Ludography
22/100
Players6 ratings
Earnest Evans cover

1991 · Namco Tales Studio · Adventure · Platformer

Earnest Evans

Sega exclusive

In the 1930's, famed archaeologist Earnest Evans unearthed his greatest challenge: three ancient idols that together could bring an end to life on Earth. The idols were scattered at random throughout the world by the god of the winds, Hastur, before its power was crushed. Yet Evans was injured before he could complete the search. Fifty years pass and now its up to Dr. Evans' grandson Earnest to save the world.

Released
20 December 1991
Platforms
Sega CDSega Genesis
Genres
AdventurePlatformer
Developers
Namco Tales Studio
Publishers
Namco Tales Studio
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Side view
Themes
Action
Country
Japan
Composers
Motoi Sakuraba

About

Earnest Evans is a 1991 platform game by Wolf Team. It was self-published in Japan for the Sega Mega-CD and the Sega Genesis in North America by Renovation Products three months later. As with Sol-Feace, the Mega-CD release has a Mixed Mode CD soundtrack along with animated cutscenes created by Madhouse.

Earnest Evans is the second game (but first chronologically) of a trilogy which also includes El Viento (1991) and Annet Returns (1993). All three games were re-released in Japan in December 2025 as part of the Earnest Evans Collection. A western localization of the collection was later released in January 2026.

Keywords

  • anime
  • action-adventure
  • train level
  • mayan
  • rock music

Media

Earnest Evans screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

As a 2D side-scrolling game in which the hero uses a whip, the gameplay and design are often compared to the Castlevania series. In addition to the whip, there are three other weapons to be found; however, they are only used once in certain areas. The three additional weapons are exploding rocks, a morning star, and a hammerlike weapon. The adventure takes Earnest to destinations which include raiding tombs in Mexico, Peru, moving trains, a forest, and the Grand Canyons, while attempting to save the world. Unlike most platform games on the Genesis/Mega Drive, the character Earnest Evans is made up of several sprites to give him a fluid ragdoll-like movement.

Story

In the 1930s, a man known as Earnest Evans learned of three ancient idols which hold enough power to destroy the Earth. Evans decided to search the world to find the scattered idols, but was injured before he could find all three. Now, many years later, his grandson, Earnest Evans III, continues his grandfather's quest to save humanity from total annihilation. However, a rival treasure hunter named Brady Tresidder also seeks the idols to bring the world's destruction.

Evans must find the treasures before Tresidder does. During his journey, Evans stumbles upon a green-haired girl named Annet Myer in some ruins in Peru who decides to accompany him for the rest of his adventures. The two encounter a mysterious figure by the name of Sigfried, who has unknown motives, but seems to know a lot about Hastur and his cult.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Sega CD20 December 1991Japan
Sega Genesis31 December 1992Japan

Editions and related releases

Included in
Earnest Evans Collection

Games like this

Collections4 collections

Platform libraries

Years

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.