If you are a fan of the Sega Genesis, then you probably have heard of Xeno Crisis and Tanglewood. On the surface these games are quite different. They are about to share a cartridge for the Evercade handheld machine.
New take on old ideas
For the most part the Evercade cartridges are just multi-game affairs. In the past these types of carts were often illegal. Today, such as the ones for the Evercade, they are licensed and support community that makes them possible.
It is an interesting take on the retro revival that is going strong. Companies like Nintendo are content with selling classic titles one at a time. Often these are sold through digital stores on a current console. Relying on not offering backwards compatibility, companies depend on gamers buying the same game again. And again. And again.
Bucking the system
By licensing many games for each cartridge Evercade is easily bucking the system. Take this cartridge for example. It will feature Xeno Crisis and Tanglewood on the same cartridge.
Other releases have featured a selection of Piko Interactive games, Namco, Atari, etc. There is value here if you are a fan of the titles on the carts. Obviously with only two games it is harder to “buy on impulse”.
Breaking down the games
Xeno Crisis is an overhead action game like classics such as Smash TV (arcades, consoles), Chaos Engine (computers, consoles), etc. The game features extremely detailed graphics and some awesome looking animation. One to watch for.
Tanglewood is a 2D side scrolling action adventure affair. What is cool about this one is it would be right at home in the 1990’s. There are a lot of things to do from using elevators, riding mine carts, and solving puzzles. Some interesting variety provided here.
Grabbing your Evercade cartridge
You can head over to the official Evercade website and secure your unit and add-on cartridges. You can also use these links for Amazon and eBay and help us out by purchasing there. Using these links gives us a small commission which helps us keep the lights on.This article was originally published on Retro Gaming Magazine, a gaming website I own.