Details

Pre-built bartop arcade unit in officially licensed Capcom Street Fighter design
6 built-in games per arcade – Compatible with all Evercade cartridges (500+)
Includes: STREET FIGHTER II CHAMPION EDITION, SUPER STREET FIGHTER II TURBO, SUPER PUZZLE FIGHTER II TURBO, STREET FIGHTER ALPHA – WARRIORS’ DREAMS, STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 2, and STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 3
2 USB Controller ports for 2P local multiplayer (controllers sold separately), USB-C cable and plug included, and built-in WiFi for updates and features
Light-up marquee bar with swappable marquees (3 included)

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■ Arcade1Up
Arcade1Up is a computer hardware production company that specializes in the production of working 3/4 scale arcade cabinets that play arcade video games using modern components and emulation. Arcade1Up was established as a subsidiary of Tastemakers, Inc. in 2018 by its CEO Scott Bachrach. In June 2017, Bachrach had been involved in a meeting discussing the growing interest in retrogaming.

Evercade Street Fighter Bartop

I’ve been wanting the Evercade Street Fighter Bartop since January 2025, but guess what? It was out of stock. In fact, it’s been out of stock for over a year now. When they started selling the Taito bartop, I did notice that they also restocked the Mega Man Bartop … but they also raised the price from $249 to $279. Fair enough, I know Trump’s tariffs have not been kind of overseas company (Evercade or Blaze Entertainment is based in the UK).

Then, for whatever reasons, they finally had the Street Fighter Bartop in stock earlier this week! I was so happy, I immediately bought it. I honestly thought I would never get into Evercade, because the only way to get these Street Fighter games are pre-loaded games installed on hardware. Capcom, Street Fighter game creator, refuses to put their games on Evercade cartridges.

Just a brief review of the Bartop, it’s officially branded as an Evercade Alpha line. Evercade also makes a handheld called EXP-R and television console called VS-R. Their prices are inexpensive, both EXP-R and VS-R are about $100, and you can get it bundled with some games for a little more.

Hardware
It doesn’t feel too heavy, but it doesn’t look like it will fall apart if you look at it wrong. The universal power adapter uses USB-C, so as long as you have a skinny USB-C, you can swap or replace the cords and adapter. The light-up marquee is awesome (unlike early Arcade1Up models) and they give you two alternate marquees.

The 8-inch screen looks incredibly bright and colorful and the games looks amazing on it! The 4:3 aspect ratio (1024×768 pixel) is perfect for arcade games. I really want Evercade to release a Tate version, designed for shoot-em up or driving games.

The small size is great if you don’t have a lot of room in your house. I personally don’t have the space for a full-size arcade (even though I will definitely make the room for a real pinball or arcade!) That couch has got to go!

The bartop stands at 1.4 foot (about 16 inches). They are designed to be place on a table or a tall stand, and if you have a stool or chair, this is perfectly usable and comfortable.

The power button is the coin-slot, and you have a physical volume button, two USB-A (for 2nd player or extra controller), an audio plug, and two cartridge slots. This is incredible. It means you can load up additional games using both slots, so you are not just stuck with Street Fighter.

Joystick feels great, and comes with standard Street Fighter button layouts (six buttons), select, start, and menu button. There are two speakers on the left and right side of the arcade machine, which is a step-up from Arcade1Up original mono audio system (the mono audio from Arcade1Up caused problems with no audio for player 2 on the old Street Fighter arcade machines). Hopefully, Blaze also learned from Arcade1Up’s cheap paint that fade due to “sweat” and uses a paint that is water resistance (I haven’t heard any complaints, so I think we are good).

So far, the hardware looks promising and solid.

Software
I spent a few hours dorking around with their software. This looks like a specialized, customized Evercade software that is designed to run all their games. This means it must run everything from 8-bit to current supported games like 64-bit games. And it has to run well and they make sure it has to work.

It has a WiFi antenna, so once I logged into my network, I was able to download and update the software. It took much longer than I would have liked for the system to read and write the root software (I thought the machine froze), but it just took a long time for it to update. I was afraid I had bricked it, but it was good to go after it rebooted.

The menu allows you to choose various themes or set your display to “pixel perfect” (I just prefer fullscreen instead of a smaller pixel perfect screen), “scan lines” (who asks for this? I hate it and have always said no to scan lines), background art, and you can also adjust audio volume in the software (I still prefer to use the physical buttons of course). On top of these options, there is also a “Secret” menu, which you can unlock free games (they all suck) or hidden easter eggs. That’s cool, I’m glad it’s there, but I’ll probably never use them.

There are 11 games to unlock, and after looking up all the codes online, I was able to unlock 10 of them. The 11th game can only be unlocked by a unique code when you sign up for their newsletter. It’s a clever way to get people to sign up, and I suspect, they will sucker me into it because like most gamers, you just want that achievement.

The Evercade software runs all the Street Fighter games perfectly. Turbo Edition (which makes the original Street Fighter II game runs twice as fast), I really feel the turbo-ness. No slow-downs, and I feel like this was how it was in the arcades. And it’s freakin’ hard too! I love it.

The other cool thing is that you can save any game and load up that save slot. This is really useful if you’re about to fight a boss or you keep dying at a certain spot – just save before and if you fail, just re-load the previous save and re-do. That’s a really cool feature.

I have no issues with the software, I just wish they allow us to download games directly from Evercade, but that’s not how their model works. You must physically buy their game and use their cartridge system.

I also noticed that among their over 700+ games they have listed on their checklist, it was missing Galaga (1981). They have Galaxian (the sequel) in their list, but no Galaga. I know they have Galaga as part of their NAMCO Cart 2.

My other complaint is that their game library is limited due to licensing. That just means my all-time arcade game Gyruss will unlikely ever get released. They can solve this if they allow us to load up our own ROMs or sell us a “blank” cartridge so we can load up our own games (at our own risk).

Summary
I’m very happy with the Street Fighter Bartop. I think it looks amazing, and it also has the ability to add additional games using the Evercade game cartridges. I am finally in the Evercade ecosystem, so now I might be interested in getting their handheld – particularly interested in the upcoming Nexus.

Also worth noting is that the arcade comes pre-assembled. The only think you have to do is choose your power adapter head and plugging it in. You don’t even have to connect it online, you don’t have to register, you don’t have to update… it just works right out of the box.

Right now, Evercade’s major problem is supply. They only produced a limited number of cartridges, so once they are sold out, you’re out of luck. Some games that I really want to play (like Galaga) is just not available, because the cart is sold out. I’m also interested in picking up the Neo-Geo cartridges (both of them), but guess what? It’s sold out. Sure, you can buy it for $50 from a third-party, but I would just rather wait for a restock and pay retail ($30 each).

Vu’s Mini Arcade

Street Fighter II Evercade

Evercade Nexus

Evercade Nexus

Coming out October 2026 (pre-order available now) is the Evercade Nexus, a next generation handheld from Evercade. This is their biggest and newest (and not to mentioned their most expensive) handheld yet at $200 each.

Here are some key features that I like: it has two analog sticks… which is perfect for upcoming included games Banjo-Kazooie and the screen size is nearly 6-inches. There’s also TATE mode (vertical gameplay). Please note that Evercade Nexus does not connect to a TV (which is disappointing).

As of this writing the Nexus 64 limited edition is sold out (2,000 united only).

Details from their website:

• Evercade Nexus is the new premium retro gaming console designed for the Evercade ecosystem and the best way to play 32 and 64-bit games!

• It’s the biggest Evercade handheld yet, with a massive new Ultra Bright 5.89” IPS screen, wireless headphone support and a new menu system for that easy pick up and play Evercade experience. Enjoy classic options like TATE Mode alongside new features such as EverSync and RGB customisation!

• The Evercade Nexus is a brand new design to help you play the newest Evercade releases and the great catalogue of Evercade cartridges. Dual analogue sticks allow for seamless 32 and 64-bit gameplay, with a new comfortable textured grip for handheld gaming sessions!