Blaze Evercade EXP Handheld - USA

So I held off on getting the original Evercade handheld but decided after seeing how many carts were out now that I would jump the EXP bandwagon.I've had the unit now for a few days and as a retro mostly game with tons of ways to play all the games you can get for this thing I am really enjoying playing them on here a ton! The screen is great and the colors pop. I love that scanlines work really well along with having a pixel perfect mode. The sound is a little wimpy but I use headphones so no big deal.The buttons feep great and not super mushy like a lot of cheap emu devices. The dpad works good but it's no Sega Saturn or Snes dpad. Wish it was a little more inset in center like the og dpad was on the prior unit. Keeps your finger from sliding off during dragon punches.The Exp comes loaded with a steller line up of Capcom games installed on it and all play super well! I love physical media so hopefully one day Capcom will throw out a cart for it. The little manuals are rad and I love how the carts fit in the console to round out the feel and look of the unit.Pro's-Capcom games are awesome-Buttons and overal build quality feels good-UI is easy to use and looks nice. Lots of features.-150 gets you console with built in games and acart with more.Con's-Dpad is ok but could be better-light bleed when playing in the dark is a bumberbut can be fixed easily with electrical tape.-No way to play two player games like StreetFighter with friends.Overall the thing is fun and I love it despite it's small problems. 8/10 Easy.

For me, this hit all the checkmarks. They're a small company that specializes in licensing existing games, mostly retro ones. They also bring in indie games, and occasionally remake the games in-house (Duke Nukem 1 and 2). Everything comes on cartridges, in the form of game collections. Pop it in and play, super simple.There are some pre-installed games. So, if can only afford the handheld at first you'll at least have something to play while you save up.

Hardware:This console out of the box feels like a pro-portable console. The buttons feel very nice, the triggers/bumpers are clicky, reminiscent of Nintendo switch triggers, and the d-pad has a pivot in the middle to prevent you from pushing the whole d-pad down like a button, although I wish the pivot was a bit more noticeable as sometimes it is a little hard to tell what direction you’re pushing, but this is a minor gripe. I do wish the d-pad was more “Nintendo-esque” as it’s clearly based off the sega genesis control pad. The console itself is actually quite heavy, but it feels comfortable to the hands like a controller. The console also seems to get quite warm when you let it run for a little while so I would keep it ventilated or turned off when not in use. There is also a noticeable small bezel around the screen, which seems to annoy some people but I don’t really mind. It charges via usb and has a headphone Jack and a mini-hdmi out, but I haven’t tried either of these. This is a minor pet peeve, but I wish modern portable consoles had some sort of Bluetooth headphone support, as this one doesn’t, but it would be nice.Overall, the hardware is pretty solid, it feels like a pro-console that’s comfortable in the hands and made out of a sturdy white matte plastic.Software:The setup process is pretty straightforward, just connect to the internet and update, which may come in handy later as they can fix/tweak some things to make the experience better. There’s no account creation, just simple. The main menu is very nice and clean and has a nice musical loop playing in the background, which reminds me of ps2, GameCube, wii days. There’s even several themes to choose from which is nice that they give you the option. There’s a new “Tate” mode that allows you to flip the screen for games that typically have longer screens in arcades like shoot-em-ups, which also have an “A” and “B” button next to the d-pad that allow you to play this way. This way is a fun little gimmick that reminds me of the DS, but it can get uncomfortable after a long time as the d-pad is pretty close to the edge and holding the whole heavyish console from the side that long is kinda weird, but I’m glad there’s an option. Also it seems many if not all the games don’t use R2 and L2, which is unfortunate, as my hands rest a little easier on those buttons. I do wish there was a way to remap controls as many games default to A and B, but the more comfortable position would be X and B, but hopefully this can be patched out in an update.Games:The EXP comes with a set of Capcom games pre-installed as well as an i-rem cartridge. The Capcom games are pretty decent, providing a variety of games. I do wish they had a different version of Street Fighter II, maybe the new challengers? There are plenty of beat-em-ups, and shoot-em-ups (especially to show off new Tate feature), as well as platformers, and an RPG, so there’s plenty of options to choose from with what comes with the console. There’s also 5 hidden games to find, which I won’t spoil, but they aren’t really anything crazy special, but a fun little inclusion. Each game also allows you to create save states which is so nice and seamless, so you can go right back to playing as you were when you left off. Each game also allows you to load your most recent save from the main menu which is super convenient. There’s also many display options like scan lines and display ratio, as well as borders, screen dimming, etc. these are pretty standard for devices like this.Side Note:I’ve discovered some pretty cool games from getting some of the physical cartridges, as sometimes I just want one game but I end up enjoying another one more. But it can have the same negative effect, as the interplay collection 2 pretty much has Earthworm Jim 2 and that’s it. So be cautious for what games you get!Theres also a section on the main menu labeled “Coming Soon” I would honestly hope this would be a digital store to purchase individual games for a cheaper price than getting the whole cartridges, but I’m unsure how much storage this thing has.OVERALL:I’m having a lot of fun on this little console and it comes with a lot of games to keep you going, and that’s all it really needs to be, although I would recommend getting the Morphcat Games collection 1 cartridge, as each of those games feel very polished and unique and kept my playing longer than any other game. In the future I really hope they add some way to button-map as sometimes the standard control scheme just sucks.Also it would be nice if they kept releasing the secret hidden games!

At first I was skeptical on buying one because of reviews saying the battery was garbage and would not fully charge. Well I went ahead and took the plunge and must say I’m glad I did because this little device is awesome! Mine has no problem whatsoever with the battery fully charging and lasting up to 4 hours. So far I have had no issues with it and am enjoying it quite a bit. I assume the battery issues people were having was software related and with software updates the problems have been fixed. Overall I’m happy with it.

Bought this item in 2023, but shelved it w/o testing it for 1.5 years. Upon trying it for the first time, I found that the part responsible for relaying electricity from the battery to the pcb was deficient and the unit only works when plugged into an outlet, making it, not portable. Customer service said they couldn't offer help as it had been bought 1.5 years earlier. I found out on reddit that MANY people had the same problem, and that it's a cheap part that they used and aren't helping in any way with. It needed to be re-called, it would have bankrupted the small company, so instead they make up lies and hope you buy a new unit instead. Stay away from any products from this company, buy a steam deck or nintendo switch instead.

The evercade deserves to last forever. It preserves old games so well and the love from the developers clearly shows from hidden games to little extras. I immediately considered buying a vs after getting the expUpdate:Every cart I add to this thing makes it better, I've already bought a VS. it takes my favorite parts about the switch and puts it on one xplatform console. Blaze has the right idea and it would be a sin if they don't keep at it.