Evercade Reviews M-Z

This Piko Collection 1 is one of the more generous Evercade cartridges, packing a whopping 20 games across a number of unspecified 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Several are previously unreleased, at least in America.

8-Eyes is an NES adventure that gets things off to a dubious start with laggy controls and objects that randomly disappear. Dorke and Ymp is an unappealing platformer starring a grouchy, rabbit-hating goblin. Jim Power is an SNES platform shooter with mesmerizing graphics, frantic pacing, touchy controls, and enemies that absorb way too many shots.

Power Piggs of the Dark Ages is a comical but technically-sloppy platformer that pits you against arrow-shooting rats and cross-dressing wolves. Radical Rex is a mediocre prehistoric romp starring a skating boarding, fire-breathing baby T-Rex. Tinhead may be the highlight of the collection, boasting flashy Sonic-style stages, tight controls, and non-stop platform action.

Role-playing games are well-represented, beginning with a Taiwanese turn-based Genesis title called Legend of the Magic Warrior. Its top-down 16-bit graphics look great and I found the English text quite convenient. Canon: Legend of the New Gods is more strategy-based, and while I didn't get too far I can see how this could be enjoyable. Drakkhen is a more of a traditional-style RPG, but I prefer Dragon View's brand of real-time, side-scrolling action. The Immortal boasts an isometric view with gory one-on-one combat sequences.

Magic Girl is a happy-go-lucky rapid-fire vertical shooter when you aim at pencils, buckets, and jack-o-lanterns. I might be able to tolerate the preschool graphics and difficulty if the animation wasn't so choppy. Nightshade is a detective game where you wander around a dark city examining items and using them to solve crimes. This one oozes "film noir" atmosphere.

Power Punch II is like Punch-Out!! (NES, 1987), only you're boxing a bunch of futuristic freaks. Why is it that I can beat the crap out of a guy to no avail, yet one punch renders me unresponsive? Switchblade is a sci-fi platformer with tiny characters but a pretty cool soundtrack.

The Humans is one of those tedious puzzle games where you toggle between a bunch of cavemen to navigate platforms to reach a certain item. The Way of the Exploding Fist is a one-on-one karate fighter with okay graphics but non-intuitive controls. Top Racer is a surprisingly-playable Pole Position-style racer with a nice split-screen format.

It's no Streets of Rage (Genesis, 1991), but Iron Commando is a decent SNES brawler that lets you take out machine-gun toting thugs in back alleys. Likewise Water Margin is an enjoyable Feudal times side-scroller similar to Knights of the Round (SNES, 1994). All in all, Piko Collection 1 offers a potpourri of random games. Only about half are any good, but it's hard to beat 20 games for 20 bucks. © Copyright 2023 The Video Game Critic.

This arcade collection is loaded with 1990's-era games I've never even heard of! That could be a good or bad sign, but in this case it's quite good. Reading through the glossy color manual I discovered that Piko specializes in tracking down old, obscure games and releasing them to physical media. How awesome is that?

Piko Interactive Arcade 1 kicks off with a scrolling maze game called Burglar X. This game has the dubious distinction of being the first with a "fart" button. It's kind of ironic, considering that's the last thing you'd want to do if you were a burglarizing a house! The game employs shiny little pseudo-3D characters, kind of like Clockwork Knight (Saturn, 1995). While scampering around streets you obtain coins by head-butting rotating dice. You're pursued by police but your farts will stop them in their tracks. This game is a lot of fun, with advanced stages offering sweet eye candy.

In Diverboy you're a kid swimming on the surface of some water. Below are platforms lined with clam shells and patrolled by fish. By pressing the dive button your boy swims downward to gather up the shells. It's a very unusual mechanic that works extremely well. My one complaint is with that carnival-style music; steel drums would have really hit the spot here.

Dragon Master is a Street Fighter II (SNES, 1992) clone. The characters look kind of goofy and have odd names like "Jedi Ryan" and "Mozard". The moves are stiff, the celebrations cheesy, and the voices were recorded in a sewer. The flashy Las Vegas stage is a complete rip-off but I like the cruise ship stage with its stormy seas. The sequel Master's Fury offers faster action, better-looking characters, and some beautiful stages. It lacks polish, and you can't adjust the buttons, but as Street Fighter clones go you could do a lot worse.

Fancy World: Earth of Crisis is a solid platformer boasting exotic background images a la Bomb Jack. You're a princess firing balls at cartoon chickens, dogs, and mice that patrol the platforms. Your first shot dazes them, but continuous shooting knocks them off the screen, revealing a bonus. The rapid-fire action reminds me of Nightmare in the Dark (Neo Geo, 2000). The next game, Magic Purple, is very similar except this time you're a punching bird and the screen scrolls sideways. Both of these are loads of fun.

Changing things up is a manic overhead shooter called Steel Force. Umm... wow? Like Ripley in Aliens, you're forging through a derelict ship collecting ammunition and blasting everything that moves. The fact that you have to continuously blast doors to blow them open seems like a drag until you realize you can just hold the button in. If you feel like kicking a little intergalactic ass, this game delivers.

Legend of Silk Road is a side-scrolling brawler with a strange pseudo-3D aesthetic. The characters look puppet-like but I love the digitized-looking scenery. This helps differentiate the game, as does the spurting blood when you slash enemies. You can earn magic attacks a la Golden Axe (Genesis, 1989), adding some strategy and variety. I love the weirdness of this one.

Ultimate Tennis lives up to its name with incredible realistic digitized graphics. I thought this one was awesome until Sudz pointed out that the floating camera makes you feel as if you're playing on the deck of the Titanic! But overall this collection far exceeded my expectations. None of the games are well-known (or even just "known"), but it packs a slew of arcade goodness you won't find anywhere else. © Copyright 2023 The Video Game Critic.

I found Technos Collection 1 interesting because I hadn't played most of these eight games. Hell, I had never even heard of half of them! Battle Lane Volume 5 (1986) is one I really wanted to like. Looking like a scene from Indiana Jones, this vertical motorcycle racer lets you shoot other bikes and supply trucks on a desert road. Unfortunately the difficulty is way over the top. The crossfire is too heavy to avoid, and even when you take out a vehicle it tends to careen right into your path.

Blockout (1989) tries to be a 3D Tetris. If you're not bewildered by its wireframe graphics, the controls should do the trick. Double Dragon II (1988) is a remarkably bad side-scroller brawler that gives me new respect for the NES version. The controls are laggy and the collision detection is pathetic. Double Dragon 3 (1990) look sharp and controls okay, but why is the animation so choppy?

Mania Challenge (1986) is a fair arcade-style wrestling gaming hamstrung by a simplistic, two-button control scheme. Minky Monkey (1982) is an embarrassing Donkey Kong Jr. knock-off where you're some kind of hideous tomato creature pushing fruit up and down vines. Mysterious Stones is supposed to be an Indiana Jones-style adventure but your character looks like a damn hobo! The gameplay is terribly confusing with monsters respawning and eggs bouncing all over the place.

Combatribes is probably the lone highlight of Tecnos Arcade 1. It's a cartoonish side-scrolling brawler with a lot of moves. You can put a thug in a headlock, throw a motorcycle into a crowd, or smash two goons' heads together. I wish this game kept score because it's pretty good. Unfortunately, it's about the only thing good about this disappointing arcade collection. © Copyright 2023 The Video Game Critic.

I've never heard of this company before but I've certainly heard of its games! This collection contains arcade versions of games you may have enjoyed on your NES or Genesis. Toaplan Collection 1 "had me at hello" with its very first game, Alcon. A cross between Xevious and Gradius, you're flying over a lost civilization strewn with broken wheelchairs. What makes the game so addictive is how you collect stars to trade for powerful weapons like lasers or homing missiles. I can play this all day.

Flying Shark is another fine vertical shooter. This time you're in a biplane blasting tanks on land, ships at sea, and planes that catch fire before crashing into the trees below. Every now and then a power-up will appear in the upper part of the screen and linger up there. It's a trap! Zero Wing is a run-of-the-mill side-scroller best known for its "all your base belong to us" intro, but you won't find that in this arcade version. Still, the visuals are quite good, and it's cool how you can fire about 100 tiny homing missiles at a time.

Tiger-Heli is a top-notch helicopter shooter I played the heck out of on my NES. I love its clever use of shadowing to make structures on the ground appear tall, but it's a little unfair how tanks can sneak up on you from behind. I love Truxton on the Genesis and this ultra-sharp arcade version plays like a dream. The music is catchy and the overpowered weapons let you get into a zone.

Teki Paki is the obligatory Tetris clone, which I believe is required by law. I find that even when I'm just randomly placing blocks I'm still triggering massive combos. Guardian may be the cheesiest side scroller I've ever played. You're some kind of Ultraman-inspired space guy traveling between six planets, beating the crap out of their inhabitants. Enemies look like creatures scribbled in the margin of a third-grade notebook. I do like how the high score screen tells me to "reserve" my name.

This was my first experience playing Snow Bros., a two-player platformer was previously available as a rare NES cartridge. The idea is to transform monsters into giant snowballs and then roll them into each other, releasing "bonus sushi" in their wake. It's a lot of fun and reminiscent of the Nightmare in the Dark (Neo Geo, 2000) only without the slowdown.

The lack of an auto-fire function is unfortunate, as most of these require steady button pounding. If you own a USB Turbografx-16/PC-Engine controller however, you'll be pleased to know it does indeed work! Toaplan is an unexpectedly good time, largely because its games are not just the "usual suspects". © Copyright 2023 The Video Game Critic.

My philosophy of life is simple. When Evercade comes out with an arcade compilation, you buy it. These things are worth their weight in gold, delivering arcade goodness not previously available (legally anyway) on a home system. Toaplan Arcade 2 may not live up to the first in terms of depth or variety, but this seven-game collection is still a good time.

Demon's World has a Ghostbusters vibe as you walk through a town blasting ghosts, Frankenstein monsters, and Jason clones, just to name a few. You can shoot rapidly, but only forward. This would be a big problem except you have a double-jump that can propel you to the top of the screen, shooting in mid-air.

Fireshark is a vertical shooter I've played on the Genesis but this may be my first taste of the arcade version. The graphics look sharp as you guide your biplane through warzones, destroying tanks, planes, and armaments. You can accrue some absolutely amazing firepower. This screen teems with activity but I love it.

Hellfire looks sharper than the Genesis version but that catchy, pulsating music is unmistakable. The unique controls let you toggle your aim on the fly. Throw in ample power-ups and this one of the best side-scrolling shooters you'll ever play.

I remember Rally Bike from the NES, but this is far more advanced. While riding a motorcycle up a narrow vertical screen, you'll take forks in the road, avoid traffic, and occasionally gas up at an amazing-looking gas station. It's great fun to scoop up icons while speeding through an outdoor cafe. Problem is, other riders are always veering into you, and you crash on contact.

Twin Cobra is a manic helicopter shooter that makes me wish the controller had a turbo feature! You'll be pounding that fire button like no tomorrow, but don't forget you have a supply of bombs as well. Those power-up icons are so tantalizing, but have an annoying tendency to dance just out of reach!

Twin Hawk was a game I just recently reviewed for the Turbografx-16. This arcade version however is ten times harder thanks to enemy bullets so big they might as well be beach balls. Even when you call in a squadron of planes to fire by your side, they won't be around for long.

Wardner is the oddball of the bunch. You're some dorky-looking dude who gets his girlfriend transformed into a crystal ball. You must navigate through deep woods to save her, collecting a fair share of cash along the way. Unfortunately, your default weapon is a little flame that travels in an arc, and not very far. It's a lame flame.

All of these games support two players but in my experience the shooters are chaotic enough as it is, and downright overwhelming with two players at once. All in all, this collection is a winner. I was a little concerned about already owning many of the console editions already, but these crisp arcade emulations feel like the definitive versions. © Copyright 2023 The Video Game Critic.