The Gaming Experience
Shaun InguanzoE.V.O. Search for Eden
November 29th 2006 07:01
Players: 1
Genre: Platform/RPG
Developer: Almanic
Platform: SNES
Year: 1993 (USA)
Being another great game that wasn't released in PAL, it wasn't until some years after SNES games disappeared off shelves that I was able to play this one by other means.
Story: E.V.O. chronicles the tale of evolution. You begin as one of the simpler life forms and evolve into other life forms through five stages: The Age of Fish, Amphibians, Dinosaurs, Mammals and lastly, Eden. Movement around stages is similar to Mario in that you complete a location on a map, which then opens up new locations to adventure.
Battle System: The game is a side-scrolling platformer with RPG elements. Your creature has two basic attacks to begin with: A bite and a jump, but there are a few less-used forms of attack such as charging enemies with your horns if you have some.
Defeating enemies leaves behind meat, which restores your HP as well as providing EP (Evolution Points) that allow you to evolve parts of your body. For example, evolving Jaws increases attack ferocity and evolving the Body increases Vitality.
Innovation: By far the structure of the game itself. There are no skills or levels to gain in this game, only the process of evolution is going to help you. You're also free to stay with whichever form you'd desire. Even though the 'ideal' life form at the very end is human, it doesn't matter if you aren't.
Graphics: Reasonably detailed, and what I expect from the SNES.
Sound: Nothing remarkable in a positive or negative sense.
Replayability: Medium. There isn't that much to gain from replaying the game, apart from an opportunity to try out different evolutions. It only affects the tide of battle and the very brief ending scene.
Overall, I found E.V.O. to be of a rather unique style. I've come across games that time travel, whether only forwards (Secret of Evermore) or bi-directional (Chrono Trigger), but not in the form of evolutionary changes over those periods. The gameplay is simple, but simple yet fun RPGs are a welcome change to the complex ones.
Score: 8/10
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