It has really become a popular trend to rehash old games to new systems, whether they are worthy to be ported or not. Evolution Worlds is an excellent example of this. Though it may have been a good game for its time (that could be argued too), Evolution Worlds should have been put down along with the Dreamcast.

Evolution Worlds does have a certain charm for younger gamers. It’s a very simple dungeon crawler that I would like to buy for little Jimmy to get him hooked on the crack that is RPGs. However, being a part of the twenty-year old demographic, I found myself scratching my head playing through the randomly generated dungeons that lack any innovation whatsoever. The halls are bland in design (and you can only see about ten feet in front of you, in fear of pop-up or some lame excuse), the battles are far too simple and unbalanced at times with no strategy or hope to live, and the graphics are way behind the times.

The bread and butter of most RPGs is the story and battle system. Evolution Worlds decided to pass both of these by. Apparently the protagonist is an adventurer from a well-known adventurer family. After the disappearance of his father, he takes the lead role in their reputation. Along with him, the last memento of his father is a parting letter and Linear (which Mag is either in love with or thinks of as a sister, I couldn't tell which.), a shy girl that is loyal to Mag Launcher (the main character) and Mag's crazy battlement called a Cyframe. In the midst of me picking up on the gameplay, I found out that some whacko is hitting on Linear, and Mag will have nothing of it. But wait, all of a sudden he writes it off and runs to the next dungeon with no further ado. Are you confused on what I just wrote about? Me too, and that’s the point. The storyline would be about one thing and all of a sudden the characters would just forget what happened the last minute and say, “We gotta find some treasure!” Wait, back the truck up, I want to know why that guy is hitting on my woman!

Evolution Worlds brags that it holds two games with its mini CD. Unless you’ve played through all the awesome games currently out for the GameCube (or all the other systems for that matter), you have no reason to play this game for longer than five hours. By that time you will learn that you’re being held under a spell and you’ll want your five hours back.

The graphics are Dreamcast basic; simple polygons with a simple one or two-toned color over top. I might’ve forgiven this if the gameplay and story were tight, but I think I already covered that. Voice acting is always a big plus in my book and automatically puts a few points on the board for the title. I feel that with voice acting, it gives a game more personality and story direction that wouldn't be there otherwise. The cutesy voices implemented are just a tad too feel-good, but it is voice acting nonetheless. Too bad the story is way out in left field.

What we have here folks is a great has-been game; meaning this game has-been out for Dreamcast for a couple years and shouldn't have been released again, especially when they didn't improve much on the overall gameplay value. Only if you’re truly desperate for a new dungeon crawler RPG can I recommend this game. Otherwise, pocket your cash for something better.