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.

Reviewed on Apr 02, 2024


2 Comments


29 days ago

you'd definitely enjoy zwei if you didn't like that there was no replayablilty
it's so good it makes this game feel like a beta in comparison, you should check it out soon

29 days ago

@mogchamp the rest of the franchise is on my queue so I'm looking forward to it!