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Earthion: first impressions of a game that brought me back to the early 90’s
It was like playing as it was more than 30 years ago.
We had known for some time that Yuzo Koshiro, one of the legends of gaming and a composer, was working on a new project: Earthion. This 16-bit shoot ‘em up is notable for being built natively for the original SEGA Genesis — or Mega Drive, as it was known outside of America. Last week, the game debuted a new trailer confirming its release in 2025 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. A physical version will also be available for SEGA’s classic console.
During our coverage of gamescom latam 2025, we had the opportunity to play the first two levels of this title. It will make old-school gamers nostalgic for the way things used to be.
A brief experience exploring Earthion
It’s not every day that you can say you played a new SEGA Genesis title released in the middle of 2025. It was impressive to see how the technology of that era could still be pushed to its limits with modern creativity. The PC demo ran on a Steam Deck and allowed you to play through the first two levels.
Two aspects immediately stand out in Earthion: the first is its pixel art, through which the game presents a retro feel while showing 3D effects. Scenarios, enemies, and ships appear constantly. Second, and unsurprisingly, is its music. Yuzo Koshiro’s influence is evident, and the recommendation to use headphones from the beginning is unmissable.
The gameplay is quite simple but fits the classic description of being “easy to learn, hard to master.” One interesting detail about the button scheme is that it maintains the same layout as the Genesis control scheme. Controlling the ship feels natural. You can use a main shot and a secondary one, which you can intersperse. Reflexes are put to the test from the first level onward as you have to dodge multiple shots. After each level, the game gives you a rating based on how well you did. Despite choosing normal difficulty, I began to doubt that I could finish by the second level, which speaks volumes to me about the level of skill required.
After finishing the demo and seeing the “Thank You” message, I was overcome with that feeling only shooting games of yesteryear could provoke: a mixture of adrenaline, concentration, and surprise because of how good retro games can look nowadays.
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