Evil Zone (PlayStation) review "One button to ruin it all."

Evil Zone is quite frankly one of the biggest disappointments in terms of fighting games released on the PSX. Its simplistic features require only one button to attack combined with d-pad motions to attack your opponent, this includes throw moves and super special moves as well. Quite frankly I had a hard time deciding how to play effectively with such a simple input all the while figuring out what motion did which move. This reminded me of Double Dragon for Atari 2600 with the same type of game mechanism, and it is quite a flaw here where an advanced system such as the PSX has six buttons on its controller.

Besides its shortcomings on playability, the game also suffers from cheap AI which takes advantage of using any other move programmed into the character to make short work of you. You will find yourself endlessly defending only to be thrown away by the opponent as you also try to discover which form of attack to use. This turns the match into a deplorable experience of frustrating magnitude, one which makes you just want to eject the game in disgust and pop in the likes of Street Fighter Alpha 3 instead.
The visuals in Evil Zone are quite formidable, and probably this might be its sole selling point.

The last boss of the game, Ihadurca, is a scantly clad evil woman waiting for you to defeat her. With a lovely design on said boss it’s a shame she's made into the titular antagonist. The roster of characters in the game are a bit varied and well designed as well, including magic users, swordsmen, fighters, and futuristic warriors. Again with all this eye candy it’s a shame its gameplay ruins it all.

The story goes that a group manages to contain Ihadurca in a dimension they call the Evil Zone until a hero appears to deal with her once it for all. As to why all the characters must fight each other to have the right to fight her is quite redundant, being that there doesn't seem to be an exact reason why they must do so when all they could ever do is to find Ihadurca and fight her from the get go. The game excels in Anime style cut scenes, which again, seems to be about the only praise it could ever get out of every other thing it falls short at.

If you are looking for a serious fighter on the PSX, Evil Zone doesn't fit the bill. However if your thing is rich, anime visuals and design, then this game might just fill a spot on your collection shelf.

Community review by CptRetroBlue (January 26, 2019) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.