Evolution Worlds Game Sample - GameCube
0Original Air Date: October 12th, 2009
A somewhat disappointing game, Evolution Worlds is a condensed version of both Evolution and Evolution 2: Far Off Promise, instead of a proper sequel. While both of these games originated on the Dreamcast (and got panned a bit, though I liked the first and disliked the second), this game attempts to rush the events of the first game and give you the events of the second game to get those who haven't played either up to speed. I would have much preferred a proper sequel, as I don't consider E2:FOP to be one.
The differences between this and the Dreamcast games are pretty minimal. Some include English voiceovers (which sound pretty strange in some cases) and obviously no VMU extras. Things that could be done in E2 such as adjustable camera views were brought over to the original game. The graphics look slightly sharper too and Linear appears to talk a little more in this game with the English voiceovers (particularly in battle).
Evolution Worlds is a dungeon-crawler that is about as classic as it gets. The idea is to excavate various ruins while finding legendary treasures and new gear (as well as specialty gear, Cyframes, for Cy-Users) while paying off Mag's family debt and discovering the secret behind Linear, a soft-spoken girl with a mysterious past. The original Dreamcast games had more emphasis on character interactivity (as you were stuck in the one town the whole game) and humurous bits, but some of that was cut short in the GameCube game. Almost every significant character is named around weapons or some kind of intentional cliche (Mag Launcher, Linear Cannon, Gre Nade, Ms. Melon, etc.).
Combat is a bit more strategic than some turn-based RPGs due to ability to move, ranks, and various skills to manipulate the order of events. The game is relatively simple, but it does a lot of things right and helped tide Cube owners over until more serious RPGs arrived (Baten Kaitos, Tales of Symphonia, Paper Mario: TYD, etc.). If you have a Dreamcast, I'd get the two original games instead, but this game is okay too. Enjoy.