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Herzog Zwei released 30 years ago today on the Mega Drive in Japan

SharpX68K

SharpX68K

Member
Nov 10, 2017
10,518
Chicagoland
December 15th, 1989. Revolutionary game.

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Herzog Zwei inspired Westwood Studios with Dune II, who later went on to make Command and Conquer.

The U.S. would see Herzog Zwei on Genesis in early 1990. While exact U.S. release dates are hard to find from this time, I remember seeing it on store shelves in April 1990.

Does anyone know when the Switch version of Herzog Zwei is meant to release?

Game Players magazine gave it Sega Genesis game of the month for June 1990.

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Since this is Herzog Zwei's birthday, I won't post EGM's review here today.
 

Hellfire

Member
May 26, 2019
99
Despite being a Technosoft game without Toshiharu Yamanishi (probably one of the top 3 composers on the system) the soundtrack is still quite good.

 
chaobreaker

chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,545
I can't count the amount of times I tried to give this game a shot but I never get how to play it. the music still bumps tho.
 

Deleted member 17210

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,569
I rented it back in 1990. Cool game although I was never much into RTS. And I remember those ridiculous EGM reviews.

Herzog Zwei was also mentioned by Tim Schafer as an influence on Brutal Legend.
 
GDGF

GDGF

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,326
chaobreaker said:
I can't count the amount of times I tried to give this game a shot but I never get how to play it. the music still bumps tho.
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Build little dudes to take over small bases which lets you earn money faster to build more impressive war machines to protect small bases and eventually attack main enemy base while you zoom around and blow up the shit they send your way :)
 
chaobreaker

chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,545
GDGF said:
Build little dudes to take over small bases which lets you earn money faster to build more impressive war machines to protect small bases and eventually attack main enemy base while you zoom around and blow up the shit they send your way :)
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I get the gist of its gameplay it's just that I don't get how to do any of that.
 
MetalKhaos

MetalKhaos

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,700
This game was great. My cousin had this when we were kids and would play this and Madden. First I've heard of a Switch release though.
 
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SharpX68K

SharpX68K

Member
Nov 10, 2017
10,518
Chicagoland
GDGF said:
Build little dudes to take over small bases which lets you earn money faster to build more impressive war machines to protect small bases and eventually attack main enemy base while you zoom around and blow up the shit they send your way :)
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I had so much fun with the Oase map, building up my defenses at the main base, and the smaller base to the east. Sometimes sending the gunboats up to harass the enemy base. I'd do this for hours without finishing it off.
 
Dreamwriter

Dreamwriter

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,461
I really liked the music in the game. This was a particularly good one:

chaobreaker said:
I get the gist of its gameplay it's just that I don't get how to do any of that.
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You have to do it all through your ship. So like, hover your ship over your base and go into the menu to choose what you want to build. Wait for it to be built, then you can pick it up from your base, fly it where you want it to go and set it down. Then fly back to your base and repeat. If you build little infantry dudes, they can take over other small bases if you get 4 of them into the base before your opponent (who is flying another ship) gets 4 in.

You also choose simple commands for the unit, using the symbol underneath in the build menu. A "+" means to stay where you put it, a diagonal arrow pointing at a rectangle means go to the nearest base fighting anything found along the way, a vertical arrow pointing at a rectangle means head straight towards the nearest base only fighting enemies if they block the way, a circle arrow means patrol, and a flag means go to the enemy's main base and attack it. You can also pick up a unit in your ship after it's been placed and give it new commands using the same system.

Your ship can land and become a walking robot, and then you can fight alongside your units, shooting down opposing units, or take off and shoot down the opposing enemy ship (if you or the other player die, it sends that player back to their home base). Watch for surface-to-air missiles, those are targeted specifically at the player ships. The launchers are generally placed around the main bases.
 
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TechMetalRules

TechMetalRules

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Sep 11, 2019
2,211
United States
Is this supposed to get a proper Sega Ages release, preferably on the Switch NA eShop?

I've never played it, and don't know much about it, but I keep seeing it pop up in conversations among the more dedicated Sega fans.
 
Phife Dawg

Phife Dawg

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,049
Such an awesome game, the music posted here brings back memories. Can't wait for the Sega Ages release.
 
King Kingo

King Kingo

Banned
Dec 3, 2019
7,656
Now that Sega owns the rights to Herzog, I'd love to see Creative Assembly, Relic Entertainment or Amplitude Studios attempt a new entry.
 
Arkaign

Arkaign

Member
Nov 25, 2017
1,991
Spectacular game, hilariously frantic 1v1. I was just using this today to test my new Scart to component HD adapter for my new old Sony 36" trinny. Sadly my Genesis is apparently screwed up somehow, any of the controllers I tried wouldn't go left. I already have another one on the way, a recapped HD Graphics Mk1. Can't wait.

This game, Military Madness, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms all expanded my tastes a lot during the early early 90s.
 
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SharpX68K

SharpX68K

Member
Nov 10, 2017
10,518
Chicagoland
I never played Romance of the Tree Kingdoms, but Military Madness was always my 2nd favorite strategy game (and favorite turn-based) after Herzog Zwei.

Edit: More reviews and articles

Video Games & Computer Entertainment
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Sega Visions
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Computer and Video Games / Mean Machines
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RAZE magazine
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Sega Power
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Retro Gamer feature

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motherless

motherless

Banned
Nov 6, 2017
2,282
Seriously this is coming to the Switch?!!!

One of my all time favorite games! The sound track is god tier.
 

MonsterMech

Mambo Number PS5
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,409
Wow this brings back memories. My 5 year old self had no idea how to play this game when I got it for Christmas. I didn't know this game had such a following. Thought it was some obscure game my dad found in the bargain bin
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Banned
Nov 15, 2017
1,372
NeoZeedeater said:
I rented it back in 1990. Cool game although I was never much into RTS. And I remember those ridiculous EGM reviews.

Herzog Zwei was also mentioned by Tim Schafer as an influence on Brutal Legend.
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Westwood Studios developers' said it was the inspiration for Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty, which was basically the prototype for the Command and Conquer series. Dune II was also ported to the Genesis/ Mega Drive by Westwood, under the name Dune: The Battle for Arrakis (Or Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis in Europe/ UK) :



I think people from Blizzard also said that Herzog Zwei served some inspiration for Warcraft and Starcraft as well.
 

rawhide

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,003
The original Herzog came out in 1988 and it was influenced by a few other games that came before, like the Apple II game Rescue Raiders which came out in 1984.

Herzog Zwei wasn't literally the first link in the evolutionary chain but it might be the earliest game to bear more than a faint resemblance to the RTS as it exists today.
 
KDR_11k

KDR_11k

Banned
Nov 10, 2017
5,235
rawhide said:
The original Herzog came out in 1988 and it was influenced by a few other games that came before, like the Apple II game Rescue Raiders which came out in 1984.
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There are quite a few games (especially on mobile) that are based on Rescue Raiders but I think the best is Glory Days 2 (DS) since it has more nuanced flight mechanics that make the dogfights more fun:
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