GSQ6: The evolution will be televised

E.V.O. Search for Eden

I have had many chances, through the years, to play E.V.O.: Search for Eden. Yet I never have bothered to get around to it, even though it looks interesting and creative and unique and fun. I am a foolish fool! I should probably be playing it right now, but nooo, I’m all “gotta play Cave Story again” just because Cave Story is on DSiWare and fits there perfectly and is a wonderful way to (re)experience Daisuke Amaya’s classic. Ah well. When they bring E.V.O. to 3DS Virtual Console, I’m totally gonna play it.

Then I’m playing Cubivore for a chaser, just ’cause.

20 thoughts on “GSQ6: The evolution will be televised”

  1. Don’t forget Seventh Cross Evolution to complete the trifecta of kinda busted evolution-centric games

  2. You really haven’t played E.V.O.? It’s a fantastic game. Definately one of my favorite SNES titles. I still can’t believe they haven’t brought it to Virtual Console.

  3. EVO was not bad, but I’m glad I rented it during the SNES era, because it could be frustrating and obtuse. It did not seem worth seventy dollars. The player is supposedly raising a creature through the years, but I mostly remember struggling with the controls.

    The company that developed EVO also created a variety of other action titles, including both Wonder Project J games.

  4. It should also be noted that a pretty great Let’s Play of EVO is currently in progress in the forums. Watch us saddle LPer P3 with totally sub-optimal evolution choices! Fun times.

  5. I didn’t play Cave Story the first time around but I found it to be pretty neat when I tried it on my Wii. However in the demo, I am not sure if this stands true for the full, when you die you start completely over. That I just could not get over and since I died after beating a mini boss I decided not to go back and purchase. EVO I do remember I did rent it. I thought was a great game back in the day. I should go back and look at it with an older eye.

    • Trust me, you can save in the full version of Cave Story. The reason you have to start over in the demo is because you continue from your last save, and since saving’s not an option in demos…..

    • It is pretty interesting, but information on it is scarce, and I have neither a PC-98 emulator set up nor a terribly comprehensive level of Japanese fluency, I’m afraid. But yeah, it has a less action-oriented but more in-depth take on the same ideas, from the looks of it.

      • Ah, well that’s understandable. I’ve never played it myself. In fact, I only found out about a few years by stumbling on videos of it on YouTube. I don’t speak Japanese or have a PC-98 emulator either, so it’ll just be a mystery for now.

  7. How is the DSi version of Cave Story? Is it better than the original or the Wii Ware version?

    Hopefully all of these ports/remakes means that Cave Story will get a sequel in the future. Or at least some sort of spiritual sequel, although the Cave Story world is definetely worth revisiting.

    • Well, there is some loss of screen retail with the lower resolution, but Cave Story’s DSiWare port is a very solid conversion. And it only takes up about 46 blocks of DSi memory.

  8. How can the same person who gushes over something like Alundra completely overlook a legendary gem like E.V.O.? The world is a confusing, scary place sometimes.

    By the way, did those jpegs really make it into the book? Ugh!

  9. This was a pretty cool game, I recall a friend of mine recommended it me and said eventually you transform into a money with a bone that kills dinosaurs, the way he worded hit combined with the innate absurdity of moneys killing dinosaurs. I got a good laugh out of that one. Games that attempt to tackle evolution are always pretty funny, the grossly oversimplified ways its portrayed are often hilarious and boil down to “eat something, get bigger, eat another thing, get even bigger, go eat another thing, oh look you have a horn now go stab something with it to get another one!”. Great stuff.

    • I mean monkeys killing dinosaurs. I gotta go find that game, this is cracking me up just thinking about it.

  10. Sounds like one of those games where I would just struggle with the controls and miss the innovation of it. Like Shadow of the Colossus.

    In other news, I already miss reading something NES-related a couple of times a week.

  11. I don’t recall controls being particularly bad, but the hit location is what drove me crazy about EVO. It’s a classic, for sure.

  12. Hard-hitting foes and the lack of invincibility times are real killers, but I love E.V.O. for its evolution usage for upgrades. Making your own Frankenstein’s Monster of nature is pretty awesome, and something I wish more modern games would try.

  13. A really cool game, in spite of some infuriatingly hard, cheap bosses. I still have a hard time convincing myself it wasn’t developed by Quintet; all the evidence sez it wasn’t, but it REALLY has that Quintet feel, and it hits on all their favorite themes.

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