Welcome to our review of the love letter to the old arcade games, EarthNight! The whole concept revolves around dragons that have taken over the Earth, and humanity has fled to space. You must help Stanley and Sydney skydive back to Earth while careening across the backs of massive, snake-like dragons as they soar high above the planet, all while an original chiptune soundtrack pounds away in the background. So, what you get is a runner, with arcade elements … in space?
EarthNight
Dragons have taken over the Earth, and you float around in a spaceship, with some crazy hoarding scientist. Primary currency? Water. You collect junk while jumping and dashing your way across the back of the dragons on your way down to Earth. Each level ends with the opportunity to kill the dragon you’re running on and collecting a tooth, scale, or another dragonesque item. It took me a while to get accustomed to the jump pattern of the game. Stanley, the old beard guy with a sandwich, has two jump options. One high jump, one long jump, which you have to time to kill the enemies you face. By pushing down the control stick on the Joy-Con, you can push Stanley down again, which makes timing the ultimate weapon. If you push the control stick too early, you’ll land before the monster, and get hit by hit. If you press it too late, you’ll miss the beast and the opportunity to make the new jump for a higher platform. And while timing and jumping, you’ll have to collect as much junk as you can, since this will transfer into the precious o2-currency to upgrade your skills.
Dragons! Dragons Everywhere
Storywise, there is not much to go on. It’s an arcade-style runner, in which you slay dragons and gather water to buy stuff. I had no difference in playstyle while playing with either Stanley or Sydney. I just preferred to slay dragons with the old-sandwich-guy, especially when I started to unlock some of the items (a total of 25) that make the killing and running smoother. If you die during a run, it’s game over. But if you continue to explore the five layers of the atmosphere with than 40 enemies, more than 15 unique dragons and hundreds of scraps and items, you’ll be mesmerized by the art of Mattahan.
Hard-to-master
EarthNight is one of those games that’s fun to play, easy to start with, and hard to master. It certainly takes a lot of practice and well-timed jumping to make it to the last layers of the atmosphere (something I did not succeed in while writing this review). I certainly had flashbacks to some of the other runner games I reviews, like Runbow. Although I preferred the style and chiptune soundtrack of EarthNight more than the color explosion of Runbow. Chipocrite, a.k.a produce it. Paul Weinstein, who uses original Nintendo Game Boys, often accompanied by bass, guitar, drums, and other lo-fi sequencers, to create complex audio masterpieces. His multifaceted but catchy compositions combine the nostalgic game sounds of his childhood with modern music influences. It’s undoubtedly a beautiful combination of art and music, that helps with returning to the game. I just don’t know if it’s enough to keep us entertained.
Conclusion
To conclude, EarthNight is a well-drawn and musically well-produced title, but it offers not enough in the rogue/runner genre to keep me entertained. If I compare it with the other runners, it’s more complicated and provides more depth. But since it also has to compete with some of the rogue-lites out there, like Dead Cells, Binding of Isaac (I know, not runners, but timed mechanisms), it could be hard. It’s also available on Apple Arcade, in which I think it’s a much bigger fit (and offers a unique selling point for the platform). Nevertheless, it’s fun, compelling, and provides a considerable amount of gameplay, all wrapped up in a beautiful painting. It could have been more, though, much more.
