Sure, it has characters from Final Fantasy VII, but is it a good game?
In essence, Ehrgeiz is not a standard fighter. The game play is reminiscent of Power Stone in that players are free to roam the arena, with crates containing power up items and weapons at their disposal. Button mashing is the most appropriate way to win matches, as fighting mechanics are based around one-button combos and special moves executed with the hold of the circle button. It is indeed fun to engage in matches, and in respect the game is a solid fighter. Unfortunately, the game is very shallow in its fighting component, offering little amount of secret characters and extras, no unlockable arenas and a rather simplistic fighting engine.
Besides the small handful of FFVII characters available for play, the game's own establishment of characters is otherwise bland and none of the latter seems very original. You have your Ninja/Samurai, Big wrestler type, and a guy with a robotic leg. Although original characters are rather dull in the game, they prove to be different in style and somewhat fun to use.
Not only does the game deliver an arcade port, but it also includes mini games such as hurdling, racing (running around a designated arena), and a panel game. Aside from that, a separate adventure mode is included in the game, involving almost endless dungeon crawling with real time battles, which is somewhat abnormal since the Square's main RPG library is comprised in turn-based format. Although the addition the adventure mode and mini games broadens its replayability, in the end both prove to be rather tedious and grow dull very quick.
In the end, Ehrgeiz is a solid fighter though very shallow despite its mini game modes and added adventure. The problem with the title is simply that its decent and good for thrills, but does not go beyond that. It's worth playing though it wouldn't be a crucial loss if you never do.