Ubi Soft serves up the first traditional RPG for your Nintendo GameCube and it's a big one! Plug into the techno-magical realm of Evolution Worlds. Quest For Glory Combining anime-style storytelling with hours of random dungeon-crawling, Evolution Worlds offers a unique twist on traditional RPG gameplay. Join young hero Mag Launcher and companions on a quest for fame and fortune. As son of a world-famous explorer, Mag has quite a reputation to live up to. With the help from his best friend Linear and his faithful butler Gre, Mag decides to go out on his own quest and make a name for himself in the world. You Know The Drill Any RPG fan will be instantly familiar with the basic setup of Evolution Worlds. Players gather a three-person party, learn about new quests from local townsfolk, tread through treacherous dungeons slaying everything that moves, and spend the spoils of victory on new shineys before repeating the process again. It's a tried and true formula and works fairly well in Evolution Worlds. What separates Evolution from most other RPG series is the much-touted random dungeon system. No longer are players relegated to exploring the same dungeons over and over again. Instead, dungeon layouts are generated at random, including item placements, the order of rooms and even enemy encounters. While this aspect allows for plenty of variety, the lack of carefully crafted level design limits any actual puzzle solving or exciting exploration. If nothing else, it's still fun to search every nook and cranny of a dungeon in hopes of finding more powerful weaponry or hidden treasures. Fight, Fight, Fight! Enemy encounters still follow traditional turn-based RPG combat rules. Characters take turns exchanging attacks and spells until one side is defeated. Unique to Evolution is the inclusion of "Cyframes." These marvels of technical wizardry allow your heroes to unleash powerful new skills. Cyframes can also be combined and upgraded for added character customization. Two For One Evolution Worlds is actually a story compilation of two Sega Dreamcast games: Evolution and Evolution 2. Although premiering a few years ago, the overall look of Evolution Worlds is still pleasing. The characters themselves are well-rendered in classic, super-deformed anime style. In conversations and battles, your heroes often sport humorous facial expressions of shock, dismay and pleasure. In contrast to a minor graphical face-lift, Evolution World's audio shines with the addition of voice acting for all of the major cast members. The soundtrack remains the same from the Dreamcast versions, but is still fun to listen to while trudging through dungeon after dungeon. Evolutionary? If you're looking for an entertaining and lengthy role-playing game, give Evolution Worlds a try. While not an evolution in RPG design, it's still worth checking out for any RPG enthusiast.
