The Grandfather of All RTS Tactical Games! – Sega Ages Herzog Zwei Switch Review

If you’ve never heard of Herzog Zwei, it sounds like some type of weird German cuisine. However, don’t let the odd name fool you, this is one of the most challenging real-time strategy games ever made and is designed specifically for versus multiplayer. On top of that, it was originally released on the Sega Genesis in 1989 by Technosoft and is actually considered the first RTS game ever made!

Usually a game this old that spawned a genre would be dated and tedious with various flaws and issues. Sega Ages Herzog Zwei bucks that trend by being one of the most challenging and best-designed RTS games ever made and holds up incredibly well to this day! What’s even wilder is that Technosoft wasn’t even a strategy-centric company, releasing the venerated shmups ThunderForce II and ThunderForce III before and after Herzog Zwei respectively.

With such a pedigree, it’s only fitting that the fantastic M2 provided the conversion to the Switch with the blessing of publisher Sega.  M2 has a long history of re-releasing excellent games as outstanding conversions and Herzog Zwei is certainly no exception! Taking into consideration the complexity and speed of the game, M2 added a 12 part ‘Herzog Academy’ to explain the iconography, strategy, and gameplay in detail. This is an outstanding addition that will provide useful information for both veterans of the game and new players alike, and has some great humor and screens from various M2 ports to boot! Also added are quick saves, a helper mode, and the ability to modify base game settings in an effort to make Zwei more accessible to the average player.

In terms of gameplay the key term here is ‘fast and frantic’. The basic game is simple enough. Two players each start with a home base and the ability to produce a variety of units from their base. Each map is littered with unclaimed bases and you and your opponent compete to control and defend them. Your goal is to invade and destroy your enemy’s base, but it’s much more of a challenge than you might expect!  You can’t simply build a unit and forget about it like in modern RTS games. Instead you use a jet to pick up and deliver units to chosen locations to accomplish your goals. There are a variety of orders available for each unit and once an order is assigned to a newly built unit, the only way to change it is to physically pick up the unit with your jet and pay a fee to change the order. If you don’t have enough bases, you won’t have the income to support your builds either, so don’t forget to keep advancing and controlling areas!

Tactically, this is one of the most challenging games out there. There’s very little leeway against the computer in default settings and if you’re not sure what to do or which orders are which, you will lose quickly and spectacularly. The same goes for playing against an online opponent, as anyone with practice in the game will obliterate you handily. The original game played in side by side split screen, but you can control the screen with additional options in this modern version. Nothing will save you other than practice, button memorization, and some solid planning. There’s little room for error here, as any weakness is easy to exploit, resulting in the inevitable destruction of your base and a humiliating loss.

The unit variety in Herzog Zwei is quite good, with infantry, motorcycle units, armored vehicles, tanks, surface to air units, turrets, repair vehicles, and more.  Your jet can also be used to attack the opposition directly, shooting them out of the sky if you’re fast and lucky. You can also transform into a large mech at the touch of a button, allowing you to blast your way through enemy emplacements and open a path to victory! Unfortunately, you can’t carry units as a robot, forcing you back into jet mode for the majority of gameplay.

Now all that sounds fairly straightforward, but be assured it’s a bit more complex than the explanation above. And then there’s the dreaded energy bar. Your jet, as jets often do, runs on fuel. Flying around uses that fuel up and if you run out, you explode, respawning at your main base after a delay and allowing your opponent some extra time to defend or attack. Carrying units to the front? You burn fuel faster carrying them. Need to conserve energy? Switch to mech mode and use less, but you can’t move very fast or traverse land obstacles. Herzog Zwei is a constant battle for both territory and resources.

Fortunately, if you take over a base, you can charge your jet at the center (and pick up newly built units too). Lose that base and you lose a refueling point too. Take enemy fire and it drains your fuel as well, since it doubles as health! If you play too aggressively without producing backup units, chances are good that you’ll be doomed to respawn over and over, gradually yielding territory. With those losses come funding shortfalls and defeat. It’s an elegant system for a more civilized time (it was irresistible, leave me be).

Once you add in online matchmaking on Switch Online and the ability to host your own games, Herzog Zwei becomes one of the best strategy games around, allowing you and your friends to sharpen your skills against each other before taking on the world for dominance! There’s nothing else to Zwei aside from a simple story about rival military factions that’s barely relevant to the game and only added for flavor. This is pure strategy at its greatest and honestly, it doesn’t feel like it has aged a day, partly due to ingenious design work and partly due to the masterful work done by M2. It’s surprising that this title hasn’t made it to modern competitive gaming and perhaps this release might make that happen. For a game that’s over 30 years old, that would be absolutely amazing!

Within the menu system of Herzog Zwei hides a plethora of options, including full screen, scan line modes, side by side display, and much, much more. Any visual mode you want is available, though there are no audio options available and the original audio is your only option. Fortunately, the original sound for the game is quite solid and not at all tedious.

M2 has brought us a masterful conversion of Herzog Zwei to the Switch with just the right amount of modern content and optional settings. The only real downside is that even only a couple of weeks after launch, there aren’t a lot of people on the servers to play against so likely you’ll either be playing the computer or a few of your budding strategist friends. Regardless, Herzog Zwei is as close to perfect as a strategy game can get and at $8, you’re getting more of a game than higher priced modern AAA strategy games without all the micromanagement. This is a pure gaming experience that anyone even remotely interested in real time strategy absolutely should not miss! Don’t hesitate. Go buy Herzog Zwei now!

This review is based on a digital copy of Herzog Zwei provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes. All screenshots save one are from actual gameplay.  This version of Herzog Zwei is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, so if you don’t have one, you’re out of luck!  I suggest you go buy one!