but if you've got an Evercade it's a perfectly fine way. You can read my recent review for more.

An absolutely masterful point and click adventure given a few rough edges from its original host platform.

Wrap Up

I have a massive trade deficit with the Evercade brand. I've gotten a lot out of my time with Evercade these past few years.

In exchange for [don't do the math don't do the math don't do the math] $2,000 or so, I've gained access to a library of games I have played nearly every day for the past 1,000 or so days. Lots of games I never would have heard of or played otherwise.

And, more importantly, I've gained access to a community I've interacted with every single day. Talking about games, learning about game history, taking part in challenges and competitions, rolling my eyes at the 14th "can we get [game] on Evercade" question in an hour from the same person.

As someone who had not really associated with any gaming communities after 2015 due to, uh, "assorted factors," it has been absolutely lovely being able to join the hobby in a more active way again.

It's wild to think this weirdo retro console that releases games on cute little cartridges is still kicking after 5 years. Successfully launching and growing a brand that relies on shipping physical objects all over the world every couple of months during a constant parade of unprecedented global supply chain disruptions is nothing short of miraculous.

I have no idea what plans Blaze has for the future of Evercade. And I have no idea if Evercade (or The Successor To The Evercade) will be around in 5 more years. But gosh I sure hope so.