Earthion is a new 16-bit shooter, shoot ’em up or “shmup” made for the Genesis available on Steam, soon on Switch, PlayStation and Xbox and 2026 on the Genesis and Mega Drive. Its from Yuzo Koshiro’s Ancient who has made amazing games like Streets of Rage 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog. How is it? Let’s check it out!
Gunbird is like stepping into an arcade fever dream where the only rule is “fly fast, shoot faster, and try not to question why a witch on a broom is battling robots.” This classic vertical-scrolling shooter drops you into a world where ancient treasure hunters don’t bother with shovels; they prefer high-powered airships and endless waves of absurdly hostile enemies. You’ve got a roster of eccentric characters, from Marion, the aforementioned witch with zero chill, to Ash, a grumpy adventurer whose solution to everything is “more bullets.” The plot? Something about gathering magic mirrors to summon a wish-granting bird. But let’s be honest, you’ll be too busy dodging neon death rays to care.
The gameplay is pure chaos—screen-filling explosions, relentless bosses, and enough flying projectiles to make you wonder if dodging should be an Olympic sport. Power-ups drop like candy, giving you temporary godlike firepower before the game humbles you with a well-placed laser to the face. And the humor? Top-notch. The bosses shout ridiculous one-liners, and your characters respond with quips that make you question their life priorities. It’s the kind of game where you’ll laugh, cry, and probably scream when you lose your last life to a pixel-sized enemy you swore you dodged. Gunbird doesn’t just test your reflexes—it tests your ability to survive pure, unadulterated mayhem with a grin.
Razion EX is launching on the eShop on September 16th! (Script is designed for post-release viewership)
It took a bit of effort on the shmup community’s part, but Razion EX is finally being made available on the Nintendo eShop. It has a ton of mystique, thanks to its very limited and sought-after release, but now anyone at all can download and play it for themselves! Our review. Bullet Heaven
Shmup Junkie – What are the Best Shoot Em Ups for Beginners? Are they just easy? Do they teach important skills for improving at Shoot em Ups? Or are they just fun and it’s doesn’t matter. By popular demand, instead of a hardest shmups video, this Shooter 101 focuses on the best shmups for beginners. From the 90s shooters on the PC Engine and Mega Drive, to the bullet hell games of Cave and Touhou, which shmups have the best easy and novice modes to learn and improve. Also featuring games on Steam and PS4 for those playing on modern systems or on a computer. Of course, this is just a small sampling of many great games for beginners, so check out the list in this description for even more great, beginner shoot em ups to try.
Studio Mudprints – it’s time for our picks for the top-10 shmups of 2020, plus honorable and dubious mentions. What is your favorite shooting game from last year? Let us know in the comments below! No rights, no wrongs, all great!
Shmup Junkie – The History of COMPILE Shoot ‘Em Ups Have your heard of Compile? One of the greatest developers of STGs in history? What is a Compile Shooter? What shooting games ( #Shmups ) did they make? Are they still making games? How was Compile involved in the M2 Aleste Collection just released on the Switch and PS4?