Earth Atlantis

Even if you're not a 2D 'shmup' veteran, or are looking for something a little off the beaten, sidescrolling track, there is plenty to enjoy here - we have tight controls, plenty of unique monstrous bosses to defeat and exploration of a broken but beautiful submerged world. While it lacks a few options, has occasional boss fight difficulty spikes and is not the relentless action that some genre fans prefer, Earth Atlantis has enough old school shoot 'em up substance to back up its glorious and organic style.

While the physical limitations of its content are clear, it takes little away from the intrigue and challenge Earth Atlantis generates through its fusion of explorative design with the shoot-em-up mechanics that it unquestionably pays homage to.

Earth Atlantis may look good and have a cool upgrade system, but unfortunately it is brought down by its lazily-implemented gameplay loop, lackluster radar feature, and accessibility issues.

Earth Atlantis takes the world its built and makes us appreciate it for every detail. Despite some gameplay issues, this title does the best it can to provide players with a memorable experience.

Earth Atlantis is a uniquely looking, but badly designed game. It bases it's gameplay on conquering the flooded Earth and killing beasts inhabiting this brave new world.

A game that could have been better, but doesn't manage to get higher quality peaks.

Earth Atlantis is a solidly built 2D shooter with a refined visual style and a relatively friendly learning curve, but a lack of colour and variety hold it back from being truly memorable.

Earth Atlantis innovates by bringing in ideas from the metroidvania genre to its shoot'em up shell, creating an experience that is unlike any other.

That's a question Earth Atlantis doesn't have an answer for. Perhaps the point, the game would like you to believe, is the “thrilling” boss battles. But if that's the case, these battles should've been more engaging and memorable—adrenaline-intoxicating, if you will. It seems Pixel Perfex wanted to create a boss rush game similar to Acid Nerve's Titan Souls or Team Ico's Shadow of the Colossus but tossed the flood of mindless enemies in to keep you from sinking into the abyssal depths of boredom. Unfortunately, it's too late, as Earth Atlantis doesn't so much sink in the depths of the ocean as much as it drowns in the boring and tedious repetition it's so engulfed in.

Earth Atlantis is an enjoyable shooter with a beautiful visual style, reminiscent of a time where monsters were believed to be hidden underwater. The game has been re-balanced since the initial Nintendo Switch release, not to mention being able to use the d-pad for steering the ship. There are two main game modes and multiple pilotable ships. Strangely the audio options are only available on the main menu, and I ended up muting my TV while playing as I found the constant shooting audio level to be a tad too overpowering. There are three difficulty modes as well as a record keeper for completion times, but it seems to be local only and not global. I think the game would benefit from trying to best your friends time in either mode.