Sega Genesis Shmup Earthion

[retro junkie]

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Earthion: This brings back memories of games like the Thunder Force series, Eliminate Down, Zero Wing, or Gleylancer, real fuzzy 90's feels. When you learn that Yuzo Koshiro, Sega Genesis / Mega Drive legend, responsible for the music of games such as Streets of Rage and Revenge of Shinobi – is working on a new shooter that should bring some excitement somewhere in your mind. Physical copies for the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive in the US will be up for pre-order in 2026.
Graphics are a visual feast. Parallax scrolling gives depth and the feeling of motion. There is good detail in everything.

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Gameplay is chaotic and filled with action.  Bullet-hell chaos at times. You can tell that there are some influences from the Gradius series in that you can have those satellites hovering close to your ship and firing. Power ups are out there, you can have two weapons in your arsenal at once, some for the B button and some for the A button. Switch between the two weapons by using the C button. Control is tight. When you finally destroy a boss type ship, the explosion is massive, filling the whole screen.
The battle for humanity's survival is about to unfold.....................

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This is such a beautifully designed and fun shooter, luscious graphics. Topped off with some pumping good background music. It is becoming my favorite Genesis shmup. If you loved the shooters on the Genesis as a kid this will take you back to your childhood. And it is also available on steam for those of you who have that console.

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I hope you got what it takes because those aliens are relentless......attack the central unit!!
This is a ride you will not easily forget!!! I love it.............. highly recommended!!

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[BLUEVOODU]

This is another great post, @retro junkie.  I dig this Genesis series you're doing! 

In regard to this game, it has been on my radar.  There was a Nintendo Switch Physical version I was going to pick up... but missed it and the price skyrocketed upwards to $80-100... regrets were made lol. 

How did you pick up your copy?  I am hoping to pick up a copy of this at some point... not for the Genesis, but for something else.  It probably will have to be digital though since the Physical switch copy is now so expensive.   Are you also hitting the 2026 US pre-order?

[CreepinDeth]

It's amazing what developers can do when they've learned all there is to a system. I wish more developers would do this for other consoles. I think there are a couple of new digital games for N64 that push that hardware to the limit.

This one popped up on my radar from a couple of "Best of 2025" videos and I was able to see why. Love it.

[retro junkie]

@BLUEVOODU

Did you have to ask?......mine is a bootleg. But when the pre-order opens up I will be right there. I would like to have an official physical copy. And if it is not too much, a booklet and case. This is a keeper. Bootlegs tend to be very cheaply made. If the board has any plastic to extend and make the board fit in the shell, it will deteriorate, become brittle, and crumble faster than you would expect. There are some venders on AliExpress that do have quality game cart builds. The game below is Mean Bean Machine. It is good that the game is on a chip and not a blob, but very bad that most of the board is this cheap plastic stuff that goes to pot in no time. I haven't taken my Earthion game apart yet, I want to enjoy it for awhile just in case it breaks. This cheap plastic will break from inserting and taking it out of the console.

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