This review was originally published on the Console Purist Facebook group on June 6th, 2020.
Another week, another PlayStation Basement! PlayStation Basement is a weekly review of games for the original PlayStation that are somewhat obscure, unusual, or unknown. Games are rated Good, Bad, or Neutral to emphasize the review itself. Now, let’s go!
Today, it’s time to finally review a game I think about using for this series all the time but never actually review. This is also a game that I just generally think about playing often but don’t. I first discovered the game on one of the Toys “R” Us demo discs, one that had a cover of a swirling yellow background behind the PlayStation console. I have mentioned this before, but the demo discs available for the PlayStation introduced me to many great games as they came out. I played the demo of this game for hours at a time, and it only offered the first level. I actually bought the game from GameStop a few years after the PS2 came out. The game I am talking about today is Einhänder.
Einhänder is cyberpunk-themed shmup with 3D graphics that plays in a traditional side-scrolling format. It is a story of the Second Moon War with the player taking on the role of a pilot sent on a suicide mission, controlling an experimental fighter craft against the forces of Earth. The game was developed by SquareSoft, more famous for RPGs. During the PS1 era, Square was creating a lot of unique games besides the more well-known Final Fantasy titles. Unfortunately, I feel that financial issues brought on by the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and their subsequent merger with Enix pushed Square to end up in the place they are in now: a nostalgia-focused Final Fantasy engine. Anyway, while Einhänder was published by Square in Japan on November 20th, 1997, Sony and Working Designs vied for control of the license in North America. Sony won out (it is their console after all), and published the game on May 5th, 1998. The North American version saw a few changes such as modified weapons, the lack of the Free Mode which featured infinite continues, and a faster weapon changing system. I feel like Working Designs would have done something similar anyway.
The cover art for Einhänder is far different in each region. The Japanese version depicts an x-ray of a hand in a deep and eerie blue. The minimalist image emphasizes the pilot’s personal skill and emotions over explosive action. This art really reminds me of the Soviet bone musick, rock ‘n’ roll records that were printed on old and brittle x-rays. Simultaneously, this also recalls the famous first album by German experimental rockers Faust. The North American cover is much more plain. It simply shows one of the selectable ships from the game on a white background with a mech in the background. To me, the cover goes along with some of the other Squaresoft games from this time such as Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Brave Fencer Musashi, Xenogears, Bushido Blade, and SaGa Frontier 2. They loved to use white backgrounds in this era; even their advertisements for their other games (usually featured on the back of each game’s manual) used a white background. I don’t think that this white background works very well here, as Einhänder is visually much darker, with metal fortresses, neon cities, and watery passages taking up the majority of the game. The Japanese cover art trumps the generic North American art by far.
Einhänder looks pretty good, graphically. The backgrounds are full of enemy ships, street scenes, and rocky hills. My girlfriend said that it looked too busy at times even. The 3D models are detailed and very solidly rendered. In fact, many of the ships feature multiple parts that can be destroyed individually. Armor can be blasted off the front of an enemy to reveal the cockpit underneath. You can destroy parts of the bosses’ vehicles in the same way. The game also has a nice-looking menu system, cool explosions and weapon effects, and well-animated FMVs. Plus, several sequences incorporate rotating camera angles and the like. Usually, this looks cool, though it can be a little disorienting too. The only other negative about the visuals is that there is some slowdown at times. Einhänder is a good-looking game.
Einhänder is also a good-sounding game. The game has excellent sound effects that work well with the musick in each stage. The game has a techno/electronica thing going on, typical for this time. I don’t love all of the musick, but the production is good. I love the musick for the first stage and the selection sound effect. Everything works very well together here to create a rhythmic experience.
Like other shmups, Einhänder is about dodging enemy fire and shooting back. Unlike a lot of shmups, Einhänder emphasizes shooting the enemy down before they have a chance to fire, so there is less dodging required here. The player can select from several ships, that each have their own playstyle. The core mechanic of this title is the ability to pick up weapons from downed enemies. These weapons include Vulcan guns, explosive cannons, electrifying blasts, homing missiles, and even beam sabers. Each weapon can also be moved between two positions on your ship which grants it basically two modes of fire. Some guns might fire at an angle from one position and straight ahead from another. Some fire backwards from one position and then forwards in another. The WASP missiles home in from one position while shooting more powerful, slower rockets from the other slot. In addition to these special powerups, the player’s ships are also equipped with a machine gun. You’ll need this trusty weapon for when you run out of ammo with the other guns, and the machine gun really isn’t bad at all. Once you pick up a gun, you can bring it as a starting weapon when you start a new game, so there is some “leveling up” so to speak.
Einhänder isn’t particularly easy, so I’m sure it will take you more than a few tries to finish. The game also features two-player co-operative play, and the scoring system, which encourages continuous destruction of the enemy, is very fun too, rewarding skillful play. You can unlock some new ships and some images in the gallery if you collect things and do exceptionally well. Most interestingly, there are secret areas to find by completing certain hidden objectives in the game. Einhänder has so much to offer, even beyond just finishing the game.
Einhänder receives a Good.
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