Earthion, developed by Ancient and published by Limited Run Games, marks a triumphant return to the shoot 'em up genre for the studio, with legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro handling the music that perfectly captures the essence of retro action. The story follows pilot Azusa Takanashi, who takes to the stars in a high-tech fighter ship to combat an invading alien force threatening humanity's survival. As Earth's resources dwindle and environmental collapse looms, Azusa's mission is to push back the extraterrestrial horde and secure a future for her species across eight intense levels.
The Gameplay ...
The game packs a solid array of modes and conveniences to keep players engaged. The core campaign serves as the main draw, pitting you against waves of foes in side-scrolling chaos, while a dedicated challenge mode offers bite-sized tests of time and weapon based skill for those seeking extra thrills. A handy password system lets you jump back into the action without losing progress, making it accessible even for casual players, and the PS5's touchpad integration provides quick menu navigation for tweaking settings on the fly.
Structurally, Earthion unfolds across eight diverse stages, each with its own thematic backdrop ranging from asteroid fields to alien hives. Your ship handles with precision, allowing for agile dodging and firing, and you can switch between various shot types like wide-spread lasers or focused beams to suit different enemy patterns. Collecting solrium power-ups scattered throughout levels boosts your firepower temporarily, while adaptation pods earned at stage ends let you customize your vessel's speed, defense, or attack capabilities for strategic depth.
A military ranking system tracks your performance based on survival and destruction, influencing end-game scores, and dual gauges for solrium energy and shields add layers to resource management. Depleting them means vulnerability in the heat of battle. Enemies in the game come in grotesque alien forms with slimy, organic designs alongside more mechanical, Gundam-inspired foes that evoke giant robot battles.
One particularly eerie boss, with its writhing tentacles emerging from a rocky shell, bears a striking resemblance to the bizarre "Panama meteorite alien" that's been blowing up on social media lately, complete with that otherworldly, pulsating vibe. As far as challenge goes the main campaign offers four difficulty levels, from beginner-friendly to hotheaded. Along with the difficulty setting you can also tweak optional settings like invincibility timers or extra lives to ease the curve without diminishing the challenge.
The Presentation ...
Visually, Earthion nails a authentic 16-bit Sega Genesis aesthetic, with pixelated sprites, vibrant color palettes, and parallax scrolling that harken back to the era's classics. You can customize the presentation further with border overlays for that old-school TV frame feel, CRT filters to mimic curved screens, and adjustable scanlines for added retro fuzziness, letting you tailor the look to your nostalgia preferences.
Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack is a delight, delivering pulse-pounding chiptune melodies that ramp up the adrenaline during boss fights and provide atmospheric depth in quieter moments. Complemented by crisp, nostalgic sound effects like laser zaps and explosion booms rendered in classic 16-bit style all while the audio package immerses you fully in the experience.
The Verdict ...
Overall, Earthion delivers a mostly polished, and exhilarating shmup adventure with substantial content across its modes and stages, bolstered by high replay value through upgrades, rankings, and difficulty tweaks that encourage multiple runs. That said, it occasionally suffers from screen clutter during intense swarms, and it can be tricky to spot destructible enemies amid the flying debris, which stands out as its primary flaw.
I'd like to give thanks to Ancient and Limited Run Games for providing the review code!!! I am a huge fan of the shmup genre, and was anxious to give my thoughts on Earthion. When it comes down to recommendation this one's a must-play for retro shooter fans and anyone craving a blast from the past with modern conveniences. Even with the debris debacle the game does hold up quite well. It'll just take some getting used to, and I highly suggest playing it on EASY difficulty first to get familiar with the stages.
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