Einhänder (1997)

Spoilers for a 20-year-old shmup

Betrayal! I took down the Stage 6 boss on my next run (surprisingly, the trick was to spam grenades at its weak spot), only to find out that my COs on the moon were just using my combat data to train their automated drone warfare program. Which they'll now be field testing on me as I've been deemed too dangerous to keep alive.

It's difficult to convey in screenshots, but during this final stage the game's 3D camera does a fantastically queasy job of selling the disorienting omnidirectionality of battle in deep space. Fighters rotate in and out of view from every angle, the final boss (a big gundam, basically) zooms around the foreground and background, and superfast homing missiles track you around the field relentlessly.

It's a uniquely frenetic and frankly somewhat nauseating fight that's full of the experimental enthusiasm for 3D that I love about so many PS1/N64 games, and I had a great time with it even though it'd probably be cut or toned down in the more refined game design climate of today. It was also the only spot in the game where I really felt myself needing the Einhander's ability to increase its speed in exchange for a larger hurtbox.

Eventually, my trusty grenades saw me through and I saw Einhander's credits roll for the very first time in over 20 years of attempts. I was worried at the outset that the reality of the experience might not live up to the mystery I'd built up in my head, but an incredible sense of style and an unusual focus on resource management over twitch skill make for a game that still feels fresh even today.

Glory with the moon, mercy on the earth!

Switched from the standard ship to the Astraea Mk. 1.

It's a bit trickier to use since it can't always access the basic forward-firing machine gun and can accidentally overwrite strong weapons with weaker ones you pick up. But it gets 50% more ammo from all pickups, can fire 2 weapons at once, and starts with 2 fully loaded weapons of your choice every time you die, which is just too powerful to ignore when it comes to taking down bosses.

After some adjustment with the Astraea I barely slipped through Stage 5's literal minefield and grenade spammed the boss to death. And then it turns out you pursue this giant rocket into space?

I managed to take it down before it escaped into orbit, but promptly got destroyed by the bizarre Stage 6 boss and lost all my lives without even getting a good screenshot of it. Disappointing!

On the upside, I know the game's only 7 stages long so it feels like the end is within reach. I guess we're going to the moon next time?

First attempt went pretty well! I ran out of continues at the exact spot we were forever stuck on as kids (the Stage 4 endboss), so I'm confident I should be able to push further with a little practice.

The most immediately striking thing on returning to Einhander is that it still looks and sounds fantastic, especially with the higher resolution, anti-aliasing, and PGXP wobbly texture correction available through modern emulation. The stages are moody and colorful, explosion and laser effects are effortlessly sold by punchy sound effects, the bosses are all unique and animate beautifully, and the soundtrack is nonstop bops. The Stage 3 endboss in particular is just as cool as I remember, the way the weight of its movement tilts the entire arena around you still impresses to this day.

I'm less convinced by the weapon balance, though. This went over my head as a kid, but grenades are at least 3 or 4 times stronger than every other commonly available weapon, and every boss in the game grants a huge score bonus if you beat in in under 30 seconds by spamming grenades at it. So taking the time to learn to counter all the (really cool) boss attacks kinda feels like a total waste, and the game's difficulty spikes up massively if you ever die and lose your stockpile of grenades. Mechanics like this that make the game harder when you're already doing poorly are never any fun, and they date a game that otherwise feels pretty modern.