E.V.O.: Search for Eden

aka: 46 Okunen Monogatari ~Harukanaru Eden E~

Moby ID: 10010

Released

December 21st, 1992 on SNES

Credits

71 people

Publishers

Developers

Almanic Corp.

Moby Score

7.1

#11,046 of 23.6K

Critics

72% (10)

Players

(30)

Ranking

#306 on SNES

Collected By

55 players

Genre: Action
Perspective: Side view
Visual: 2D scrolling
Gameplay: Action RPG
Setting: Fantasy

Number of Players Supported: 1 Player

Description official description

The storyline of E.V.O.: Search for Eden follows the same patterns as modern Evolution theories. The players first controls a prehistoric sea organism, and fights to gain evolution points with which he can improve his fish's body parts and upgrade his attack/defense abilities. The gameplay is not completely linear, which means that certain choices of paths and stages will affect the player's success.

The game is composed of a series of stages, in which the sea organism slowly evolves into an amphibian, and later a land-only creature. The physical changes are fairly scientifically accurate which gives the game a semi-educational purpose as well.

E.V.O.: Search for Eden is based on the Japan-only computer game 46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinkaron. While the basic premise of the game is the same, there are significant changes in gameplay and the layout of the game world.

In the computer release, the battles against other creatures were turn-based; here, the combat is real time, which effectively turns this version into an action RPG. The stages, while retaining similar themes, have a completely different layout. Side-scrolling view prevails over the original's top-down perspective. There are also boss battles that were absent in the original version.

Character building ("evolution") is also different. Instead of distributing evolution points into four parameters, the player now basically "buys" upgrades, which have a fixed "price". The player is able to acquire such upgrades for the creature's body parts (jaws, neck, body, etc.), raising their parameters and becoming stronger.

Story elements, friendly characters (NPCs), and quest-based structure that characterized the original game have been reduced and/or omitted in this release.

Spellings

EVO - Shortened, alternate spelling title
４６億年物語はるかなるエデンへ - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (SNES version)

71 People (49 developers, 22 thanks) · View all

Game Designer	Takashi Yoneda
Programmer	Saburou Contora Tetsuya Furuta Hiromitsu Shioya
Graphics Designer	Naoyuki Hayakawa Yasuo Wakatsuki Takashige Shichijyo Hidetoshi Fujioka
Special Thanks	Hiroshi Yokokura Masumi Gotō Tommy Bon Bon
Music Composer	Koichi Sugiyama
Music Arranger	Motoaki Takenouchi
Sound Creator	Cube Corporation Yoshiaki Kubotera Masanori Hikichi Tomohiro Endo Dogen Shibuya Masumi Takimoto
Enix Staff	Takao Kawaguchi Yasuyuki Sone Teruhiko Hanawa Kouji Mitsumori Keiko Ito Hideki Yamamoto
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 72% (based on 10 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 30 ratings with 2 reviews)

A blend between an original side-scroller and a boring biology class.

The Good
The different types of settings is one of the most successful aspects of Evo: Search for Eden. Playing the first area in the water as a fish is very different than the second area as a lizard-like creature, and i was quite shocked when i saw this happen. Shocked, because i felt like this game would be another one of those short, monotonous games where you do the same thing throughout and just killing different types of enemies. In fact, another surprise is that the menu screen that allows you to upgrade your organism's body parts is quite advanced, despite the fascility with which evolution points can be gained. Personalizing your character to this extent is not seen very often in side-scrolling games, which gives a touch of originality to EVO.

The Bad
I was surprised to see the good aspects i mentioned above, mainly because the overall mood and look of EVO are very disappointing at first. The storyline is pulled 'out of the blue' and the game creators have made a bad impression of who Gaia really is. The way in which you can kill the same monster over and over again to gain points, then simply buy out all the upgrades at the first level is also a disappointment. Finally, at some points of the storyline, i felt like the writing was spoon-feeding evolutionary facts to me in words rather than incorporating the educational points into the game. Although the game itself is quite historically accurate, it's disappointing that it's so focused around the idea of evolution down to the last detail, for this has put limits on an otherwise very creative game!

The Bottom Line
I would recommend this for those who want to experience a different type of side-scroller, but wouldn't guarantee more than a couple hours of satisfaction. What seems like an innovative idea gets old... very quickly.

SNES · by Pwa (368) · 2003

A grindy, controversial cartoon survival

The Good
Original side-scroller, good boss fight design.

The Bad
GRINDY, long necks are OP (as is ape/human's weapon) - in much of the levels, attacking without lunging is an advantage (except against those annoying amphibians you can't bite with a long neck). very few levels/situations try to balance it out. White long-necks are your main fodder throughout much of Reptile and Mammal chapters. Controversial: primitive humanoids are shown as being brown. Weird: Even in small size, earliest ape's bone weapon is bigger than any in-game creatures' would-be bones.

The Bottom Line
A weird side-scroller that is very grindy, yet the non-grind parts are kinda fun.

SNES · by George Constantinoff (25) · 2013