Earthion

Great throwback Genesis game; not for 20 though

Fantastic game! All the best elements of the 90’s & and a small dash of modern gameing rolled into one great experience! If you like any of the following games, Earthion is for you: Thunder Force series Gradius series Darius series Eliminate Down Bio Hazard Battle

A perfect Shmup like in the old days.

Earthion is the kind of game that immediately establishes its identity within minutes of starting. Developed by Ancient Corporation and Bitwave Games and published by Limited Run Games, Inc., this side-scrolling shooter embraces the spirit of the 16-bit era with unwavering confidence. Rather than reinventing the genre, it celebrates it, presenting an experience that feels as though it was preserved in a time capsule from the early 1990s and released decades later. Backed by the creative influence of Yuzo Koshiro, the project carries a deep appreciation for classic arcade design while benefiting from the conveniences of modern hardware. The game's premise places humanity on the brink of extinction as hostile alien forces descend upon Earth. Players take control of pilot Azusa Takanashi and battle through a series of increasingly dangerous missions across eight distinct stages. The narrative remains intentionally simple, serving primarily as a vehicle for the action rather than attempting to dominate the experience. This minimalist approach works in Earthion's favor, allowing players to focus on the rhythm of combat, enemy formations, and memorable boss encounters. Every stage introduces fresh scenery and hazards, creating a sense of progression that keeps the campaign engaging from beginning to end. What stands out most is the game's visual execution. Earthion demonstrates an impressive understanding of pixel art, delivering richly detailed environments and fluid animations that capture the charm of the Genesis generation. Explosions are satisfyingly dramatic, enemy ships are creatively designed, and backgrounds carry enough variety to prevent the journey from becoming repetitive. The game consistently balances nostalgia with craftsmanship, proving that retro aesthetics can still feel vibrant and relevant when handled with care. Its visual style never comes across as a gimmick; instead, it feels like a deliberate artistic choice that defines the entire experience. Mechanically, Earthion offers the type of precision that genre enthusiasts expect. Movement is responsive, weapons feel impactful, and enemy attack patterns are carefully arranged to reward observation and practice. The game embraces arcade sensibilities, encouraging players to improve their performance through repetition and mastery. It can be unforgiving at times, especially during later encounters, but the challenge rarely feels unreasonable. Success comes from learning enemy placements, refining positioning, and maintaining composure under pressure. This commitment to skill-based gameplay gives Earthion substantial replay value, particularly for players who enjoy chasing higher scores and cleaner runs. The soundtrack is another major highlight. Yuzo Koshiro's involvement is evident throughout the entire package, with energetic compositions that perfectly complement the on-screen action. The music captures the distinctive flavor of classic console sound chips while remaining memorable in its own right. Combined with crisp sound effects, each level feels elevated by an audio presentation that understands how important music is to the arcade experience. Few modern retro titles manage to integrate their soundtrack so seamlessly into the gameplay loop. Earthion also benefits from several modern additions, including achievement support, cloud saves, and visual customization options. These features help make the game accessible without compromising its old-school identity. However, players looking for extensive storytelling, RPG mechanics, or a lengthy campaign may find the offering somewhat limited. Its appeal is firmly rooted in replayability and mechanical excellence, which means appreciation will largely depend on one's affection for traditional shooters. Ultimately, Earthion succeeds because it remains committed to its vision from start to finish. It is a love letter to an era when games relied on tight controls, memorable music, and carefully crafted level design to leave a lasting impression. Ancient Corporation and Bitwave Games have delivered a polished and authentic shoot 'em up that stands comfortably among the strongest retro-inspired releases in recent years. While its niche focus may not resonate with every player, fans of classic arcade action will find an experience that is both nostalgic and genuinely compelling. Rating: 9/10

My friend SM said this couldn't fit on a Sega Genesis but he was WRONG and he's an IDIOT Also I liked this game and the OST is a BANGER

一番好きなゲームジャンルがSTGの自分ですが、アーシオンはちょっと肌に合いませんでした。 Normalで30分ほど、St.4までプレイして返品しました。ごめんね。 (1)横シューなのに縦シューのようにオールレンジから攻撃が降り注ぐ。 俺が下手なだけだけど、自機後方からこれでもかってくらい弾が飛んできてなんか理不尽。 しかも敵によっては撃ち返しまである。Normalの1周目なんだけど……。 (2)当たり判定が分かり辛い。 俺が下手なだけだけど、背景の当たり判定が分かり辛過ぎてめちゃ理不尽。 そして自機はデカいし敵弾もでかい割に(1)のように容赦がないのでイライラする。 (3)R-TYPE(覚えゲー)は好きだけど、覚える要素が多過ぎ。 ボス戦までひっきりなしに多様な雑魚敵が攻撃してくるため、道中のパターンは丸々覚える必要がある。 アドリブで対応しようものなら、突然の分岐で行き止まり……。 覚えたところでシビアな操作を要求されるのでまたイライラ。 (4)往年の名作のリスペクトを感じるグラフィック＆演出は良い。 作り自体はとても素晴らしく、丁寧に作り込まれていることがわかります。 グラディウス、サンダークロス、沙羅曼蛇、レイフォース、ダライアス、メタルブラック、ファランクスなどを思い出すことができました。 全体の雰囲気は文句のつけようがありません。 俺に合わなかったのはバランス調整と当たり判定だけかな。 Easyから時間をかけて攻略していけば良いのかもだけど、そこまでかけられる時間はないんだよね。 まぁ俺のような下手の横好きなエセシューターをターゲットにしたゲームではないと思うので、素直に諦めることにしました。 「時間のある玄人向け」というところを理解すれば楽しめると思います。

Great look, excellent sound effects and sound design, and while the music is not Yuzo's best in my opinion, it is very good and well above industry-standard. The shield and sub weapon upgrade system is great, and the levels and bosses make for a challenging but very fun game on Hard and below. However, since your main gun and subweapons do take hit damage and degrade regardless of shields, on Hotshot, you will find the game suffers from pretty severe Gradius Syndrome (losing powerups and being forced to play the game in a more difficult way when you're new than when you're experienced and don't lose them) and you'll be doing your first playthrough of that difficulty mostly without any weapon upgrades. Up to 99 lives are available, so my first playthrough of Hotshot didn't come close to a gameover, but I don't exactly find slamming my head off a wall and powering through the game with lives instead of properly learning it fun. I'm of the opinion that difficult games should not achieve their difficulty through excessive punishment or making the process of learning and getting better artifically longer, and Gradius Syndrome was conceived to eat quarters/bust rentals. It was never implemented to make a game better as a deliberate design choice. This is why it has essentially been abondoned in modern shmups and is only ever used as a tribute to the era in retro throwbacks. I wish it wasn't. Everything else about the retro style is cool; Gradius Syndrome should be left in the past. Despite the rant, Earthion is still great, and is properly balanced on 3 of the 4 difficulties. Hotshot is also definitely doable and in fact trivial with 99 lives, but it's a pain to properly learn because you will have no powerups during initial playthroughs. I suspect most of the best players ripped the rom and used save states to master levels, as this is a much more efficient way of going about it. If you like shmups, you'll like Earthion as it is an interesting take on the genre. Most of the bosses are fantastic, the overall pace of the game is fantastic, the weapons are fantastic, and as mentioned at the beginning of the review, the look and sound of the game is fantastic. If you like retro games, you'll love the aesthetic, and there is a difficulty option for everyone. I'll be picking up the physical Genesis copy when it drops to further support Yuzo and the boys over at Ancient.

메가드라이브로 이정도 퀄리티의 게임을 개발 해낸다는게 진짜 엄청나다 코시로 유조가 만든 회사답게 bgm은 말할필요도 없고 게임플레이도 단순하지만 슈팅게임의 감각을 잘 살렸다 슈팅게임 특성상 플레이타임이 짧은건 어쩔 수 없지만 그 부분 감안하더라도 정말 잘 만든 게임이다 장인정신의 집약체라고 말하고 싶다

Classic SHMUP goodness.

+ Generally looks fantastic. Really striking visual design, awesome little cutscenes, immaculate pixel art, great transitions, nice UI etc. + Sounds awesome - not just the soundtrack, but the sound design generally. Love the digitized vocal snippets here and there. + Generally fairly forgiving for a shmup in that on-contact shots replenish your shield, which for me personally is a plus. - Level design really starts to go downhill from level 3 onwards. I'm of the opinion that environmental hazards should be used sparingly in shmups (ZeroRanger is a great example of this) if at all, but I can still respect a game like Ikaruga or Radiant Silvergun where the levels are carefully constructed around interesting and novel environmental hazards. This is more like a really bad take on R-Type. - Visual design on the alien level is so bad it's jarring after everything that came before it - literally looks like a second-rate R-Type. - One of my pet peeves in these types of games is when you have one powerup that is clearly far more useful than any of the others - in this case, the default diagonal shot, which is as weak as your regular shot but you're kind of ♥♥♥♥♥♥ without it. This game spams powerups at you constantly, and if you lose the diagonal shot you're going to get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up by environmental hazards and boss fights will sometimes become far more tedious. - Been years - maybe over a decade - since I played either of them, but if you want a Megadrive shmup, I remember Thunder Force IV and Zero Wing being way better. Epitome of style over substance.