Ehrgeiz (universe)
| Ehrgeiz (Universe) | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Publisher(s) | Namco (Arcade) Sony (PlayStation, JPN) Aniplex of America (PlayStation, USA) Square (PlayStation, EU) |
| Designer(s) | Seichii Ishii |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Console/platform of origin | Arcade |
| First installment | Ehrgeiz (1998) |
| Latest installment | Ehrgeiz (1998) |
| Article on Wikipedia | Ehrgeiz (Universe) |
The Ehrgeiz universe (エアガイツ Ehrgeiz) also known as Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring is a 1998 fighting game developed by DreamFactory and published by Namco for arcades. It was developed as a partnership between Square and DreamFactory. It was ported to the PlayStation, where Square released it internationally while Sony Computer Entertainment published it in Japan, a direct inversion of the companies' usual publishing deal.
While never getting a sequel, it did get a spiritual successor in the form of The Bouncer, a game also developed by DreamFactory and reuses most of Ehrgeiz's assets and animations
The game includes characters from Final Fantasy VII: Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart (who are playable in both versions), Sephiroth, Yuffie Kisaragi, Vincent Valentine, and Zack Fair (who were added to the PlayStation's roster exclusively).
Franchise Description[edit]
Seiichi ishii, designer and developer of games like Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, and the first two Tekken games, became a founding member of the game development studio DreamFactory. The studio was created as a subsidiary of Square to make games similar to Virtua Fighter and Tekken. Their first attempt was the game Tobal No. 1 for PlayStation, which was successful enough to warrant a sequel titled Tobal 2 also for PlayStation.
Soon after, Square entered a partnership with Namco where games can be released on the System 12 arcade board and PlayStation. One of these products of this partnership was the next DreamFactory release, Ehrgeiz. The team's first attempt at making a game with both arcades and home consoles in mind, both were given unique content. While the arcade version has standard versus matches and arcade modes, the PlayStation version has a unique Quest mode, where the gameplay is retooled into an RPG system with character customization and level up mechanics.
The game is notable for containing characters from Final Fantasy 7 on the roster, as the game was extremely popular when it released the year both and both Square and Namco believed including them would be a strong marketing tactic. The arcade version contained Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, and Sephiroth. the PlayStation version contained these characters, with the addition of Vincent Valentine, Yuffie Kisaragi, and Zack Fair in his first fully playable appearance.
Gallery[edit]
Media with elements appearing in the Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
Ehrgeiz[edit]
Some of Cloud's and Sephiroth's moves, such as their down tilts and Sephiroth's forward smash, originated from this game. The animation of the last three hits of Cross Slash is based on its animation from this game.
