E.V.O.: Search for Eden, originally released in Japan as 46 Okunen Monogatari: Harukanaru Eden e (46億年物語 はるかなるエデンへ?, "4.6 Billion Year Story: To Distant Eden"), is a side-scrolling action video game developed by Almanic Corporation and published by Enix for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Released in 1992 for Japanese audiences, the game was later translated and released in North America in 1993 by Enix America Corp. Combining all the aspects of traditional platforming with one single aspect of role-playing video games, the game involves the player navigating a creature through a number of side-scrolling levels while undergoing bodily evolution to cope with ever-changing environments. The game is heavily based on Almanic's original title 46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron released exclusively in Japan in 1990 for the PC-9801 home computer.
Spanning a period of over a billion years, the game's story involves Gaia, daughter of the sun and mystical embodiment of the Earth, guiding the player through five distinct geological periods of the planet's history. Beginning the game as a fish, the player must travel across the planet defeating enemies and gaining the strength to evolve into more powerful and complex organisms before eventually earning a chance to enter the paradise realm of Eden, becoming Gaia's immortal partner. Crystals with the ability to influence evolution are laden throughout the player's quest, with the mystery of their origin becoming a secondary factor to the main story.
