When it comes to genres of video game they don’t get much more retro than the shoot ‘em up. Since the early arcade days gamers have been playing as little space ships and dodging lasers, and even in 2025 I absolutely love jumping into a classic shmup. Although they’ve been around forever though I didn’t really get fully into shoot ‘em ups until the Virtual Console arrived on the Nintendo Wii. With so many classics ranging from R-Type to Gate of Thunder I was enraptured by this hardcore genre even if I was terrible at them. I’d have had a much better time if I’d had Earthion to play back then, as it’s a much more accessible entry point to the genre while still having plenty of difficulty options for veterans.
Like any good shmup, Earthion features an epic story about the Earth running out of resources and alien invaders, which you’ll only discover by reading the game’s official website because this is an arcade game dammit not a visual novel. Once you jump into the game you’ll be greeted by a classic horizontal space shooter, where the screen will scroll full of enemies towards you and your adorable little combat vehicle. At the top of the screen there’s a meter that shows your shield (which recharges with successful hits so you can stay alive longer) and the power of your standard laser.
By collecting little green gems you’ll boost the power of your standard shots and be able to more effectively blow up any nasty alien ships coming your way, but that’s not the only trick you’ll have up your sleeve in Earthion. You can collect sub weapons throughout stages too, which you can fire alongside your regular weapon that have a variety of different effects. There are rockets, homing lasers and bombs which all hit different parts of the screen and thus are handy in different situations, and because you can carry multiple of these weapons you can switch them on the fly to suit the stage you’re on.
Most shmups I’ve played have stages that blend into each other and feel fairly similar, but that absolutely isn’t the case with Earthion. Each stage has a different hook alongside the obvious visual differences, and this variety makes the game feel fresh from start to finish. Whether you’re racing to escape an alien chasing you, bombing an alien city and dodging skyscrapers as you do or just taking on a classic boss rush, the pace of this alien blasting adventure is always shifting in a new and exciting way.
When I think of playing games in this classic genre one of the first things I think about are the epic boss fights I’ve had over the years. Earthion absolutely doesn’t disappoint in this regard, with loads of screen filling metal monstrosities to take down with different attack patterns to learn and strategies to uncover. There are some seriously creative bosses throughout the eight stages of the game, and overcoming them was the highlight of the experience for me.
To manage the tougher battles and stages of Earthion you’ll need to be at maximum power at all times, and this is where the upgrade capsules come in. Each stage has one of these to collect, and if you complete a stage while holding one you’ll be able to power up your spaceship in a variety of ways. Whether you want more shield and shot power, an extra slot for a handy subweapon or just some more lives, it always feels great to use these even if the accompanying decision is a tough one.
I must admit that as much as I enjoy shoot ‘em ups I find them rather intimidating, because so many of them are absolutely brutal. Earthion caters to pilots of all skill levels though, thanks to a variety of difficulties. Easy mode lets you experience the whole game (which isn’t a given in the genre) at a much more manageable level, and playing through on this difficulty level meant I was able to see all the stages on my first attempt without too much stress and only a few lives lost. There are three tougher difficulties for genre veterans too, which will take many more attempts to succeed at if you’re anything like me.
There’s not really a whole lot to Earthion outside of replaying the main campaign over and over again, and slowly making it further on harder difficulties through trial, error and hopefully self improvement. There is a challenge mode that gives you a choice of specific weapons to use in modified versions of familiar stages, but it’s not particularly well explained why you’d play these over the story and for the most part they don’t feel necessary.
I had such a fun time playing this arcade style throwback, but if you really want to feel the nostalgia you can wait until next year and buy Earthion on the Sega Megadrive/Genesis. This isn’t just a retro style shooter, this is a genuine 16-bit creation that you’ll actually be able to play on decades old hardware if you want. For those who don’t have antique consoles in the attic there are plenty of cool CRT effects and scan lines you can add to the modern version of the game though, to emulate that classic experience.
I had a blast (if you’ll pardon the pun) shooting my way through aliens in Earthion, but one issue popped up again and again in my quest to save humanity. Quite a few stages feature buildings and other obstacles that will damage you if you fly into them, and they’re really hard to differentiate from the scrolling backgrounds of the level itself. Now after a few playthroughs you’ll be aware of this and no longer struggle, but it was pretty frustrating in my early hours of space shooting and caused me to lose a few lives rather unfairly.
As far as classic shmups go, Earthion is easily one of the best I’ve ever played and belongs in the conversation with the genre greats. With a whole lot of variety, a clever upgrade system and the best difficulty options I’ve seen in a space shooter, Earthion will bring you that 16-bit nostalgia in spades whether you wait to play it on a retro console or not.
