Darwin 4078
Encyclopedia
is an arcade game
released by Data East
in 1986
. The game is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up
like Xevious
, but as the title indicates, Charles Darwin
's process of evolution
is incorporated into the gameplay.
All of the characters in the game are designed to resemble microscopic organisms
, both in their appearance and their quick, tricky movements. The player's ship undergoes over 10 types of transformations throughout the game, each with offensive and defensive maneuvers specific to their design. The sound effects used are minimal, but different types of sounds are used according to the type of shots or their speed. A sound resembling a long scream results when the player's ship is hit and returns to its weakest evolutionary state. The game's designer, graphic designer, and music composer, Tomo Furukawa
, would go on to become the vocalist of the band Guniw Tools
.
There are two broad categories that define how enemies attack. The first type only shoots in the forward direction at a constant speed, but the second type shoots bullets that travel at different speeds depending on its distance with the player's ship (the bullets travel quicker if the player is farther away, and slower if the player is close by). This made it so that staying away from enemies would not necessarily make it easier to avoid attacks. The game's difficulty also does not change overtime, and enemies do not become stronger as the player's ship evolves. This style was continued in the game's sequel.
Once the player reaches 2,000,000 points, they gain a bonus of 2,000,000 points, and a bonus of 3,000,000 points once they reach 3,000,000 points. This bonus system allows the player to reach 10,000,000 points after gaining only 5,000,000 points, but the game's counter does not display digits in the ten millions. Destroying 16 ground enemies in a row in the desert level extends gameplay without having to insert additional credits.
The ship's attacks that target airborne enemies gradually increase in strength as the ship evolves, but the attacks against enemies on the ground cannot be improved in the same way. Hitting the airborne and enemies with a certain amount of shots causes them to get knocked out, and the player's ship can dock into these enemies for a short period of time while they are knocked out. The ship's attacks against enemies on the ground increase in strength during this period. However, some ground enemies cannot be killed during this power-up. No further power-ups exist for attacks against enemies on the ground. The giant version of Zanzō cannot be knocked out, so the player cannot use it to improve their ground attack.
The player's ship devolves into the weakest form, PISTER (one rank below BEAS), if it is hit by an enemy attack (this does not apply if the ship is in the BLACK DEAME or SUPPURATE forms). The farther up the ship is on the evolutionary chain when it gets hit, the longer the animation is for the ship to devolve. Though coming into contact with any of the enemies normally results in an instant loss, the ship is invincible while the devolution animation lasts, and the player may kill enemies by ramming into them. The player loses their ship only if they are hit by an enemy attack while they are in the weakest evolutionary form (PISTER), or if they crash into an enemy while the ship is not devolving.
in 1987 by Hudson Soft
, and bore similar appearance to the arcade game Battle Wings
and the NES
game Hector '87. A sequel titled (also written as S.R.D.) was released by Data East in 1987
, and was ported by Sega
on April 8, 1990 for the Sega Mega Drive
as Darwin 4081
. is not a direct sequel to the game, but bears similarities to Darwin as a side-scrolling action game developed by Data East that uses an evolution system. Darwin 4081 was numbered 4081 because it was the 4th game that used the evolution system after Darwin (4078), S.R.D. (4079), and Act-Fancer (4080). Other similar games include Bio-ship Paladin
by UPL
and Bermuda Triangle by SNK
, which also feature ships that change appearance with power-ups.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
released by Data East
Data East
also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, when it declared bankruptcy...
in 1986
1986 in video gaming
-Events:-Notable releases:*Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder....
. The game is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
like Xevious
Xevious
is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game by Namco, released in 1982. It was designed by Masanobu Endō. In the U.S., the game was manufactured and distributed by Atari. Xevious runs on Namco Galaga hardware. In Brazil the arcade cabinet was printed with the name 'COLUMBIA' for the game, while the...
, but as the title indicates, Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's process of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
is incorporated into the gameplay.
Setting & design
The game takes place within a gigantic spaceship which has virtually infinite capacity because of its ability to manipulate time and space. The player must deal with enigmatic creatures called EVOL, which consist only of pure energy and need to keep themselves in capsules in order to maintain their existence in the world.All of the characters in the game are designed to resemble microscopic organisms
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
, both in their appearance and their quick, tricky movements. The player's ship undergoes over 10 types of transformations throughout the game, each with offensive and defensive maneuvers specific to their design. The sound effects used are minimal, but different types of sounds are used according to the type of shots or their speed. A sound resembling a long scream results when the player's ship is hit and returns to its weakest evolutionary state. The game's designer, graphic designer, and music composer, Tomo Furukawa
Tomo Furukawa
Tomo Furukawa is a Japanese musician best known for being the lead vocalist of Guniw Tools. He is currently working on a solo project called Shilfee and Tulipcorobockles, as well as Nookicky and TafucaMadara.- Projects :* Darwin 4078...
, would go on to become the vocalist of the band Guniw Tools
Guniw Tools
Guniw Tools began in 1989 as Tomo Furukawa's creative outlet called Guniw that incorporated artwork and music, becoming what it’s known as today after Jake joined the band in 1992. Asaki joined the group as a support guitarist several years later, but was made an official member after gaining...
.
Gameplay
The player must progress through 16 different levels, defeating the boss at the end of each level. The player controls their ship using an 8-way joystick and 2 buttons (one button targets enemies in the air, and the other targets the enemies on the ground). The power of the player's ship increases as it evolves.There are two broad categories that define how enemies attack. The first type only shoots in the forward direction at a constant speed, but the second type shoots bullets that travel at different speeds depending on its distance with the player's ship (the bullets travel quicker if the player is farther away, and slower if the player is close by). This made it so that staying away from enemies would not necessarily make it easier to avoid attacks. The game's difficulty also does not change overtime, and enemies do not become stronger as the player's ship evolves. This style was continued in the game's sequel.
Once the player reaches 2,000,000 points, they gain a bonus of 2,000,000 points, and a bonus of 3,000,000 points once they reach 3,000,000 points. This bonus system allows the player to reach 10,000,000 points after gaining only 5,000,000 points, but the game's counter does not display digits in the ten millions. Destroying 16 ground enemies in a row in the desert level extends gameplay without having to insert additional credits.
Evolution system
The biggest characteristic of the game is the evolution of the player's ship. The ship starts out in a form called BEAS, and evolves when the player collects EVOL capsules, which appear when certain enemies are killed. The player's ship grows in size and strength as it evolves, but certain forms may be difficult to use effectively, so the player must pace the evolution properly in order to succeed. There are 19 different evolutionary forms in total.The ship's attacks that target airborne enemies gradually increase in strength as the ship evolves, but the attacks against enemies on the ground cannot be improved in the same way. Hitting the airborne and enemies with a certain amount of shots causes them to get knocked out, and the player's ship can dock into these enemies for a short period of time while they are knocked out. The ship's attacks against enemies on the ground increase in strength during this period. However, some ground enemies cannot be killed during this power-up. No further power-ups exist for attacks against enemies on the ground. The giant version of Zanzō cannot be knocked out, so the player cannot use it to improve their ground attack.
Devolution
Players must collect EVOL capsules frequently in order to advance to the strongest evolutionary forms. Failing to collect a capsules during a certain period of time causes the ship to gradually "devolve" one level at a time. However, the devolution timer is stopped while the ship is docked with an enemy character as explained above.The player's ship devolves into the weakest form, PISTER (one rank below BEAS), if it is hit by an enemy attack (this does not apply if the ship is in the BLACK DEAME or SUPPURATE forms). The farther up the ship is on the evolutionary chain when it gets hit, the longer the animation is for the ship to devolve. Though coming into contact with any of the enemies normally results in an instant loss, the ship is invincible while the devolution animation lasts, and the player may kill enemies by ramming into them. The player loses their ship only if they are hit by an enemy attack while they are in the weakest evolutionary form (PISTER), or if they crash into an enemy while the ship is not devolving.
Mutation
Several evolutionary forms cannot be achieved just by gathering capsules. Mutation occurs if the player is hit by an enemy attack while in a certain evolutionary stage (or if they devolve over time from a certain evolutionary stage), and the ship's attacks become highly stylized and powerful if used effectively.Reverse evolution
Reverse evolution is another special form that occurs if the player is hit by an enemy attack after a specific set of normal evolutions. The reverse evolutionary form, BLACK DEAME, is bat-like, and bears a completely different appearance from any of the other forms. The ship is unaffected by enemy attacks, and packs an extraordinary amount of firepower as it shoots numerous smaller versions of itself as its main attack. However, if the player fails to collect an EVOL capsule during the alloted period of time, the ship immediately devolves into the weakest form, making the transformation a double-edged sword. It is impossible to maintain the BLACK DEAME form throughout the game by docking with enemies, since its attack power is so powerful that enemies die instantly rather than being knocked out.Ports & related releases
Darwin 4078 was ported to the 2nd generation MSXMSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
in 1987 by Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
, and bore similar appearance to the arcade game Battle Wings
Battle Wings
Battle Wings is a vertically scrolling shooter first released as an arcade game by Data East in 1984. The game was ported to the Family Computer in 1986.-Gameplay:...
and the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
game Hector '87. A sequel titled (also written as S.R.D.) was released by Data East in 1987
1987 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
, and was ported by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
on April 8, 1990 for the Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
as Darwin 4081
Darwin 4081
is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is the sequel to Data East's arcade game, Darwin 4078. The player takes control of a small fighter ship capable of mutating into different shapes...
. is not a direct sequel to the game, but bears similarities to Darwin as a side-scrolling action game developed by Data East that uses an evolution system. Darwin 4081 was numbered 4081 because it was the 4th game that used the evolution system after Darwin (4078), S.R.D. (4079), and Act-Fancer (4080). Other similar games include Bio-ship Paladin
Bio-ship Paladin
Bio-ship Paladin is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game from 1990. It was later ported to the Sega Mega Drive. While the game is essentially a standard horizontally-scrolling shoot 'em up, it has an innovation that makes it unique in the genre...
by UPL
UPL
, also known as UPL Co. Ltd and formally known as , was a video game production company headquartered in Oyama, Tochigi, Japan. It was founded as a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment. Even none of the staff remember when exactly it was founded. In 1984, it was renamed as "UPL Co. Ltd"...
and Bermuda Triangle by SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
, which also feature ships that change appearance with power-ups.