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Evan Norris
published 15 hours ago / 587 views
Many modern indie action games have used the aesthetics of the 16-bit era, but done so using modern engines like GameMaker and Construct. Earthlingon the contrary, it was originally developed for the Sega Genesis and then ported to modern platforms. This gives the shooter an extra level of authenticity, which is only enhanced when you remember Yuzo Koshiro, who wrote such classics as Revenge of the Shinobi, Streets of RageAnd Beyond the oasisreleased the game. For those who grew up on Genesis and Mega Drive, Earthling it's a wonderful homecoming. But is it worth playing for those who don't remember the golden age of Sega?
Earthling The story takes place in the distant future, when humanity decides to colonize Mars after depleting Earth's resources and destroying its environment. However, not everyone made the trip; some chose to remain in search of a solution. Little did they know that behind the dark side of the moon was an alien invasion fleet that attacked the blue planet. The countries that survived the onslaught banded together to form a single cosmic force called the Earthlings. Using technology captured from enemy weapons, the Space Force developed a powerful new fighter – the YK-IIA – and prepared for a counter-offensive. Pilot: Azusa Takanashi, an environmental researcher who lost her family in the first attack.
Aside from the cinematic bookends at the beginning and end of the campaign, there's little narrative. Earthling. However, those scenes that first introduce the threat and then end are interesting and beautifully animated.
In fact, everything about it is animated beautifully. Earthling. Considering the limitations of the Genesis hardware, it's mind-boggling what Koshiro, director Makoto Wada, and developer Ancient Corporation were able to achieve with this game. This is one of the most beautiful shooters you'll ever play, thanks to detailed sprites, rich animations, stunning special effects and clever use of parallax scrolling, zooming and pseudo-3D. And all of this is achieved with virtually zero slowdown (I only had one brief glitch during the death/respawn animation in the middle of a particularly hectic scene that I was unable to recreate).
The only graphical issue is with bullet speed, density, and clarity. There are times in the game, especially in the second stage, when fast-moving tiny enemy bullets blend into the background or disappear into the general visual chaos, leading to unnecessary collisions.
However, the graphics are ridiculously good. And the soundtrack doesn't lag behind. Written by Koshiro, it makes creative and bold use of the Genesis sound chip. It's driving, exciting and sometimes even ominous. The best individual songs are “Rush to the Core,” a fast-paced, pounding rock anthem, and “Final Gambit,” a triumphant tune borrowed heavily from Step by step.
While the audiovisual part Earthling is more or less flawless, its gameplay is not entirely flawless. Let's start with the good. Firstly, the ship's controls are generally clear and responsive. YK-IIA is touch too slow (the options to increase/decrease the speed will help here), but this is unlikely to be an obstacle. Secondly, the power-up system encourages the player to exercise freedom of action and make tactical decisions. There are several different secondary weapons you can pick up throughout the campaign, each with their own pros and cons. And you can also collect green gems called Solrium to make this secondary weapon (and your main shot) more powerful.
This is where things get really intriguing. If you fill one of the secondary weapon slots with an Adaptation Capsule and hold it at the end of a stage, you will be able to upgrade your ship between stages. You can upgrade your main shot and shields, add a new slot for an additional weapon, gain an extra life, or start the next stage with a power-up. This adds a tense risk/reward mechanic: do you go into every boss fight at full power to get through it unscathed, or do you go in with one less power-up in hopes of making your ship stronger in the long run?
The only downside to the power-up system is that some additional weapons are simply better than others. I found myself discarding or avoiding most of them and sticking to just the scatter shot for crowd control and the forward laser for larger ships and bosses.
Speaking of bosses, they tend to be good at Earthlingwith interesting attack patterns, multiple phases and a variety of offensive maneuvers. The only exception to this rule is the stage seven boss fight, which borders on tedious. The levels that lead up to these climactic battles are also well designed and varied. Some are wide open, some require you to navigate around debris, and others require you to make your way through caves and tight spaces. There's a particularly memorable section in stage five where the jagged, rocky ceiling of a cave shifts regardless of scrolling action. The downside of this variety is a feeling of tonal confusion. Rarely Earthling feel like one, united journey from Earth to the enemy's stronghold; more often than not it feels like a shoot-'em-up greatest hits album with ideas borrowed from Thunder force, Step by step, R-typeAnd Salamander.
Bye Earthling ambitious in terms of level design, it's strangely and frustratingly careless when it comes to scoring. You shoot enemies and debris, collect the solarium, and that's it. It's all very simple. The game would greatly benefit from the addition of multipliers, medals, time bonuses, and other behind-the-scenes logic. After all, a shmup's scoring system has a lot to do with its personality and longevity.
As for longevity, Earthlinglike most shooters, it has a short side. You can complete eight stages in just 45 minutes. Now Ancient can extend that time somewhat by including a few things: online leaderboards; four different difficulty levels; a password system that works like New Game+; and a series of small challenge levels where players must strive to achieve higher scores using certain sub-weapons.
Hosted by Bitwave, this modern console port also comes with a few bonuses. This includes a few scan and pixel tweaks, a few wallpaper options, a few playable demos and, most importantly, an early prototype featuring the YK-IIA as the engine.
Earthling is a beautiful love letter to the Sega Genesis and the 16-bit era in general, co-written by the man who helped define its greatness: Yuzo Koshiro. It is also one of the most beautiful and sounding jesters of all eras. It's not exactly one of the best playing however, due to a few minor flaws: tiny, hard to read bullets; unbalanced secondary weapons; and a rudimentary scoring system. However, advances in stage design, boss battles, and ongoing improvements are helping to mitigate these issues. If you grew up playing games like Hellfire, Thunder Force IVAnd Gayaresyou owe it to yourself to take it Earthling straightaway.
This review is based on the NS digital copy of Earthion provided by the publisher.
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