Earthion

Format reviewed: Switch
Other formats available: PC (Steam), PlayStation 4|5, Xbox Series X|S, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis (in 2026)
Developer: Ancient/Limited Run Games
Website: Official Website
Players: 1
Age Rating: PEGI 7

Hot on the heels of my review of shoot-em-up (or shmup, as seems to be the more modern interpretation of the name) Platypus Reclayed, I’m looking at another retro-inspired game from the genre, Ancient Corporation’s Earthion.

Directed by legendary game composer Yuzo Koshiro, who also composed the soundtrack, Earthion goes all out with its retro credentials. Not only does it have the look and sound of a game from the late 80s or early 90s, but it was actually developed natively for 16-bit systems and is due a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis release next year.

Intrigued and further swayed by a wave of positive reviews, I got myself a digital version for my Switch and gave it a look.

Unlike Platypus Reclayed, Earthion does have a story, albeit a very straightforward one. To quote the game’s website, “With Earth’s resources depleted and its environment in ruin, most of humanity has fled to Mars. But when hostile invaders launch an attack on Earth, mankind has no choice but to fight back. As environmental researcher Azusa Takanashi, you’ll pilot the state-of-the-art space fighter YK-IIA and mount the most important counterattack in human history. Losing is not an option!”

This is largely just an excuse to set you on your way through a varied series of 8 levels, where you’ll dodge a vast array of bullets and blast your way to victory.

I found the game tremendously exciting. It had me on edge quite frequently when shields were low and I was dodging waves of bullets whilst fighting an end-of-level boss. The final stage, which is made up of a series of increasingly difficult bosses, is particularly intense.

Like most shoot-em-ups, it’s not a particularly long game. It takes about an hour to run through all the levels on easy, but you probably won’t get that far on your first run. Plus, the gameplay is so compulsive, you’ll likely want to go for another run through on another one of the varied difficulty settings.

There’s also a challenge mode, where some of the levels have been tweaked to be even more difficult, speeding up gameplay and throwing in more enemies. You compete in timed challenges, using specific weapons and limitations, and the score you get on this mode will be entered on an online leaderboard.

I liked the game mechanics on Earthion. It has more personalisation in how it works with shields and weapon upgrades than many games of its ilk. You start out with 2 special weapon slots, which can be filled by collecting power-ups. You can switch between these weapons with a button press, and they last until you run out of charge. Thankfully, the charge can be boosted by collecting the green gem power-ups dropped by a lot of the enemies. This means, if you’re careful with how you use the special weapons, you can retain them for a while.

Also, when you collect a new special weapon, if you still have charge in your old one, it pops out as a collectable powerup, allowing you to collect it again to switch back if you like. This is a handy option, though sometimes you can accidentally keep switching around if it’s in your path when you’re trying to evade enemies.

As you progress through the game, your weapon slots, shields and main shot can be upgraded too. To do this, you need to collect and keep an ‘adaptation pod’ in one of your weapon slots until the end of the level. After you defeat the level’s boss, you get to choose what you want to upgrade.

If you lose all three of your continues in a play-through, you have to start again, unfortunately, like the ‘good old days’. However, you do get given a passcode you can use to reinstate any upgrades you’d built up using the adaptation pods, to make life easier next time around. This also means if, like me, you think your skills aren’t quite up to scratch to take on the harder difficulty settings, you can be given a big leg-up after working through the easier mode.

Stylistically, the game is excellent too. The pixel art graphics are gorgeous, and you get a nice range of enemies, levels and bosses. Stage 4 even introduces some creepy alien creatures to attack, including destructible fleshy lumps that build up on the surroundings. This adds a sci-fi horror-like element.

It’s mainly done in traditional 2D style, but has some nice 3D flourishes when the ship flies into position, for instance.

The amount of carnage on screen can get a bit much at times, making it hard to know what to dodge. This ‘bullet hell’ approach is all part of the challenge and fun of games like these though.

The visuals can also be tweaked to an insane degree to deliver the old-school look of your choice. You can add different borders, alter the CRT-mimicked look, adjust the scan-lines or remove them entirely, etc… The list goes on.

The music by Yuzo Koshiro is awesome too. It feels authentic to the era it’s inspired by (helped by the fact that Koshiro was one of the pioneers of chiptune music in the 80s) and has a thrilling energy to it.

Overall, Earthion is a slick, retro shoot-em-up that satisfies at every level, making for a game that is as easy to pick up as it is hard to put down.

Earthion is out now on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, in both digital and physical formats.