Well this is a happy first! Previous Evercade cartridge reviews here, such as Jaleco Arcade 1 or Gaelco Arcade 2, were always for Evercade VS rather than plain old Evercade like in the title here. Nothing plain about why though because a couple of months ago as I write I finally got my hands on the Limited Edition Evercade XP! Originally due in December 2022, the whole lot got nicked as they left a warehouse but to Blaze Entertainment’s immense credit they not only got them made again but also took the opportunity to sort out a couple of issues with the non-limited version, such as a few overly tight old cartridges. I should mention, this is the cartridge-based handheld system with dozens of themed compilations, in turn covering a load of old systems, and I’ve got quite the collection already from my Evercade VS, which is the one that plugs into the telly. And that means we can look at this new one both on there and on the go too!

Team17 Collection 1 brings together a diverse mix of ten of Team17’s 16-bit titles, first published on the Commodore Amiga in the early nineties and spanning fighting, sports, platforming and, er, Alien Breed… Lots of Alien Breed! We’ll come back to each of those in turn shortly, taking a look at what they are and how they play on both Evercade systems, but let’s have a really quick history of Team17 first. It was formed in 1990 out of the merger of UK publisher 17-Bit Software and Swedish developer Team 7, who I remember for a decent Miami Vice-inspired racer called Miami Chase, published by Codemasters the same year. Anyway, Team17’s first release, fighting game Full Contact, appeared in 1991, followed by lots of the stuff we’ll also look at here, and of particular note because I guess it’s what they’re best known for, Worms in 1995, which, twenty games later, hasn’t gone away since! And neither has Team17, even if things have unfortunately seem to have been a little dysfunctional there for quite a while now.

I think this is the first time the Amiga has come to Evercade, right? Could have done with it for that Bitmap Brothers Collection, but anyway, from what I’ve seen so far it’s running fine and with just one small exception that we’ll get to shortly, the controller is also working fine regardless of whether a mouse or a joystick was originally intended. Some cool use of the extra buttons if you want them too, like how you can still use the original up direction to jump in Qwak, for example, but it’s also mapped to the B button for a more modern experience if you prefer. Once the cartridge is in, presentation is regular Evercade, so you’ve got a box art menu to select your game from, which you can sort as you wish, and clicking on a game is going to bring up a description, the controls and quick access to your last save. As usual, save states and quick loads are available, as well as various display settings. And there’s a lovely manual giving you the basics for every game together with some nice piccies and a bit more info. By the way, sorry for the dodgy pics of my TV screen and handheld – I wanted to go authentic rather than emulated screenshots but taking decent photos of screens with games running on them is a nightmare! And finally I should say that I bought this cartridge rather than being given a review copy because when the opposite is true I always tell you about that too! And with that, let’s check out each and every game in turn…

We’re going to start at Team17s very beginning on the Amiga, with the aforementioned Full Contact. This is a one-on-one fighting game from 1991 where you’ll battle against a ruthless Triad gang in the single-player mode, take on a friend in the versus challenge, or, if you’ve got loads of friends, set up a tournament for you and up to fifteen of them! The story goes that your father had somehow wound up the local Triad ne’er do-wells, and one night they came for him and his eldest son (you!) but you managed to escape, to be taken in by a load of monks and taught the ways of the land and of the warrior. And now you’re back for vengeance! Scene set, you’ve got movement on the eight original joystick directions with the same again for different kicks and punches if you hold down fire, and to win each round you need to knock down your opponent’s health in as long as it takes. A couple of bonus rounds if you do win, and training between fights too, where you can beef up your choice of strength, stamina, punches and various other attributes.

The first thing you’ll notice when you load this up is the gorgeous music, dwelling on some suitably oriental pan-pipe ambience as a text scroll sets the scene before transitioning to the kind of very cool incidental music you’d get in Miami Vice – that episode where Castillo is running around with a samurai sword, maybe! Anyway, what you might also notice here is the silhouette of a bloke doing martial arts moves in front of a rising sun, especially if you’re familiar with the 1989 Van Damme classic Kickboxer – it’s straight out of the movie! And like the movie – and despite itself – I really like Full Contact! The thing is, this was up against Street Fighter II in 1991 but it’s bringing what could be a 16-bit version of Yie Ar Kung-Fu to the fight, so your mileage here is how much you like Yie Ar Kung-Fu because Street Fighter II this ain’t! Not everything needs to be though, and for all its dodgy animation and fighters that look like old men, there’s a really accessible and well-paced fighting game here! Mostly nice backgrounds too, good sound and the fighting feels fun. As alluded to earlier, the Evercade d-pad certainly isn’t ideal for the joystick-waggling bonus rounds but apart from that it’s a good way to start as far as I’m concerned!

There’s no denying that apart from Worms, Alien Breed is Team17’s best-loved series, and Alien Breed Special Edition 92 – our first of three on here – is an enhanced and extended version of the first Alien Breed from a year earlier in 1991, filling what turned out to be a lucrative budget-sized gap before Alien Breed II arrived, which we’ll come back to in a sec. It’s still the top-down run and gun action around a sci-fi maze fending off loads of aliens that’s not-so-loosely based on the Aliens movie you know from the original game though, but with twelve new levels bolted on, as well as new modes, like where you can only see the aliens’ eyes! No new ending though – apparently they ran out of disk space to do one justice! There is a story about two burly space dudes in 2191 stumbling upon a swarm of aliens on their way home before you need to worry about that though, which conveniently allows for both one or two player action, and that action comes from a simple mix of move, shoot aliens, walk over stuff to collect it, walk into stuff to use it, upgrade stuff, get the hell out of there.

I’ve had some really good times playing Alien Breed over the years, but I’ve just never spent enough time with it to get familiar enough to make much progress – in particular, knowing which doors to open with which keys first so I can actually get off any of the levels! I’d be useless on a real-life space-station infested by aliens! I would enjoy the Gauntlet-inspired survival horror vibe though, with ongoing tension, panic and nicely challenging combat, plus some cool alien explosions as a pay-off. And the title music is exquisite! Absolutely reeks of eighties sci-fi and is one of my favourite pieces on the system, and that’s high praise in anyone’s book! In-game it’s replaced by some creepy humming ambience that really enhances the tension, together with some meaty sampled sound effects. Good-looking too, and while it’s not quite Bitmap Brothers metallic, it’s a suitably Alien environment. I really need to properly spend more time with this!

If you thought Dead or Alive was the first fighting game to feature realistic big boob physics then think again because Body Blows was doing it all the way back in 1993! Where Full Contact, that we looked at earlier, went up against Street Fighter II playing old-school, this one just played it at its own game, with a total of eleven characters competing in best-of-three matches across various locations, and where each has its own move-set and specials. Once again, the Amiga’s single-button joystick required some simplified controls, so everything is mapped to a direction plus fire, then the special move needs you to stand still and hold down fire, while blocking is move away and fire. No throws or combos unfortunately, but there are three modes on offer, single player arcade, two-player versus and tournament play for up to eight players.

I’d never even heard of Body Blows before this cartridge came along, and honestly first impressions were I hated it! Lacklustre environments, weird-looking characters, horrible animation, stiff controls and generally not very welcoming… There was something about Maria though, and her alluring two-frame jiggle, so I wanted to give her a chance! Actually, it was more like looking for the original manual that kept me going because I felt like I was missing something, and shoutout as always to Blaze Entertainment for archiving the original manuals on their website for exactly this purpose! Anyway, it was kind of useful but it was really a couple of reviews I came across at the same time that convinced me to stick it out a bit, and while it’s no Street Fighter whatever they said, there is a fluidity to it that comes with a bit of practice, and eventually you start winning fights and having enough fun to ignore most of its negatives.

Still in 1993, Project X Special Edition is another enhanced version of a game from the previous year, and in this case “enhanced” seems to mostly mean balancing the crazy difficulty, as well as keeping your ship powered-up after losing a life. It’s a horizontally-scrolling shoot ‘em up for the Amiga CD32 console, not a million miles from something like Gradius, that sees you taking on the biomechanical hordes of the planet Ryxx to save mankind from its own war machines that have become sentient while no one was looking. The original game was genuinely brutal, and as well as this toned-down budget re-spin, I think it did the rounds on magazine cover disks with a hack that let you skip levels – the first time most mortals ever saw beyond the second!

I’ve never played much of that first version (although I do have this on the Amiga A500 Mini and quite like the sequel, X2, on PlayStation) so can’t really comment on how unfair it used to be but can say the difficulty is absolutely spot-on here! The power-up system starts out generous and works just like Gradius, with you collecting tokens from fallen waves of enemies and spending them on the item you’ve got enough to buy on the menu at the bottom – you don’t need me to tell you that though because there’s non-stop voice instructions on top of the chaotic sound design! I know it’s not a big pool but Project X SE is up there with the best of the Amiga’s shooters, with loads of variety of enemies and bosses, loads of graphical polish with some really great star-scapes, and just a really good feel to proceedings. Fantastic!

Next up we’ve got Qwak, a cartoon puzzle-platformer from 1993, although it was originally released for the BBC and Electron in 1989, which must have been very late in the day for those. Anyway, the Amiga version was a budget release featuring all the visual and audio enhancements you’d expect plus new challenge levels and a simultaneous two-player co-op mode. The regular game mode has you taking your little green duck through eighty single-screen levels, collecting fruit and gems for points, looking out for power-ups and the silver and gold keys that allow you to progress, while avoiding all kinds of cute meanies or just shooting them with your egg gun. Take too long and spikes start dropping down on you from above, and every ten levels you’ll have a boss to deal with, and that’s all there is to it!

I also first came across this on the Amiga A500 Mini a year or so ago as I write and it was a really pleasant surprise, so great to see it included here too – the more people that also come across it the better because it’s a really wonderful obscurity! Pleasant change to see proper ports of 8-bit games that take advantage of the 16-bit hardware, rather than some of that lazy stuff like Joe Blade and BMX Simulator from a few years earlier. The gameplay has the feel of Bubble Bobble or Rodland about it but with more emphasis on the platforming, as well as working out quite how you’re going to get at everything. It’s full of humour, and I especially like how you turn into a roast duck when you die, but don’t let the cute visuals fool you because it gets hard fast! Does look lovely though, with loads of detail and a shininess to everything that gives it all a real vibrancy, which is perfectly complemented by the whimsical soundtrack. Another winner, and approaching halfway, this compilation is doing alright so far!

The next of our Alien Breed games now, and it’s the proper sequel, Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues from 1993, set nine years after the first game as aliens are invading the Federation colony Alpha Five and it’s up to you to save the day. And this time, you (and a friend if you like) have a choice of four characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s all much bigger in scope too, with seventeen huge levels to run and gun and negotiate your way through, housed in three distinct towers – civilian, military and science – as well as connecting and outdoor areas. The core gameplay is similar though – collect keys, ammo and other stuff to make your way around and shoot aliens in a sci-fi horror take on the old Gauntlet formula.

I don’t think I’ve ever played this one before but even more fantastic eighties-infused sci-fi music on the title screen was exactly the warm welcome I wanted! The static cutscenes at the start were impressive too, but no time to admire anything else because this begins way more intense than the first game, with these evil space helicopters and molten space rocks flying about all over the place before you’ve had a chance to get your bearings! It’s surprisingly open here too, with way more detail to everything than before and way more variety too – within seconds and almost within a single eyeshot you’ve got these highly textured landing zones, brightly coloured fencing and other sci-fi structures as well as this rich lunar surface full of beautifully realised craters. Not sure it’s quite as atmospheric, especially in the sound department, making it kind of Aliens over the first game’s Alien, although that was more Aliens… Who cares! This is tough as old boots but definitely one that deserves having your teeth sunk into!

It’s going to make me sound really weird but I think I was looking forward to playing Arcade Pool more than anything else on here – and even more weird when you consider I’m not even that fussed about pool or snooker or any of that whacking balls with sticks stuff for real! It’s now 1994, and this is a top-down game of pool that’s more simulator than the name might imply, with accurate physics and various takes on the game, including British and US 8-ball, together with both yellow and red or circle and stripe ball styles available, plus the faster-paced 9-ball game variety and some challenge modes like speed pool and survivor mode, as well as two-player versus. I think the “arcade” bit mostly comes in with the controls, which are designed to be easy to pick up, so let’s see if they are…

I’m pleased to report that this is very easy to get into, as well as being a really good game of computer pool! The original mouse controls convert well to the Evercade controller, and it’s obvious where you’re aiming, if not so much where things are headed as a result, just like the real game! Controlling power and spin is equally simple, and on the other side of the table your computer opponents are mostly fair and also fallible. I guess my only criticism is the balls feel a bit lightweight – this is a combination of the ball physics, and in particular the speed everything moves at, and also the sound, which is very clicky – despite being what I’m sure are actual samples of real balls – rather than that hefty knock I was expecting. The rest of the sound effects are spot-on though, with a luxurious polite round of applause at the end, but the music is awful! Luckily you don’t hear much of it, and the graphics are perfectly functional, and overall it’s exactly what I was hoping for!

Three games to go, and now it’s the third and final Alien Breed game on the cartridge – and the third in the series – Alien Breed: Tower Assault from 1994. Our one (or two) rookie heroes are trying to neutralise the alien threat in a deep space barracks after it sent out distress signals then subsequently attacked the group of soldiers they were part of sent to investigate, leaving this pair the only survivors after they crash-landed outside the facility. It’s more of the same top-down exploration, collecting, upgrading and combat, this time running on a modified version of the second game’s engine, but there’s now multiple exits to each of the game’s indoor and outdoor levels, making it a much less linear affair than the previous games.

I am less keen on this one for a couple of reasons… In building even further onto the sci-fi horror premise of the original, it’s lost the atmospheric spark that made that one in particular so appealing, and if you stuck a headband on these guys you could be playing an old Rambo game! In the context of this compilation, I’d have probably welcomed that more than another Alien Breed game too, because hours in to playing what’s on here, I’m nowhere near done with returning to the first, let alone getting the most out of the second, and let’s face it, there’s only so much of any franchise you want in one place. That’s not to say it’s a bad game though, and I think in gameplay terms it still feels great in its own right, ramping up the exploration and variety of places to go, mixing up the combat into something a bit more considered, and doing so with more polish than ever – to the point that if there was only one Alien Breed here, I’d be happy if it was this one, especially as I guess it’s the less widely played of the three. That’s just not the case though!

We’re on the home stretch now with ATR: All Terrain Racing, a top-down racing game from 1995 with no less than forty-two tracks over various terrains, which start out exactly as you’d expect on rocky terrain, snow, forests and the like, but keep playing and you’ll unlock some wild outer space tracks too! While there’s a million racing games with overhead views like this one, I guess I’d call it a scrolling Super Off Road, with a closer-in view but a similar slightly pronounced perspective – I’ve mentioned Gauntlet several times already, so here’s one more because that uses the same trick too! You’ve got three vehicle types depending on the terrain (4×4, buggy and racing car), and there’s power-ups and upgrades, and three modes to play in, with arcade about racing different different types of track, league about scoring points and battle mode similar but with missiles!

I’ve lost track of how many of these I’ve played over the years (and that’s just on the Amiga!) but I don’t think I’ve tried ATR before. I’m not sure it brings a huge amount that’s new to the formula and it doesn’t need to because what’s here is a very challenging but enjoyable take on the genre. The view is just right and the scrolling really smooth, making it approachable the first time you play, and even with the relatively big number of tracks, they seem well thought out, with shortcuts and racing lines rewarding experience. They look good too – again, nothing ground-breaking, but plenty of detail, colour and variety, and the same goes for the cars too. Not sure I needed the chiptune-rock soundtrack playing non-stop but it’s inoffensive, as are the rest of the sounds. From what I’ve just said, this is probably greater than the sum of its parts then, and I’m really looking forward to more of this!

Totally opposite to top-down racers, the only ten-pin bowling video game I’ve ever played before is Strike Bowling by Taito from 1982, and I had a surprisingly good time with that given its simplicity, so was looking forward to seeing what something all the way from the future in 1995 was going to bring to the party! Our last game here is Kingpin: Arcade Sport Series Bowling, and it’s a ten-pin bowling simulation that you can play solo for high scores or with up to five friends in a competitive match. There’s various things to customise, from default ball weight to player shirt colour, then other game options like handicaps, but otherwise it’s a regular game of bowling – two goes at chucking the ball at the pins then it’s the next person’s turn! You start by lining up your shot, controlling its strength then letting it go, with a bit of aftertouch possible to add some curve, then just wait for the magic to happen!

I guess this is a bit like a darts game – what’s the point? Well, 180 was fun in its own right on the Spectrum and so is this on the Amiga! Okay, there’s really not much more to it than we saw back in 1982, and there’s really not much more you can do to jazz up what it looks like, but what’s there is lifelike and it animates what it can very nicely, and there’s also really cool sampled ambient sound from a real bowling alley… Minus the dreadful music, although realistic announcements like “Mr Dyson to reception please” do make up for that! I’m not sure there’s a huge longevity in it if you’re playing solo, but it’s a good game of bowling on your computer and you’ll certainly get some fun out of it here.

That’s the lot! I’ve really enjoyed a whistlestop tour of all of those, and apart from maybe one too many Alien Breeds I really can’t think of much I’d do differently! Obviously Worms is a bit conspicuous by its absence but that’s because it’s got its own Evercade collection; maybe some AGA or CD32 versions or sequels of some of the games would be nice but maybe that would be missing the point… And that just leaves us with Superfrog missing in action! Aside from platforming amphibians with a Lucozade addiction, I’m very happy with this compilation, and it’s certainly up there among the best of them on Evercade. I don’t have a huge amount to say about playing on TV versus handheld because they all worked fine either way, except maybe Project X where some of the red on black bullets got a bit hard to see on the small screen with my dodgy eyes. Overall though, it’s a really fantastic collection that’s going to keep you going for a very long time, and for the price of about £18 it’s a no-brainer if you own either Evercade console.