Evercade Piko Interactive Collection 1 Review

Retro RPGs and buried treasures

Piko Interactive has introduced again a ton of old-school treasures and listed here are 20 such video games in a single handy Evercade assortment.

RPGs

First up, Piko Interactive Assortment 1 features a handful of RPGs which is sort of uncommon for Evercade. Courageous Battle Saga begins issues off nicely as it is a stable conventional JRPG that feels loads like Breath of Hearth and it appears nice, too. Nevertheless, Canon – Legend of the New Gods (which is by the identical builders) is an SRPG and it is fairly customary for the style. Plus, its problem spikes could be fairly irritating. Subsequent, each Drakkhen and Dragon View play equally with the latter being a sequel that improves a lot on the primary recreation that it renders it pointless. So, leap straight into Dragon View as a result of it is a very distinctive mix of first-person exploration and 2D motion fight. Lastly, The Immortal is an isometric dungeon crawler that is completely brutal but its violent battles are pretty satisfying… should you handle to win.

Sports activities

Though Piko Interactive Assortment 2 is chock-full of sports activities video games, there are fortunately just a few right here. For starters, Energy Punch II is a poor tackle the Punch-Out!! components and it is extremely robust, too, to the purpose the place it is simply not enjoyable. One other fighter is The Means of the Exploding Fist which is straightforward as all you need to do is land an assault for a degree. It is not an excellent recreation however I discovered its premise mildly entertaining for a number of rounds. Lastly, High Racer (AKA High Gear) is a basic 16-bit racing recreation that has held up fairly nicely.

2D motion

The subsequent group of video games to debate are 2D motion video games so let’s begin with those that are not value your time. Jim Energy: The Misplaced Dimension in 3-D looks as if a reasonably cool recreation at first with its mix of platforming and overhead sequences however you may quickly realise that it is one of many hardest video games ever made and its backgrounds that scroll within the incorrect path gave me a headache as I performed. Energy Piggs of the Darkish Age is a subpar 2D platformer the place you attempt to navigate by way of annoying levels whereas attacking and butt-slamming bins. I might a lot relatively play Aladdin which has similarities but remarkably extra satisfying. Switchblade is definitely a brand new Genesis port of an previous Atari ST recreation and I discovered it to be a particularly clunky and hard-to-control recreation. Maybe the Atari ST model is healthier? 🤔

On the plus facet, 8 Eyes performs loads like Castlevania however it may be annoying at occasions; undoubtedly the type of recreation that grows on you over time. Dorke and Ymp is not one of the best 2D platformer however I had enjoyable taking pictures enemies whereas navigating its intricately-designed levels though its controls may undoubtedly use some fine-tuning. In the meantime, Radical Rex has you play as a skateboarding dinosaur which is superior and Tinhead is a reasonably satisfying 2D collect-a-thon the place you blast enemies with pellets. I nonetheless personal the Genesis cartridge for that one. 😊

Different video games

Lastly, listed here are the chances and ends. Iron Commando and Water Margin are each beat ’em ups with the previous being extra conventional and the latter that includes swords and magic. Each of those video games are stable and I am unable to wait to play them with a pal on my Evercade VS later this yr. Anyway, Magic Woman is a vertical shoot ’em up that is very very similar to TwinBee however not practically as enjoyable. Nightshade is a NES recreation that I keep in mind renting and enjoying with my household again within the day. It mixes point-and-click journey gameplay with brutal fight so it may be irritating however everytime you lose, you get one other probability should you can escape a demise lure and that is relatively nifty. Lastly, The People is a puzzler the place you employ varied cavemen to achieve every stage’s objective and it is rewarding besides the time restrict could be irritating.

Piko Interactive Assortment 1 is without doubt one of the higher Evercade compilations that I’ve performed to this point with its diversified mixture of genres and customarily top quality video games. In fact, there are a number of clunkers in there however it’s nonetheless a must have cartridge nonetheless.