Ehrgeiz

"Ehrgeiz, the king of fighting games imo."

Ehrgeiz is an arcade fighting game created by squaresoft(my favorite gaming company) in Japan, and is often overlooked by many. How is it really?

GAMEPLAY(10/10)
In Ehrgeiz, rather than going left and right like most other fighters, you run around the entire, multileveled battlefield. And all the characters have plenty of multi-direction moves to attack with. Since you can't walk ''backwards'', you block by not moving. It's strange at first, but you'll eventually get used to it. In fact, blocking useually isn't required, because you can off-throw and counter your opponent's moves. And it has many minigames that are fun to play, as well as an RPG mode.

STORY(10/10)
I can't comment much on the story without spoiling alot, and if I just repeat the back of the box, I'll sound like every one else, but I thrive on the whole theme of the story, Ehrgeiz sword, and locations in the game.

GRAPHICS(10/10)
The greatest Playstation graphics I've ever seen, no less. fully, FULLY-detailed 3d models for every character, with great coloring and care taken into creating them. Every character is a pure PSX graphical masterpiece. And the FMVs are just... *melts*. Every character even has an alternate costume, some have 2 alternates!

MUSIC/SOUND(9/10)
It has excellent music, the greatest I ever heard for a fighting game, Especially on the RPG mode. The music alone is a 10, but the sound effects aren't ''perfect''... Minus the characters' cries and shouts, those are wonderful. I like the Final Fantasy VII characters' voices.

REPLAY(9/10)
Like I said earlier, it has alot of mini games. Battle Beach is awesome, you use the characters and compete in at events at the beach. Infinity Battle is for the warriors, fight until you drop. There's a racing one, which is kind of awkward just using the characters to run across a course, but you can attack the other player so it's like adding a few more battle areas. And quick-minded othello fans will enjoy Battle Panel. And when you're done with all of that and the arcade(Which has a different ending for most of the characters, you might want to see Sephiroth's...), settle down and play the RPG mode, where you take two hidden characters from the arcade and explore the ancient ruins where the sword itself originated from.

OVERALL(10/10)
This is one of the best Playstation titles there are. If you play fighting games, get this game. If you play Final Fantasy VII, get this game. If you play Squaresoft games of any kind, get this game. If you like Chinese karate masters, Japanese schoolgirls, and British kickboxers, get this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/16/02, Updated 05/16/02