The story starts on the planet Lakya where the technologically advanced inhabitants of the planet unwittingly unleash the planet's life force known as Evol. As the released Evol drifts from planet Lakya, it is received by the inhabitants of the nearby planet Cokyo; the people of Cokyo initiate the Shlohe project, a plan to use their captured Evol to develop advanced biologic ships and weapons to invade planet Lakya. The inhabitants of Lakya retaliate the Cokyo invasion by using their own evolving fighter ships.

Players are required to collect various pick-up icons to make their ship effective in combat. Among these icons include the following:

Evol: Coming in the guise of circular faces bearing an E, Evol powers-up the player's ship and ultimately changes the ship's form. Ship forms are temporary however and after a certain amount of time, the ship will revert to a lower form.

B-Evol: A darker coloured version of the normal Evol pick-up, this enables the ship to transform into completely different forms depending on what current form the ship is in.

DNA: Belonging solely to ground forces, the DNA pick-ups empower the player's attacks. The player can collect up to 9 DNA pick-ups.

Speed-ups: Indicated by a fast moving S, these let the player enhance their ship's speed.

Armor: Actually a shield pick-up, coming in the form of a sporadic moving rectangle, this gave the player a small shield on the nose of the ship that would degenerate after a few seconds.

These forms were obtained by gradually collecting Evol. Each form had their own weapon and distinct shape. Unfortunately, all forms were temporary and only lasted up to a minute until the ship regressed to the lesser form before it (as indicated by an alarm noise).

Pister - The smallest and slowest form this was equipped with a single shooting weapon. This is also the player's default form which the ship instantly reverts to once the ship is hit once regardless of previously acquired ship form.

Deas - This form was equipped with a single twin shot rocket weapon. This is also the player's starting form; once the game is started, the player starts at this form until they lose a life.

Zwipt - This form was armed with a triple shot attack that was an advanced version of the Pister's.

Drime - This form was equipped with a bizarre timed laser attack that would start as two side-shots, but would converge and fire as one.

Syulba - This form fired a single, slow firing, rectangular laser that used a similar principle to the Drime.

Lbock - An advanced version of the Zwipt.

Dodoc - This fired a small, twin fireball weapon.

Sweep - This form fired a close-fire laser weapon.

Shallu - This form fired a ricochet shot that, while hard to see, would bounce off stronger enemies.

Deam - This form fired long twin lasers.

Zugoga - This form fired twin fireball shots that were stronger and faster than the Dodoc's.

Gashallu - The final standard form wielded the ring beam, one of the largest and strongest weapons in the game that also fired similar to the Shallu's shots.

Special forms

These were acquired by picking up B-Evols once at a certain ship level.

Pi-Snake - This was easily acquired by obtaining B-Evol as the Pister. It fired stronger bombs as well as bullets that fired at the sides and close-range spread shots.

Pirazal - This was acquired by obtaining B-Evol as the Syulba.

Pirazis - This form was acquired by obtaining B-Evol as the Sweep.

SRD: Super Real Darwin was later ported by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive console in 1990 under the title Darwin 4081 (ダーウィン4081). Although a home port of the second game, Darwin 4081 was numbered 4081 because it was the 4th game that used the evolution system after Darwin (4078), S.R.D. (4079), and Act-Fancer (4080). In 2010, a Wii compilation titled Data East Arcade Classics was released and includes the arcade version of SRD: Super Real Darwin.