It started with the 2nd ever console I ever bought new: Blaze’s Evercade handheld.

I don’t buy much gaming‑wise that isn’t on sale digitally or reconditioned these days. What sold it to me as a must‑buy? The names on the front. That Atari logo, Pac‑Man was on there. It felt like this was a return of old friends.

Yes, I have played with RetroPie and those handhelds that store 1000s of games. But these were licensed cartridges too.

I know what you’re thinking here. Pac‑Man, Atari. This is just another Retro Reaction blog…

But it’s not. Because some of these Evercade games had modern release dates.

This opened up the rabbit hole for me. What if those consoles and computers we loved never went away?

What if, in some kind of parallel world, it is always nineteen‑eighty‑something and I’m going to go play my Atari, or NES, or Commodore?

Welcome to Neverending 80s.

Next time we look at a game created in 1983 but released in 2022 for the Atari 2600 — it’s Aquaventure.