Evolution

Evolution is a single-player action game consisting of six stages, each representing a fanciful step in the progression from an amoeba to a futuristic human. Every stage has different objectives, enemies, and controls, making the game a collection of short arcade-style challenges rather than a scientific simulation of evolution.

The first stage places the player in control of an amoeba that must collect strands of DNA while avoiding spores, microbes, and antibodies. The second features a tadpole catching three flies while evading predatory fish; the ColecoVision version depicts the character as a frog. In the third stage, a rodent burrows through the ground to collect five pieces of cheese while snakes pursue it through the tunnels. Spare cheese can be dropped to eliminate approaching snakes. The fourth stage requires a beaver to cross an alligator-filled pond, retrieve sticks, and carry them back to complete a dam.

The fifth stage casts the player as a gorilla defending a supply of oranges from monkeys attempting to carry them into nearby trees. Coconuts can be thrown vertically or diagonally to knock down the thieves. In the final stage, a human armed with a laser gun battles teleporting mutants or robots in a futuristic city while avoiding larger indestructible enemies.

Contact with most enemies costs a life, while completing the objective advances the player to the next evolutionary form. After the human stage has been cleared, the sequence restarts at a higher difficulty.

The Apple II release is the original version. The ColecoVision edition is titled Sydney’s Evolution and offers three difficulty settings and a demonstration mode with reduced objectives.