Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 53:10

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8

Developers-Squaresoft
Publishers-Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date calendar-November 20, 1997

Einhänder Program - A secret project by the moon nation Selene. It is focused on developing and using a powerful all-purpose fighter craft to penetrate and cripple the Earth Empire nation, Sodom. Einhänder pilots are given extensive training and psychological re-education. There are no known survivors of previous single-craft missions to Earth. Very little is known about the pilots of the Einhänder Program.

Pilots
Myriem Cleve
The highest-ranking pilot in the program.
Ralph Cunningham
The second highest-ranking pilot in the program.

Ship Characteristics
one of the police cars from Stage 1. It cannot use gunpods, but instead it's default machine gun can be upgraded, based on gunpods you pick up. The machine gun's level is tracked above your score gauge, at the bottom-right corner of the screen; the highest level is 20. It will also fire additional shots in varying directions (or homing), depending on your last obtained gunpod. Holding the gunpod button (ARM2) will activate the emergency light.

Unlike other ships, the Schabe cannot "unlock" gunpods for selection by picking them up.

Any cutscenes will be skipped (e.g after Stage 6).

It is unlocked by meeting the following criteria:

Achieve 15 (or more) different S. Bonuses in one play
On Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulty
As any ship
The game does not have to be completed, only reach a "Game Over" screen with the above criteria, either losing or winning. However, reaching 15 S. Bonuses requires getting to the end of Stage 5, at a minimum.

plot
Einhänder takes place in a future during a war between the Earth colony, Sodom and the Moon colony, Selene. The "First Moon War" resulted in the destruction of most of the Earth's surface and the creation of a totalitarian regime on the planet. The game recounts the events of the "Second Moon War" in which the Moon attacks the Earth again for natural resources. Selene's tactics consists of sending one-man fighter spacecraft called "Einhänder" on kamikaze missions to cause as much damage as possible on the planet before being destroyed. The player takes on the role of one of these pilots attacking the Earth capital city.

As the player progresses through the game, the Selenean military satellite Hyperion relays command orders and objectives. The on-board central computer "EOS" synthesizes orders. EOS also records and relays the player's flight and battle record data back to Hyperion. After completion of the last objective Hyperion informs the player that the battle pattern of the latest EOS unmanned fighter is complete. The player is given the honor of being the target of the last EOS test as reward for their heroic efforts. Upon the player's death they will advance two classes and be awarded the Sirius decoration. After surviving the intense barrage of artillery fire of the test, the pilot wonders why they must be terminated by their allies and questions their military leaders' rationale for the war.

The game's narrative then skips to one month later when the pilot re-emerges in space flying an armed Einhänder spacecraft. Hyperion communicates that the player is committing an act of treason and must remove their armament and surrender. Still, the player fights their way through the Selenean fighters and faces the Hyperion, the game's final boss. The ending sequence depicts the player's spacecraft damaged and drifting in space. The pilot engages its thrusters and dives into an army of Selenean spacecraft with the Moon in the background. An epilogue shows the actions of the lone Einhänder pilot ended the war by destroying the armies of both sides — leading to an eventual peace. Yet, the pilot's name and deeds were stricken from the records and they are remembered only by veterans of the war. In a post-credits scene, a lone Einhänder spacecraft is shown powering up.