Einhander

[Necronopticous]

Every time I say so my opinion is pretty much instantly dismissed because I happen to be a horrible Square fanboy, though, after the hours of fun I had yesterday going back to Einhander after not playing for a little over a year, I must once again say that it is the greatest thing to ever grace the side scrolling aircraft shooter genre. I can't think of anything that this game could have that could possibly make it any better. In my opinion, it is a flawless game that basically rights every aspect of the genre and is genius on so many levels.

Does anyone else love this game as much as I do? Let's talk this over.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It's hard.

[Shoeberto]

I think I beat the first level...on an emulator...using constant savestates.

[Necronopticous]

Yeah. I mean, I'm not denying that it's a tough game, which is one of it's charms. Though not being able to beat the first level without savestate? Come on! I've beat the game twice in my life, and it's not easy. I've unlocked the Police fighter, but I'm pretty sure that unlocking the second secret vehicle is too difficult to be possible.

[kikimm]

I just bought this game for 5 bucks a few days ago not really remembering what it was. Now that I've looked it up again I want to give it back to Blockbuster. =/ Super hard games ain't my thing, (neither are shooters) but I'll give it a go.

I was trying to forget I had made this purchase. :mad2:


:D

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

I got through it all right until Level 4. At that point, all of a sudden, no matter how hard I tried to memorize enemy patterns and so forth, there was just no progressing.

I figure one day, whether I've beaten it legitimately or not by then, I'll buy a GameShark Lite and cruise through it and unlock everything. I'll go for infinite lives instead of invincibility, though; I wouldn't want to cheapen it.

[Necronopticous]

Yeah, level 4 is hilarious because there is swarms of the small ships flying everywhere from every direction and a cannon guy firing round after round of super fast shots everywhere every 5 seconds. When you die on that level and just look at all the stuff on the screen at that moment it's so hilarious because it honestly doesn't look like a human being could possible comprehend what's going on enough to actually make it through. With enough practice it becomes increasingly less difficult though. I can get to level 5 usually without using a continue on Medium.

[eestlinc]

what system is this for? Is it as cool as Gradius?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

PlayStation. Yes.

[eestlinc]

PS. Nice. I could actually play it, although it sounds ridiculous.

[Necronopticous]

Yeah, it's for playstation. It's moderately hard to find nowadays unless you get lucky but it's worth the search. Like I said, in my opinion Einhander dominates all other games in the genre. It's got the best soundtrack for a game like this I've ever heard, the graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is tough and fun for days, and the ability to choose different crafts as well as unlock special crafts and concept art make it even more enjoyable. Good stuff.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Another thing to say about Einhänder is that the Japanese cover art is totally rad.

http://norbert-x.com/rock/userfiles/Kishi/ehfront.gif

The American art is a meager attempt at an ACTION-PACKED scene; there's motion blur and a lens flare and everything. But the Japanese art at least reappears on the title screen.

[Necronopticous]

We typically get the ugly covers because America likes gaudy crap.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It's getting better all the time, though. The last notoriously abominable cover that I can think of is ICO's, and that came out in 2000.

[black orb]

>>> I played it a few times but I quit because it was kind of hard (never finished the first stage), I liked how you can grab enemy weapons and stuff..

[DJZen]

Cho Aniki was a much better shooter, for many, many, MANY reasons.

[eestlinc]

So can you only use one hand when you play?

[Sepho]

I really, really, really, really, really want to get this game eventually.

I probably played it some time around 2000, when I found it at a friend's house. I was like, "Hey, 3D R-Type". I had a blast with it, but I probably only got as far as Kishi did because of the limited time I had with it. The parts I remember most are the boss fights, which I'm struggling to describe right now so I'll just say they're awesome.

Shooters are difficult by nature, but I didn't think Einhander was overwhelmingly hard, or at least the parts I played. Good, solid fun.

[Lord Chainsaw]

I got through it all right until Level 4. At that point, all of a sudden, no matter how hard I tried to memorize enemy patterns and so forth, there was just no progressing.

Same here. I could deal with that big mofo spider thing in the tunnel in level two. I could deal with that damn smaller spider thing in the tunnel in level 3. But as soon as I hit level 4 I simply couldn't get anywhere. The boats that would come up from the water would find a way to hit me. I think once I managed to get to the end of that section. Then I had to fight a submarine miniboss which instantly schooled me sending me back to the beginning of the stage. That was the end of that.

[Average_Samurai]

I have to agree that this is the best game in it's class. I love it. I do think this is the best shooter, although I haven't played that many more, just the Psyvariar games, Castle Shikigami, Ikaruga, and maybe a few others, but before Einhander the last game of this type I really played extensively was that old Raiden game.

Did I hear you say that you could unlock other vehicles in Einhander? I did not know that and I want to know how you did it.

And by the way I am proud to say that I am the only person I know to have beaten this game. I did so in the most dramatic way possible. I was in Costa Rica, oddly, and a family in this small town had a bootleg copy, so a bunch of kids watched as I played. So, I started it up not expecting that it would be the day of destiny, and proceeded all the way to the part where that ship takes off from the earth (the second to last level), and thought to myself, "I'm gonna lose it soon, I'm out of lives and continues." But suddenly, it all clicked into place and I got all the way to the end on my final life. A big crowd of tiny spanish speaking children cheered as I celebrated my great victory.

It wasn't so much that Einhander was hard as that it was LONG. Easily the longest shooter game I've played. I wish that it had made a lot of money so Square would make more of them. Another game that was left out in the cold world of underrated greatness.

[Necronopticous]

Did I hear you say that you could unlock other vehicles in Einhander? I did not know that and I want to know how you did it.To get the first secret ship, you have to get 15 bonuses during your playthrough. You don't even have to beat the game on the playthrough, so long as you get 15 or more bonuses.

To get the second secret ship, you have to beat the game on Hard Mode without using more than 2 continues.

The first secret ship is one of the Poliez! ships from the first level, instead of getting gunpods, each 5 gunpods you pick up will enhance it's machine gun capability, eventually giving you a max of 4 maching guns blasting in front of you at all times. Also, depending on which gunpod you last picked up, on top of the machine gun, you'll also get another unique stream of fire. (I.E. The spread makes two 45 degree diagonal machine gun sprays to the top and bottom of your ship)

The second secret ship is a red version of the double-gunpod ships you fight in the last level, before the boss. Each gunpod you pick up for it will instantly have max ammo. Totally devastating, that is, if you can actually do the requirement necessary to unlock it.

Doubtful...

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

You are committing a major act of treason.

[DMKA]

That game was effing hard...so awesome it was. I never beat it, but got really far.