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Einhänder is a 1997 scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan on November 20, 1997 and in North America on May 5, 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was also re-released for the Japanese PlayStation Network on June 25, 2008. The name Einhänder is German language and denotes a type of sword that is wielded with one hand, here used to refer to the single manipulator arm possessed by the player's spacecraft.
The game is based on the story of the Greek's mythology of Selene and Endymion and set in a fictional future during a war between the Earth and the Moon. The player is part of the Moon's forces and must invade enemy territories to gather reconnaissance and enemy weapons. The music of the game, mainly in a techno/Trance music style, was composed by Kenichiro Fukui and was published in Japan as a soundtrack album. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay and graphics, but felt the game's short duration and lack of two-player mode were minor flaws.
The player can choose between multiple Difficulty level and three different models of the "Einhänder" fighter, in addition to two Player character ones. The Japanese version also features a difficulty setting called "Free", which grants unlimited continues but disables the score. The player's fighter can move at different speeds and is equipped with a default machine gun as well as a manipulator arm, which is used to collect left by destroyed enemies. Gunpods have varying amounts of power, ammunition and range, and include cannons, guided missile launchers, aircraft-sized and other types of weapons. Gunpods depleted of ammunition are discarded. They can be switched between an overhead and below-the-belly position, causing them to fire at different angles or directions. Most stages have a middle boss and an end boss, which often possess a main core and individual parts that can be destroyed.
The game's score system is based on a multiplier bar and a hit gauge counter. As the player destroys enemy cores, the hit counter increases. Points awarded for destroyed cores are multiplied by the value of the hit counter. The counter decreases when the player stops destroying cores. However, if the multiplier reaches a certain amount it will begin to flash, awarding large point bonuses for any cores destroyed during this short period of time.
As the player progresses through the game, the Selenean military satellite Hyperion relays command orders and objectives. The on-board central computer "EOS" synthesizes orders. EOS also records and relays the player's flight and battle record data back to Hyperion. After completion of the last objective Hyperion informs the player that the battle pattern of the latest EOS unmanned fighter is complete. The player is given the honor of being the target of the last EOS test as reward for their heroic efforts. Upon the player's death they will advance two classes and be awarded the Sirius decoration. After surviving the intense barrage of artillery fire of the test, the pilot wonders why they must be terminated by their allies and questions their military leaders' rationale for the war.
The game's narrative then skips to one month later when the pilot re-emerges in space flying an armed Einhänder spacecraft. Hyperion communicates that the player is committing an act of treason and must remove their armament and surrender. Still, the player fights their way through the Selenean fighters and faces the Hyperion, the game's final boss. The ending sequence depicts the player's spacecraft damaged and drifting in space. The pilot engages its Rocket engine and dives into an army of Selenean spacecraft with the Moon in the background. An epilogue shows the actions of the lone Einhänder pilot ended the war by destroying the armies of both sides — leading to an eventual peace. Yet, the pilot's name and deeds were stricken from the records and they are remembered only by veterans of the war. In a post-credits scene, a lone Einhänder spacecraft is shown powering up.
American publisher Working Designs was interested in publishing the game in North America for its Spaz brand of shoot 'em ups, but could not as Sony Computer Entertainment had a partnership at the time; it was the sixth and final game in Sony's deal to publish Square's games, with Einhänder replacing Tobal 2 in this position. For the North American version, the speed of the arm switching was increased and some were altered; the game mode called "Free" was removed; and the Gallery was given a modified interface and different pictures than those from the Japanese version. The game was not released in Europe. On June 25, 2008, Square Enix re-released the game as a digital download on the Japanese PlayStation Network.
The development team behind Einhänder worked on the Gummi Ship portions for Kingdom Hearts III. In a similar vein as with Final Fantasy and The World Ends with You in previous Kingdom Hearts games, Einhänder is represented in Kingdom Hearts III in the form of the Endymion being a Gummi Ship and Schwarzgeist being a secret boss in the Gummi Ship portions of the game along with a remix of the latter's theme.
American gaming publications stated that the game was especially notable for a shoot 'em up as it had no strong competitor on the PlayStation at the time of its release. The website AllGame referred to the game as the best side scrolling shooter "to come out in the post 16-bit era of video gaming", while Eurogamer called it "the most successful of Square's expeditions into non-RPG territory". Next Generation said in a contemporary review that it "makes no effort to be anything more than a traditional shooter, with the addition of 3D backgrounds and enemies, but waiting to see what's next is a rewarding experience, as any game should be. It's a welcome challenge for those gamers dying to play a good shooter; and hopefully, Einhander can inject some life into a moribund genre." All four members of the review team for Electronic Gaming Monthly ( EGM) regarded Einhänder as far superior to any recent shoot 'em up, and Kraig Kujawa went so far as to call it "the best shooter ever".
The gameplay was praised by critics. EGM was most impressed with the challenging enemy AI, finding that enemies would cooperate with each other to herd the player into obstacles or weapons fire. AllGame lauded the intense action and diversity of spacecraft, the gun pod system and the fact that bosses are composed of different destructible parts. GamePro stated that while the gameplay scheme is common among shoot 'em ups, the "thumb-busting action" and variety of weaponry made for an enjoyable experience. They called diversity "one of the game's biggest assets". GameSpot further called the gameplay mechanics "finely tuned" and the plot "fascinating", while IGN felt the tilting camera angles were one of the features that make the game "so exciting".
Concerning the graphics, GameSpot, AllGame and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine appreciated the level of details and effects used in the different stages, as well as the large size of the bosses. Kujawa said, " Einhänders 3D aesthetics are absolutely top-notch because it embraces, not abuses its polygonal graphics. The environments are stunning and the enemies are rendered to near-perfection." IGN opined that the 3D graphics look "substantially better" than that of most of the other, sprite-based, shoot 'em up games of the time.
The soundtrack was praised by reviewers such as EGM, Eurogamer, IGN, Soundtrack Central and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. GamePro said that the techno music and sound effects fit the stages "perfectly". However, GameSpot felt that the quality of the music and sound effects was "good" but globally not on par with that of the graphics. The game's short duration and lack of a two-player mode were cited as the game's only flaws by AllGame, GamePro, and John Ricciardi of EGM, though Ricciardi's co-reviewers Kraig Kujawa and Crispin Boyer both asserted that Einhänder is much longer than most shooters. GameSpot estimated that the game demands "just over an hour" to complete.
In Japan, Einhänder had sold 50,000 units three days after its release, and 100,000 units as of February 1999.
The game was a runner-up for the "Best Action Game" and "Best Graphics" awards at the 1998 OPM Editors' Awards, both of which went to .
In 2007, IGN ranked it first in a top ten of the best 2D space shooters.
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Categories: 1997 Video Games, Electronic Compositions, Electronic Dance Music Albums By Japanese Artists, Fictional Spacecraft, Horizontally Scrolling Shooters, Playstation Games, Playstation -only Games, Playstation Network Games, Post-apocalyptic Video Games, Science Fiction Video Games, Single-player Video Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment Games, Square Games, Video Games Based On Greek Mythology, Video Games Developed In Japan, Video Games Scored By Kenichiro Fukui, Video Games Set In The 23rd Century, Video Games With 2.5d Graphics, World War Iii Video Games
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