Einhander PS1 Review

Einhander is a scrolling shoot-em-up game that was developed by Square and released for the PlayStation in Japan on November 97 and then was later released in North America in May of 1998. 

The game never got a release over in the European region but the game is classed as being one of the most underrated but yet also one of the best of its kind on the PlayStation and the reason behind this is because the game uses a 2.5d perspective. 

Ideally, the game runs like a side scroller but it uses full 3d graphics on the characters, the machines that you're controlling on the screen even the enemies but also the backgrounds; everything is in full 3d in full display. 

The game itself got really good reviews in the magazines and at the time was nominated for awards as being one of the best visually impressive games to be released on the system at that time and it's also still considered to this day to be one of the best scrolling shoot em ups ever to be released on the system. 

So the goal of the game is that you play as a unique space-type craft and your goal is to get through each of the levels eliminating as many enemies as possible while defeating bosses at the end to reach an end objective thread each level in the game. 

And the gameplay style is very similar to other types of 2d side-scrolling shoot 'em ups with the likes of Gradius, the R-type games among other very very popular shoot 'em ups in that genre. At the time when this game was released, square were always known for developing rpg type games because these are the creators behind the ever popular final fantasy franchise so to create a 3d style shoot 'em up was very very different and a complete turnaround compared to the games that they would usually create. 

But this game also proved a point that Square weren't just great as creating rpg games, they also were very very good at creating different genres and other specific games if they wanted to do it as graphically, this game is phenomenal in terms of its visuals. 

It really is a stunning-looking game and it really helped to push the overall boundaries on the limits of the PlayStation console itself at the time. 

The game was also heavily praised for its unique soundtrack and it really suited the overall theme and aesthetic of the game it has a lot of fast-paced and action-based gameplay that is quite frantic at times can be quite difficult if you're not used to these type of games but that just comes with the territory when you're playing them. 

The only criticism really about the game was the fact is that it lacked a two-player mode and the gameplay itself in terms of the campaign was considered to be quite short but it did offer up quite a unique and difficult challenge at times. 

Even from myself playing the game from my own experience after playing it for a certain amount of time once i got further into the game, the levels are difficult enough to master. 

Now i wouldn't be as good at these games compared to other players but i even i'll admit i got to a certain point in the game where there were certain levels or certain points and some of the levels that i genuinely took ages to get past or in some cases I just couldn't get passed at all but that doesn't take away from the fact of how good the game really is. 

Everything down to the gameplay mechanics and the plot is really finely tuned and is very well represented throughout the course of the game. 

Everything down to even the menu systems are all in full 3d so there was no expense spared when putting this game together and it's easy to see why this is such a fan favourite amongst gamers out there and especially fans of the ps1 and even with its popularity it's still quite often overlooked and a lot of ways quite underrated as there are a lot of fans out there that do love 2d shoot em ups but there's also a lot of people out there that don't play these type of games and even with this game not being released in Europe a lot of people especially over here wouldn't really have even really known too much about the game. 

It's only now in later years, now do we actually have the opportunity to be able to import games or to play these types of games through emulation do we have the opportunity to now play games like this and to experience them in all its glory. 

But if you've yet to play Einhander and you do enjoy these type of shoot-em-up games, i highly recommend you check out this game. This is definitely one that should be looked at.

There are a lot of cool features, it has fantastic graphics, some of the best even myself personally has ever seen on the PlayStation and i can see why people rave about it so much.

It is a hidden gem in all respects and it really should be experienced by gamers young and old as in a lot of ways it was really ahead of its time and it proves also a testament to how good the PlayStation console was back then and how it influenced the gaming market at that time and how it's influenced even the current games market with games like this. 

So i highly recommend you go and check Einhander and i would love to know your thoughts on Einhander if you have played it yourself and if so what stories do you have with the game? 

Did you enjoy it or maybe not so much?

Do you enjoy playing 2d shoot 'em up style games or do you avoid them? 

I'd love to hear what stories you have on games like these so be sure to share them in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to Einhander, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...