Earthion

From Sega Retro

n/a
  • EN
  • JP
  • BR
  • ES

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Earthion
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Limited Run Games (US, CA, BR), SUPERDELUXE GAMES (JP, AS), Clear River Games (EU), Shinyuden (ES)
Developer:
Sound driver: MDSDRV
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad
Genre: Shooting

















Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages:
  • English
  • 日本語
  • Português
  • Español
    		•
    Release Date RRP Code
    Sega Mega Drive
    JP
    Sega Mega Drive
    US
    Sega Mega Drive
    ES
    Non-Sega versions

    This article is about an upcoming game. Its content may change frequently during the game's development.

    Earthion (アーシオン) is an upcoming aftermarket shooting game developed by Ancient primarily for the Sega Mega Drive. Physical Mega Drive cartridge versions will be published by SUPERDELUXE GAMES in Japan and Asia, by Limited Run Games in the Americas, and by Clear River Games in Europe. The game also managed to get a 16:9 version for Windows PCs (Steam) and PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.[1] Due to compatibility constraints, the Steam and arcade versions were released before the modern console versions - with those versions still seeing release before than the Mega Drive version, which was pushed back to 2026.[2] Later in 2025, Shinyuden confirmed that Earthion would be released in Spain for the Mega Drive alongside a new localization of the game in Spanish (Castilian).[3]

    Earthion is published under the label YKGGG, a brand name covering all the retro-style games developed at Ancient. If Earthion meets success, Ancient will begin the venture of releasing video games designed for retro consoles.[4] A separate version of the game for arcade hardware was confirmed by Ancient and published by exA-Arcadia, which features an exclusive new mode that will not be available in the Mega Drive version.[5]

    Story

    Gameplay

    This game is a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up.

    History

    Development

    Likely spurred on by the overwhelming success of Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima's 2018-2019 performances during the Red Bull Music Festival and the well-received Streets of Rage 4 in 2020, Ancient began investigating the prospect of releasing retro-style games. As professional aftermarket games became a popular trend during the 2010's (with the greater availability of required development tools having increased the number of aftermarket titles on authentic retro consoles), and as Koshiro's name is strongly tied to the Mega Drive in the West, Ancient began production of a new shoot-em-up title for Sega's 16-bit hardware.

    The project was announced over Twitter on November 30, 2022 by Yuzo Koshiro, the founder and CEO of Ancient Corp.[6] All communication around the game was mainly done through Koshiro personal tweets, although it also received more conventional promotional through presentations at video game conventions like Tokyo Game Show 2023, BitSummit 2024 in Kyoto, and PAX West 2024 in Seattle.

    The game's title was been unveiled on June 16, 2023, with Koshiro explaining that it was inspired by and takes after some of gaming's most beloved shooters, like Gradius and Darius. It also pays homage to those games by following the same naming pattern of containing 5 morae (such as グラディウス gu-ra-di-u-su and ダライアス da-ra-i-a-su), with Earthion deliberately given a 5-mora title as well (アーシオン a-a-shi-o-n).[7]

    As Koshiro promised to release the game on physical Mega Drive cartridges, Ancient signed with both SUPERDELUXE GAMES[8] and Limited Run Games for physical distribution in Japan and North America. Limited Run Games later suggested that these physical releases on modern platforms are a work in progress.[9] During gamescom latam 2025, Yuzo Koshiro and Limited Run Games confirmed that Earthion is receiving a localization in Portuguese and will be sold in Brazil.[10] It was later confirmed on the official website that Clear River Games would be in charge of publishing duties for Europe.

    Legacy

    After the game's release on Steam, Earthion managed to have its ROMs leaked into the internet. This was acknowledged by Yuzo Koshiro on X, despite having claimed the ROM files were encrypted. Koshiro asked his followers to support him and Ancient by purchasing the game on Steam and other platforms.[11][12] In Japanese, Koshiro also told his followers to not purchase unauthorized reproduction cartridges of the game before the official release on the system in 2026.[13]

    Production credits

    Main article: Earthion/Production credits.

    Promotional material

    Physical scans

    Technical information

    Main article: Earthion/Technical information.

    External links

    References

    1. ↑ @LimitedRunGames on X (Ghostarchive)
    2. ↑ @yuzokoshiro on X (archive.today)
    3. ↑ @shinyuden on X (Ghostarchive)
    4. ↑ @yuzokoshiro on X (archive.today)
    5. ↑ @AncientGames_JP on X (archive.today)
    6. ↑ @yuzokoshiro on X (archive.today)
    7. ↑ @yuzokoshiro on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2023-06-24 21:36)
    8. ↑ @sdxgames on X (archive.today)
    9. ↑ @LimitedRunGames on X (archive.today)
    10. ↑ @SAVE_RAL on X (Ghostarchive)
    11. ↑ @yuzokoshiro on X (archive.today)
    12. ↑ @yuzokoshiro on X (archive.today)
    13. ↑ @yuzokoshiro on X (Ghostarchive)
    Earthion

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