(LAST UPDATE: 6/26/09)
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Developer(s): DreamFactory
Publisher(s): Namco (Arcade), Square (JP), Square Electronic Arts (NA),
Square Enix (PSN)
Designer(s): Seiichi Ishii
Platform(s): Arcade,
Playstation, Playstation Network
Release: 1998 (Arcade), December 17th 1998 (JP PS1), May 4th 1999 (NA
PS1), July 9th 2008 (PSN)
Characters:
Godhand,
Yoko,
Prince
Doza, Kouji,
Sasuke,
Lee
Shuwen, Jo,
Dasher,
Han
Dae Han, Django, Cloud,
Tifa,
Vincent,
Yuffie,
Sephiroth,
Zack
Related Games: Tobal No. 1, Tobal
No. 2
Review:
Ehrgeiz
is a 3D fighting game made with a joint effort from Squaresoft and DreamFactory,
a subdivision of Namco. The game features free 3D movement inside closed-in
3D environments which vary in elevation and some of which feature interactive
objects. Ehrgeiz's free-roaming 3D engine
borrows concepts from wrestling games and Dream Factory's own Tobal
series, giving it a unique look and feel among 3D fighters at the time. Of
course, most arena's are rather "closed-in" so the free-roaming isn't exactly as "free" as
it sounds. Still, the various arenas do the gameplay justice, as players can fight
on multiple elevations.
The fighting
gameplay engine is rather simple, which is a good thing in some ways, but
may also be a bad thing to gamers looking for a bit more technicality in
their 3D fighter. Basically, there's a high attack, mid attack, low attack,
special attack, a targeting button, and a jump button. There are also combined
button commands for other special move variations. The system works pretty
well and has some oomph, but lacks lasting appeal. Graphically, the game was a
good looking PS1 game... Character models and environments where on the blocky
side; but the frame-rate, resolution, and textures at the time were actually
impressive.
Ehrgeiz was a decent arcade
fighting game, but felt like it was missing something... Alas, the Playstation
version was a much more complete game, adding new characters, tweaked gameplay, and also
included an interesting Quest/RPG Mode (similar to Tobal 1 & 2's).The RPG mode
features a "Hack and Slash" style action-RPG which begins in a dungeon
in a parallel universe, and later moves to a nearby inn. The player can explore
the town and enter the dungeon, which contains randomly generated maps, in
search of artifacts and power-ups... It's pretty addicting the first time
through. The mini game mode is also entertaining for
a while, including track & field events, as well as aversion of the
board game Othello. These extra modes add a lot of personality and replayability
to the home version.
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- Review is for Playstation version of Ehrgeiz - |
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8 / 10 |
Closing Comment:
Ehrgeiz was a unique fighting game "attempt" from Square... No, it didn't
have the greatest gameplay we've ever seen in a 3D fighting game, but the
cool characters, the extra long intro, and the sweet bonus modes in the
home version really did make up for it. Besides, how awesome is it to have
Final Fantasy VII characters playable in a fighting game? 
...Yes, I'm a pretty big FF VII fan if you didn't already know. Think about it,
without this game's creation, TFG would
be without a Cloud,
Tifa,
Vincent,
Yuffie,
Sephiroth, and Zack...
Now that would just be depressing. For
any sort of FF VII fan, it was surely awesome at the time to see the epic
FF VII characters cross-over to a fighting game. The default characters aren't
half bad, but could've been a lot better at the same time. ~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
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