Earthion

• Genre: Shmup
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 2-3 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's fine. Standard shmup length, especially considering it was made to play on Genesis.
• Did I cry: No.
• Soundtrack: Great high-octane classic 16-bit ost.
• Why I played: After playing Geppy-X, which I loved don't get me wrong, I wanted to play a shmup that actually felt good to play.
• Jank: None encountered, it's pretty polished.
• Difficulty: Pretty much just right, took me a few tries to get through a run. I only realized after that it has a "continue with all your upgrades" feature. Whoops.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm very pleased. Some games made to run on old hardware show obvious signs of restrictions in design. You can't even tell with Earthion.
• Recommend to others: I definitely would recommend it to a shmup fan.
  

Earthion is a fantastic example of how to make a game that can run on old hardware without it feeling like they limited themselves. I've played plenty of games like this, but it always felt like it could have been a better game if they didn't self-impose that restriction. Earthion really shows how good you could make a Sega Genesis game with modern design knowledge/skill.

It feels fast paced, the music is great, the controls are tight, the gimmick is interesting. I don't know what else you could want out of a shmup, really.