Games for Lunch: Eversion
Developer: Zaratustra Productions
Publisher: Zaratustra Productions
System: PC
ESRB Rating: N/A
Official Web site
0:00 I first got turned on to this game by a Dinosaur Comics blog post which called it "really good!" and "entirely charming!" On the official Web page, I saw the author of VG Cats thought it was "deceptively awesome." So the authors of TWO Web comics that I read liked it? That's enough for me!
0:01 During the 8 MB download, I read the instructions for the game from the official Web site: "Left and Right - Walk. Z - Jump. X - Everse (in certain areas) ... Discover the rest as the game progresses." Intriguing! But what does "Everse" mean?
0:02 The intro mentions that the game is "not indicated for children or those of nervous disposition." Did I download prescription drugs by accident?
0:03 So I'm a little, puffy, orange guy with green shoes, tottering around a 2-D Mario-style world. I have a nice, springy jump with which to dispatch smiling circular enemies. There are blocks to bash from below and blue gems to collect, too. I absolutely adore the retro music, which sounds like it was designed for the original Game Boy.
0:05 Just like that, I've already cleared the incredibly short first level. I missed four of 22 available gems on the way, apparently. I could see them, but they were out of reach. So far the "Everse" button seems to do nothing. Hmmm...
0:06 I die a few times due to careless jumping in Level 2. I get plopped back at the beginning of the level -- seems I have unlimited lives. One less thing to worry about, I suppose.
0:08 I reach the end of the line ... a floating purple platform that dumps into a big blue ocean. As far as I can tell there's nowhere else to advance. I'd be OK if I could stand on the clouds floating in the gentle cyan sky, but no such luck. The Evert button continues to do nothing. What am I missing here?
0:09 I escape back to the main menu just to make sure I have the "Everse" button set correctly. Yup ... I'm hitting the right button; it's just not DOING anything!
0:10 Ah HA!! When I stand behind a very specific flower near the end-of-the-line platform, the music slows and the screen darkens a little bit. I tap "Everse" here and voila! The clouds are now solid and the sky is a little darker! The music has changed to an awesome minor-key version of itself and the flowers are now slightly decayed. I'm not sure I like having to hunt for hidden areas to use my powers, but what can you do?
0:11 A bit of backtracking to hit some gem blocks I couldn't before, then it's quickly on to the end of the level. I still missed two gems. Why must I suck so?
0:13 Wow ... I'm already stuck again in Level 4. This time the solid clouds block my way as I try to go under a floating wall of blocks. I find a place to Evert past the clouds, but then I run into an impassable tree just a few steps down the way. Hmm...
0:14 Interesting. When I'm in the dark Eversion (is that what it's called?), I happen upon ANOTHER Eversion spot. This one makes things even darker, and kills the tree blocking my way. The round orange enemies are now mouthless and red. The music has grown subtly darker again ... you can barely hear a hint of the original melody over the somber tones.
0:16 Going back and forth between the different states to get past successive layers of clouds and trees, I find a fourth level of Eversion where the orange blobs totally stop moving and the music becomes downright GOTH. The clouds and trees are all gone now and previously healthy bricks can now be broken with a jump from below. This last fact let's me jump up to a previously inaccessible platform for gemmy-gem times.
0:21 I have to backtrack a bit to Everse briefly and move some enemies, one so I can use him to bounce over a wall, another so I can get him out of the way and advance. The result of both: more gems! I'm still really annoyed that I can only Evert in certain places. It's so key to the gameplay ... make it a bit easier, huh guys?
0:23 Whoa ... suddenly a mass of big, undulating black circles has appeared behind me and starts advancing rightward with the now-automatically scrolling screen. I have to run and jump for my life, bouncing on enemies to get over walls. I just make it to the level-ending flag in time. Exciting! But I only got 39/40 gems. ARGH!
0:24 Level 4 is all happy again. Then I hit one block and things get darker than ever! The color is absolutely drained from everything, and the formerly smiling blocks now look like someone told them their puppy just died. The music is pure darkness incarnate. MOMMY!
0:25 Giant, screeching hands reach up from the pits now as I jump over them. Scary!
0:29 I'm stuck again ... there's a small bridge with a pop-up hand that goes so high I can't safely jump over it. I try bouncing on a nearby enemy to get a height boost, but it's not enough. I'm at a loss here...
0:34 I spent the last five minutes searching in vain for an Eversion point or something that could get me past this grasping hand. No such luck...
0:37 Oh dear lord, I am an idiot. Apparently if I let the hand part rise up, I can walk past the spindly black arm part without any problem. GAH!
0:39 The next pit requires me to inch up to the edge to coax out the hand, then jump across the arm part again. After that, I have to accurately jump on a one-block square to avoid the shooting hands. This is some precision platforming right here!
0:41 Right before the end of the level I find an Eversion point that takes me from extreme darkness to the simple minor-key spookiness. On the plus side, the grasping hands are gone. On the downside, I have to backtrack through the entire level if I want those gems. AND I DO! I REALLY, REALLY DO!
0:42 YEAH! A perfect 34/34 gems on level 4. EAT IT, WORLD!
0:43 Level 5 starts out in super darkness. One Eversion point goes back to minor spookiness, so I can get some gems. Another goes to what I can only describe as "broken game land." The music is now atonal and arrhythmic and my score counter is spinning through random numbers. In this mode, I can fall through some now rotting bricks and land on brambles, exploding into bloody mess as I do. Yikes!
0:47 A lot of quick-crumbling brick platforms means a lot of bunny hopping to get through the next area. The cute orange enemies from before are now black blobs caught in spooky grinning rictuses. Man, whoever made this game has ISSUES!
0:49 OK, usually after I die the level starts over with a black screen containing white text that says "READY!" Every so often now, though, the message changes to "GIVE UP" or "I SEE YOU." It only happens like one in 20 times ... just enough to make me do a double take.
0:51 Another level-ending Eversion point lets me go back for more gems. I can't find them all, though ... I end up with 39/43. NO! Why must I fail at everything! *sob*
0:52 Level 6 adds blood-red pursuit circles and floating projectile hands to the screeching pit hands, bloody brambles and crumbling blocks of before. The music has disappeared, replaced with the sound of a beating heart. Gems are now skulls. This game is the greatest bait-and-switch since Metal Gear Solid 2.
0:56 New life-starting messages: "BEHIND YOU" and "GAME OVER." I almost had a heart attack when that second one popped up the first time.
0:57 Only 28/32 gems this time, but I'm just happy to have finally made it through a difficult maze of crumbling blocks with the quickly encroaching redness.
0:59 An Eversion point in Level 7 brings back the music and makes the crumbly blocks solid again. Thank god ... any more of that and I'd have had to start shopping at Hot Topic.
Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.
Why? At the very least I want to see what sort of sick twists come next. I'll probably go back for all the gems too, because that's just the way I am.
This column is based on a free, downloadable version of the game obtained from the official Web site.
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