Evercade has a massive DOOM cartridge coming this October

Blaze Entertainment has detailed the full lineup and release date for the Evercade DOOM Collection cartridge, arriving October 30. As previously reported, this release brings id Software's classic shooters to the cartridge-based ecosystem. Now, the company has confirmed exactly what is on the cartridge, and it is a massive compilation of official and community-created content.

It's crazy we got this on the same day that new Quake 1 levels were released!

The cartridge includes the original DOOM and DOOM II, alongside a large pile of expansion content. Players get the Master Levels for DOOM II, No Rest for the Living, TNT: Evilution, and The Plutonia Experiment. It also includes John Romero's unofficial-turned-official fifth and sixth episodes, SIGIL and SIGIL II. That totals over 180 maps on a single physical cartridge.

These are officially licensed native ports of the games, not just emulated files dumped onto a cartridge. This allows for better performance and integration with Evercade's system-level features, including save states and display options. The inclusion of SIGIL and SIGIL II is particularly interesting. Romero released the original SIGIL in 2019 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise, and followed it up with SIGIL II for the 30th anniversary. Seeing these modern expansions get an official physical release on a closed console ecosystem is a welcome surprise.

Deathmatch on the couch

The collection includes a dedicated set of Deathmatch maps for split-screen multiplayer. This works natively on supported Evercade devices like the VS home console and the upcoming VS-R.

Getting local multiplayer running smoothly on a retro compilation is always a great addition. The trailer shows four-player split-screen action, which should translate well to the big screen if you have enough controllers and friends willing to navigate the labyrinthine maps of the mid-1990s.

The limited Nexus edition

Alongside the standard cartridge, Blaze is releasing an Evercade Nexus DOOM Edition console. This bundle is limited to 3,000 units worldwide and includes the console, the game cartridge, a custom case, a comic, a keyring, a poster, and a certificate of authenticity. Pre-orders for the limited edition open August 7 for $249.99 through Funstock.

The standard cartridge is priced at $29.99 and will be available at regular retail channels. Funstock is also offering a double pack that bundles the DOOM Collection with the newly announced Banjo-Kazooie double pack.

The Evercade platform continues to build out a library that mixes obscure arcade titles with major heavy hitters. Having native ports of the entire classic era of the franchise on a single physical cartridge is exactly the kind of release that justifies the hardware.