Evercade's new Nexus handheld adds dual sticks and wireless multiplayer

Blaze Entertainment has announced the Evercade Nexus, a $200 retro handheld that brings dual analogue sticks and a 5.89-inch screen to the company's cartridge-based ecosystem.

I speculated about this hardware bump a few weeks ago, and the official details are finally here. The addition of analogue sticks is a massive upgrade that will actually help with the 32-bit and 64-bit games Blaze has been licensing lately. Recent Evercade releases like the Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain collections were playable on the older D-pad hardware, but they practically begged for proper thumbsticks. To drive that point home, the Nexus ships with a new physical cartridge containing Rare's Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.

5.89 inches and two sticks

The Nexus is a major step up from 2024's EXP-R handheld. The 5.89-inch IPS display pushes past 500 nits of brightness. This makes it the largest screen on an Evercade device to date, dwarfing the 4.3-inch screen found on the previous model. It also includes front-facing stereo speakers, wireless headphone support, and a standard 3.5mm audio jack. Battery life is rated at over five hours, and the box includes a USB-C charging cable.

The dual analogue sticks are the real draw here. Until now, Evercade handhelds relied entirely on D-pads. Navigating early 3D environments with digital inputs often felt cramped and imprecise, especially for platformers that require careful camera control. The new sticks solve that problem entirely. They also function as arcade inputs when playing vertically oriented shoot-'em-ups in the system's TATE mode.

Blaze also added WiFi 6 support to speed up firmware updates. The system itself retains the familiar black design of previous models, but it adds a customizable RGB light-up logo on the front.

One cartridge for two players

My favorite addition is a feature Blaze calls EverSync. The proprietary wireless link for multiplayer is genuinely neat. It lets two Nexus consoles connect directly to each other for local multiplayer without needing a standard Wi-Fi network.

Even better, only one person needs to own the physical cartridge. The host system beams the game to the second device. This mimics the download play functionality Nintendo popularized with the DS and 3DS. It is a brilliant workaround for physical media limitations, especially since the Evercade library includes dozens of arcade beat-'em-ups and fighting games that are meant to be played with a friend.

Seeing this tech in action makes me wonder if a docking station would be possible down the line. The Evercade VS home console already handles television multiplayer well. A dock for the Nexus could bridge the gap between portable and living room play. It would turn the handheld into a primary controller.

Preorders open April 1

The standard Nexus launches in October 2026 for $199.99. There is also a limited "64 Edition" selling for $229.99 through the retailer Funstock. That version swaps the standard black buttons for N64-inspired colors and includes a hard case, a poster, and a certificate of authenticity. Production on the 64 Edition is capped at 2,000 units.

The inclusion of Rare's 3D platformers is a smart move. Banjo-Kazooie originally launched on the Nintendo 64 in 1998 to massive critical acclaim. Getting both the original game and its sequel on a single physical cartridge without requiring internet downloads is exactly the kind of thing the Evercade audience wants. The cartridge includes a full-color manual to match the company's commitment to physical media.

The hardware revision opens the door for more complex 3D titles. The Evercade library already has over 80 cartridges and 700 games. With proper analogue control now available on a handheld, we will probably see more late-90s PC and console ports hitting the platform soon.