by Vladimir Vega 👾
◆ The legendary composer and producer Yuzo Koshiro <Streets Of Rage, The Revenge Of Shinobi, Shenmue, Ys, etc.> alongside Motohiro Kawashima, performed live at the Red Bull Music Festival in 2018/2019, playing iconic tracks from the Streets Of Rage games that defined the ’90s and Sega’s legendary Genesis console. The response from both, the audience and the retro community was overwhelming. Around that same time, Koshiro was invited to once again compose the music for the popular series as the trio of Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games began work on its fourth installment.
Caught off guard by the success of the game itself and carrying the impressions from the festival performances, Koshiro began to think it would be interesting to start making 16-bit style games again himself. Seeing the potential of new software tools on the market, as well as the business opportunities in homebrew and the retro gaming scene, he decided to reactivate his development studio, Ancient Corp. which he founded way back in 1990 and which brought us phenomenal titles in the past such as Streets Of Rage 2 & 3 <Sega Mega Drive>, The Story Of Thor <Sega Mega Drive>, and Sonic The Hedgehog <Sega Master System>. As a big fan of the Gradius/Darius series, Koshiro decided to make his first shmup <shoot ’em up> game for the Sega Mega Drive platform, with which he had enjoyed great success in the past, and so we got an incredible creation called Earthion!
Honestly, I won’t beat around the bush and will say right away that Earthion is definitely, along with Xeno Crisis, one of the best Sega games of the last 10 years, period. When I first saw the game in the trailer, I was completely stunned because I couldn’t believe someone had managed to push the Mega Drive to its absolute limits. The graphics, sprites, animation, music, and execution are all top-notch, making Earthion an almost perfect title that can comfortably stand shoulder to shoulder with a mid-to-late 90s Neo Geo game. The fantastic visual style, supported by excellent parallax scrolling, contributes to a perfect mix of Thunder Force IV, Ranger X, and let’s say Sol-Deace/Sol-Feace, which are considered some of the best shmup titles on the Mega Drive platform.
Earthion puts you in the role of Azusa Takanashi, who pilots the YK-IIA Fighter, a spaceship of extraordinary power. To save Mother Earth from alien invaders from the dark side of the moon, you’ll need to master 8 highly detailed levels! The main menu allows you to select the difficulty, number of lives, and adjust the controls to your personal preference. There’s also a music player that lets you enjoy the soundtrack, which is a masterpiece in its own right, consisting of a whopping 27 original tracks, further proving the love poured into the music of the game. Koshiro even recommends playing the game with quality speakers and a Hi-Fi system, so you know what to do.
During gameplay, you can upgrade your weapon with all sorts of deadly lasers and other firepower in order to finish off the various bosses who, of course, are waiting for you at the end of each level. There is also digitized speech included among the sound effects. The color palette is surprisingly rich and reminiscent of the Super Nintendo aesthetic, which further contributes to the impression that you’re looking at something above the standard for the Mega Drive (note: the SNES has a larger color palette). In addition to the main campaign, there are also extra “challenge” modes like time and score challenges, as well as online leaderboards that encourage chasing high-score records.
Earthion delivers fast-paced and tense action, with each level testing the player’s reflexes and strategy, while a rich 16-bit atmosphere fully immerses you in an authentic retro shmup experience. Whether Koshiro and Ancient Corp. will continue to deliver top-tier gems remains to be seen, and we’re certainly keeping our fingers crossed that they stick to their mission. For now, the game is only available in digital format for PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Steam, where it can be played within a Sega emulator. The releases for new systems also include additional options like scanline effects, faithfully simulating the look of a classic CRT TV.
◆ Physical releases can be expected later this year from the well-known publisher Limited Run Games, as well as Superdeluxe Games, which will cover Japan and Asia. Interestingly, Earthion is a 64-megabit game, which is quite ambitious for Mega Drive standards. There are also rumors about a special arcade edition of the game that will feature some new modes, unlike the Sega version, but for now, there is no official information about it.
◆ While we’re waiting for the official cartridge release, the game’s ROM has already leaked online, but let’s keep that quiet. If you can, please support Koshiro!
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