In 1991, the Earnest Evans series began with El Viento on the SEGA Mega Drive, followed by a prequel game, Earnest Evans, in 1992 on SEGA Mega Drive and SEGA CD, and then the third game, Annet Returns, in 1993 on SEGA CD. Each game in the franchise had its own protagonists and gameplay mechanics, feeling like completely different games, and each received mixed feedback for its difficult gameplay but received high praise for its cutscenes. All three games were published and developed by the now-defunct Wolf Team, but now, in 2025/2026, Limited Run Games is bringing the long-forgotten franchise to modern consoles, as Earnest Evans Collection is now available on PlayStation 4|5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

In Earnest Evans, a man in the 1930s, learned of three ancient idols that 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. Decades later, his grandson, Earnest Evans III, continues his grandfather’s quest to save humanity from total annihilation, but a rival treasure hunter, Brady Tresidder, also seeks the idols to bring about 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 on his adventures. The two encounter a mysterious figure named Sigfried, whose motives are unknown but who seems to know a great deal about Hastur and his cult. 

In El Viento, the story takes place in New York City during the late 1920s, when cult leader Henry, the gangster Vincente DeMarcoto (Al Capone in the western version), and a sorceress named Restiana, plot to awaken the ancient and malevolent god Hastur. There are some people who have descended from Hastur’s ancient bloodline, one of whom is the young Peruvian sorceress, Anett Myer. With some assistance from Earnest Evans, Anett attempts to stop the cult from resurrecting Hastur using the very spells of this bloodline. 

In Annet Returns, the story takes place two years after the events of El Viento and concludes the story arc of Anett and Earnest Evans. Zigfried’s true motives are finally revealed as well. Rescued from a certain sacrifice by the father figure Earnest Evans, Anett travels across Europe and encounters a local sect that wants her special pendant. After an attempted ambush in the sect’s castle, she barely escapes and begins another quest to protect the world from destruction.

In the Earnest Evans Collection, even though El Viento came out the year before Earnest Evans, the three games are displayed in chronological order. This way, players can experience the story from beginning to end. Each game, although sharing one overarching story, plays very differently. 

Earnest Evans is a 2D side-scrolling action-adventure platformer similar to Castlevania, but with simpler level navigation. The protagonist, Earnest Evans, draws inspiration from Indiana Jones, a treasure-hunting spelunker armed with a whip. The whip has some good range and can attack in different directions, which is where the main similarity to Castlevania comes from. 

The controls can be incredibly frustrating, as Evans can switch between standing, crouching, and crawling. The slow, awkward and silly-looking animation is what causes confusion between his three stances, as there’s no real distinction between them other than what direction his body is facing. It is possible to get the hang of the controls after a lot of trial and error, because there is still a fun game to experience, but it still feels needlessly tedious. 

El Viento is also a 2D side-scrolling action-adventure platformer, but similar to Shinobi and plays much better than Earnest Evans. It’s a simpler, fast-paced game in which players take control of Annet, introduced in Earnest Evans. Her main weapon is boomerang-shaped blades that return after throwing, making the game feel like a run-and-gun shooter. El Viento is still a difficult game, but its gameplay mechanics are much more forgiving, giving players more confidence and motivation to complete it. Even though it came out the year before Earnest Evans, it feels like a major improvement, thanks to its responsive gameplay and high-quality animations. 

Both Earnest Evans and El Viento are very different games but share many similarities. The protagonists both have their main weapons, but they can be found throughout their games and have limited use. Each game has a wide variety of enemy types, and the boss fights have some different conditions for taking them down, so players can’t just go for the attack will need to strategise, though some of the limited weapons can make quick work of them.

Annet Returns (known as Anett Futatabi in Japan) is a beat ‘em up game similar to Streets of Rage and Golden Axe, unlike the first two games, which were 2D side-scrolling platformers. Players take control of Annet once again, and Earnest Evans also appears during cutscenes, but not as a playable character, meaning this is a single-player game only. Having both Annet and Earnest Evans fighting alongside each other would’ve been fun to see and play, making it a real missed opportunity.

When it comes to beat ‘em up games, Annet Returns is not one of the better examples. The combat mechanics are simple and work quite well. This time, Annet is armed with a sword, focusing on melee attacks, and can cast magic from a meter that builds over time to deal heavy damage and take out all enemies on screen. The game can quickly become repetitive, but where it falls short most is the annoying enemy AI. Both the common enemies and the bosses have a habit of going off-screen and being outside of your attack range. This is common in beat ‘em up games, but more so in this game, forcing you to wait ages for them to come back in and greatly affecting the momentum. Even with its faults, Annet Returns is easier than its predecessors. 

All three games feature fully voiced and animated cutscenes. Even though the animation is limited due to the hardware at the time, they still do a great job of telling the overall story and providing some lore for those interested. The voice acting is also quite good in both Japanese and English. A single game already has plenty of cutscenes, so altogether, it feels like watching an anime series. The soundtrack across all three games features some catchy tunes and is worth listening to on its own. 

In addition to including all three games in this compilation, there are many exclusive features. Players will be able to rewind and create save states, which is really handy for the challenging and unforgiving experience across each game, especially since Earnest Evans has limited continues, El Viento has no continues at all, and Annet Returns restarts you from the beginning of the stage after losing. Also worth mentioning is that both the SEGA Mega Drive and SEGA CD versions of Earnest Evans are included, with the latter being the better-looking and better-sounding of the two. Another exclusive feature is the Gallery, featuring over 60 images of official art, concept art, and promotional posters, along with all the cutscenes and music from all three games. 

El Viento, Earnest Evans and Annet Returns may not have been among the greatest games of their generation or considered classics, and even old-school gamers may not have heard of them. Despite this, bringing them to modern consoles is a great way for gamers, young and old, to relive or experience them for the first time. They play just as well (or as badly) as they did back in the day, can be played in both Japanese and English, the extra features make the experience easier, and the Gallery featuring images, cutscenes and music from all three games can make Earnest Evans Collection a worthwhile purchase to add to your digital retro games library. 

Written by: Sammy Hanson