FINAL FANTASY VII The Fighting Game!? - EHRGEIZ HISTORY !!

[@lowlevelplato]

This game was criminally underrated. Had it on demo and coped as soon as I saw it available. The music, the characters, the dungeon crawler. So much game for your buck, unlike the incomplete bleed you dry dlc model of today.

[@YTOW85]

I used to get this and Destrega confused

[@lowlevelplato]

@@YTOW85 oh nice, I'd never heard of this game. Going to have to play it now.

[@dreadxplayzs7849]

Would love a final fantasy gane like dragon ball f8ghterz but this was the closet to it

[@PhillipP93]

@@YTOW85 They came out the same year.

[@Flyzoola]

Richard, you're such a baller. Your knowledge of so many games is top notch, and the fact you share this with the world is amazing. As a historian, your channel will be a goldmine for future historians of gaming. Thank you

[@Stalopicus]

Back in the day, Squaresoft published a few deep and unconventional fighting games. Remember Bushido Blade? That was another fine and interesting experience.

[@coopconflictz565]

That was one of the sickest games... changed my life

[@khamankhoma8232]

Sir, you are a true connoiseur. This game could have easily been an early PS2 release for how ambitious and good looking it was.

[@jadecoffee]

Khama Nkhoma i guess that’s why they called it ‘Ehrgeiz’ :)

[@bringbackmy90s]

For me all PS1 will be always better than the PS2 though. Ehrgeiz Banzai! )

[@davidwhatsthatabout7404]

I remember as a 5 year old kid seeing the arcade cabinet for Ehrgeiz at my local supermarket (of all things) and I saw Cloud fighting the God hand dude (Guy with gun hand). This was my first foray in Anything FF7 related. 5 years later I saw my cousins play FF7 And in there party they had Barrett, I distinctly remember saying “This games dumb. Why are they taking turns? And why did they make him a Black Guy in this one?” They had no idea what I was talking about haha

[@bardinblue9830]

That's funny! And yeah, I could see the source of confusion. I was just out of high school and going into college when Final Fantasy VII came out - and it was one of the first four Playstation games I collected. One of my friends that I met in college showed me Ehrgeiz, as he owned a copy temporarily. I'm not really that great at fighting games, but it was fun to try out.

[@samuraispiritsx]

EHRGEIZ is one of the coolest fighting games ever, me and my friends would play it at lunchtime at school on the PSOne with the lcd screen, was always a good time.

[@michaelcharlton5972]

This game was CRIMINALLY underrated. Reviewers never put the time in necessary to find all of the depth put into the fighting system. At high level play, the game is very much balanced, with the notable exception of Jo - the poor girl gets left behind with attack strings that are totally telegraphed. Anyway, thanks for sharing this game with a new generation. Perhaps it will even pick up some new fans as well.

[@aceDOZA]

I got this for my 12th birthday, man I was hyped.

[@bigbaddawg101]

Fun little bit added to the game was during the final boss battle, when you break crates to get the sword to kill the monster, you can also find Han's missing leg.

[@bardinblue9830]

I only played this game once or twice in the dorm room of one of my friends at college. With Cloud, I did manage to get to the end boss - but the end credits started rolling *during the fight*! I had never seen that happen in any game before. My friend kept telling me to "break the crates and grab the sword", but no matter what buttons I pressed I couldn't figure out how!

[@kultur-vultur]

This game is like Cloud "a jack of all trades" I liked this game myself, I rented it multiple times to play the dungeons even. It was brave in a lot of areas and though slow it was functional and a decent experience. The grappling certainly reminded me of those early wrestling games too. I definitely agree that its for casual gaming, I don't need story out of a game like this, just replay value and enough action to keep engaged. It was also a gamers dream to play Sephiroth and Zack back then!!!

[@Makoto03]

I remember this game. I wasn't too big into fighting games at the time but the inclusion of FF7 characters drew me in. I had no idea Toriyama worked on the art in this game. Incredible.

[@MrJordandurrant]

Sweet! New video! Lovely way to be spending the evening. Has more than made up for the fact that wife wouldn't let me order Chinese. Joining the Patreon and Discord has really brightened my week though.

[@SaiyanMotivation109]

I was in a tournament playing this game. I ranked 4th playing Tifa. It was a good game but was hard to perform the moves and some moves were cheap. Thank you for making this video!

[@tonilarios]

The quest mode also feels a little bit empty and shallow in places but overall its one of the most special games you can ever own for the PS1, its pretty entertaining and kind of lovely. In fact, I forgot I had it laying around on my shelf and thanks to this video Im pumped for it again and im gonna give it one more go these days.

[@chickenbouilloncube7038]

I see a lot of animation similarity between this and The Bouncer, which I think is also a Square/Dream Factory product. One of my favorites

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Love me some Ehrgeiz. The hidden Guile-looking boss had amazing multi-part throws! I can't recall his name. I love the many Tekken influences that this game took.

[@MatMadikGCA]

A glorious vid 😄!!! Thank you so much THGM 🎩!!! I’d love it if you could keep making these videos during these times, but in any case, I’ll treasure these precious reruns forever 😊🔥🔥🔥!!!

[@sixstar2067]

I still play Ehrgeiz about once or twice a week. Not the best fighting game out there, but the "RPG" mode is fun. My understanding is that it's pronounced "air-guys" or "urr-guys". I could be mistaken on that however. This game is definitely worth a try for FF7 fans or people looking for a different fighting game experience, as well as the adventure mode. I recommend Ehrgeiz frequently, especially since you can run it in a psx emulator on your toaster.

[@reivunrantington9425]

For it's time it was great if you knew how to properly play. A lot of people didn't so they ran around and spam the same moves. I've only seen 2 people even walk in the game which helps tremendously with proper control and doing combo's. feels like a much different game when done.

[@SuiteLifeofDioBrando]

Dissidea 012 Duodecum was lit.

[@funkmastaC]

God bless the video. Fond memories came rushing back with this one.

[@amazingeric97]

One fighting game you should consider reviewing is Tobal 2. I read back in the video game magazines back in the 1990s that since Tobal No. 1 did not sell well, Tobal 2 will probably not be released outside of Japan. Ehrgeiz got released outside of Japan mainly because of the Final Fantasy VII characters in the game. Ehrgeiz is as enjoyable fighting game, but not one of the best.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Absolutely loved this game in the Arcades and on PS1! Still tricky as Hell earning characters though....

[@ChrisKewl]

Yay you said ChrisKewl correctly! Thank you so much! :)

[@TrillyThough]

Found it! Man, I burst with joy when i finally got my own copy of this one!

[@gokusondbz]

Awesome Seeing My Name At The End :3

[@kadosho02]

I was always curious about this one. I saw it on the PlayStation Underground demo disc. But to know it was in fact a FF/Tekken Crossover, that's pretty mind-blowing. The game itself was pretty tough to find. I never played it, but the demo was pretty cool, and reviews were mixed. Makes me wonder if this title would ever receive a sequel. Even though many console generations later. Anything seems possible

[@Alakazzam09]

I remember this game. Yuffie was broken af. I also remember spending way too much time in the relatively basic quest mode.

[@kultur-vultur]

I spent a lot of time questing, something about the dungeon wanted me to see the end... I never made it though.

[@ElricSowrd]

Ehrgeiz is pronounced as "Air guys". Ken Godhand Mishima not only looks similar to Kazuya Mishima, but he's voiced the original voice actor of Kazuya - Joji Nakata and has the same fighting moves as Kazuya Mishima.

[@kingoverseas9052]

I forgot about the guy whose leg "disappeared in a cloud of black smoke..." 🤦🏽‍♂️ Anyhoo, Ehergiez has a pretty slick soundtrack.

[@robvalue]

Amazingly awesome channel, I've been enjoying going back through all your videos. Top drawer, I tip my hat!

[@elleCX01]

You can counter just about anything in this game by pressing grab at the right time when your character flashes white btw. Try making the AI on hardest difficulty fight each other in practice mode to see.

[@troystrain2436]

Great video. I'd forgotten all about Tobal having that quest mode! That was one of my favorite aspects of both games, and I do enjoy these trips down memory lane.Also, I can only imagine someone else has mentioned, but it's pronounced "air•guytz". For anyone who hasn't played it, it's definitely worth checking out.

[@goldpieceleo]

I was mentioning this game in your Power Stone video. You should also feature Sonic Battle for the Gameboy Advance next.

[@LobsterPuncher]

I have always been a huge fighting game fan and Final Fantasy. I barely ever got a chance to play this one, but always wondered about it. 🎩

[@timjoseph3971]

World Heroes or Eternal Champions should be reviewed. I'd like to hear from Top Hat about those games.

[@KotCR]

I think correct pronunciation was "Err-geez". But I'm sure what you said is fine too :p. Like I said in your other video, me and my siblings used to love this game. It was amazing and certainly very impressive at the time - ambitious for sure, as it seems most of Square's titles were at this point in their history. I had completely forgot about the party-games option on the main-screen! Thanks for reminding me, for what they were, they were a fun little bonus too. I really enjoyed the RPG Mode in the game, and I suppose for that Diablo-esque gameplay there wasn't really alot else available on the PS1 at the time which gave it extra weight for sure; But what was more impressive, was just how well the story of the RPG Mode tied into the main fighting-game mode story. If I remember correctly, similar to Dark Souls, there was item descriptions that helped explain the connections (including the arrival of the FF7 cast in the main Fighting game mode story), and in a traditional RPG sense, the people of the town would update their dialogue to fill in the lore and backstory too. It was kind of cool how the whole town and dungeon was this little isolated pocket of old civilization in the world that had managed to escape interference from modern civilization, enabling them to keep magic alive. Accomplishing certain things in the RPG mode would unlock stuff in the Fighting mode too - such as unlocking both Clair and Koji in the Fighting game mode (and Clair even had a completely unique moveset, if I remember correctly, unlike Koji's whom was similar to Dasher's, or the other unlockable characters whom all had movesets very similar to one of the core-fighters each - Yuffie = Suzuki, Zack = Cloud, Vincent = Godhand). Shame you forgot to mention they were playable in the Fighting mode too, but understandable if you missed it seems IIRC the only way you could unlock Clair and Koji for the fighting mode was through the RPG mode. Certainly at the time, though the basically cross-game (seems the RPG and Fighting game mode were both each good enough to stand on their own two feet) interplay was something we hadn't really seen at the time.

[@Kazeone]

The role playing adventure part was the best part to me.Fighting was fun but it was nothing compared to the adventure/RPG part😍.

[@kenb6870]

I owned this game, and I enjoyed the quest mode and wish they could’ve done more with it..

[@Sheol666]

Can't watch until a bit later, but good to see you back buddy, hope you're doing well

[@Mamiya645]

Bloody hell, I never managed to unlock those characters on my Ehrgeiz PCB. My SuperGun would have melted. Top notch video as usual but I cannot come up with a fighter other than the obscure Joy Mecha Fight, recall reading about that one in an early 90's Nintendo mag which featured the SMB movie on the front, an issue that also detailed the neat looking top-loader unit.

[@tylordstevenson]

I've really been enjoying your content lately! Fighting Games Thursday is the highlight of my week. I need to try Ehrgeiz!

[@wawawiwi4073]

Please cover Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen - AKA - Yu Yu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters

[@JesusSaves86AB]

One of my all time favourite games, even the rpg mode was fun, I remember debating how to pronounce Ehrgeiz and if I recall correctly it was a German word. Too bad square can't make anything but Final Fantasy's now.

[@pj_mars9791]

I totally agree. EHRGEIZ was definitely a underrated fighting game. A lot of people did not give credit to back in a day until today. I still have this game-- I've been having this game every since I was 16 yes. Power Stone stole everything from this game here...but i do love me some power Stone have to admit it's alot of fun

[@reshader8864]

Actually, you're not pronouncing it right^^ "Ehrgeiz" is german and means "ambition". It's pronounced like "air-gites" ^^

[@harrymasonsm]

More like "guyz" but yah your mostly right.

Actually in the game's intro screen is said when you press start, yeah , that sound is saying "ehrgaiz"

[@hikaruk.981]

He knows. Part of his act is to pronounce everything that isn't of British origin wrong.

[@lennywright5655]

Re Shader interesting I always thought it was just a weird way of spelling Energize.

[@bringbackmy90s]

@Harry Mason, "Air-gites" is more like it. Best regards from Germany

[@PhilMcCool]

Wonder if Capcom ripped off the “Godhand” concept for their PS2 game with this title. The character in that has a special arm to replace the one he lost.

[@NavySeal6474]

Fun fact Phil McCool, Godhand's last name is Mishima.

[@Naedlus]

@@NavySeal6474 Did you learn that from this video?

[@crispin5741]

I really liked Ehrgeiz when it came out. A friend had it, and we played quite a bit. Square had some really good non-RPG titles around the time. Einhänder (still with the German title theme?), and the 2 Bushido Blade games. The Bushido games I wouldn't mind seeing covered. They were slow in combat, but had instant kill attacks. Only fighting game series I had ever seen like that.

[@Yunfei81]

omg... I remember that thing :D Cloud, Sephiroth & Co. > all It was kinda strange to see a german titled game from japan (Ehrgeiz = ambition). Your pronunciation is very cute btw :)

[@Shorai_3]

I've only experience Energize in the arcade.

[@NavySeal6474]

Jason Scarce, that makes two of us. Nobody ever seems to know what I'm talking about when I try to explain this game to them.

[@zefanyalt5944]

@@NavySeal6474 when i tell my friend about this gem, he said it's a bootleg

[@mirotrevino9662]

@@zefanyalt5944 Its not though. Its officially licensed and developed by squaresoft and namco. Show them that next time they say its bootleg

[@ElricSowrd]

My first experience was the Japanese Version on Playstation.

it has the most suberb add on, a mini rpg action game "the forsaken dungeon" I played this game TO DEATH. Great vid Mr top had gaming man1

[@LALLLondon]

Tobal looks so smooth!

[@maskcollector6949]

This game was so far ahead of it's time. The demo alone was flawless lol. Personally I loved the lighting and the graphics - the theme was awesome. I loved Power Stone, too, but Ergheiz was like the godfather of a lot of 3d fighting games to me.

[@devingiles6597]

Top Hat Gaming Man, I have some suggested fighting games that you should cover in future videos. Suggestions: The King of Fighters '94 Super Smash Bros. (Nintendo 64) Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory Street Fighter x Tekken BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

[@jamesmoss3424]

I remember hearing about this game when I was in junior high school and now I got to play this game.

[@mscottjohnson3424]

I'm sure you're planning a Tekken episode, or 7. Soul Caliber is also low hanging fruit. As is Moetal Kombat. So how about the Dragon Ball series of fighting games?

[@awelcruiz]

I remember renting this years ago. Never knew Zack was an unlockable. I only signed up for Patreon two days ago, so I was surprised to see my name in the credits already! I was expecting the start of May at the earliest. Thanks for that. 😁 A good video topic for the future could be the Game Boy ports of Neo Geo fighters. Yes, they exist! About seven of them I believe.

[@AnIPhoneAndBoy]

Getting my ass beat by that white lion will be ingrained in my memory forever. You could do a video on the Sonic fighting game if you haven’t already. Used to play it at the roller rink arcade. There is also Ready2Rumble an amazing PS2 boxing game that had you train speed, strength, etc.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Tobal was a fun and overlooked game( we never got #2 here!)! Although blocky, that game had fast gameplay and very precise timing!

[@elel.]

Used to play this game in the arcades, also I have finished the story mode in psx back then.

[@kaizerwave6185]

I love this game a lot, and play it from time to time. I might even submit a "Very Hard" arcade mode run vid sometime using Cloud.

[@robertlawrence9000]

I remember reading in gaming magazines and in anticipation of FF7 way before release. Later I bought Tobal No. 1 when I heard it was going to be released with the demo disc. In order to pass the time before the FF7 release I purchased Wild Arms. It's a great game in it's own right. As far as EHRGEIZ, I rented it. Was decent for the time.

[@micshork]

This game is the reason why Cloud was pulled from being in the PS2 Version of Soul Calibur II.

[@orlanzo2621]

I actually loved Ehrgeiz as a kid and rented it all the time from Blockbuster until my parents finally brought it for me. It was a unique fun fighting game. Man i'd actually wouldn't mind an Ehrgeiz 2, tho that's never going to happen.

[@pauclaris9876]

Informative indeed. Thank you.

[@feivong7712]

It was nice game with huge counterattack abilities. I loved its grappling counters, blade stoppers, and hit interruptions...As the quest mode - those trap room always made me mad, and starving... Old time rpg that force you take not only potions but food, for survive dungeon crawlings=))))

[@TeamRocketHQR]

Yeah it does exist in arcades! I played on one once in Daytona Beach, FL in the USA. The machine can be VERY VERY loud and it was.

[@90sgamingforever89]

Same. I used to have the craziest arcade in my hometown.

[@artemismeow]

I played this on the arcades. XD i didnt know what the game was called so i picked up what i described to the person at my video game store as "that square game with the funny german name" and i was sold this really kick ass RType style shooter also from squarr and i also have no idea what its called. XD

[@spoonimefan]

I'm catching up through THGM's backlog and saw your comment. I *think* I remember the game you're talking about. You could choose b/t a few slightly different ships. You *literally* picked up special weapons from defeated enemies--including a laser sword. Depending on the ship you could choose to have up to 3 different weapons and choose what part of your ship they were attached to. Different locations would make the weapons fire at different angles. Can't remember its name.

[@artemismeow]

@@spoonimefan oof. XD yea my wife was playing it on emulator a few months ago. But she didn't know the name either. :(

[@spoonimefan]

@@artemismeow : After a night's sleep I think I just remembered. "Einhander" [sp]; I think it was called Einhander.

[@artemismeow]

@@spoonimefan that was it!!! XD i found thank you. :)

[@spoonimefan]

@@artemismeow : Yay for community collaboration! Glad I could help.

[@Ryan-dh7rr]

Loved this game in the arcades back in the day. The full 3D movement was so refreshing. But yeah, super easy... one of the few fighting games I managed to finish first time I played it.

[@czxr_8]

i wish more fighting games today offered more involved single player experiences as playing a game just to get better at it no longer appeals to me. Thanks for this video though, I remember seeing ads for this in Gamepro so much but never had a chance to play it and totally forgot about it until now

[@bdel80]

Cheers and wow you already got my name up - Brendan

[@ChikikyoKONAMI]

This should be a mini game for Gold Saucer in FFVII Remake!!!

[@orenmontgomery8250]

I actually REALLY loved those randomly generated dungeons...

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

I had the Demo of Ehrgeiz in 1998 and I loved it

[@christophc9227]

Everytime you say "Ehrgeiz" a German dies. -So I have to wonder whether this is in fact the funniest joke in the world and totally intentional ;-)

[@nonewmsgs]

While a lot of channels may well be doing ff7r videos, I dont sub to any of those lol Great vid and I never knew about this game

[@RafaelWingnux]

I'd love to see you cover Rakugaki Showtime or Tobal no2.

[@MisterBehavior]

I just found a copy of this in my local game store and had to grab it.

[@songoku9348]

Ken Mishima. Anyway, glad you’re making quality content as always. 👍

[@righteousdavis777]

This is the first I heard of this one,Just played it,great game!!!!👍👍👍

[@houseoftheted637]

Yeaaaaaaahhhhh

[@RandomPath]

I love this channel! Hope next videos cover Rage of the Dragons and/or Matrimelee!

[@chronology556]

I loved the old anime inspired designs of Toriyama, I would prefer a Guilty Gear Xrd or Dragon Ball FighterZ cell shaded graphics. remastered FfVII than this current reboot we have. I love original Cloud’s hair and design.

[@osvaldoilustrador]

Finally someone talks about this game

[@jefferydillion1649]

very nice video my dude!

[@Sephivoiceactor]

I have a book all about this game. Always been interesting.

[@TheDemonking82]

I always thought it was pronounced as air geiz, but I loved the game and how many players you could unlock was worth it.

[@etrotm12thebluewolf15]

I was hoping Tobal would be the first Square fighting game you were gonna look up since its older than Ehrgeiz but it makes sense considering the FF7 Remake. I wanna point out, tho Ken is VERY prominent it is actually Yoyo Yoko whos the main character of the game (As aid on a wiki because that wa s the only source that says that). This game has its problems and it if it wasnt for the FF7 characters this game would have disappeared. Stil I think this is actually a good game. I like the chaotic nature, I like how it controls where you can pick it. Its like Smash Bros in a sense because thats another game you can pick up easily, but hard to master. Kinda like Ehrgeiz is actually. The mini games are also fun too, while the Quest Mode honestly is actually the worst par of tehe game not because of it being an RPG but being so....... Sloppily implemented. And i honestly think it was safe to say Dissidia may exist because of this game (And the idea of making a Kingdom Hearts fighting game spin off too). I honestly want Square to work on an Ehrgeiz 2 one day. Just dont look at The Bouncer, the ALMOST Ehrgeiz 2 lol

[@Naedlus]

REALLY certain (but not 100%,) that Sephiroth was a hidden character in the arcade version, available by holding buttons down or something when selecting Cloud.

[@Alex_DC413]

I had that game as a kid. My brother got roped in because of the FFVII characters

[@TonyTheTGR]

This was only really ever about the Quest Mode minigame, though.

[@nullbyt]

I wish I still had my copy of this game, the brand new quest was pretty fun as a kid and was one of my first dungeon crawler RPG games. Plus it's got that menu sound. OOF

[@8wealthyone8]

Can you make more handheld coop games. Full walkthrough. Like GB double dragon 2, Balloon Kid etc. No one ever done that... So we see both screens full play through. BTW Great show!

[@JulioStaysGold]

I used to play this as a kid and I could never remember what this game was called!!

[@TwesomE]

Back then when the developers worked ALLOT of stuff for a fighting game!

[@huzaifarasheed615]

Good video Please make a video for the 90's punisher beat em up

[@DubExp]

Rented this or borrowed from a friend (one of those) . I kinda enjoyed it!

[@tempanon8672]

The Quest mode was by far the most interesting part of the game for me. A shame that it never seemed to get expanded out in a sequel or something. I think there was a launch PS2 title that was supposed to be a spiritual successor for it, but it didn't have Ehrgeiz's charm.

[@chapterblaq]

The Bouncer?

[@tempanon8672]

@@chapterblaq No, I was thinking of Crimson Tears.

[@APOL1000]

Top quality content. thanks.

[@joshuamelton9148]

I remember this game. I remember renting it from blockbuster videos.

[@bardinblue9830]

On the subject of Final Fantasy and fighting games... Have you covered Dissidia or Dissidia Duodecim yet? Both are for the PSP (Playstation Portable) and though confusing at first, a lot of fun to play once you get the hang of it. There was also Dissidia NT, but it kind of lacked the playable story modes that made the PSP Dissidias so fun, and also suffered from extreme network lag.

[@RaikenXion]

Just watched a ad for FF7 REMAKE before this vid started.