FunWiki: EinHander

Einhänder is a PlayStation game that was released on May 5, 1998. Near the end of the 2000-2001 school year, it was a popular LoungeGame? in EastDorm. It is not to be confused with EastDormCorgi.

Einhänder is a side-scrolling shooter. You can pick up gun pods which attach themselves to your ship and enable you to fire such weapons as the Blade, the Hedgehog, the Cannon, the Flash, etc, etc. There are three initial ship types:

Endymion Mark 3 - The most basic ship. Has a double machine gun and one gun-pod slot. Whenever you pick up a gunpod, it replaces your current one.
Astrea (Mark I) - has a single machine gun, but can equip two gun-pods simultaneously. However, when two gunpods are equipped, the machine gun can't be fired.
Endymion Mark 2 - has a single machine gun and carries up to three gun-pods. Only one gun-pod can be active at a time. The player can use the controller to change the active gun-pod. Apparently gets less gunpod ammunition than the other ships.

There are also two hidden ships.

Unknown Fighter Type 1 - looks like some of the really weak enemies at the beginning of level 1. The gallery refers to these enemies as Die Schabe (the cockroach). Has a single machine gun (Lv. 1), and a searchlight (which does nothing but look cool). Grabbing gunpods enables a secondary weapon, which fires in assorted directions depending on the gunpod grabbed. Grabbing gunpods also raises the weapons level; the number of machine guns is variable, determined by (Lv / 5) + 1 (integer division). The rate of fire of the secondary weapon is also affected, and is based on (Lv - 1) % 5. The maximum weapon level is 20.

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The main challenge of Einhänder is to beat Hard with using no more than 2 continues, which unlocks a very powerful ship. However, nobody at Harvey Mudd has been known to accomplish this yet. The closest anybody's ever gotten, to my knowledge, is running out of continues halfway through level 5.

: Actually, I bought Einhänder recently and have been playing pretty obsessively. I just played a game on hard and made it up to the final boss. I had 2 continues left, but he proceeded to repeatedly kick my ass. The little red lights come more frequently and are *much* faster and there are at least twice as many of the laser beam guys. The pace-setting sections of the game on hard are definitely level 5 and the final boss. Level 3 can also be "interesting", but it's much more doable than 5. This may be irrelevant, as the comment referred to people "at Harvey Mudd" and I'm currently in NewYorkCity?. Oh well. (And since Andrew mentioned it, I guess I should point out that I too used the Endymion Mark 3 with the Juno.) --DanCicio

: I believe I made it to the end of level 5 on hard before running out of continues, by using the Endymion 3 with the Juno. I haven't played at all since the end of the school year, though. --AndrewSchoonmaker

: I stole a friend's system and finally managed to beat 5 on hard with an Astrea/Blade?/whichever weapon was suitable (mostly vulcan and juno) combo. Only made it about 5 seconds into the next level though... giving up the machine gun entirely only really seems to work on lower difficulties. Still fun... --PamelaRettig

: I think it could be fun to keep separate records for on- and off-campus playing. Sort of a record differentiating between ability on 8-10 hours of sleep and 3-4 ... (or 1-2, in Dan's case) Sounds like a good idea to me. Also, I think I need to start a SleepOmeter for while I'm in NewYorkCity? and compare it the one from when I'm at Mudd. --DanCicio

: I think it could be fun to spell Einhänder properly from now on instead of not noticing those two cute little dots over the a. It's pronounced "Ein-Hen-Der" by the way. --KurtDresner

: The game pronounces it "Ein-Hahn-Der" (and spells it in katakana "ainhandaa"), and thus the name of the game is a typo (few people spell it with the umlauts in FAQs... :-)

: Well, "Einhänder" is German for "one hand-er." It's not Japanese, and so the fact that the Japanese don't have the letters to spell the word right doesn't justify an improper pronunciation. Just a lesson in "Don't fuck around with umlauts unless you know what you're doing." --KurtDresner

: Not to be too much of a pain in the ass, but the Japanese *do* have the letters to spell the word right; "ainhendaa" is also perfectly legitimate katakana. I believe your point stands WRT the general issues with the name, however.

Favored ship/weapon selection:

DanCicio - In my efforts to improve my skill at Einhänder, I've stepped away from my obscene boss repulse times. Generally, I now use the Juno (I had long stints where I used one of Cannon, Grenade, and Hedgehog--in that order) with the Endymion Mark 3. I've had mixed luck with the first Unknown Fighter. I'm convinced that the best way to play the game is to master the use of the Endymion Mark 2. With that ship, I usually equip Grenades and pick up massive amounts of Vulcan and Cannon, but I'm still getting used to the slightly different style of play.

AlexBobbs - I like to have ships with guns. Big guns that go BOOM BOOM BOOM!

AndrewSchoonmaker - I really like the Endymion 2 with the Flash, but my best results have been with the Endymion 3 with the Juno and the Unknown Fighter Type 1.

BrianRoney - Endymion 2 with the Flash, or the Astrea with the Blade and the Riot.

PamelaRettig - Astrea only, usually with Blade though Grenade can be fun

GameChallenge: Get as far as possible without firing a gun. (if you wait long enough on the bosses they go away, except for the final boss; if you wait long enough, you go away)

Apparently, someone posted the following advice for this game on alt.games.final-fantasy:

1) Shoot everything that moves. 2) Don't get hit.

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