Hardware · Lead story
Banjo and Kazooie on an Evercade cartridge
Two Rare platformers on one cartridge. Blaze Entertainment is putting out the Banjo-Kazooie Double Pack, made together with Xbox, on 30 October 2026. It costs £24.99 or $29.99. The cartridge is up for pre-order now. Inside you get Banjo-Kazooie for one player and Banjo-Tooie for 1-4 players.
These aren't emulation. They're native ports (meaning the games have been rewritten to run directly on the Evercade hardware). According to the press, they add 60fps, widescreen, camera control on the right analogue stick, D-pad support and a quick return to Gruntilda's Lair. Saves live on the cartridge itself. Mind you, the notes and Jinjos you collect aren't saved the way they are in the Xbox versions.
The cartridge already comes in the standard box of the Evercade Nexus, which launches the same day. It isn't in the limited DOOM Edition, though. People who have reviewed the Nexus call these ports the best thing in the bundle. They all have the same complaint: it's awkward to reach the shoulder buttons while you're using the analogue stick.
There's also an unconfirmed report. Time Extension says the cartridge includes Bottles' Revenge mode, which was cut from the N64 version because there wasn't time to debug it (in this mode a second player takes over the enemies and goes after Banjo). Blaze hasn't confirmed it yet.
If you already own a Nexus, there's no need to buy it separately. If you don't, it's not bad at all for the price.
