Ehrgeiz

"Possibly the greatest fighting game of all time..."

I know, I know, a perfect 10 isn't really fair, but Ehrgeiz is no ordinary game; this is definitely one of the greatest fighting games ever made, if not the greatest. But don't get me wrong...I was one of the most skeptical before I actually played it on my own system and even that was after I'd been exposed to it in the arcades. I'd noted that it was exceptionally smooth, but other than that I thought it wouldn't be my kind of game to own.

That was where I was wrong. Not only did the play controls turn out to be just as smooth as the arcade, the animation also rivaled that of the huge-screened monitors where I punched and kicked as Tifa Lockheart to decimate the other would-be champions of the materia blade Ehrgeiz. Truly stunning backgrounds and wonderful camera angles, as well as a wonderful multi-platform fighting ground that's accessible from any level, make Ehrgeiz immense fun for anyone, and the controls, though seemingly complex at first, turn childishly simple and make the characters easy to control once you are able to practice a bit in the ring...something made possible with the practice mode.

All these things just blow the new Ehrgeiz-gamer away, or even the one who spent hours at the arcade learning the moves; it seemed like a whole new game on the PSX in front of me, and that was only the fighting part of it. Not only is the fighting smooth, easy to control, and chock-full of great characters (some from a well-known RPG that I don't have to mention;), but it's also not the only asset of Ehrgeiz; there are also the four mini-games that are great fun and the RPG Quest mode that is much like an adventure game a la 'Alundra' or the like. Truly a great deal of fun, and nearly infinite playability, because the game changes just as the characters you play changes and then difficulty level changes. It's subtle and slight, but it's still loads of fun.

I really do love this game, as much as I loved Toshinden 3 when it came out (sentimental value, really^_~) and I will be playing it for a very long time to come. I wasn't really sure if Square was going to make it worthwhile, and I was very skeptical as it seemed they were still living off the success of a game I didn't think was all that great (again, the game I don't have to mention), but I was won over. Ehrgeiz is a must-have for any fan of fighting, Playstation or otherwise. This is the lord of fighting games. 'God Bless the Ring,' it says, but in Ehrgeiz, the ring *IS* God.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 03/28/02