Einhänder

Einhänder is a side-scrolling shoot ’em up developed by Square, released in Japan in 1997 and in North America in 1998. The player flies an Einhänder fighter for the Moon’s forces in a war against Earth.

The game uses 3D graphics with a moving camera on a 2D plane of play. Its main idea is the ship’s manipulator arm, which grabs guns dropped by destroyed enemies and swaps between them, so the arsenal changes throughout each stage.

It is one of the few shoot ’em ups Square made and has a strong following among fans of the genre.

Native ports: Einhander Recompiled, a static recompilation for Windows, Linux and macOS.