Review of version 0

This is only a review of version 0, and may not apply to more recent versions.

The original game from which this is derived remains a favourite among fans, and a treasure in the SNES library. Following in its footsteps might be a tall order, but does have the benefit of bringing back fond memories.

The original graphics were faithfully reused, and showed good attention to detail. Clearly, a lot of care went into making this game. That being said, the choice of font may have been incongruent. It's also unfortunate that the background scrolls as a solid image, instead in parallax as it was in the original game, but that can be forgiven. The splash screen should be revised though, to display the game's correct title. E.V.O. Search for Eden was the original game, and this game does not have that title.

The original score was not used, which is slightly unfortunate since the music in the ocean levels was one of E.V.O.'s most memorable aspects. However, a suitable substitute was used, which similarly captured the sense of mystery and exploration, and which I thought that was highly appropriate.

There are a few things about the game that I wish hadn't been changed from the original though. For one, it would have been helpful if eating seaweed replenished health, and also if the occasional meat icon didn't float away. It's also a shame that the enemies don't re-spawn, but I can see why these changes were made, given that the fundamental evolution mechanism in the game is linear, and not based on a purchasing scheme.

In general I found the game just a little too fast paced though; both the enemies and the player moved so fast that it was hard to make their relatively small sprites line up. The character also seems to teleport forward when biting, which is a little bizarre and inexplicable.

There is also no immediate feedback to indicate that a bite has been successful. By contrast, the original E.V.O. showed a number representing the damage your bite inflicted. Although most of the enemies in this game die with one bite, the boss does not, which is where this would be handy; right now the boss fight is a blind fight.

Lastly, as a game about evolution, it would also make sense to present more than one evolutionary pathway, as the original game did; After-all, evolution is not linear and does not work toward a goal. More distressing however is the notion (in this game) of evolving backward as a penalty of sorts, which does not happen in nature.

As a fan-game I think this is fairly good. There are a few things which might be tweaked, but all-in-all it came together well. I'm glad someone made a tribute to one of my favourites!