PS1 Underrated Gem: Einhander
45This is a series of gameplay vids I'm doing highlighting overlooked games for the various consoles I own. This is played on a PS2 with Texture smoothing on.
I get asked about this one a lot in my 100 PS1 games vid.
Some people are going to disagree with me on this one. In fact, I do know that a lot of Shmup fans consider this to be an extremely overrated game, and while I can see where they're coming from, it is still a Shmup. That means that it is still in a niche genre. It is, without a doubt, the PS1's most known, and most popular Shmup, but as a whole, that still leaves it at underrated status.
This was that first polygonal Shmup I ever played. I rented it back in the day after I read the review of it in GamePro Magazine (Major Mike gave it a 4.5/5 Funfactor if I remember correctly). For it's time, it came out of nowhere. I really can't remember much talk of the game before it hit. After it hit, though, it became the most well known PS1 Shmup there is.
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this one is that is came from Squaresoft of all companies, and showed that if they wanted to, they could make games other than RPGs. Even though it's not the best Shmup I've ever played (I honestly don't know if I have a personal favorite), Square still did a really good job on it IMO.
You get the choice of choosing between three crafts that allow you to do different things, like store gun pods for later, or use two gun pods at once. I personally prefer to use the one who dual-wields gun pods. It's not the most strategic approach seeing as you then don't get to save the pods for later use, but I like going cowboy, and shooting s***.
It's a shmup, so there's not a lot tell about it's gameplay. Just simple, oldschool style fun. Shoot everything that moves with no remorse.
Of course, the usual complaint applies with this one, it's for the more patient gamer. There are three difficulty settings, but even easy will require patience from you until you learn the game.
As for the rest, the game controls great, it looks great for a PS1 game, and it's got some cool music to boot. There are even some unlockables thrown in for good measure.
Einhander is only available on the PS1, but Square needs to re-release this on over PSN, because the online seller price is a little steep for a PS1 game. $30-$50 on average