It is time to look at the Evercade 16: Piko Interactive Collection 2. What is really interesting about this cartridge is the first collection was my favourite in the initial 10 released. This would normally be a good sign for what is to come, except this is a heavily sports-centic cart and sports games are probably my least played type of game. It's definitely going to be interesting working my way through this cart.
Here is the ranking for my favourite games on the Piko Interactive Collection 2. Click the video below for footage of each game in their ranked order, or look further down to read my thoughts on each title:
13. Power Football
Being British I have no idea what the hell is going on in American football, I think that is important thing to say going into this entry. But remember in the end these rankings are not about which are technically the best games, rather which games I had the most fun with, and I didn't have a lot of fun with this. The barrier was there which was hard to compensate for.
12. Hoops Shut up and Jam 2
I haven't got much to say about 12th and 11th place in the rankings. They are both basketball games, another sport I have no clue about. From a playable point of view both games are fun enough, this sequel however appears to have less options than the first Hoops title which is why the sequel comes in at 12.
11. Hoops Shut up and Jam
As stated above, I don't know much if anything about Basketball so I found the games fun for a little while but there was nothing here to keep me coming back. This first Hoops game does feel better to play than it's sequel, weirdly. I doubt I'll hurry back to either game again soon though.
10. Football Madness
This game is mostly of note as it's the first 32Bit game on the Evercade, previously a Psone game, which is exciting for future possibilities. Saying that, it's not a particularly good football game, with much more of an arcade feel, and items you can pick up to give you an advantage on the field. It can be quite confusing at times to play, the camera shoots all over the place, and the character you control keeps changing between the team, so you end up moving in the wrong direction. I still had fun playing the game, though it's not one I will keep coming back to.
09. World Trophy Soccer
A much more serious attempt than the arcade feel of the previous soccer game. I actually had quite a lot of fun with this one, more than I thought I would. It wasn't too hard to pick up and play, and the camera and character switch didn't feel as confusing or abrupt as previous games. So far this has been my favourite soccer game on the Evercade, though we know that is soon about to change.
08. Beast Ball
I played a version of this game on the Amiga, I remember it vividly, but know it had a different name. The game is quite fun if a little silly. I don't mind games based on sports when they throw violence into the mix. Joking aside this game is a nice pick up and play title, and if all else fails its just as much fun going after and beating the hell out of the other players as it is trying to score a goal.
07. Full Throttle: All American Racing
To begin with this looked like a good game, you get to race on bikes in hang-on style stages, and race on the water in mode 7 style stages - and even can kick other players using the shoulder buttons similar to Road Rash. Unfortunately all these ideas don't mesh together all that well. The mode 7 stages are painfully slow and feel very similar to each other, and although the Bike stages are slightly better, even the kick mechanic is very underwhelming. all in all a bit of a disappointment.
06. Winter Challenge
I know I probably shouldn't enjoy these as much as I do, they are a bit rubbish. But I've always been a sucker for track and field and games of that ilk. This hasn't got the best realised events but once you get the hang of the controls for each stage you can begin to make progress. The instructions aren't a huge help, however. With a fair bit of practise I have managed to best a couple of events.. but others will need many, many more attempts. One day I will beat this!
05. Summer Challenge
There isn't much in it between Winter and Summer Challenge, I just thought some of the events easier to learn with the Summer edition and therefore was less frustrated. Admittedly, I'm more likely to get fits of giggles when I keep failing at something rather than angry. But I'm never sure if that's good, or a sign a game has finally broken me?
04. Racing Fever
A top down racing game with interesting mechanics. The car automatically snaps back straight after turning which takes a bit of getting used to, but once I did, I enjoyed the idea of it. Also, your position isn't updated until you've completed a lap, so I was a bit confused to begin with when I first overtook a few opponents. There are a fair few cars to choose from, with a choice of colours, apart from that the game is pretty basic but I had a lot of fun and found myself coming back to it more than a lot of other titles on the set.
03. Soccer Kid
An absolute favourite of mine on the Amiga (this is the Megadrive port of the Amiga original). This game is unique in that you control a boy with a football he can use to kill the enemies he comes across as well as doing a few tricks. Admittedly these controls can take a bit of getting used to, and this maybe nostalgia talking, but I still really enjoy this game and feel it's aged well.
02. Eliminator Boat Duel
I had so much fun with this title. I loved the way the angle shifts while racing, it feels very unique and adds a lot of variety. The top down view was also rather nice as it reminded me of the amazing micro machines series - which I would absolutely adore to play on the Evercade at some point!
01. Top Racer 2
Not only is this my favourite game on the cartridge, it's also my favourite racing game on the Evercade. An improvement over the first Top racer which I also enjoyed. This game is so much bigger though, not only do we finally get a full screen in single player mode but there is a great selection and variety of tracks, weather effects, and the ability to upgrade your car between races. I love this game and it will take a damn good racer to knock this off the top spot!
Final Thoughts
This cartridge was definitely a mixed bag for me due to the large amount of sports titles. However, I'm never one for not having a go and found I enjoyed them a lot more than maybe I originally thought I would. Evercade does seem to get me to try games I normally wouldn't and I sometimes find that I was wrong about certain titles before playing. Though, I still struggled with the two hoop games and the American football title. I do feel a lot of that is down to my lack of knowledge and interest in the actual sport being presented - so for others those titles may be quite a lot higher in their ranking. With all that being said Top Racer 2 is such a joy to me, its easily worth the price of the cartridge alone, and getting the chance to play Soccer Kid again after all these years was simply a pleasure. Everything else was just a bonus!
Next time we finally catch up with the latest releases, and from now on I will be doing things a little different. With each new cartridge I will be posting a first look - where we have a brief look at the cartridge overall, before following up with individual posts for each game, before finishing with my usual rankings at the end! So please join me when I take a deeper dive into Evercade 17: Indie Heroes Collection I. Until next time my friends, be seeing you x
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