Review: Evercade EXP

If there’s one thing gamers are used to, it’s generational churn. The NES gave way to the SNES, the PS4 to the PS5, and even dedicated PC players race to pick up improved graphics cards and beefier CPUs every few years. 

That rush for the new, for more powerful devices to drive ever more impressive games, presents a problem for Blaze Entertainment, the UK-based manufacturer of the Evercade family of consoles. With a library consisting entirely of retro games, how do you iterate and improve on hardware, when the software players running on it is from decades ago to begin with?

The answer, it seems, is to lean into “authenticity,” making playing those classics as close to stepping into a 1980s arcade as possible—just without any discarded gum stuck on the casing. The result is the new Evercade EXP, an upgrade on 2020’s original Evercade handheld, where the main selling point might be … the ability to hold the console vertically.

That might sound like a minimal overhaul, but for fans of classic vertically scrolling shoot-’em-ups—or “shmups,” in more contemporary parlance—the EXP’s new TATE mode (a term popular in the shmup fan scene, derived from the Japanese verb “tateru,” meaning “to stand”) is a literal game changer. Generally, it means rotating the display 90 degrees to make use of a screen’s full real estate. On consoles connected to a TV, that generally means having to trade off getting a full-screen view with having to play in a horizontal orientation. On PC, it typically means the same, although some monitors can now be rotated. 

With the Evercade EXP, it means players can simply tap the “T” button on the base of the handheld, grip the console vertically, and, thanks to a dedicated pair of control buttons, play the likes of Capcom’s 1942 as nature intended: flying up the screen, raining bullets on everything that comes into sight, and feeding the “just one more go” addiction when you’re inevitably shot down.

The physical screen itself is also a significant improvement, with the new IPS panel on the EXP offering a much sharper 800 x 480 resolution, compared to the original’s 480 x 272. While both handhelds only feature a 4.3-inch display—practically quaint in an age of smartphones like the Pixel 7 Pro packing a 6.7-inch screen—the greater pixel density means games look slick on the EXP. It’s also better for playing at an angle (for instance, if you’re gaming on public transport, and need to rotate the screen away from unavoidable window glare), with much better visibility than its predecessor.

A better screen with a fun but arguably gimmicky rotation mode isn’t the only overhaul for the EXP, though. Under the hood, it boasts a marginally more powerful processor—1.5 Ghz versus the original handheld’s 1.2 Ghz—and a considerable jump in memory, leaping from 256 MB to 4 GB. The battery is also improved, with a 50 percent increase in capacity from 2,000 mAh to 3,000, which in our review period has resulted in about six to seven hours of play between charges, happily exceeding Blaze’s stated four to five hours.

There’s not a great deal to put that added power to the test, though. All Evercade games to date are of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, and run via emulation. Instead, where the benefits are most felt are in system speed and responsiveness. Hopping between games is lightning-fast, and the EXP can create save states for all of them, allowing you to drop back into titles that pre-date the very concept of game saves. Being able to pick up right where you left off, without even having to go through loading or startup screens, is perhaps Evercade’s main concession to modern player tastes, and one we’re glad to have.

The UI itself doesn’t get much of an overhaul, but for the target audience of retro gamers, it remains a delight. Every game gets a dedicated library entry, with a description of the game, some historical facts on its original release, and a few bits of insight. Going deeper into the EXP’s own system settings, there remain a host of display options, ranging from pixel-perfect recreations of the original outputs to full widescreen displays and even customizable bezels for 4:3 aspect ratio games. 

For that authentic CRT experience, there’s also the option to add virtual scan lines to the display. Short of setting up some arcade cabinets in your living room, the EXP really is one of the most authentic ways to play these classics.

And classics they are—for nostalgists, one of the biggest selling points of the Evercade EXP will be the built-in library of 18 Capcom games. The assortment features 14 titles from the famed developer’s arcade glory days, ranging from the aforementioned 1942 and its sequels to scrolling adventure Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (which, no matter how hard you think you remember it being, is actually harder), and the legendary Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, plus four console classics. 

While this latter cohort is mainly focused on the Mega Man series, right down to the famously awful “realistic” US cover art for the games being used to highlight them in the library view, arguably the best inclusion is the first Breath of Fire game, Capcom’s brilliant but long-overlooked fantasy RPG series. That’s dozens of hours of classic turn-based combat and story-driven gameplay alone.

The EXP also comes with a cartridge containing six games from Japanese developer Irem. Somewhat ironically, given the TATE mode is the hardware’s big new feature, none of the games here—Moon Patrol, 10-Yard Fight, Battle Chopper, In the Hunt, the legendary horizontal sci-fi shooter R-Type, and Lightning Swords, a samurai game getting its first official non-arcade release—make use of it. Still, it’s a great little collection, with Battle Chopper, In the Hunt, and R-Type in particular more than standing the test of time. 

Unlike the previous model, the EXP also features built-in Wi-Fi, but don’t expect online two-player arcade experiences. It mainly seems to be in place to allow future firmware updates to be pushed out with ease. That said, there’s a tantalizing library of “hidden” games to be unlocked somehow, and a massive “coming soon” window on the EXP’s home screen, so more online functionality could be added later. 

Oddly, though, when setting the console up, the EXP only seemed to recognise 2G Wi-Fi networks, but nothing about the console so far has demanded speedy downloads, so 5G compatibility is so far a negligible omission.

However, while the Evercade EXP’s innards get some noteworthy improvements, its outer shell and ports leave quite a bit to be desired. Blaze has abandoned the not-so-subtly NES inspired white-and-red aesthetic for a sleek all-white (or all-black, in the case of the limited edition model) chassis. One suspects it’s an attempt to make the EXP seem more upmarket than its predecessor, but sadly it falls flat. The plastic feels cheap to the touch, with the underside of the console having a rough texture that’s very slightly unpleasant to hold. Pedants—including me—may also grumble over less-than-perfect hole mapping, with the bright LED status indicator and the mini-HDMI or headphone ports not sitting entirely flush to the casing.

Let’s talk about those two ports in particular. The mini-HDMI means the Evercade EXP can still be connected to a TV or monitor, but it doesn’t come with the necessary cable. Chances are, you have a half-dozen or more HDMI cables from other devices, but less likely to have a mini-HDMI to HDMI one laying around. It’s an inconvenience to have to buy a specific, dedicated cable. If you do hook the EXP up to a bigger screen, the console outputs at a max resolution of 720p—not terrible, especially given the age of the games being played, but it would have been nice to have 1080p at least.

Similarly, while we can’t fault having a 3.5-mm jack for headphones, the lack of Bluetooth compatibility for wireless audio doesn’t feel retro, it feels dated. Still, sound is punchy on the whole, with the EXP able to push the chiptune soundtracks of yesteryear out of decent if not wholly impressive in-built speakers. Some serviceable earbuds will offer a substantially better auditory experience, though.

One connector has been upgraded for the EXP, and that’s the charger. Gone is the micro-USB port, in favor of USB-C. You almost definitely have a bunch of USB-C chargers now, so this nicely cuts down on electrical waste, and keeps costs that little bit lower. Faster charging through the standard, coupled with the better battery life of the EXP, means you’ll rarely be wanting for juice. 

Speaking of power, Blaze has also traded a mechanical on-off switch for a single button requiring a long press to turn the device on or off. It’s not a deal breaker, but it does rankle ever-so-slightly to have to (whisper it) wait several whole seconds for the handheld to power up.

The button layout may be the most polarizing element of the EXP. By and large, it’s fine—an almost Xbox-style layout of four face buttons, four shoulder buttons, and a nicely responsive D-pad mean most games can be played without a problem, especially given that many games of the target eras rarely need that many points of input to begin with. 

The issue for some players is more likely to be with playing on the EXP in the signature TATE mode, as when rotated 90 degrees, the dedicated extra A and B buttons feel too high up on the right side (or to put it another way, too close to the screen itself). The comfort factor will differ according to each player’s individual grip, but the placing always feels off kilter to me. Having to reach up to the “top” of the console in TATE mode to tap Start or Select is also less than ideal.

There’s another problem with button layout: inconsistency. In the Evercade’s own UI, the A button—the “southmost” of the four face buttons—is used to select items. However, some games, such as Breath of Fire, retain the button mapping of their original releases. This means players may be told to “press A” by the game, but have to press the “eastmost” B button on the EXP. It’s in part a cultural curiosity—even now, Nintendo maps the A and B buttons on the Switch controllers the opposite way around to Evercade, Xbox, or any number of other joypad makers—but it’s baffling if you don’t know that. Even if you do, it makes for confusing play at times, fighting the muscle memory of where buttons are.

Ultimately, the Evercade EXP isn’t quite the next-gen leap we’d have hoped for. The much-improved screen and the impressive library of built-in Capcom titles are its greatest assets, but the device as a whole is let down by sub-par build quality, lack of Bluetooth audio, and some questionable layout choices. 

Yet, again, what does “next-gen” even mean in the context of a pure retro console? Despite some of its material downsides, the Evercade EXP remains one of the best ways to play classic games, especially on the go, where its compact dimensions (7.76 in x 3.1 in x 0.8 in) and solid battery life make it eminently portable. Throw in compatibility with every Evercade cartridge released to date—and never underestimate how powerfully satisfying the simple act of slotting a cart into place is for players of a certain age—and the Evercade EXP is easy to recommend. Not perfect, but a damn good time all the same.