Panzer Dragoon is a rail shooter following the journey of Keil Fluge (unnamed in localized versions), a member of a hunting party who becomes the rider of a powerful blue dragon and joins it on its mission to stop a rival dragon from wreaking havoc on the world. The player moves an aiming reticle (representing the dragon's laser and the rider's gun) over the screen and shoots enemies while the dragon automatically flies through 3D environments on a predetermined track. As one of the few games available at the Sega Saturn's surprise launch, Panzer Dragoon was the first game created by Team Andromeda. The game also marked the directorial debut of game designer Yukio Futatsugi, who was 25 years old at that time. It is the first game in the Panzer Dragoon series, and introduced the series' gameplay elements and art style.
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Eu detesto Star Fox. O que eu poderia esperar de Panzer Dragoon?
A capa do jogo em japonês inclusive vende um jogo que não consegue transpor para os gráficos intrajogo sua bela direção de arte.
Achei um jogo feio, chato, e com design arcade que eu não me conecto. Não me instiga, não me prende, não me ganha.
Dropei na 3ª fase. De Apenas 7. Que exigem mta repetição pra dominar suas mecânicas e jogabilidade pra passar de forma eficiente e não tomar um game over.
Definitivamente não é meu estilo de jogo.
A capa do jogo em japonês inclusive vende um jogo que não consegue transpor para os gráficos intrajogo sua bela direção de arte.
Achei um jogo feio, chato, e com design arcade que eu não me conecto. Não me instiga, não me prende, não me ganha.
Dropei na 3ª fase. De Apenas 7. Que exigem mta repetição pra dominar suas mecânicas e jogabilidade pra passar de forma eficiente e não tomar um game over.
Definitivamente não é meu estilo de jogo.
I've been meaning to play Panzer Dragoon ever since I beat Star Fox 64 and have been wanting more. While Panzer Dragoon does sort of scratch that itch, the game is not as replayable or deep as Star Fox and other on rails shooters such as Sin and Punishment.
What differentiates Panzer Dragoon from other rail shooters is the fact that it's 360 shooter meaning you can fully turn your camera to the back or the sides giving more depth to the level. It can be pretty satisfying when you get the hang of it and start taking down enemies left and right in such a snappy manner.
Unfortunately the game is over before you can even fully get into it. I literally started playing this and finished it just on my lunch break. I was expecting a short game as rail shooters are quite short in general but was astonished at how quick this one is too.
With the shorter length, you'd expect different paths or secrets in levels, but this doesn't have that. This is more of a one and done kind of game and the replayability factor is there if you want to get a better rating at the end of the game, but nothing really changes through each playthrough.
The music was amazing and probably one of the strongest aspects of Panzer Dragoon. So are the graphics, which is very charming for the Sega Saturn era.
If you are a fan of rail shooters, I'd say Panzer Dragoon as worth at least a playthrough. Who knows, you might enjoy this even more and join the cult following crowd.
What differentiates Panzer Dragoon from other rail shooters is the fact that it's 360 shooter meaning you can fully turn your camera to the back or the sides giving more depth to the level. It can be pretty satisfying when you get the hang of it and start taking down enemies left and right in such a snappy manner.
Unfortunately the game is over before you can even fully get into it. I literally started playing this and finished it just on my lunch break. I was expecting a short game as rail shooters are quite short in general but was astonished at how quick this one is too.
With the shorter length, you'd expect different paths or secrets in levels, but this doesn't have that. This is more of a one and done kind of game and the replayability factor is there if you want to get a better rating at the end of the game, but nothing really changes through each playthrough.
The music was amazing and probably one of the strongest aspects of Panzer Dragoon. So are the graphics, which is very charming for the Sega Saturn era.
If you are a fan of rail shooters, I'd say Panzer Dragoon as worth at least a playthrough. Who knows, you might enjoy this even more and join the cult following crowd.
Even with the continue system being kinda annoying, a lot of stuff feeling unreactable and health not refilling each stage this is really good which probably says a lot about it's quality.
No Cyclops Mammoth = Space Harrier is better
Panzer Dragoon captures some pretty memorable imagery in its intro cutscene. Between the orchestral soundtrack, the large landscapes and the backdrop of a sort of post-apocalyptic world where dragons are actually mutants I couldn't help but feel like I was watching some forgotten 80s sci-fi movie, some big budget production with rough spots but a unique identity that never quite got the chance it deserved and eventually fell into obscurity. I'm not sure why exactly that comparison jumped to me but it's one that remained in my mind through much of my playthrough. I was somewhat fond of movies like The Neverending Story and Labyrinth growing up (especially the former, though nowadays I'm very much more into the latter), and the limited 3D painted an obscure but extremely evocative picture of this world I was getting a glimpse at somehow reminded me of that sort of fantasy. Something else I was reminded of was progressive rock, and once again I'm not exactly sure why, but if Panzer Dragoon is a playable album cover, it's In The Land of Grey and Pink, or Fragile, or Foxtrot.
Enough reminiscing. Panzer Dragoon is commonly considered to be a "style over substance" game, and I would generally be led to agree, though I find nothing wrong with that concept myself. At its basic level, you aim and you shoot, with the greatest mechanics being the ability to look around yourself to face foes surrounding you (which must have been pretty mindblowing back in '95), and the capacity for a charged homing shot, which I think this game introduced? I'm far from an expert on the genre. My main issue in regards to the gameplay is that your drago(o?)n is quite sluggish to move. It's clear that this isn't meant to be a super snappy game, but even then avoiding some attacks feels pretty impossible at times. Full disclosure, while I am marking this game as beaten, I actually could not reach the end without usage of the level select cheat code, mostly due to level 5 being quite a lot more challenging than the ones before and after. This might speak less about the game's difficulty and more my lack of patience or skill, and I have no doubt that others will find no issue with the level of challenge, but it is something that held the experience back just a hint for me. After all, levels are autoscrollers, and needing to restart one means you just wasted quite a bit of time.
With that said, I think I'll check out the later PD games- Initially I planned to just play Saga, and only checked out PD as an appetizer, but I am quite curious what Zwei is like now.
Enough reminiscing. Panzer Dragoon is commonly considered to be a "style over substance" game, and I would generally be led to agree, though I find nothing wrong with that concept myself. At its basic level, you aim and you shoot, with the greatest mechanics being the ability to look around yourself to face foes surrounding you (which must have been pretty mindblowing back in '95), and the capacity for a charged homing shot, which I think this game introduced? I'm far from an expert on the genre. My main issue in regards to the gameplay is that your drago(o?)n is quite sluggish to move. It's clear that this isn't meant to be a super snappy game, but even then avoiding some attacks feels pretty impossible at times. Full disclosure, while I am marking this game as beaten, I actually could not reach the end without usage of the level select cheat code, mostly due to level 5 being quite a lot more challenging than the ones before and after. This might speak less about the game's difficulty and more my lack of patience or skill, and I have no doubt that others will find no issue with the level of challenge, but it is something that held the experience back just a hint for me. After all, levels are autoscrollers, and needing to restart one means you just wasted quite a bit of time.
With that said, I think I'll check out the later PD games- Initially I planned to just play Saga, and only checked out PD as an appetizer, but I am quite curious what Zwei is like now.
Such an anomaly of a game, in retrospect. A 3D on rails shooter on a console that can't really render 3D and has a standard control without a joystick. Now that I think about it, this genre just peaked way before it should, so most of the better remembered ones are stuck on hardware that wasn't made for playing them. These titles should be made today and be like an hour and a half and cost twenty dollars. Just let me fly away in a weird world facing weird shit.
Anyway, Panzer Dragoon looks great despite, and in some way because, the poor hardware it's running in, everything feels like a facsimile of what it is in theory, and the velocity at which you move contributes to this feeling of just watching at the airplane window without glasses (I couldn't recognize my mother face at three meters without glasses). It's great.
It's kinda sad that it never quite reaches its full potential though. The story it's extremely minimal, almost nonexistent, and while this may be by design, I can sense a lack of some sorts. The controls are what you expect and sadly the game gets HARD in some places, harder than it should be, perhaps as a way to lengthen a really short campaign, and doesn't explain the intricacies of the system. Like, it's perfectly doable if you are constantly changing perspectives while shooting. See, this is not as much a game about being precise with your shooting while avoiding hits, a la Star Fox, but rather a game about moving your camera to face enemies that are attacking you from every angle. But here's the catch, you can't move when facing your sides, only when you are facing upfront or your back, so when an enemy escapes your front view, your meant to look to your side, shoot them and when projectiles and whatnot are approaching change your perspective to evade them. Sounds convoluted? It is.
Even having all of these in mind, is hard not to like this. It's much weirder than your average game, and it is so elementary gamey in a hipster way that I enjoy. Movies, for example, have this indie-like language, movies that, while recognizable, felt a certain way. Like you can quickly see when you're watching 'those' kind of movies. Panzer Dragoon is a little like this, when games where mostly not. If anything, that's something to be appreciated.
Anyway, Panzer Dragoon looks great despite, and in some way because, the poor hardware it's running in, everything feels like a facsimile of what it is in theory, and the velocity at which you move contributes to this feeling of just watching at the airplane window without glasses (I couldn't recognize my mother face at three meters without glasses). It's great.
It's kinda sad that it never quite reaches its full potential though. The story it's extremely minimal, almost nonexistent, and while this may be by design, I can sense a lack of some sorts. The controls are what you expect and sadly the game gets HARD in some places, harder than it should be, perhaps as a way to lengthen a really short campaign, and doesn't explain the intricacies of the system. Like, it's perfectly doable if you are constantly changing perspectives while shooting. See, this is not as much a game about being precise with your shooting while avoiding hits, a la Star Fox, but rather a game about moving your camera to face enemies that are attacking you from every angle. But here's the catch, you can't move when facing your sides, only when you are facing upfront or your back, so when an enemy escapes your front view, your meant to look to your side, shoot them and when projectiles and whatnot are approaching change your perspective to evade them. Sounds convoluted? It is.
Even having all of these in mind, is hard not to like this. It's much weirder than your average game, and it is so elementary gamey in a hipster way that I enjoy. Movies, for example, have this indie-like language, movies that, while recognizable, felt a certain way. Like you can quickly see when you're watching 'those' kind of movies. Panzer Dragoon is a little like this, when games where mostly not. If anything, that's something to be appreciated.