Review: Earthion (PS5)

Shoot for the stars

Version Reviewed: PS5 (Standard) / European

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• review by Sammy Barker 9:30am

Seasoned SEGA Genesis specialist Yuzo Koshiro was always going to work wonders when he announced he was creating an all-new shmup with the 16-bit system in mind.

But Earthion is not just an outstanding homage to the intergalactic escapades of past – it may be up there with genre titans like R-Type and Gradius.

The game walks an admirable tight rope, appealing to both old-school and contemporary sensibilities simultaneously.

Leveraging a regenerating shield system which is intrinsically linked to a shot power meter, you’re punished for taking hits – but it’s not an insta-fail like in the quarter-consuming romps of arcade past.

Piloting a super ship fashioned from the scraps of intergalactic invaders, you represent one of humanity’s few remaining hopes, as half of the population seeks refuge on Mars, leaving the Earth open to attack.

Across eight outstandingly action-packed levels, you’ll weave between the scraps and shrapnel of a cosmic conflict, outrun a nimble alien nasty, and test your weaponry against a cosmic deity – it’s all in the day of your average anime hero.

A two-tier weapon system means you can blend the firepower of your standard blasters with a variety of pick-ups, including rocket launchers and scatter-shot lasers. Collecting energy powers up both your main and sub-weapons, but taking hits impacts their effectiveness.

Automaton Pods can also be collected during each level and spent on either new power-up slots or the overall effectiveness of your shields and shot power. This risk/reward allows you to forge your own path, and a password system enables you to carry your progress forward.

This can make the demanding Hard and Hotshot difficulties a trifle more accessible, but it’s ultimately up to you whether you want to take advantage of the passwords or not. Purists may prefer to start each run fresh.

Credit must be attributed to Koshiro’s mastery of the Genesis’ timeless Yamaha YM2612 sound chip, with this being among his best ever work.

The soundtrack is as peppy and melodic as you’d expect from the composer behind Streets of Rage, but it also has an air of grandiose which matches the sci-fi setting. Pair this with scratchy voice samples and tinny drum beats and you have a match made in heaven.

But the pixel art – created by Ancient veteran Makoto Wada here – also deserves credit, with dramatic backdrops and enormous enemies filling the screen.

This game is running an original 16-bit ROM through an emulator on the PS5 – a cartridge release is planned for SEGA’s system in 2026 – and it’s extraordinary how modern development tools have enabled a two-man team to extract this much power from the 37-year-old hardware.

The emulator does allow you to tinker with the presentation a bit, offering simulated CRT screens with scanlines, but you may prefer to enjoy the pixel presentation in its original format. That’s an option, too.

A Caravan mode offers some longevity beyond the core campaign, offering some bespoke time attack and score attack challenges. But we suppose the only criticism here would be that you can see practically all the content of Earthion in an afternoon.

We also find the PlayStation controls a little unorthodox, as it can’t seem to decide whether it wants to settle on the traditional Japanese button layout (with Circle being confirm) or the more common Western setup (with Cross/X being confirm) – but this is a minor nitpick.

Conclusion

Earthion is an outstanding achievement – a blissfully retro shmup experience with just enough modern sensibilities to make it appeal to an all-new generation of players. With sublime pixel artwork, a scorching score, and a creative campaign that keeps you on your toes, this is an absolutely outstanding effort from 90s dev Ancient.