Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles (Dreamcast) review "A Delightful Romp Through Undabed"

After searching for nearly three years for a well-priced copy of Evil Twin (which I deemed nearly impossible), I spotted a copy for only thirty dollars, and quickly snatched it up. I was not disappointed in the slightest, and while Evil Twin was sometimes tedious, it was a joy to play a game that exudes such darkness and gloominess. Ubisoft also did a brilliant job with the localisation, and what you end up with is the second best platformer on the Dreamcast (with Rayman 2 taking top spot).

While the game is not as buggy, or even broken as people have made it out to be, there are a few flaws that must be pointed out. First off, certain obstacles and items are not marked as such, nor is their purpose (if it has one) laid out (water, for example, either hurts you or kills you instantly, whether you touch it or get submerged). Secondly, while there is no such thing as a game that is too difficult (Battletoads, Alien Soldier being two of VERY few exceptions), Evil Twin is a difficult game, and this may turn off some gamers. Finally, while not buggy or broken, it appears that some functions do not work all of the time; for example, some fans appear to blow you if you are positioned to the far right of their blowing radius, yet just slightly left of middle, they do not blow you anywhere.

These niggling problems do not make the game impossible, nor do they make it frustrating, merely you may have to redo a small section now and then. Aside from these three, Evil Twin is just a traditional 3D platformer, and a damn good one at that! It is fun to turn Cyprien into Super Cyp and create chaos, or use your different, "weapons," for your slingshot.

As well as being the game’s lead character, Cyprien is also an orphan, and it's his birthday. He’s collected by his buddy, Joey, who asks him to come to the common room. There, the rest of Cyprien's buddies are waiting to give him the birthday party of a lifetime, complete with the usual refinements (narcotics, alcohol and such), and the possibility of a woman stopping by later on. Something is amiss though; Cyprien himself. See, his parents died on his birthday when he was younger thus he always feels rotten on that day.

He storms back to his room, while his buddies continue the party. Cyprien's teddy bear, Lenny, attempts to console him,. However Cyprien denounces his imagination, stating that Lenny is not real, and that his land (Undabed) is just made-up. Instantly, all five guys, and Lenny, are transported to Undabed by black vines (or tentacles), and it is here where Cyprien's quest to save his buddies begins.

The dark and gloomy graphics set the tone, and the interesting art style is just awesome; way different than any game out there, past or present (though many say it's similar to American McGee's Alice, and while dark, it's a different dark). Cyprien and the rest of the boys look like your stereotypical type of teenagers, just rougher, and darker. Now, it seems that they were supposed to be young kids by appearance, however with the content of the game and the like it would make sense if they were at age twelve or so.
The soundtrack is phenomenal. Composed by Bertrand Eleuerd, it is a true work of art from top to bottom, and the tunes fit the game perfectly; some are dark and gloomy, some are, "jumpy," and some are just brilliant pieces of music. What may be even better than the music though, is the voice acting; I still cannot believe that people think the voice acting is bad; it is amazing, and completely suits the tone of the game (though Cyprien and his boys sound more like older teens than the younger teenagers they seem to look like).

While definitely aimed at the older gamers, Evil Twin is just a brilliant game. Great soundtrack, great graphics, solid play system -- there’s nothing but things to recommend.

Community review by truck_101 (October 29, 2017) 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.