A gaming company known as Enix on a system called the Super Nintendo, the worthy successor of the 8-bit Nintendo, released The Search For Eden. While it did not develop into a horde of sequels, it did receive a lot of praise for its originality and fun gameplay. On top of that, when the game was first released, even schools used this as an education tool to guide kids on the history of evolution. But what exactly is the purpose of the game? The storyline is simple to follow and has its own twists and turns, just like in any typical RPG that tends to be dramatic in its own fashion. The sun has instructed her daughter, Gaia, to choose somebody to take a trial called “survival of the fittest.” This means having to endure a test, where only the strong survive. That somebody is you and its up to you to traverse through five different time periods and fight different creatures, of shapes and sizes, to reach Gaia and aid her in building a new civilization. The task won’t be simple, as all enemies will be looking to destroy you at any cost. The game works like this – in each time period, you are given a new form to use at your disposal. At first, your creature, called “Life”, is weak. However, as you slay your enemies, they leave a piece of meat, which you can devour to gain Evolution Points, or EP for short. The EP then can be used to upgrade a body part of your creature, such as the head or feet. Whatever you upgrade will also increase stats, like biting or jumping power. The duration of the game consists of going through one stage to the next, defeating enemies as you go and powering up. Sometimes, you spot crystals that give you tips, change you to a new creature for a short time, or give you an unholy amount of EP, such as 10,000 EP. While doing all of this, you’ll begin to unravel the mystery behind the crystals, who is responsible for the changes and occurrences of the world, and getting one step closer to be with Gaia. The controls are quite responsive to your touch. It’s unfortunate to report that sometimes, when you jump from one platform to the next, you may or may not land on that platform and will end up dying. The controls enable the player to dash, bite, use their hind legs to kick the opponent from behind (think of it like a horse, only other creatures are allow to do it, so long as they are four-legged), or to jump. The music, at first, can be fun to listen to, but ends up becoming a huge nuisance after hearing the tracks for the thousandth time. All tracks are recorded using MIDI sound files. Keep in mind though – this game was built for the Super Nintendo, so it would be hard to spot a single game that included music that was done with an orchestra in mind (that would be later). The sound effects are excellent and do hold up their end of the bargain, filling the player’s ears with the typical noises made by the creatures that you encounter. The gameplay is a lot of fun. Again, the main point of the game is to survive at all costs while reaching your goal. You go from one stage to the next, defeating enemies and taking the necessary time to improve your creature. Keep in mind though – each age you walk into, you’ll receive a new form, so do not expect to keep your strong creature for the next age, unless if you happen to record it in your “Record Of Evolution”. Because of this, the procedure itself becomes time-consuming and sometimes, annoying, depending on who you are facing and how far your creature comes along. However, once you upgraded your creature to the best of your ability, the rewards will be worth it! Just like in any videogame today, there are bosses to face and that becomes the biggest challenge of all. Some bosses are easy to figure out, while others take a few times, since you have to guess their pattern and exploit their weaknesses. Failure to do so will result in losing your life (Gaia does revive you, but will acquire some of your EP, meaning you will lose some), but once you get it nailed down, the bosses can be an cinch! There are also a few puzzles to complete and even some backtracking involved, but its essential to carry out. Needless to say, it does provide a lot of fun. In the end, EVO: Search For Eden does a great job of getting gamers involved with a challenge like this. Along with figuring out strategies for defeating every creature, boss or regular enemy alike, you are also given the ability to decide on how your monster grows. Should be being a powerful biter with weak agility, vice versa, or have the best of both worlds? That's up to the gamer to decide. But that's what makes this game great and the visuals, sound, production add a lot to the atmosphere and intensity. Storyline takes a backseat and gives you a further incentive to play the game. But sometimes, story does not become significant. As long as the gameplay is fun and enjoyable, that's when a game truly stands out. In this case, EVO: Search For Eden truly shines. Highly recommend for those who enjoy a good RPG on one of the best systems to ever grace the videogame industry.
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