A Closer Look at Ehrgeiz Demo

While folks have been salivating over the Final Fantasy VIII demo included with Square's newest game Brave Fencer Musashiden, most people have overlooked the other major surprise found on the disc: the fully playable demo of Ehrgeiz.

Ergheiz is the latest fighter from Dream Factory, a team composed of former Tekken and Virtua Fighter programmers, best known for their fighting games Tobal No.1 and Tobal2 (the latter of which never made it to the States). Developed in conjunction with Namco (who handled distribution of the game to the arcades) and using Namco's System 12 board, Ehrgeiz builds upon the freedom of movement found in Tobal2. Arenas are multitiered and are much larger than those found in your average fighting game. Three characters are available in the demo: Godhand, Yoko, and Cloud (from Final Fantasy VII). While they don't look as good as the arcade version (light sourcing hasn't been implemented), the PS version moves at a fast frame rate, and the backgrounds and gameplay have remained intact. The demo starts with a stunning CG intro, which has become a hallmark for most Square games by now, and ends with a short CG finale, which looks to be specifically made for the sampler.

Due out this winter in Japan, Ehrgeiz looks to be a surefire hit, although, as with Tobal2, nothing has been announced for the States.