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

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 platform,[1] and non-arcade genre on what was considered an arcade-oriented game console.

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. [1][4]

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.[12][13] 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), [14][15] the producers of which acknowledged Herzog Zwei as an influence,[16][17].

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
85 AllGame
80 №4/90, p78
76 №4, p31[18]
82 №101, p103[19]
43 №15, p85[20]
43 №1993, p46[21]
73 Famitsu
75 №28, p50[22]
88 GameSpot
100 Insomnia
78 №10, p102[23]
85 №5, p63
74 №9, p20
76 №1, p78[24]
85 №6/91, p116/117[25]
80 №4/90, p121[26]
80 №5, p58/59[27]
100 2005-07-05
78 №20
80 №23, p53
80 №3, p61[28]
76 №18, p66
Sega Mega Drive
 78
Based on
22 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
40
[29]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
80
[30]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
78
[31]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
76
[18]
Console XS (UK) PAL
76
[32]
Cool Gamer (RU)
40
[33]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
82
[19]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
43
[34]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
40
[35]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3 (RU)
40
[36]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
73
[37]
The Games Machine (UK)
75
[22]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
97
[38]
Igry Sega Luchshiye iz luchshikh. Vypusk 2 (RU)
50
[39]
Joystick (FR)
78
[23]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)
85
[40]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
75
[41]
Mega (UK) PAL
74
[42]
Mega (UK)
74
[43]
MegaTech (UK)
76
[24]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
76
[44]
Play Time (DE)
78
[25]
Power Play (DE)
58
[45]
Raze (UK) PAL
80
[27]
Sega Power (UK)
78
[46]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
75
[47]
Sega Pro (UK)
80
[28]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
76
[48]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
75
[49]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
66
[50]
User (GR) NTSC-J
90
[51]
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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 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. ↑ http://kisrael.com/vgames/powerlist/egm100.html
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 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. ↑ http://www.destructoid.com/review-airmech-242461.phtml
  9. ↑ http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/moba-the-story-so-far/0133335
  10. ↑ 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. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,25
  13. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/game/herzog-zwei
  14. ↑ [ ]
  15. ↑ http://www.nowgamer.com/print/feature/184 (Wayback Machine: 2012-04-02 05:27)
  16. ↑ http://www.above-the-garage.com/rblts/vie16b.htm (Wayback Machine: 2003-05-04 03:49)
  17. ↑ http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-making-of-dune-ii/
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 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
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 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
  20. ↑ File:EGM US 015.pdf, page 85
  21. ↑ File:EGM US BuyersGuide 1993.pdf, page 46
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 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
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 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
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 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
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 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
  26. ↑ File:PowerPlay DE 025.pdf, page 121
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 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
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 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
  29. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 95
  30. ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Avril 1990" (DE; 1990-03-30), page 78
  31. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 69
  32. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 130
  33. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 102
  34. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 20
  35. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 321
  36. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 107
  37. ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 1989-xx-xx), page 1
  38. ↑ Game Informer, "May 1999" (US; 1999-0x-xx), page 72
  39. ↑ Igry Sega Luchshiye iz luchshikh. Vypusk 2, "" (RU; 2001-08-27), page 207
  40. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 63
  41. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "May 1990" (JP; 1990-04-07), page 89
  42. ↑ Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 20
  43. ↑ Mega, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-21), page 79
  44. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 139
  45. ↑ Power Play, "4/90" (DE; 1990-03-16), page 123
  46. ↑ Sega Power, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-06), page 26
  47. ↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53
  48. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
  49. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  50. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 16
  51. ↑ User, "Noémvrios 1990" (GR; 1990-1x-xx), page 63
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