In the days of the arcade, you could always find a good shmup to waste your coins on. Dollar after dollar clinking away in the machine with those silver coins like the sound of slot machines at a casino, all in the pursuit of getting the high score. Whether it was Galaga, Defender, or a multitude of other choices, it was a destination genre for many that walked along the brightly colored machines. With the genre now a mainstay on consoles, one of my favorites being the Pixeljunk Shooter series, it’s nice to see the Nintendo Switch sharing the love.

While many people are discussing Sine Mora EX once again, as it just came out on the NS, it’s important to not overlook Earth Atlantis. While certainly not your typical shmup like Gradius or Raiden, it’s got a lot of character and some interesting game design decisions that people who enjoy the genre will appreciate.

Beginning with the obvious, the game looks different from most things you’ll play in this day and age. Its focus is a sepia tone with intricate line work and values. In fact, I found myself dying because I’d get caught up looking at something and not realizing I was running right into an enemy. While the art direction is beautiful, it also means that enemies can camouflage like nobody’s business. Of course, this was more problematic near the beginning of the game than the latter portions when I knew what to look for. But when you win an award for “Excellence in Art” during BIC Festival 2016 in Busan, it’s hard to really feel it needs changing. It also won the “Vermilion Gate” Award (Best in Show) during the 5th BitSummit 2017 in Kyoto.​

Once you’re able to get past the visual choice, you can start to appreciate how the game actually plays. While you may think that it’s a simple sidescrolling shooter, it goes more along the lines of Song of the Deep; you are able to freely explore the world you’re provided. The story goes that the threats of global warming were not heeded, so the majority of the world was covered in water. That being the case, giant sea creatures began to take over. That seems logical enough – have you seen what lives in the deep sea? I’m amazed they haven’t taken over already.

You’ll have the option of going up and down, as well as side to side while choosing which way to face for maximum damage with whichever submarine you choose to take into battle. Each option has varying stats and different forms of weaponry. Whether you do a front and back shot or omni-shot is completely dependent on which vessel you choose. Like any shmup, your weaponry is limited at first, but soon grows with power-ups that you acquire. And since you’ll be taking damage, you can also grab some much needed health along the way. Outside of the exploration and normal bad guys, you’ll face more than 30 bosses that will make you reconsider how you play the game.

Upgrading your ship is vital to surviving in the depths of the world. As you defeat bosses, new paths open up for further exploration. This is where the game may surprise you if you had no knowledge of it going in, as previously mentioned. It’s not often this genre takes cues from Metroidvanias, having you backtrack along a large, interwoven map. Typically they are level based, and handcrafted with enemies coming at designated points. Here, enemies spawn when they feel like – just because you clear an area doesn’t mean you should kick your feet up.

You may argue that even on the lowest difficulty setting, the game’s bosses are a bit harder than you may expect from a setting called easy. Certainly, they aren’t what you’d expect after lackadaisically wandering around the rest of the map in preparation. It also doesn’t help that you lose your power-ups when you take damage, making matters much worse. It’s here that the bullet hell type gameplay comes in, and when you need those twitch-like reflexes to avoid one-hit kills. While enjoyable, it’ll be a turn off for many that find things games like Cuphead or Super Meat Boy to not be inclusive of all skill levels. And while I love the choice for the visuals, it can be a bit confusing as to what is traversable and what is actually a barrier. In many cases I found myself moving through the rebar scaffolding when I thought it would be a wall, and being stopped abruptly by the exact same thing thinking I’d be able to move through it. This obviously allows for secrets and the like, but it can be an annoyance similar to invisible walls.

I’m not going to tell you that Earth Atlantis is the next generation of shmups, or it’s even the best one this past decade, but it’s a good one. If you love the genre, and a good challenge, the game offers a lot. Outside of the story, you’ll unlock what is essentially a boss rush mode for those of you that want a challenge outside of what is offered in the story mode. This doesn’t break new ground, but it sure as hell brings a lot to the table.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Exploration
• Varied Ship Load-outs
• Monochromatic Color Scheme/Design

Cons

• Weird Difficulty Spikes
• Some Level Design Choices

Earth Atlantis was developed by Pixel Perfex and published by Headup Games. It was released on NS October 5th, 2017 for $14.99.  The game was provided to us for review on NS. For more on Earth Atlantis, visit its official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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