as "one of the first" and "one of the best" strategy video games on home consoles and as "a fine cure for those days when you want a different kind of RTS to control". Game Informer in 1999 scored it 9.75 out of 10, making it the magazine's highest-rated Genesis game. Daniel Thomas of Sega-16 gave it a score of 10 out of 10 in 2004, describing it as "very probably the finest video game you've never played" and as the Genesis console's "finest hour". Lawrence Wright of Insomnia gave the game a score of 5 out of 5 stars in 2008. GameSpot users have given Herzog Zwei an average score of 8.8 out of 10 as of 2009. It is often found on several "best of..." lists of video games, owing to its precedence in the real-time strategy genre, as well to the increasing understanding of finer points of its mechanics. It was featured in the "100 Best Games of All Time" list of Electronic Gaming Monthly, in the November 1997 issue which ranked it at #43, and in the January 2002 issue which ranked it #52. The September 1996 issue of Next Generation ranked it the 31st best game of all time, and the February 1999 issue ranked it 39th best in both cases arguing that the strategic concept and level design were aped by more high-profile games like Cannon Fodder and Command & Conquer. It has been featured in IGN's "Top 100 Games of All Time", in the 2003 list which ranked it at #62, and in the 2005 list which ranked it #95. In 2003, GameSpy listed the game as one of the 25 most underrated games of all time. 1UP.com included the game in its "Essential 50" list of "The Most Important Games Ever Made". The U.S. game release packaging art was executed by veteran San Francisco game box illustrator Marc Ericksen, who had previously done the art for its sister game Thunder Force II. Legacy The game concept of a central command and fighting vehicle directing other friendly units to attack remote enemy base appeared in past games, such as Sir Tech's 1984 game Rescue Raiders. However, Scott Sharkey of 1UP.com states that the 1988 game Modem Wars was possibly "[t]he closest predecessor" to Herzog Zwei, but that it "was fairly primitive and abstract by comparison", that earlier such games lacked the ability to