This is one of my favorite shooters from the PS1 (followed by Omega Boost). I once beat this game with five continues left years ago. The trick is to use the 3 Gunpod ship and to choose the Grenade Launcher as your default weapon. Store it and only use it against bosses. It drops the bosses in seconds (literally). It makes the game far easier. For a similar experience on today's consoles, Soldner-X 2 is the best for my money. The core game isn't too difficult, but the challenges are.
Never forget: Your manipulator arm is not only indestructible (it can block enemy shots, except lasers), it causes damage to enemies. :D boxing baddies with it is, however, for the bravest pilots only. :P the only thing that compares are the "Pile Bunker Wave Cannons" from R-Type Final (also melee weapons!)
Great review. I think you really nailed what makes the game so deep and unique. Some other things to mention that one many not notice at first: 1. Your gunpods can take hits/bullets for you. The color icon changes as it takes hist and will be lost eventually. 2. Your manipulator arm can do the same, block bullets and hurt enemies it touches, so its a weapon in and of itself. 3. Changing your thrusters hurts enemies. 4. There are 4 additional special weapons to unlock.
I am the master of this game, i remember when i first got it the first day it came out in the states. I though to myself how much it sucked but everyday for the next 3 years of the same game.... i love this game.
Einhander is one of the most fun and challenging games I've ever play! I love it! You can unlock two ships if you're awesome at Einhander, and they're called Schabe and Selene.
I remember playing this game back in the day. It was so gratifying passing this game in even just normal mode, and I couldn't get pass the level with all the exploding mines in hard mode. This game was that tough, but not overly insane like those touhou games >.> Good tip: use the saber on the spider-boss you saw just now and discard it for that plasma rifle that drops if you manage to kill all the bots that drop out of that thing in the ceiling after you destroy it. Awesome weapon.
One of the best side scrolling shooters i saw to this day. And the graphics are, for me, up to this date. They are IMPRESSIVE! There are games on HD today that are not that good and you just showed why. The attention to detail are pure awesome and nothing on this game looks like it was overlooked. The game is a pure gem, perfectly cut.
If you like this type of games than you must try "R-Type Delta", "G-Darius" and "Gradius Gaiden". All released for the first Playstation. Specially "R-Type Delta is for me one, if not the best side-scrolling space-ship-shooter i`ve ever played. Greetings :-)
Ahah. Your review's funny! I remember my friend having this, and I loved it. Oh, man, I did I love it. I also remember it being horribly overlooked by everyone and hard to find.
iT TOtally blows that not that many people like shooters like this, I LOVE THEM! unfortunately we can get that many nowadays.. hopefully I can find my own copy of Einhander
Graet review, i agree with everything with the same enthusiasm. Just one thing: the game isn't so unforgivable as you said. You probably got this game recently and still didn't figure out some useful tactics, Looking at you playing, I would suggest you to be more aggressive. By the way, if you're favourite weapons are the Vulcan and the Cannon wait till you see the upgraded versions: the Juno and the Flash....he, he.
I'm a little bummed he didn't go into the fact that this is a SQUARE game. This is the first shooter they ever did, and it's one of the best hori shooters ever made! Definitely my favorite hori, at least (haven't played Progear or Death Smiles...).
Yeah. I am a fan of Gradius and R-Type too... i have Delta and Final, but i will look on Gradius... the name Gaiden also gets me nostalgia of the Ninja Gaiden games... that i have for the NES...
@1shoryuken but u know what kind of game is Parasite Eve right?( i have Parasite Eve 1 ps1). and u know about how popular are Ffantasy ( i only played FfantasyVII ). I Love shmups like Einhänder, Gradius V, Rayforce, Raystorm, Axelay, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun etc. until now shmups are not so important for new generation consoles ( i guess) but that could change. It would be nice see a new SE shmup.
I love this game. I wish they would release a 2nd version. Also It is possible to defeat the game in hard mode without dying. I've seen clips of people who have unlocked the other 2 fighters. Which (to my knowledge) can only be unlock if completed on hard mode without a single continue(3 deaths). It is a shame that there is not enough demand for this type of games anymore.
so its not impossible to finish this game in normal or hard ? i did it in easy....and then i bought a ps2 and the ps1 is kept in the closset...but i wanna finish it...did u play raystorm?
Hang on, I think TH-cam mixed the comments up again. Someone said that they liked playing this game on their PS3 until it broke, and I asked them whether the disc or the console broke. Was that you?
lol, i am officially a member of the "i suck at einhander" support group. i will never be able to beat the game on hard without using any continues, so i will never be able to unlock the selen :( i can't even beat it on hard. at least i can beat it on medium difficulty.
@Z4Drift Psh. I had to beat it out with invincibility. It is so tough and creative as fuck..I loved just that demo, so amazing for '97, and for PS1. Long live EINHANDER
I've played the shit out of this game. You have no idea how many secrets I watched you pass up in part 1 and this one. Something for your replay value; there are 2 amazing guns you may not have seen. The riot (a chargable lightening gun) and the flash (a photon laser cannon). You may have to look for a while to find the flash it cant be found on any fallen enemies. It's hidden in an explodable crate right before the gorilla like robot boss on the later stages of the game.
@lctb51 I think Einhander would be if it weren't for the fact that the people who make it are too busy seeing how many final fantasy games they can make...
guys do u know how to fight with the bonus boss after beating the stage 6 boss? (the boss of the rocket stage), i fought with it and maybe is when you reach the stage 6 boss with lots of continues remaining ( i reach with 7 continues and then i lost 3 continues with this boss lol )
@jeabl l think it's just stupid that SE are not reviving their gem classics like other companies have been doing for a while now (e.g Capcom) at least Parasite Eve 3 (The Third Birthday) is released soon, thats a good sign for Square appreciating one of their greatest series.
i have 2 mint copies of this game....one of my absolute favorite games on the PS1 by far and probably one of the top 3 shooters in existence. If you are a fan of shooters you are doing yourself a huge disservice if you do not check this game out.
I got so good at the first level of this game,I could beat it without taking any damage. But I never got to play the whole game so not sure how much of an accomplishment that really is lol.
yeah!!! psp ftw. ds can suck it. the virtually unlimited potential of the psp due to the modding of the firmware, makes the psp the only choice for portable gaming cause it has the potential to do so much more. i got a bunch of nostalgia inducing psx games on my psp, including this one of course! :)
Einhänder its a hard game? of course yes....and of course im not talking about playing this game in easy. But is not an imposible game. You will get angry when u get stuck in some stages or bosses. The fight in the space with final boss if u have lucky u can gain good weapons ( and not die to gain them) u can beat it just loosing few lives xD.
Trust me.You'll have the greatest replay value with this game!! Like youll unlock the selene fighter (red) That will give you 9999 bullets..I'm telling the truth
@Ultrox007 lol yeah but look how that worked out for Square Enix, XIII being increadibly boring and XIV being broken as fuck. the FF series is in serious trouble, so what does SE do? ancounce XIII-2, what the hell are they thinking? it's no wounder why Einhander 2 and Bushido Blade 3 are not gonna see the light of day.
This is one of my favorite shooters from the PS1 (followed by Omega Boost). I once beat this game with five continues left years ago. The trick is to use the 3 Gunpod ship and to choose the Grenade Launcher as your default weapon. Store it and only use it against bosses. It drops the bosses in seconds (literally). It makes the game far easier. For a similar experience on today's consoles, Soldner-X 2 is the best for my money. The core game isn't too difficult, but the challenges are.
Never forget: Your manipulator arm is not only indestructible (it can block enemy shots, except lasers), it causes damage to enemies. :D
boxing baddies with it is, however, for the bravest pilots only. :P
the only thing that compares are the "Pile Bunker Wave Cannons" from R-Type Final (also melee weapons!)
Great review. I think you really nailed what makes the game so deep and unique.
Some other things to mention that one many not notice at first:
1. Your gunpods can take hits/bullets for you. The color icon changes as it takes hist and will be lost eventually.
2. Your manipulator arm can do the same, block bullets and hurt enemies it touches, so its a weapon in and of itself.
3. Changing your thrusters hurts enemies.
4. There are 4 additional special weapons to unlock.
I am the master of this game, i remember when i first got it the first day it came out in the states. I though to myself how much it sucked but everyday for the next 3 years of the same game.... i love this game.
We gotta mention this game on all the game sites so that the masses can know this game better and create a second game! I fucking want EINHANDER 2!!!
I usually don't go by game reviews, but your sir, are the best reviewer out there and one of the most entertaining by far
doesn't mention the music?
Gotta pick up that Hedgehog, it lays waste to that boss and enemies in general if you can hit them. :)
R- type Delta is in my opinion the best shmup on PS1 but this is a close second.
Einhander is one of the most fun and challenging games I've ever play! I love it! You can unlock two ships if you're awesome at Einhander, and they're called Schabe and Selene.
Last Boss- A fight in space! With a Little more 3-D feeling as he shoots u from the background. (Huge Blue Beam)
I remember playing this game back in the day. It was so gratifying passing this game in even just normal mode, and I couldn't get pass the level with all the exploding mines in hard mode. This game was that tough, but not overly insane like those touhou games >.>
Good tip: use the saber on the spider-boss you saw just now and discard it for that plasma rifle that drops if you manage to kill all the bots that drop out of that thing in the ceiling after you destroy it. Awesome weapon.
One of the best games in the PS. I only had the demo of it, but that one level I got to play was Awesome in it self.
I actually enjoy the commentaries. I remember there's a gunpod called Juno. Awesome firepower!
Einhander and R-Type Delta are the two best PS1 shooters of all time, if not among the best PS1 games.
One of the best side scrolling shooters i saw to this day. And the graphics are, for me, up to this date. They are IMPRESSIVE! There are games on HD today that are not that good and you just showed why. The attention to detail are pure awesome and nothing on this game looks like it was overlooked. The game is a pure gem, perfectly cut.
my dad is 62 and owns on dis game!
I totally forgot I had this game.. After watching the review I remember all those bosses. Geez, it's been over ten years since I played that game.
If you like this type of games than you must try "R-Type Delta", "G-Darius" and "Gradius Gaiden". All released for the first Playstation. Specially "R-Type Delta is for me one, if not the best side-scrolling space-ship-shooter i`ve ever played.
Greetings :-)
same, I would play just the demo for hours
Ahah. Your review's funny! I remember my friend having this, and I loved it. Oh, man, I did I love it. I also remember it being horribly overlooked by everyone and hard to find.
they have to make the part two ive been waiting for a long time
iT TOtally blows that not that many people like shooters like this, I LOVE THEM! unfortunately we can get that many nowadays.. hopefully I can find my own copy of Einhander
Graet review, i agree with everything with the same enthusiasm.
Just one thing: the game isn't so unforgivable as you said.
You probably got this game recently and still didn't figure out some useful tactics,
Looking at you playing, I would suggest you to be more aggressive.
By the way, if you're favourite weapons are the Vulcan and the Cannon wait till you see the upgraded versions: the Juno and the Flash....he, he.
Einhander consists 0f 7 stages As far as I know. (Including Mid-bosses). It's SO Fun but so HArd too
I played this when I was little and Super Earth Defense Force when I was even smaller.
I'm a little bummed he didn't go into the fact that this is a SQUARE game. This is the first shooter they ever did, and it's one of the best hori shooters ever made! Definitely my favorite hori, at least (haven't played Progear or Death Smiles...).
I played the demo of this on a ps1 demo disc. Gosh it was great. I miss this game so bad. I wish it could run decently on the PSX emulator for iphone
Yeah. I am a fan of Gradius and R-Type too... i have Delta and Final, but i will look on Gradius... the name Gaiden also gets me nostalgia of the Ninja Gaiden games... that i have for the NES...
I ordered yesterday a brandnew sealed japanese copy of Gradius Gaiden from an ebay-shop in Austria. I hope I get it in the next few days. :-))
LOL, I have Gradius V. That game is truely well designed in every aspect. I consider it one of Treasures best games.
I really hope radiant silvergun comes out on xbox live, such a badass game just like einhander.
i played this game when i was seven but never played it much cause it kinda scared me. I never would have guessed how awesome this game is.
@1shoryuken but u know what kind of game is Parasite Eve right?( i have Parasite Eve 1 ps1). and u know about how popular are Ffantasy ( i only played FfantasyVII ). I Love shmups like Einhänder, Gradius V, Rayforce, Raystorm, Axelay, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun etc.
until now shmups are not so important for new generation consoles ( i guess) but that could change. It would be nice see a new SE shmup.
I love this game. I wish they would release a 2nd version. Also It is possible to defeat the game in hard mode without dying. I've seen clips of people who have unlocked the other 2 fighters. Which (to my knowledge) can only be unlock if completed on hard mode without a single continue(3 deaths). It is a shame that there is not enough demand for this type of games anymore.
Also, there are 7 stages in total for Einhander.
you convinced me to buy this thing! $59 bucks complete mint condition!
It's worth, I still play it to this day.
In my PS3 no less hahahahaha.
Doug E Price keeps going up. Right now its about $60 for the disc, $75 for complete
$89 now
so its not impossible to finish this game in normal or hard ? i did it in easy....and then i bought a ps2 and the ps1 is kept in the closset...but i wanna finish it...did u play raystorm?
Shoot the shiny part? For massive damage.
Hang on, I think TH-cam mixed the comments up again. Someone said that they liked playing this game on their PS3 until it broke, and I asked them whether the disc or the console broke. Was that you?
...the one handed refers to the ships one arm that is uses to steal weapons with... wait doesn't it say that on the back of the case?
this game introduced me to nonstop gaming, like whole day nonstop XD
i was 7-8 back then, and i thought the normal mode was easy XD
this was the first game i got for ps1 tried to dl for ps3 but they dont have it
i have beating that game on the hardest level and it is still a tough game to finish. extremely and demands full concentration.
Shakespear was high when he wrote that. LOL
wow nice, you just motivated me to try unlocking it again. thnx for convincing me to lose a week of my life to this game :).
Holy crap I miss this game. :(
lol, i am officially a member of the "i suck at einhander" support group. i will never be able to beat the game on hard without using any continues, so i will never be able to unlock the selen :( i can't even beat it on hard. at least i can beat it on medium difficulty.
The slideshow of weapons at the end is supposed to use the playstations high resolution mode. Guess the PS3's emulator is not up to the task.
I bet. I used to have it, but it fuckin broke.
@Z4Drift Psh. I had to beat it out with invincibility. It is so tough and creative as fuck..I loved just that demo, so amazing for '97, and for PS1. Long live EINHANDER
I can only make it level 3 too.
I've played the shit out of this game. You have no idea how many secrets I watched you pass up in part 1 and this one. Something for your replay value; there are 2 amazing guns you may not have seen. The riot (a chargable lightening gun) and the flash (a photon laser cannon). You may have to look for a while to find the flash it cant be found on any fallen enemies. It's hidden in an explodable crate right before the gorilla like robot boss on the later stages of the game.
@lctb51 I think Einhander would be if it weren't for the fact that the people who make it are too busy seeing how many final fantasy games they can make...
guys do u know how to fight with the bonus boss after beating the stage 6 boss? (the boss of the rocket stage), i fought with it and maybe is when you reach the stage 6 boss with lots of continues remaining ( i reach with 7 continues and then i lost 3 continues with this boss lol )
@jeabl l think it's just stupid that SE are not reviving their gem classics like other companies have been doing for a while now (e.g Capcom) at least Parasite Eve 3 (The Third Birthday) is released soon, thats a good sign for Square appreciating one of their greatest series.
I shouldn't have let Gamestop fuck me over for my Playstation for $8.
Juno was the best gun in this game. It was cannon machine gun didnt have many bullets though
The game or your PS3?
if they remake einhander, it better be on 3ds
I have the import version. Same game, cooler box :)
Contra Hard Corpse?
This game should be on a collection disc! Playstation One Master collection! Come on Sony!
i agree
Totally miss Raystorm.
im the god!!! :D ive beatin it ive beatin it!!
Same by me !!! EPIC GAME!!!
i have 2 mint copies of this game....one of my absolute favorite games on the PS1 by far and probably one of the top 3 shooters in existence. If you are a fan of shooters you are doing yourself a huge disservice if you do not check this game out.
ok good for you
@mistamontiel Heaven yes "Glory with the Moon, Mercy on the Earth"
fyi classic game room guy, you're actually able to go through the blue rings the boss shoots at you at the beginning of the video
I like using the enemy's weapons against them.
Sadly, I only ever beat this game using a Gameshark, and I /still/ managed to die twice before it was all over.
I got so good at the first level of this game,I could beat it without taking any damage. But I never got to play the whole game so not sure how much of an accomplishment that really is lol.
yeah!!! psp ftw. ds can suck it. the virtually unlimited potential of the psp due to the modding of the firmware, makes the psp the only choice for portable gaming cause it has the potential to do so much more. i got a bunch of nostalgia inducing psx games on my psp, including this one of course! :)
best ps1 game i have ever played
You made it almost halfway.
@CubeLuda
Cara Jones
o melhor jogo do ps1 na minha opinião :3
Has anyone beating the game an gotten the super star ship?
holy shit theres like 20 lvls er sumthin like that i havent played this in like 3 years!
Voiceover talent.... from Einhander. LOL.
Everytime a friend would mention side scroll shooters, i just have to break out Einhander and show them what side scrollers are all about.
einhander needs a sexy-graphics remake!
Fun game. I was a god at this game. And yeah, I am pretty much a god at every game I play. Just saying.
this review has inspired me to make me want to feel bad about myself.
How long is the game? You were not even halfway through lol
Einhänder its a hard game? of course yes....and of course im not talking about playing this game in easy. But is not an imposible game. You will get angry when u get stuck in some stages or bosses. The fight in the space with final boss if u have lucky u can gain good weapons ( and not die to gain them) u can beat it just loosing few lives xD.
@GreatAdmiralPalleon Define MTFW.
Trust me.You'll have the greatest replay value with this game!! Like youll unlock the selene fighter (red) That will give you 9999 bullets..I'm telling the truth
Not in demand in the states where the game literally goes for 500 on ebay
this video was over 10 years old when you left this comment, back when he said that i'm sure if wasn't nearly as expensive.
it was so fuckin hard to beet this game. but i creamed my shorts when i finally did. epic!!!
"Shiess dem fenster"* - Shoot the glass.
haha dude you're really funny ;)
@Ultrox007 lol yeah but look how that worked out for Square Enix, XIII being increadibly boring and XIV being broken as fuck. the FF series is in serious trouble, so what does SE do? ancounce XIII-2, what the hell are they thinking? it's no wounder why Einhander 2 and Bushido Blade 3 are not gonna see the light of day.
2:39 "unversohnlich" is unforgiving. The "o" has the same accent as the "a" in "einhander". I can't paste in Yoono /_\
Wow! Square can really make games that are not RPGS.
this game needs a 3ds port
@Ultrox007 derp...
I challenge you also!!!!
@xXaltowolfXxmp3 now beat contra :P