E.V.O. Search for Eden



E.V.O.: The Search for Eden is an action-adventure sidescroller released in 1993 for the SNES. You traverse through levels battling other creatures for EVO points, which can be used to evolve your creature. You traverse through time with the help of Gaia, who is the sun's daughter... but honestly I lost track of the plot pretty quickly, I just want the silly creatures.

There are 6 main body types correlated to each chapter, being fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal, and ramothecus/human. Body type changes after the reptile stage are optional, and you can revert back to older saved forms for a temporary time period. There are additional extra powerful body types which cannot be freely customized and are only used for limited amounts of time. This includes the ray, eel, dragon, gargoyle, elephant, seal, dolphin, and the secret mermaid. Parts that are evolved can be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on the player strategy.

I had discovered E.V.O. as a kid, but never got too far into it due to the game being too difficult for me. However I went back in 2019 to play it some more, and finally beat it three years later in 2022 after getting stuck on the final boss. The final boss isn't too difficult, I just evolved into a human which makes it near impossible. I'm also just not really a good gamer.


Bosses

Kuraselache, King of the Sea

Fuck this fish, dude. He aggressively charges at you at high speeds, and you have to move out of his way and make him run into walls in order to stun him long enough to attack. You have to be careful though, or he'll slap the fuck out of you with his tail. It's not that bad of a battle, but it definitely fucked me up the first few times.

Boss Ikustega

A much easier boss battle compared to the Kuraselache king, you just have to avoid being within range of being spat on, and avoid being jumped on. He's pretty easy to spam attack while jumping, or just after he lands.

King-Bee

While I didn't struggle too severely with this guy, he's still a pain in the dick. He shoots needles at you, and if you get hit by the first needle you're most likely going to get hit by the other ones. Luckily, he is not too difficult to avoid by running to avoid his needles, then jumping to bite him in the air.

Queen-Bee

I hate this bee. She's similar to the king-bee in that she will shoot needles, but she will also dive down super fast to bite. Her bites deal massive damage and stun you, and if you get hit back to back it's pretty much a guaranteed death. You can pretty much only get her by attacking right after she bites and is stunned for a moment.

Mother of Prime Frog

Mother of Prime Frog spawns a shit-ton of babies out of her back, which can quickly turn this battle extremely annoying as each hit from a baby will temporarily stun you. It's super easy to get completely swamped. As long as you keep the population under control though, it's not too difficult. You just have to track where she's landed after each big hop and get as many hits in as possible before she jumps away.

The Three Mammoth Brothers

A pretty forgettably easy boss battle. The three mammoths will charge and then shoot bubbles at you. While the charges do a lot of damage, the bubbles only do a negligible amount, so try to keep them from charging. You can get through this one by just spam attacking as soon as they come.

Bird-King

Bird-King is my favourite boss design-wise, I think he just looks so badass. While E.V.O. has been criticized for it's choppy and inconsistent artstyle, the bird-king is one of the best sprites in the game. That being said, he's an extremely easy boss battle. He flies around then shoots easy to avoid crystals, and can be easily cornered and spam attacked.

Sir Yeti

He attacks by leaping forward and punching, but attacks so slowly that he's very easy to avoid. You can beat him by just walking away a bit as he lunges, then turning around and biting when he lands, and repeat.

Yeti Mother

She is much more difficult than Sir Yeti, and attacks by lunging forward and slapping as well as blowing ice breath on you. She can quickly corner you if you aren't careful. It's best to jump to avoid her ice breath, then attack her when she lunges to slap you. It's very hit-or-miss though.

Yeti [#3]

The third yeti fights similarly to a Punchout! character. When hit, he will bounce around the screen, then punch toward you, giving you no time in between the punches. If he has the opportunity, he will do a big swing which gives you the opportunity to bite him while he revs up.

King Rogon

This one was a pain. King Rogon shoots out yellow orbs at you that will limit your vision to a small oval, making it hard to predict where he is. These orbs are just about impossible to avoid. If he gets close to you, he will swipe and deal quite a lot of damage.

Queen-Bee [2]

The queen-bee is back, for some reason! The boss battle is exactly the same as the other queen-bee, but she has a different colour scheme. If you beat the first queen-bee, it shouldn't be an issue.

Cro-Maine

Being the last boss to fight before the final boss, Cro-Maine is very powerful. He can attack by jumping on you and also by swinging his bat at you, both attacks doing a lot of damage. He will only attack you if you're near the right side of the screen, so luckily it's easy to step back and heal. It's best to just attack the shit out of him and step back whenever you need to.


Bolbox


Fuck this guy.

Here's some quotes from me trying to beat him for the first time:

  • "Holy Fuck This Fucking Fish"
  • "Do you have any idea how many tigers I've eaten?!"
  • "Do I eat the baby or not?"
  • "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHGH"
  • "oh my fucking. god. oh my god. i hate this fucking fish."
  • "FUCKING COCKROACH OH MY GOD"
  • "YOUR GOOD LUCK KISSES DO NOTHING!!! I'M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS!"
  • "I wanna kiss the Bolbox."

My least favourite miniboss, and also least favourite boss in general, is the giant Zinichthys. It does an insane amount of damage and is extremely difficult to avoid without a proper strategy, and it's hard to make a strategy without save states. I only managed to beat it by abusing minor evolutions to heal. Generally, fuck that guy.



These days, cartridges of E.V.O. Search for Eden have become incredibly expensive. Pricecharting.com lists loose cartridges for approximately $300, and a full graded set with box goes for up to approximately $2250! I'd absolutely love to get a hold of a working cartridge one day, but the price tag is crazy.

E.V.O. Search for Eden is actually a sequel, it's predecessor being 46 Okunen Monagatari: The Shinka Ron; or in the English fan translation, E.V.O. The Theory of Evolution. It released in 1990, 2 years before Search for Eden. It was made for the PC-9801, and focuses much more on RPG and story aspects. I've figured out recently how to emulate it, and will be updating this page with info on it too!

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