As a diehard fan of role-playing games, I probably never would have given Einhander a second look except for one reason: it is made by Square. I have always had a very high opinion of Square, makers of such games as the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana, and I even enjoyed their two PlayStation tournament fighters: Tobal #1 and Bushido Blade. I decided because of Square’s reputation, I had to give Einhander a try, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Einhander is set in the future, at a time when the Earth is at war with Selane, a Moon colony. You are a pilot allied with Selane, and you must fly suicide missions against Earth in a secret operation code-named "Einhander." As with most shooters, there is not an involved story, rather, the focus is on action. For the most most part, this is a 2-D side scroller, but occasionally, there are scenes that scroll more 3-dimensionally.

You must battle your way through seven stages, each with a boss and one or more mini-bosses, and you have 3 lives per game and 10 continues. When you lose a life, whether you have to use a continue or not, you start over at the beginning of the stage section in which you died. When you start the game, there are three planes for you to choose from, with two more secret planes available as you meet certain conditions.

Although all of the planes are very similar, your strategy does change depending on which plane you choose. There is the is the Astrea I, which has a single machine gun and can equip two gunpods (special weapons), the Endymion II, which has one machine gun and three gunpods, and the Endymion III, which has only one gunpod but two machine guns. My favorite is the Astrea, because it allows you to use two gunpods at the same time.

There are eight normal gunpods and four secret gunpods available to you throughout the game. When you begin, you can pick which gunpod(s) your plane will start out with. Every time you are brought back to life, you get the gunpods you selected at the beginning of the game (Much better than most shooters in which when die you’re stuck with the wimpy little machine gun until you find something better). The weapons include a super-fast machine gun, a high-powered cannon, heat seeking missiles, a grenade launcher, a chargeable laser (worthless) and a laser sword (my favorite).

When I first played Einhander, I was shocked, because it is the first game I’ve seen in ages that keeps score. The game records highest total scores and highest stage scores on the memory card, along with other statistics such as shoot-down percentage, best boss time, etc. There is also a "picture gallery," which allows you to view images from the game. Your gallery gains pictures as you find new weapons, encounter new enemies, or do an exceptional job in a section of the game.

There is a good bit of strategy involved in most of the big fights. All major enemies have their own movement patterns, which you must learn and adjust to. Since you start over at the beginning of the section you died on rather than being brought back to life on the spot with three seconds of invincibility, you cannot afford to be sloppy. Also, you have to figure where and with which weapon to hit enemies for the biggest effect.

For the type of game it is, Einhander’s length is about right: it should take a little over an hour to get through all seven stages if you keep moving, but it will take you quite awhile to get that good. The two bonus ships, the picture gallery and multiple difficulty levels provide some replay value. Unfortunately, there is no two player option, which really would have added a lot to this game.

Like most Square games I have played, the graphics in Einhander are beautifully done. All of the ships are very detailed, the backgrounds look sharp and there is no slowdown or breakup. The sound effects are very clear (If you can’t understand what the enemies are yelling at you, it's because they are yelling in German). The music is all techno, which I am not a big fan of, but it is still high quality.

Einhander is the kind of game you do not have to get involved in: there is no heavy thinking, and very little you need to learn. Put the game in, figure out which buttons are the fire buttons, and you’re all set. It combines the simplicity and addictiveness of classic style games with the great sound, graphics and special effects of newer, games. I would recommend Einhander not only to people who like shooters, but to anyone with a PlayStation.