Ask John: How Many Evangelion Video Games Are There?

Question:
Is there a Neon Genesis Evangelion for the Playstation One or N64 US or import?

Answer:
The Japanese N64 has one Evangelion adventure game titled Neon Genesis Evangelion 64. It’s essentially a 3D playable version of the TV series.

The Japanese Playstation has a port of the PC & Saturn game Girlfriend of Steel, and a Gainax mahjong game titled Shin Seiki Evangelion: Eva Yukai na Nakama Tachi which had characters from Evangelion, Secret of Blue Water and Gunbuster all existing together, interacting in animated “cut scenes” and playing mahjong against each other and the player. The Playstation 2 has a port of the PC & Dreamcast Evangelion typing tutorial game Neon Genesis Evangelion: Typing E-Plan in which Maya Ibuki provides tutorials on how to type with a traditional PC keyboard.

The Sega Saturn is the king of Evangelion video games with the Neon Genesis Evangelion and Neon Genesis Evangelion 2nd Impression animated adventure games, the original console port of the Girlfriend of Steel adventure game, a port of the Playstation Eva Yukai na Nakama Tachi mahjong game, and the Neon Genesis Evangelion Digital Card Library image gallery CD-ROM. The Sega Dreamcast is home to the first console port of the PC Typing E-Plan game and the home of the only console port of the PC life-sim game Shin Seiki Evangelion: Ayanami Rei Ikusei Keikaku, in which the player becomes Rei Ayanami’s father and raises her from childhood to adolescence to be a nurse, police woman, artist, pilot, debutante or even juvenile delinquent.

And finally the Wonderswan can boast a super deformed black & white Evangelion strategy RPG titled simply Neon Genesis Evangelion, and the GameBoy Color is home to the second Evangelion mahjong game, Shin Seiki Evangelion Mahjong Hokan Keikaku.

Especially now that Evangelion is so old, it’s highly unlikely that any of these games will ever be released in English, however all of them are relatively easy to find and should be available through better import video game specialty retailers. In fact, it’s not too difficult to find especially the Sega Saturn Evangelion adventure games in second hand video game stores in Akihabara and Shinjuku for under $5 apiece.