Einhander

This 3D scrolling shooter is prehaps Squaresoft's most underappreciated game.

User Rating: 8.7 | Einhander PS

By Thai3g_Eclipse | Review Date: May 9, 2006

Einhänder was released nearly a decade ago, but it remains one of the most unique and great games to ever come from Squaresoft. This 3D scrolling shooter was perhaps one of the most unique (And perhaps still is) games of its time, even up to today. The graphics are good back in 1998, and is obviously showing its age. The sound, especially the trance/electronica music, is well composed and puts you right into the game.

For those who wonders what sets this game so far apart from others in its genre, Einhänder is about a pilot in control of "Einhänder", a space fighter, against the earth. These fighters are pretty much on suicide missions from the moon, and obviously you are the pilot aforementioned.

The unique aspect to this game is that your ship can be equipped with an extra weapon, in addition to the regular plain jane guns. These additional weapons can be equipped at the beginning of the game if playing under Easy difficulty, and can be stolen or taken from enemies that has these weapons. While these weapons are not required to win the game, it sure does make it much easier to take down the sub-bosses and bosses. Controls are responsive and precise, and the game is challenging enough in any difficulty to keep players occupied.

While the game was overall great, replayability suffers from the lack of any motivations to keep the players coming back after it is beaten, since there are no extra modes or unlockable goods. The bosses all follow a predictable set of attack and movement patterns, making them easy to beat . With all in consideration, Einhänder is one of Squaresoft's most underappreciated games, eclipsed by their Final Fantasy franchise.

Other Helpful Reviews for Einhander

• Rating:9

  A solid and enjoyable 2D shooter, it's also one of Squares best obscure games.

  By grafkhun | Review Date: Sep 30, 2007 | PS

  Einhander (there are 2 dots horizontally placed above the “a”) for the Play Station can be called an “experiment” by Square; it was released in 1997 in Japan and 1998 in North America. As it was coming from Square (it wa... Read Full Review

  10 of 13 users found the following review helpful
• Rating:8.2

  A very excellent space shooter game from the creators of the Final Fantasy series.

  By Orasion_Seiz | Review Date: Sep 23, 2006 | PS

  When people think of a space shooter game, Gradius or Raiden will usually come out of their minds. But there is one space shooter game that most people has probably never heard of. Einhander was release by Squaresoft (no... Read Full Review

  3 of 4 users found the following review helpful