Difference between revisions of "Herzog Zwei"

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HerzogZwei Title.png

Herzog Zwei
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Technosoft
Developer:
Genre: Simulation

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code

Herzog Zwei (ヘルツォーク・ツヴァイ) is a video game developed by Technosoft, released exclusively for the Sega Mega Drive in 1989, and a sequel to Herzog, which was released only in Japan for the MSX and PC-8801 in 1988. It was published in Japan by Technosoft in 1989 and in North America and Europe by Sega in 1990.

Herzog Zwei is often credited for creating the foundations of the real time strategy genre. The player controls a unit which can freely transform from a plane to a robot, and must create and transport units to capture structures and destroy enemy bases.

Overview

Herzog Zwei combined the gameplay of Technosoft's Thunder Force series with a fairly easy-to-grasp level of strategy gameplay. It differed significantly from both turn-based strategy and real-time tactics, and is the earliest example of a modern real-time strategy game.[1] Along with a single-player mode, it featured a split-screen two-player mode where both players are in action simultaneously and there are no pauses while decisions are taken, forcing players to think quickly while on the move. Though the player only controls one unit, a transforming mech, the manner of control foreshadowed the point-and-click mechanic of later games. It introduced much of the genre conventions, including unit construction and resource management, with the control and destruction of bases being an important aspect of the game, as were the economic/production aspects of those bases.[1]

Upon release, the game received little mainstream recognition, and its novel approach to strategy gameplay polarized critics who were uncertain about what to make of it. It was generally well received by Japanese[2] and European critics. Reactions from North American critics, however, were generally negative, with Electronic Gaming Monthly criticizing it for being too complex, judging it as a flawed shooter rather than a novel strategy game, and giving it some of its lowest review scores for a Mega Drive game.

Herzog Zwei has been considered one of the best two-player Mega Drive games and listed among the best games of all time, by Electronic Gaming Monthly, IGN and Next Generation.[3][4][5] It has been credited with laying the foundations for the real-time strategy (RTS) genre, predating and influencing the genre-popularizing Dune II.[6][7]

It is also retrospectively considered a precursor to the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre, which uses a similar formula of each player controlling a single command unit in one of two opposing sides on a battlefield.[8][9][10] Herzog Zwei has been listed as one of the most important games ever made by 1UP, while GameSpy listed it as one of the most underrated games of all time.[1][11]

Production Credits

Main Program: Takashi Iwanaga
Weapon Program: Haruhiko Ohtsuka
Map Design: Osamu Tsujikawa
Character Design: Izumi Fukuda
Demo Program: Izumi Fukuda
Music Compose: Naosuke Arai, Tomomi Ohtani
Sound Effect: Naosuke Arai, Tomomi Ohtani
Manual Writer:Fumio Sugano
Herzog: T. O.
Special Thanks: Marie Hughes, Kamometei
Copyright: Tecno Soft

Reception

See Physical Scans section for review scores

Upon release, Herzog Zwei was not very commercially successful and received little mainstream recognition, due to its lack of marketing, relatively early release on the Mega Drive/Genesis platform, [1] and non-arcade genre on what was considered an arcade-oriented game console. Upon its 1990 release in North America, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) harshly criticized the game for being too complex and judged it as a flawed shooter rather than a novel strategy game.[12] [2] They gave it an average rating of 4.25 out of 10,[13] or 17 out of 40 overall, based on a panel of four individual reviewers giving it scores of 4, 6, 4, and 3, out of 10.[14] The game received some of the lowest scores the magazine had ever handed out to a Genesis game;[12] 3 out of 10 was the lowest score any Genesis game had received from EGM reviewers up until 1993, and Herzog Zwei was one of only six Genesis games to have received this score up until then.[15] In Japan, the game was generally well received by Famitsu, which gave it a score of 29 out of 40. Famitsu compared it to Nectaris and Famicom Wars, but noted that Herzog Zwei distinguished itself with its simultaneous, two-player, real-time gameplay. [3]

The game was generally more well received by European critics. In the United Kingdom, Warren Lapworth reviewed the game in the March 1990 issue of The Games Machine magazine, giving the game a 75% score. He criticized the title as "one of the silliest" names he had seen for a video game, but described the game itself as an "unusual product," a console strategy game with shoot 'em up style gameplay, stating, "Whether it's intended to get strategists to consider buying the console or to broaden the horizons of trigger-happy lunatics, I don't know. Either way, it's quite refreshing and can be quite addictive in two-player mode, fierce rivalry developing between friends."[16] In the April 1990 issue of Computer and Video Games, reviewer Paul Glancey gave the game an 82% score. He described it as "a game of conquest between two commanders in real time" and recognized that what "sets it apart from other strategy games is that everything happens in real time. Both players are in action simultaneously and there are no pauses while decisions are taken so you have to think on the move or die." He noted that the command icons are "fairly easy to grasp" and concluded that it is a game that helps establish the Mega Drive as a "real" computer rather than "just a machine for immobilised arcade players."[17] Its highest rating from a British magazine was from Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, which gave it an 85% score.[18] In France, the game was reviewed in the November 1990 issue of the Joystick magazine, where reviewer JM Destroy gave the game a 78% score.[19]

Long after its release, the game gained a cult following and achieved some popularity. [4] David Filip of Allgame gave the game a score of 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as "one of the first" and "one of the best" strategy video games on home consoles and as "a fine cure for those days when you want a different kind of RTS to control." [5] Daniel Thomas of Sega-16 gave it a score of 10 out of 10 in 2004, describing it as "very probably the finest videogame you've never played" and as the Genesis console's "finest hour."[12] Lawrence Wright of Insomnia gave the game a score of 5 out of 5 stars in 2008.[20] GameSpot users have given Herzog Zwei an average score of 8.8 out of 10, as of 2009[21] and 2014[22]

It is often found on several "best of" lists of video games, owing to its precedence in the real-time strategy genre, as well to the increasing understanding of finer points of its mechanics. [6][4] It was featured in the "Top 100 Games Ever" list of Electronic Gaming Monthly, in the November 1997 issue which ranked it at #43[3] (by a different editorial line-up from years earlier [7]), and in the January 2002 issue which ranked it #52.[23] The February 1999 issue of Next Generation ranked it at #39 in its list of 50 best games of all time. [8] It has also been featured in IGN's "Top 100 Games of All Time", in the 2003 list which ranked it at #62,[24] and in the 2005 list which ranked it #95.[4] In 2003, GameSpy listed the game as one of the 25 most underrated games of all time.[25] 1UP included the game in its "Essential 50" list of "The Most Important Games Ever Made". [9]

Legacy

The U.S. game release packaging art was executed by veteran San Francisco game box illustrator Marc Ericksen, who had previously done the art for Thunder Force II, and was invited back by Sega for this image, as it was considered a 'sister' game to TFII.[26][27] A sequel was planned for Sega's 32X platform, but with the subsequent failure of that console, so, too, died the plans for a third Herzog title. With Technosoft closing its doors in 2001 and the status of the intellectual property being unknown, the future of the series is likely sealed.

Herzog Zwei went on to influence future RTS games, particularly Dune II (1992), [10][28] the producers of which acknowledged Herzog Zwei as an influence,[29][30] as well as Warcraft (1994), Command & Conquer (1995), Starcraft (1998), War of the Rings (2003), [11] and Brütal Legend (2009).[31] Future Cop: LAPD (1998) featured a Precinct Assault mode that was similar to Herzog Zwei.[32][33] Total Annihilation (1997) and its spiritual successor Supreme Commander inherited the concept of a large robotic command vehicle which is used to construct and command an army. However, Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander are controlled in similar fashion to traditional real-time strategy games; unlike in Herzog Zwei, the command vehicle in those games is mainly nothing more than a particularly powerful and versatile unit.

Scott Sharkey of 1UP states that, besides the original Herzog, the 1988 game Modem Wars was possibly "[t]he closest predecessor" to Herzog Zwei, but that it "was fairly primitive and abstract by comparison," that earlier such games lacked the ability to construct units or manage resources which made them "much more tactical than strategic," and that the slower processors and modems made the ticks "so long that the games were practically turn based". [12]

The roots of the popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre, also known as the action RTS genre, has been traced back to Herzog Zwei, which used a similar formula, where each player controls a single command unit in one of two opposing sides on a battlefield.[9][10] Destructoid cited Herzog Zwei as "one of the world's first MOBAs."[8] In 2008, GameAxis Unwired considered DotA to then be the closest modern equivalent to Herzog Zwei, but noted that, while DotA gives the player control over a fully customizable command unit with RPG elements, it severely limits or removes the player's ability to produce and command other friendly units, whereas Herzog Zwei has a fully customizable command unit with RPG elements that the player has full control over, while commanding an army to go into battle with rather than mindless drones that respawn at set intervals. [13]

In 2004, a mod was created for Unreal Tournament 2004 attempting to recreate Herzog Zwei. [14] In 2008, Guilty Gear 2: Overture used strategy gameplay similar to Herzog Zwei.[34][35] On November 8, 2012, Carbon Games released AirMech, a MOBA game that is considered a more direct, spiritual successor of Herzog Zwei. It features modernized graphics and added gameplay mechanics, such as online multiplayer. The game has been released under a free-to-play model, and is available from Carbon Games, Steam, and the Google Chrome Web Store.

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
85 AllGame
80 №4/90, p78
76 №4, p31[36]
82 №101, p103[37]
43 №15, p85[38]
43 №1993, p46[39]
73 Famitsu
75 №28, p50[40]
88 GameSpot
100 Insomnia
78 №10, p102[41]
85 №5, p63
74 №9, p20
76 №1, p78[42]
85 №6/91, p116/117[43]
80 №4/90, p121[44]
80 №5, p58/59[45]
100 2005-07-05
78 №20
80 №23, p53
80 №3, p61[46]
76 №18, p66
Sega Mega Drive
 78
Based on
22 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
40
[47]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
80
[48]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
78
[49]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
76
[36]
Console XS (UK) PAL
76
[50]
Cool Gamer (RU)
40
[51]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
82
[37]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
43
[52]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
40
[53]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3 (RU)
40
[54]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
73
[55]
The Games Machine (UK)
75
[40]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
97
[56]
Igry Sega Luchshiye iz luchshikh. Vypusk 2 (RU)
50
[57]
Joystick (FR)
78
[41]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)
85
[58]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
75
[59]
Mega (UK) PAL
74
[60]
Mega (UK)
74
[61]
MegaTech (UK)
76
[42]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
76
[62]
Play Time (DE)
78
[43]
Power Play (DE)
58
[63]
Raze (UK) PAL
80
[45]
Sega Power (UK)
78
[64]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
75
[65]
Sega Pro (UK)
80
[46]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
76
[66]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
75
[67]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
66
[68]
User (GR) NTSC-J
90
[69]
Sega Mega Drive
 70
Based on
31 reviews

Herzog Zwei

Mega Drive, US
HerzogZwei MD US Box.jpg
Cover
HerzogZwei MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Herzogzwei md us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
HerzogZwei MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
HerzogZwei MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, JP
HerzogZwei MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
HerzogZwei MD JP CartTop.jpg
HerzogZwei MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Herzogzwei md jp manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, CA

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-herzog-zwei
  2. ↑ http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=2579
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://kisrael.com/vgames/powerlist/egm100.html
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://top100.ign.com/2005/091-100.html
  5. ↑ http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=242 (Wayback Machine: 2007-11-23 00:25)
  6. ↑ http://www.above-the-garage.com/blog/1998/8/18/the-origin-of-realtime-strategy-games-on-the-pc
  7. ↑ http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-making-of-dune-ii/ (Wayback Machine: 2013-02-12 08:11)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://www.destructoid.com/review-airmech-242461.phtml
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/moba-the-story-so-far/0133335
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://www.gamesradar.com/ask-gr-anything-whats-moba/
  11. ↑ http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/september03/25underrated/index19.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2012-01-23 09:16)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 http://www.sega-16.com/2005/07/herzog-zwei/
  13. ↑ http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/473001.asp
  14. ↑ [Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide, Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1993, p. 46 Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide, Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1993, p. 46]
  15. ↑ [Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide, Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1993, page 46 Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide, Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1993, page 46]
  16. ↑ http://amr.abime.net/review_23961
  17. ↑ http://amr.abime.net/review_27759
  18. ↑ [Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, issue 5, p. 63 Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, issue 5, p. 63]
  19. ↑ http://amr.abime.net/review_44262
  20. ↑ http://insomnia.ac/reviews/megadrive/herzogzwei/
  21. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/genesis/strategy/herzogzwei/index.html (Wayback Machine: 2009-06-28 18:38)
  22. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/herzog-zwei/
  23. ↑ http://kisrael.com/vgames/powerlist/
  24. ↑ http://top100.ign.com/2003/61-70.html#62
  25. ↑ http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/september03/25underrated/index19.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2004-07-21 00:22)
  26. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,25
  27. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/game/herzog-zwei
  28. ↑ http://www.nowgamer.com/print/feature/184 (Wayback Machine: 2012-04-02 05:27)
  29. ↑ http://www.above-the-garage.com/rblts/vie16b.htm (Wayback Machine: 2003-05-04 03:49)
  30. ↑ http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-making-of-dune-ii/
  31. ↑ http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/battle_time/
  32. ↑ http://ign.com/articles/1998/12/15/future-cop-lapd
  33. ↑ http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/future-cop-lapd
  34. ↑ http://insomnia.ac/reviews/xbox360/guiltygear2overture/
  35. ↑ http://diehardgamefan.com/2008/10/21/review-guilty-gear-2-overture-360/
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 File:CGtC UK 04.pdf, page 31 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CGtC UK 04.pdf_p31" defined multiple times with different content
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 File:CVG UK 101.pdf, page 103 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 101.pdf_p103" defined multiple times with different content
  38. ↑ File:EGM US 015.pdf, page 85
  39. ↑ File:EGM US BuyersGuide 1993.pdf, page 46
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 File:TGM UK 28.pdf, page 50 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:TGM UK 28.pdf_p50" defined multiple times with different content
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 File:Joystick FR 010.pdf, page 102 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 010.pdf_p102" defined multiple times with different content
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 78 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p78" defined multiple times with different content
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 File:PlayTime DE 1991-06.pdf, page 116 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayTime DE 1991-06.pdf_p116" defined multiple times with different content
  44. ↑ File:PowerPlay DE 025.pdf, page 121
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 File:Raze UK 05.pdf, page 58 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Raze UK 05.pdf_p58" defined multiple times with different content
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 File:SegaPro UK 03.pdf, page 61 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 03.pdf_p61" defined multiple times with different content
  47. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 95
  48. ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Avril 1990" (DE; 1990-03-30), page 78
  49. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 69
  50. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 130
  51. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 102
  52. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 20
  53. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 321
  54. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 107
  55. ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 1989-xx-xx), page 1
  56. ↑ Game Informer, "May 1999" (US; 1999-0x-xx), page 72
  57. ↑ Igry Sega Luchshiye iz luchshikh. Vypusk 2, "" (RU; 2001-08-27), page 207
  58. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 63
  59. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "May 1990" (JP; 1990-04-07), page 89
  60. ↑ Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 20
  61. ↑ Mega, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-21), page 79
  62. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 139
  63. ↑ Power Play, "4/90" (DE; 1990-03-16), page 123
  64. ↑ Sega Power, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-06), page 26
  65. ↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53
  66. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
  67. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  68. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 16
  69. ↑ User, "Noémvrios 1990" (GR; 1990-1x-xx), page 63
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