Speedball 2
Image: The Bitmap Brothers

The Evercade handheld is becoming a real godsent for retro gamers, and the latest announcement – following hot on the heels of the Evercade VS – is sure to go down well with players of a certain age.

It has been confirmed that the next Evercade cartridge release will include the works of legendary UK code house The Bitmap Brothers. Established in London in 1987, the studio quickly became famous for the high standard of its games, as well as the 'rock star' status of its founders, Mike Montgomery, Eric Matthews and Steve Kelly.

The cartridge – which is due for launch in September – will include the following games:

  • The Chaos Engine (appears to be the SNES version, judging from the trailer)
  • Speedball (Master System, again, judging from the trailer)
  • Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Mega Drive, no SNES version exists)
  • Speedball 2100 (PlayStation)
  • Xenon 2: Megablast (Mega Drive, no SNES version exists)
Evercade Bitmap Brothers Collection

As has been the case with other Evercade carts, these are all console versions, despite The Bitmap Brothers finding fame on home computers like the Atari ST and Amiga. What's notable about this cart is that for the first time on the Evercade, we're seeing an offering from a 32-bit console in the form of the PlayStation title Speedball 2100.

Blaze, the company behind the Evercade, has worked with Bitmap Brothers rights holder Rebellion on this collection. Evercade Marketing Manager, Sean Cleaver, had this to say:

It’s great to bring the Bitmap Brothers to Evercade. It’s one of the collections that we’ve been asked about from the beginning of Evercade and one we’ve been excited to bring to the Evercade devices. The Bitmap Brothers hold a special place in the heart of many gamers from the late 80s and early 90s, not just in the UK but around the world. And with the upcoming release of the Evercade VS, it’s a great showcase of multiplayer and co-op gaming from one of the British Games Industry greats.

Previous Evercade collections have featured plenty of Nintendo-related content, including NES and SNES games. The lineup also includes a collection based on the output of Sensible Software, another hugely respected UK studio from the same period as The Bitmap Brothers.

This article was originally published by nintendolife.com on Wed 5th May, 2021.