Evercade?!

[roots.genoa]

That would also explain why the original bundle featured Atari Collection 1 in the US, but Namco Collection 1 in Europe (at least that's what I got). I had assumed it was just to fit the taste of each continent.

[7800Knight]

I noticed on Songbird that some of the cartridges like the arcade collections, the Intellivision Collection 1, etc. are backordered.

 

I'm not surprised.  But it's just as well that I wait - I have other financial obligations right now.  Probably later this year, I plan to grab the Atari & Gaelco arcade collections along with both Intellivision cartridges.

[Songbird]

Right, several carts are on backorder from the distributor until April at this point, including the new Renovation and Gremlin releases. Thus looking at mid-April for my next restock.

[Tanooki]

Yeah I've never had a shot at them when I looked because of some clowny weird Namco restriction, much like their likely insane reason not to work on the VS.  I went with the funstock bundle with the 10 carts, but through an American through a weird twist of fate who got TWO sets for Christmas so I got the other.   Those FC games are quite a good bit of variety and fun so trying to figure Namco out is infuriating and frustrating.

[+jgkspsx]

Yeah, the Namco carts have the perfect mix of familiar and under the radar with no real duds. It is a real shame.

[Tanooki]

Agreed.  I got lucky on the bundle.  Had I been stuck getting a handheld on a small bundle the Namco pair were at the top of the grab list because of this insane lack of thought on their part, and now it's going to go away and get even more expensive.

[King_Salamon]

I was lucky when I ordered my initial orders from a Canadian distributor and grabbed the two NAmco collections.  I was on their site looking at the upcoming orders and noticed the Namco collections are no longer on the site (not just sold out but removed).  Oh well... I'm sure the market will go a bit crazy on Feebay in the coming months.  

 

I enjoy these two... I have yet to play the Splatterhouse games so I have them to look forward to.  Funny thing with these collections is once one is in the system, it tends to stay in the system for quite a while.  lol  

[Video]

Yeah the Namco carts almost immediately went to $25 then $30 when they pulled them. Their the only carts sold currently you can't buy for actual price. I got lucky and they were part of my preorder two years ago, so I actually paid $20 for them.

 

Your not missing much, its just Nintendo versions of their games, I'd totally kill for proper arcade games.

[RREDDWARFF]

On 3/25/2022 at 7:00 PM, Video said:

Your not missing much, its just Nintendo versions of their games, I'd totally kill for proper arcade games.

I agree with this. I wasn't impressed by these collections. Some of the games feel really off too. How in the world are the controls in Dig Dug so wacked out and poor in this version? Pac-Man controls poorly too in my opinion.

 

These games are available several other places for way cheaper, and some of the games play better elsewhere too.

[+jgkspsx]

The Namco NES arcade ports are not the reasons to buy the compilations. They were impressive for 1983 when they came out but I don’t like them much either. I do like Warpman, Mappy, and Dig Dug II, though.

It’s pretty much exclusively the other stuff: Dragon Spirit, Phelios, Burning Force, Star Luster (translated for the first time?), Battle Cars, Mappy Kids (translated for the first time), Libble Rabble, Metal Marines, Weaponlord, Splatterhouse 2 & 3…

[RREDDWARFF]

13 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

The Namco NES arcade ports are not the reasons to buy the compilations. They were impressive for 1983 when they came out but I don’t like them much either. I do like Warpman, Mappy, and Dig Dug II, though.

It’s pretty much exclusively the other stuff: Dragon Spirit, Phelios, Burning Force, Star Luster (translated for the first time?), Battle Cars, Mappy Kids (translated for the first time), Libble Rabble, Metal Marines, Weaponlord, Splatterhouse 2 & 3…

If it works for you, cool, but they're not for me. A lot of these games are available elsewhere. The original Xbox and the ps2, for example, have a great Namco collection for dirt cheap. So does the Switch. I never cared for the Splatterhouse games as well as a few others you listed. Dog Dug II is a fun game however. 

 

There's quite a few Evercade carts I don't particularly like. I'm going to list several of them soon, including both Namco collections. That's the neat thing about the Evercade. If I try something and don't like it, I'm not stuck with it and it still has value because it's a physical cartridge.

[roots.genoa]

44 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

Mappy Kids (translated for the first time), Libble Rabble

Libble Rabble has soon be ported to the PS4 and Switch, and it's probably a lot more playable with two analog sticks, given the concept (iirc).

And Mappy Kids may be the worse platformer I have ever played. ?

Clearly the second Namco cart sounds better, but the first was in the bundle.

[King_Salamon]

6 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

There's quite a few Evercade carts I don't particularly like. I'm going to list several of them soon, including both Namco collections. That's the neat thing about the Evercade. If I try something and don't like it, I'm not stuck with it and it still has value because it's a physical cartridge.

I agree 100% about not liking a particular collection for the Evercade.  I have purchased 95% of the collections so far and have sold some of the collections that I didn't enjoy or I've had my enjoyment with and no longer wanted.

 

The one collection I never bought was Interplay 2... there was nothing on that collection that grabbed my interest.  Maybe one day I'll grab it but at this point I have a bundle of collections that I have interest in and some of those are still sitting in shrinkwrap.  lol

 

Oh and another bonus of the Evercade collections... the price of admission to these collections is so good!  And I pre-order my new release 2 packs and get free shipping!  

[+jgkspsx]

8 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Libble Rabble has soon be ported to the PS4 and Switch, and it's probably a lot more playable with two analog sticks, given the concept (iirc).

And Mappy Kids may be the worse platformer I have ever played. ?

Libble Rabble plays pretty okay with the face buttons, IMO. Mappy Kids is more of a curiosity than something that’s really great to play, I admit. I wish they had included Lynx Pac Land instead, but it’s still an interesting diversion.

1 hour ago, King_Salamon said:

The one collection I never bought was Interplay 2... there was nothing on that collection that grabbed my interest. 

Interplay 2 is way better than Interplay 1. Claymates, Rad Gravity, The Brainies, and Prehistorik Man are some of the best games on the system.

 

Oh, missed quoting @RREDDWARFF

Quote

A lot of these games are available elsewhere.

Very few if any of the games I listed are available on any other contemporary platforms. Namco basically doesn’t want to remember that they made home console games and all they release is arcade compilations, the Switch Famicom collections (which do admittedly include Dragon Spirit and Mappy-Land, but the Evercade collections came out first) being the one nice exception. From a preservation perspective the Evercade compilations were a step in the right direction, and that’s why it’s so sad that Namco canceled them.

[RREDDWARFF]

3 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

 From a preservation perspective the Evercade compilations were a step in the right direction, and that’s why it’s so sad that Namco canceled them.

I agree, Evercade is a great way to preserve older titles. 

[ColecoGamer]

I love my Evercade! I just recently ordered the Bitmap Brothers Collection 1 and the Team 17 Worms collection cartridge.

 

What has me perplexed, is why the first Speedball game on the Bitmap Brother’s cart is the Sega Master System version. 
 

The Amiga and ST versions of the first Speedball are the best versions to play, imho.

[+jgkspsx]

1 hour ago, ColecoGamer said:

The Amiga and ST versions of the first Speedball are the best versions to play, imho.

Apparently licensing the bios is the problem with home computer versions.

[BrianC]

On 3/27/2022 at 11:24 AM, jgkspsx said:

Namco basically doesn’t want to remember that they made home console games and all they release is arcade compilations, the Switch Famicom collections (which do admittedly include Dragon Spirit and Mappy-Land, but the Evercade collections came out first) being the one nice exception. From a preservation perspective the Evercade compilations were a step in the right direction, and that’s why it’s so sad that Namco canceled them.

The Namco Famicom collections have Steam and PS4 (and XB One?) versions too (though, AFAIK, only Switch got the fancy JP only Namcot Collection with more bells and whistles). Oddly enough, they actually have games they published in Japan, but not the US like Mendel Palace and Legacy of the Wizard. Some of their console games appeared on VC, Nintendo Switch Online, and PC Engine/TG-16 Mini too. Star Luster is a Star Raiders clone and didn't have much text to begin with (JP version is mostly in English already, IIRC). Disappointing that the Namco Evercade collections weren't made more available. 

[+jgkspsx]

21 minutes ago, BrianC said:

Some of their console games appeared on VC, Nintendo Switch Online, and PC Engine/TG-16 Mini too.

My recollection is that they don’t have anything on US NSO, but I could definitely be wrong. I wouldn’t consider the others contemporary.

[BrianC]

Just now, jgkspsx said:

My recollection is that they don’t have anything on US NSO, but I could definitely be wrong.

Smash Tennis is on there, despite being an EU game. 

[+jgkspsx]

4 hours ago, BrianC said:

Smash Tennis is on there, despite being an EU game. 

Haa, I actually spent a fair bit of time playing it when it came out and forgot all about it.

[Songbird]

Pre-orders are OPEN for Morphcat Games Collection 1 and Intellivision Collection 2 at Songbird! Games release May 31, 2022.

 

[+jgkspsx]

Both of these look great.

[+Intellivision Master]

I pre-ordered the Intellivision collection volume 2.  I can't wait to play it.

[Hwlngmad]

4 hours ago, Songbird said:

Pre-orders are OPEN for Morphcat Games Collection 1 and Intellivision Collection 2 at Songbird! Games release May 31, 2022.

 

Very nice and glad to see another homebrew cart along with another classic console compilation volume.  Hopefully even more obscure consoles like the Fairchild Channel F, Odyssey 2, and/or Super Cassette Vision can come into being.