Einhänder

The game takes place in a fictional future, during the second war between the Earth and the lunar colony Selena. The first war led to the destruction of most of the Earth’s surface and the establishment of a totalitarian regime on the planet. During the events of the game, Selena again attacks the Earth to capture natural resources . Selena’s tactic is to send Einhänder single spaceships as kamikazes to inflict maximum damage on the enemy. The player performs the role of the pilot of one of these ships attacking the capital of the Earth ^{[1] [2]} .

The game uses three-dimensional graphics , but the gameplay itself takes place in a plane. The automatic camera slightly changes the angle in certain places during the game. Important plot scenes are made in the form of full-screen computer animation ^[2] .

At the beginning of the game, the player can choose one of several difficulty levels and one of three models of a spaceship. Also in the game there are two hidden ship models ^[3] . In the Japanese version of the game there is a “Free” difficulty level, in which endless sequels are available, but there is no scoring ^[1] . The player’s ship can move at different speeds. At the beginning of the game, he is armed with a simple machine gun with endless ammunition, as well as a manipulator arm that allows you to collect additional weapons remaining after the destruction of opponents. Additional weapons have limited ammunition and include guns, homing missiles, a laser sword, and other weapons ^[3] . Additional weapons can be suspended in two different positions, above and below the ship, and also at any time to move between these positions. Depending on the position, the angle or direction of fire changes ^[1] . In each level of the game there is a mini-boss in the middle of the level and the main boss at the end of the level (except for one), consisting of the main core and independent parts, destroyed separately ^[2] .

The system of scoring in the game includes a scale for multiplying points. It fills when enemies are destroyed and decreases over time. All points received by the player are multiplied by the value that the scale shows. When filling the scale to a certain level, it begins to flash, while the player receives an additional large number of points for the destruction of any opponents ^[1] .

Einhander became the first scrolling shooter with three-dimensional graphics, developed by Square , better known as a role-playing game developer ^[4] . The developers used German words as the names of various objects in the game, as well as several references to ancient Greek mythology and the Bible ^[1] . According to the IGN website, many of the effects Square created for Final Fantasy VII were used in Einhander ^[4] . The game was demonstrated at the Tokyo Game Show in September 1997. Initially, its release in Japan was scheduled for October 16, 1997, but in the end the game was released with a five-week delay, November 20 ^[4] . The following month, Square released the game Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon , which included, as a bonus, the Mysterious Data Disc, which contains savegames for various company games, including Einhander . ^[5] .

The American publishing company Working Designs was interested in publishing the game in the United States under its Spaz label, which was used to publish scrolling shooters. But Sony Computer Entertainment used its priority on the publication of Square games and published the game on its own ^[6] . Minor changes were made to the American version of the game - the weapon suspension switching speed was increased, some prizes were changed, the free game mode was removed, the interface was changed in the game gallery and other images were used ^[1] . The game was not published in Europe ^[7] . On June 25, 2008, Square Enix reissued the game as downloadable content for the Japanese PlayStation Network service ^[8] .

The music for the game was written by Kenichiro Fukui . The game was the first Square game, the music of which was performed in the styles of techno and electro ^[9] . Some compositions were performed in different subspecies of techno, such as progressive house , or in other styles, including hip-hop , piano music and opera ^{[1] [10]} . The soundtrack for the game was released in Japan via DigiCube , a subsidiary of Square, on December 21, 1997, and was also re-released by Square Enix on July 18, 2007 ^[11] . The last song from the album, entitled “Beginning”, was also included in the collection Square Enix Music Compilation 2 , released May 1, 2008 for users of the Japanese site Square Enix ^[12] .

In December 1997, ASCII published a 111-page official game description in Japan called the Einhänder Kōshiki Guidebook (or Einhänder der offizielle Führer ). It included level maps, information on spacecraft and tables with data ^[13] .

In Japan, three days after the release of the game, 50 thousand copies were sold, and by February 1999 - 100 thousand ^{[20] [21]} . The game received positive reviews in American gaming publications, which noted that at the time of release the game had no strong competitors on the PlayStation ^{[2] [3] [16] [17]} . The Allgame website commented on the game as the best scrolling shooter “released on game consoles after the fourth generation ” ^[2] . The English site Eurogamer called the game “Square’s most successful exit beyond the RPG genre” ^[7] . In 2007, the game came first in the top ten best two-dimensional space shooters published by the IGN website ^[22] .

Critics praised the gameplay. Allgame noted the intensity of action and the diversity of opponents, a system of weapons and bosses, consisting of destructible units ^[2] . GamePro website noted that although the gameplay is generally common for scroll-shooters, its energy and variety of weapons make it interesting. He also called diversity “one of the game’s key strengths.” ^[16] . The GameSpot website called the mechanics of the gameplay “finely tuned” and the plot “bewitching.” IGN noted that one of the features that make the game “so wonderful” is its camera game situation from different angles ^{[3] [17]} .

GameSpot, Allgame and Official US PlayStation Magazine noted the level of detail in the graphics and effects used at different levels of the game, as well as the large size of bosses ^{[2] [3]} . IGN noted that 3D graphics made the game “significantly better” than other scroll-shooters of the time using sprites ^[17] .

The game's soundtrack received praise from critics in reviews from Eurogamer, IGN, Soundtrack Central and PlayStation Magazine ^{[7] [10] [17] [18]} . GamePro noted that techno-style music and sound effects are “perfectly” suited to game levels ^[18] . However, GameSpot considered that the quality of music and effects is “good”, but not on par with the quality of the graphics ^[3] . The short duration and lack of a mode for two players were noted by Allgame and GamePro as the only drawbacks of the game ^{[2] [16]} . According to a rough estimate of GameSpot, passing the game required “just over an hour” ^[3] .

• Game page on Sony Computer Entertainment website
• Square game page (archived copy )
• Game page on Square Enix (jap.)
• Einhänder on allgame