Evercade Announces the Tomb Raider Cartridge Collection

Today saw Blaze Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics announce their fantastic new partnership to bring some of the most iconic games in history to the Evercade format! With Tomb Raider heading to their latest Evercade handheld devices and home console, you can enjoy these 32-bit era classics as they were intended. Sure, there’s a remaster recently, but that’s not the point of Evercade, which is more focused on keeping the retro scene alive and well, and even comes with other fantastic retro touches, such as a case and a full-colour manual, which brings me a subtle joy that you just don’t get with digital games these days.

Tomb Raider Collection 1 will feature the first three games from the franchise and best of all, they’ll all be available on a single cart! This new cartridge will be available to pre-order from April 30th, 2024 and will be released on July 31st, 2024.

Features

• Tomb Raider Collection 1 brings the classic 32-bit adventure franchise to Evercade
• Three classic games available on one physical cartridge collection
• The collection includes the original three console versions of Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II Starring Lara Croft, and Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft
• Comes with a full-colour manual and is compatible with all Evercade and HyperMegaTech! Super Pocket devices
• Releasing July 2024, available to pre-order April 30, 2024

Tomb Raider is the game that defined an entire era of 3D gaming and the start of the classic era of Lara Croft’s adventures. Originally released in 1996, this adventure introduced the world to Lara with its exotic landscapes and mythological treasures alongside the genre-defining platforming and puzzle-solving gameplay.

Sequels Tomb Raider II and Tomb Raider III, from 1997 and 1998 respectively, are also included in the collection in their original 32-bit console form. The games feature many locations from around the world and are offered on Evercade as the complete games as they were when first released. All games use the Evercade interface meaning you’ll have access to six save states per game.

As usual with Evercade cartridge collections, all three games will come on a single physical cartridge and a plastic clamshell case (numbered #40 with the red console spine) and also include a full-colour manual. These carts will be playable on all Evercade systems, including the original handheld, Evercade VS, EXP, and HyperMegaTech! Super Pocket consoles. 

With this being a “Giga Cart”, Evercade’s newest large memory cartridge, the SRP for this collection will be £22.49, $24.99, or €24.99 when purchased individually. Tomb Raider Collection 1 will also be available bundled with the latest refresh of Evercade’s hardware lineup, the Evercade VS-R and Evercade EXP-R. These consoles are also due for release on July 31st, 2024, and are available to pre-order from April 30th, 2024.

What Evercade Had to Say

”We are beyond thrilled to announce our partnership with Crystal Dynamics to bring Tomb Raider cartridges to the Evercade platform,” said Blaze Entertainment CEO, Andrew Byatt. “This collaboration marks a significant milestone in bringing one of the most popular gaming franchises of all time to Evercade. Tomb Raider is a hugely important game series to add to our platform and further expands our growing library of amazing titles from retro eras.”

“We are huge fans of Blaze Entertainment and knew they would be a great partner to bring classic Tomb Raider games in a fantastic retro package on Evercade,” said Franchise General Manager, Dallas Dickinson. “We can’t wait to see fans enjoying the collection when it launches on July 31st, and to see a new generation of gamers enjoy a full retro console experience.”

 For more information, head on over to Evercade.co.uk.