Blaze just officially answered whether the Evercade can run DOOM, as a new collection is coming on October 30. Better still, the original boomer shooter, its sequel, and a bunch of mission packs and Deathmatch levels will arrive alongside a special edition Evercade Nexus handheld that looks like it's from the bowels of hell mars.
Available to pre-order today at 10 pm EST / 3 pm BST (UK), the Evercade Nexus DOOM Edition will set you back $249.99 / £199.99, so slightly more than the vanilla version. But, you will be furnished with a bunch of demonic delights, including the new collection cartridge, a Mars red case, a cartridge keychain, a double-sided poster with the shooter's OG artwork, and a bonus comic.
Pocket pandemonium
If you'd rather rip and tear on something with Game Boy vibes, you'll want to grab a Super Pocket before the DOOM collection arrives. While the portable comes in at under $70, it can still run all the same carts as the Evervade and Nexus handhelds, including this new cursed '90s computer collection.
Of course, the DOOM retro handheld itself is also dressed up in demon-infested, space facility attire, complete with hazard warning trim and UAC logos. The cursed caveat here is that the portable is limited to 3,000 units, so you'll have to strafe straight to Blaze's Funstock when the gates open today.
Dropping this new DOOM handheld is a bummer if you've already pre-ordered the vanilla or Rare edition Evercade Nexus, though, and I've already noticed a few buyers query whether they can switch their pre-orders. I doubt there's a system in place for anything like that, but at least the collection is available on its own.
On its own, the DOOM Evercade collection will set you back $29.99 / £24.99, but it's already sold out at Funstock US. Hilariously, you can still grab it as a double pack alongside the Banjo Kazooie collection for $59.98, which feels like a DOOMslayer and Isabella-level team-up, if I do say so. If you are just looking for the boomer shooter, it should hit Amazon at some point before October 30.
I'm not remotely short of ways to play DOOM, and I've just finished building an MS-DOS PC specifically for playing '90s shooters with authentic Soundblaster audio. On top of that, I've been hitting up the GBA version on a custom Game Boy Advance with microswitch shoulders for strafing, and yet, I'm still itching to try this Evercade version.
Perhaps it's the sheer volume of DOOM included on the cart, as it includes the aforementioned six extra mission packs, including The Plutonia Experiment from Final DOOM and No Rest for the Living. The split-screen local multiplayer helps drive home the experience I was originally looking for with the PS1 version, negating the need for two consoles, games, and a link cable.
Sure, DOOM on the Evercade might not feel technically impressive given the platform now has 3D romps like Banjo Kazooie (check out the Super Pocket Rare Edition for more on that), but gaining the grandaddy of first-person shooters is still an accolade. Blaze's handheld and retro console ecosystem is becoming a physical gaming force to be reckoned with, and it could gain a massive player base once the big dogs in the industry become all-digital.
Swing by the best retro controllers for wireless buttons that still feel authentic.
