Einhänder

Einhänder (アインハンダー Ainhandā) is a shoot-em-up PlayStation game by Square, released in Japan on November 1997 and in North America a few months later, on May 1998.

Plot
A century has passed after World War III (the First Moon War in the North American version). Humanity is divided in two: the-now barren wastelands of Earth, controlled by the German city state of Sodom (Gesetz in the North American version) and the Moon, controlled by Selene.

Now, a new war has broken out between the Earth and the Moon. Selene launches a series of raids on Sodom/Gesetz using one-man fighter spacecrafts called "Einhänder" (German for one-hander), which are equipped with manipulator arms that allow them to steal enemy weapons. These fighters are sent on suicide missions to cause as much damage as possible on Sodom/Gesetz’s forces. You are one of the pilots who is participating in one such mission.

Why it Rocks

 * 1) Some destroyed enemies drop weapons when they are destroyed; you can use these weapons and can carry 2 or 3 of them, depending on the craft that you’re using.
 * 2) Extremely memorable and awesome electro-techno soundtrack.
 * 3) Memorable boss battles.
 * 4) The game is almost entirely in English and German regardless of whether you’re playing the North American or Japanese versions.
 * 5) The Japanese version has more modes than the North American version, such as a stage selection mode and a free play mode that gives you infinite credits, but no scores.
 * 6) Surprisingly well-done story, by shoot-em-up standards. It is also filled with subtle Judeo-Christian/Biblical (Sodom and Gomorrah), Greco-Roman mythology (Endymion and Selene), and WWI/WWII (enemy forces speak German while the protagonists speak English) references/symbolism.