Reiwa NEOGEO War: Evercade Doubles Down on Affordable SNK Classics, Going Head-to-Head with NEOGEO AES+

🕹️ A single Metal Slug AES cartridge fetches over $3,200 on the resale market. Or you can play the same game for about $5 a pop. Thirty-five years after SNK launched the legendary NEOGEO as the "arcade in your home" — a console so expensive it required selling a small kingdom to afford — the Reiwa-era NEOGEO War has officially begun, with two officially-licensed brands taking diametrically opposite approaches.

Spoiler note for retro fans

This article doesn't spoil any games. But if you're a NEOGEO purist who hasn't read about the NEOGEO AES+ yet — fair warning, comparisons abound below.

Evercade just threw down the gauntlet

In late April 2026, Blaze Entertainment — the UK company behind the Evercade retro gaming brand — published a pointed blog post on its official site. The message was clear: Evercade has been releasing NEOGEO Arcade cartridges since 2025, plans more in 2026, and is committed to continuing into 2027. As Japanese gaming outlet 4Gamer reported, the timing was no accident — the announcement landed just one week after PLAION REPLAI's surprise reveal of the NEOGEO AES+, a faithful hardware revival of SNK's 1990 home console.

Evercade has been busy. To celebrate NEOGEO's 35th anniversary in 2025, Blaze launched NEOGEO Arcade 1, 2, and 3 cartridges (18 games total), plus the Super Pocket NEOGEO Edition handheld. In April 2026, the company unveiled the Evercade Nexus, a next-gen handheld with dual analog sticks and a 5.89-inch IPS screen, bundled with enhanced Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie cartridges.

Then on April 17, 2026, PLAION REPLAI dropped the NEOGEO AES+ — an ASIC-chip-driven, original-cartridge-compatible recreation priced at $249.99 for the base unit, with individual cartridges at $89.99 each. Launching November 12, 2026.

Blaze's blog post is, unmistakably, a counterpunch.

Two philosophies, two price tags

Both products are officially licensed by SNK. Beyond that, they could not be more different.

Evercade's pitch: "Six legendary games for $5 each, on the go or on your TV." PLAION's pitch: "The real deal — your 1990s NEOGEO cartridges plug right in."

Evercade's blog post made the price gap brutally clear

On April 23, 2026, Sean Cleaver of Blaze Entertainment published a piece titled "The most expensive NEOGEO AES games on Evercade." It listed the five most expensive NEOGEO AES games on the resale market — and pointed out that all five are playable on Evercade right now.

According to Blaze, the total resale value of the NEOGEO AES games currently available across Evercade's three NEOGEO cartridges is approximately $12,000. The same lineup retails on Evercade for roughly $90 across the three cartridges.

Blaze's article also doesn't shy away from a sharper point. The company writes that the second-hand market carries real risks — "non-authentic products, reproductions, case-only listings, reprintings" — making the official, $5-per-game Evercade cartridges look even more compelling.

The international NEOGEO collector market is, frankly, insane

To understand why the NEOGEO AES+ exists at all, you need to understand the resale market it's targeting.

NEOGEO AES launched in 1990 at ¥58,000 (~$365 at the era's rates, but a fortune for a console then) with cartridges at ¥25,000–35,000 each. The pitch — "an arcade machine in your living room" — justified the staggering price. Only a small slice of fans could afford it. That generation of "boys who couldn't have it" is now in their late 40s and 50s, with disposable income, and they want to reclaim the dream.

Loose AES carts of popular titles routinely move between $500 and $3,000 today. Boxed, complete copies of rare games can hit five figures. The NEOGEO AES+ at $349.99 (Anniversary Edition) suddenly looks like a bargain compared to $3,200 for one Metal Slug cartridge.

Evercade's response: "Or you could just pay $5."

Reddit, ResetEra, and Time Extension reactions are split three ways

Looking across r/retrogaming, ResetEra, and Time Extension comment threads, three camps have emerged.

Team Evercade keeps it pragmatic. "Five bucks per game on physical media is essentially charity at this point." "The reproduction risk on used AES cartridges is real — I've been burned twice." "When the Switch 2 is $449 and Steam Deck is $549, a $200 retro handheld with cartridges is just sensible." Pre-orders for the Evercade Nexus reportedly sold strongly, and the limited "Nexus 64 Edition" (N64-inspired colorway, 2,000 units) sold out within hours.

Team NEOGEO AES+ answers with technical purism. "ASIC means the original silicon, re-engineered with modern manufacturing. You can't get more authentic short of buying a real one." "FPGA fans always say 'no compromise' — well, this is no compromise either." "The fact that my 1990s controller plugs into the AES+ is the point." Time Extension comment threads on the AES+ reveal carry real enthusiasm for the ASIC approach over both FPGA and emulation.

The skeptics are unconvinced by either camp. "Switch Online Expansion Pack already has NEOGEO games for a few bucks a month." "Analogue Pocket plus MiSTer FPGA covers the entire retro spectrum already — why split the loyalty?" "This is just SNK monetizing IP after the 2022 Saudi acquisition." A recent Time Extension piece, "We, The Consumers, Need To Vote With Our Wallets," even raises ethical questions about how SNK's new ownership has been pursuing aggressive IP exploitation.

Maybe "buy both" is the right answer

What's interesting is how little the two libraries overlap.

Evercade's three NEOGEO cartridges include Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug 3, KOF '97, KOF 2000, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Samurai Shodown II, Art of Fighting 2, Twinkle Star Sprites, and more — 18 titles in all.

The NEOGEO AES+ launches alongside 10 individual cartridges: Metal Slug, KOF 2002, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Samurai Shodown V Special, Pulstar, Shock Troopers, Big Tournament Golf, Over Top, Magician Lord, and Twinkle Star Sprites.

Only Metal Slug, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and Twinkle Star Sprites overlap meaningfully. The two libraries function more like complements than duplicates: Evercade for breadth and budget, AES+ for depth and authenticity.

"An unexpected situation," 4Gamer notes

The Japanese site 4Gamer was the first to coin the phrase "Reiwa-era NEOGEO War." Their take: "It's already wonderful that there's any way to play NEOGEO games. The fact that two manufacturers are now competing using their own distinct strengths — well, this is a situation no one expected to see in 2026."

Two officially-licensed revivals for the same retro IP, running in parallel, is genuinely rare. Nintendo's Classic Mini, Sega's Mega Drive Mini, Sony's PlayStation Classic — each was a single-product play. NEOGEO is now the first major retro IP with a "cost-performance vs. faithful-recreation" two-axis competition.

That dual track is no accident. SNK was acquired by Saudi Arabia's Electronic Gaming Development Company (linked to the Misk Foundation) in 2022, and has been aggressively monetizing its back catalog ever since. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, the renewed fighting-game investment, and now both NEOGEO revivals — all part of the same strategy.

What this means for retro gaming as a hobby

The biggest winner is the consumer. NEOGEO is now playable across an unprecedented range of price points and use cases:

• Switch Online Expansion Pack: subscription, casual play
• Evercade Nexus / Super Pocket: $200, broad library at $5/game
• NEOGEO AES+: $250–$1,000, faithful recreation with original cart support
• Analogue Pocket / MiSTer FPGA: $200–$500, FPGA purist option
• Original AES hardware: $500–$5,000+ for collectors

Thirty-five years ago, NEOGEO was "the console only rich kids could afford." Today, it's an ecosystem spanning every budget and enthusiasm level. That, more than any specific product, may be the real prize of the Reiwa NEOGEO War.

What's it like in your country?

How is the retro game console revival scene looked at where you live? Are people firmly in the original-hardware camp, the mini-console camp, the emulation camp, or the subscription camp? And does the NEOGEO brand carry weight in your country, or is it more individual titles like Metal Slug and King of Fighters that resonate? Share your thoughts in the comments.

References

• 4Gamer: Evercade declares ongoing NEOGEO support — the Reiwa NEOGEO War begins
• Evercade Blog: The most expensive NEOGEO AES games on Evercade
• Evercade: NEOGEO Arcade 1/2/3 cartridge details
• Evercade Nexus official page
• Time Extension: Evercade Nexus deep dive