106. Earthion (Switch)
When it comes to retro throwback games, I am often fully aware that I'm playing a more modern game rather than a game from the time period the developer was trying to emulate. Even if they get the art style, the pixels, the sound, and various other things right, there's always little artifacts here and there, and sometimes all over the place that really give the game away as a modern game in retro clothing. Sometimes it can even be the game trying really hard to be a game it took tons of inspiration from and maybe playing certain things up too much and overcompensating with too much nostalgia bait in the process. Sadly, this pretty much describes like 98% of all retro style and retro inspired games I've ever seen or played. However, there are those rare examples where I genuinely can't believe I'm playing a modern game.
Earthion is absolutely one of those rare gems that I'm partially convinced was developed back in 1992 for the Sega Genesis, stuffed in a drawer for three decades, and just recently unearthed. Too my surprise (or maybe not) the developer, Ancient is a pretty old Japanese game studio that did some of their most well known work back in the 16-bit era and has been around since 1990. This adds even more credibility to my theory that this game was actually developed back in in the early 90s and just recently completed. Regardless, I am practically stupefied the people at Ancient somehow embodied the look, sound, feel, and just zeitgeist of early 90s shmup action and distilled it into a game released this year (2025)! There are small hints this game isn't an actual Sega Genesis game, however with Ancient's plans of porting this to an actual Genesis cartridge and releasing them sometime next year, I guess maybe it is really a Genesis game released in our modern year? But regardless, I will say Earthion is one of the best new shmups I've played in a very long time!
The presentation in this game is unbelievable! Everything from the art, the visuals effects of the many weapons you can obtain, the variety of enemies, the amazing looking stages, GOD DAMN! I mean like nearly everything in this game looks outstanding and top notch! My only complaints visually have to do with some projectiles blending in too much with the backgrounds or there being just a little too much going on for you to track everything the game throws your way. There is a bit of slowdown too in a few stages which does hamper the visuals and gameplay, but luckily the amount of times this happens were few. Other than that, this game is amazing sprite work done by masters of their craft and maybe most impressive of all is how it looks so genuine. Again, I almost can't believe this game was recently developed given how flawlessly it looks like an old Genesis game, down to every detail. It really does need to be seen to be believed!
The audio is also outstanding in Earthion. The game has constant high energy tunes blasting through what sounds like a Genesis FX sound chip. That almost grainy, midi sounding Genesis sound is in every track and sound, including the voices in the game that call out when you collect a power up, are close to dying, or sometimes when something is occurring on screen. Of course there are also a nice array of explosion and weapon noises too, which all sound exactly as they should with this going for the look and feel of a Genesis game.
While still pretty excellent for the most part, the weakest part of Earthion is actually its gameplay. Before I get into the gameplay, I will say that Earthion thankfully plays way better than a lot of old school Genesis shmups. The fact that Earthion's devs clearly too many inovations and gameplay improvements found in more contemporary shmups and placed this in this game does somewhat tell me this game wasn't actually developed in the early 90s originally, but the game is much better for it. Make no mistake, this game is still HARD AS HELL! Especially in the later few stages, things get unbelievably hard. Luckily, Earthion has a leveling/progression system that allows you to maintain your progress even after a game over with a very well implemented password system. I mean, it wouldn't be a Genesis throwback if it didn't have a password system! But you'll be able to level you ship up with more slots of your shield and weapon power ups. Speaking of shields and power ups, the systems for these make the game way more fun and more accessible. Your shields allow you to take damage and will regenerate if you don't get hit again within a few seconds before they have a chance to charge. As for your weapons, they are charged up and become more powerful when you collect little green gems that look like they were pulled from Columns. Getting hit by an enemy projectile also drains your weapons power as well and unlike the shield which recharges automatically, you'll need to collect more green gems from fallen enemies to recharge your weapons to max strength.
In addition to your basic fire mode, there are an impressive amount of collectable secondary weapons that you'll be relying on heavily to get through Earthion. You can have multiple secondary weapons at the same time and freely switch between them to deal with a specific sirtuation better, however, there are some secondary weapons that are far more useful throughout the game than others. I actually went out of my way to avoid most power ups while playing through Earthion and stuck with the same three or so secondary weapons. Unfortunately getting hit too much can make you lose these secondary weapons, at times power up marooning you, which was a staple of most classic pre-32 bit shmups. Luckily you aren't as handicapped as you are in most of these classic shmups, but against bosses this can mean your assured death. Speaing of death, luckily this game doesn't have dumb, arbitrary stage checkpoints like a lot of retro shmups, but does make you restart a stage over if you have to use a continue, which is fair in my opinion.
Other than what was already mentioned, the main demerits to Earthion's gameplay are how imbalanced some sections and levels can be, and how some of them could have benefited from a little more thought and planing. Still, these more annoying sections are a small minority of of sections within a few select stages and do little to distract from what it otherwise a truly enjoyable and very fun game.
After beating Earthion I felt so satisfied and inspired. It gave me hope that there are people out there that know how to capture the spirit of retro games and not just give modern gamers something that looks and plays like the games they remember from their youth, but rather give them something that's original, authentic, and very fun to play. Sure, there are a ton of horizontal shmups out there, and it's undeniable Earthion does take inspiration from games like Thunder Force IV and Layer Section, but it does enough of its own thing to make it truly feel unique and a standout title from all angles. Whether you're a huge Genesis fan, a shmup enthusiast, a person who loves 16-bit retro style games, or all of these above, please, PLEASE play Earthion! As someone who adores SHMUPs and has literally beat hundreds of them, Earthion is one of the best and has to be experienced to truly see how remarkable it is. (10/29/25) [40/50]
