Herzog Zwei

aka: SEGA AGES: Herzog Zwei
Moby ID: 10642
Genesis Specs
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Description official descriptions

The premise is that two opposing forces are in combat with one another. Each player controls a jet airplane which zooms across the screen and may turn into a ground based soldier. These ground soldiers can hurt enemy units, but can not affect bases. To take over bases scattered across the map (and ultimately, the enemy base), players must purchase new units and transport them to certain positions. In this way, the player acts more like a transport and management for different types of units rather than a combat character themselves. If the plane is ever destroyed, it restarts at the player's base location. As previously mentioned, a level is complete when either side's base is lost to the opposing forces.

Spellings

  • SEGA AGES ヘルツォーク ツヴァイ - Japanese Nintendo Switch spelling
  • ヘルツォーク ツヴァイ - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Genesis version)

12 People (10 developers, 2 thanks)

Main Program
Weapon Program
Map Design
Character Design
Demo Program
Music Composed and Sound Effects
Manual Writer
Herzog
Special Thanks
Copyright
  • Tecno Soft
Cover Illustration

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 11 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 24 ratings with 1 reviews)

An interesting concept.

The Good

  • Quick Playing

  • Good Variety of Units
  • Units Need Energy to Move
  • Decent 2 Player Mode
  • Varied Environments
  • Great Naval Strategy
  • The Mech Avatar is Awesome


**The Bad**
  • Poor Unit AI
  • Some Units are Useless (Motorcycle)
  • Orders Cost Gold? What?
  • Music Can Haunt You for Years!
  • Running Out of Energy Means You Explode. Ouch.


**The Bottom Line**
Herzog Zwei will always stand out to me as one of the best but strange games on the Genesis, right alongside Fatal Labyrinth and The Immortal. This game is very, very Japanese. If the fighter jet that turns into a 'Mech wasn't clue enough. Unlike Command & Conquer you find yourself dealing with slowly producing units that come from a number of bases on the map. You can conquer a base by inserting small units (usually infantry) into it until they take it over. After take-over a base can manufacture a set selection of units depending on its placement and size. You can issue 8 different orders to the 8 different units. You can't control them exactly, but you can order an infantry to capture a base and drop him right on top of it, he'll figure it out. This game isn't easy to pick up, there are a lot of subtle nuances to it. Oh, you'll always fly around shooting the shit out of stuff, that's fun - but you need your units to win more an more as the game goes on. It's a bit like trying to coordinate children or sheep, at times. You herd them together and send them off to die... well... that's like neither children or sheep - but you know what I mean. If you don't know about energy you'll simply watch your Avatar explode over and over again. Things in this strange world need gas to go, and bullets to shoot - and so do you, Star-Scream. You can power up over bases owned by your side. This is perhaps the ONLY real time strategy I've seen where every unit has an ammo capacity. Sure, they can get more bullets, but they need to re-supply from a truck or a base - that's a nice level of realism. Herzog Zwei is still a great game to play via emulator at work, or on the portable Genesis system they just came out with. The complexity and the simple fact that it is very different from other games have made it a lasting classic.

Genesis · by Kyle Levesque (904) · 2010

Discussion

Subject By Date
Herzog Zweiback Andrew Fisher (697) Feb 6, 2023

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Herzog Zwei appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Real-Time Strategy

Herzog Zwei is credited by many to be the first real-time strategy game, and is rumored to be the template for that part of gameplay in the more widely known Dune 2 game. But contrary to popular belief, Herzog Zwei isn't even the first real-time strategy archetype. That honor arguably goes to Stonkers and The Ancient Art of War, both released in 1984, five years before that game seen its' spotlight in Japan. In addition, many people who consider Herzog Zwei to be the first RTS ever made, know nothing about the extremely obsucre prequel of this game, titled just Herzog.

Title Translation

The words "Herzog" and "Zwei" are German. A direct translation of the game's title to English would be "Duke Two".

Hidden message in password system cipher

"Herzog Zwei is the work of Gan-chan" is the cipher for all passwords and "Gan-chan" is likely the nickname of programmer Takeshi Iwanaga: http://www.eenerd.com/HerzogZwei.html

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #43 (Best 100 Games of All Time)

Additional information contributed by Katharian Berg and IndieJones.

Analytics

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 10642
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Shoddyan.

Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto.

Additional contributors: Alaka, Игги Друге, Patrick Bregger, Katharian Berg, Alexey Bilichenko, Rik Hideto, FatherJack, Julius Howlett.

Game added October 14, 2003. Last modified January 27, 2024.