I must admit I played it on and off throughout the month and that was from me becoming very busy with certain matters. But at the moment this week turned somewhat free so as a result, I gave a go to finally beat Knuckles Chaotix and I sure did.

Despite my inital impressions being very mixed due to a boy yelling and quoting in my ear consistently as I tried to atleast give the game a shot, playing it on my own, I discovered not only an underrated gem, but a wickedly fun as hell game.

I don't care what people say as the mechanic where you and your partner are banding together is just mad fun. Especially once you master the mechanic so you can fling yourself mid air very far up to get further in the level. As this is a very vertical based game rather than the traditional horizontal levels of previous Sonic games. And as a Spin-Off, it lives up to the concept. All the players are just so fun. Hell Espio's ingame sprite looks even adorable in this game compared to his later redesign that makes him look like a Dorito lol, which yeah the cast is just all good and play good. Do recommend playing as Mighty instead of as a partner.

More I'd praise is definitely the way it handles certain things. In previous games if you fucked up getting the emerald you were fucked, compared to here where you tend to get shots as the Special Stages get progressively harder. And the rings serve an actual purpose as the counter. So your motivated to get lots of rings for a good reason. It can be forgiving in that regard.

Oh and of course, the presentation and music are all utterly phenomenal. I listen to the OST quite a bit, the stages, the respective visuals are just a delight.

Despite the game having a number of warts (not very focused on a story, after you get all the chaos rings not much necessarily happens til you beat all the levels, and whatever) I love all of it regardless. The gameplay just makes up for it all. It's just too damn fun to sling and fling around the place. When you get the hang of it, it's fun time.

(Would like to give a big thank you to @IronLuis for making this review possible. He let me borrow his Xbone just to play the game)

I can't with this shitty game anymore I'm done.

Panzer Dragoon is a series that had intrigued me and finally checking it out, I loved all of it.

Despite Mini, a game that was not only barely functional but also a game in between two fantastic games, the series, and overall Trilogy really, were all incredible and reasonably difficult. Deserving its status as the incredible landmark on the Sega Saturn. I had known the series did get another shot on Xbox but finally playing the games made me more intrigued regarding the entry that is Orta.

As a follow up to Saga I knew it couldn't top it, and all I had thought and expected was for it to just be a good game. A great game. The worthy continuation it dares to be to a very fulfilling trilogy that ended on a fair note.

It ended up being an arse to finally play the game however. Right after beating Saga, I checked it out off Xemu which didn't play the cutscenes. Then I ordered a og Xbox copy for 45 buckos then after some convincing got @IronLuis to let me borrow his Xbone just to play this game. And ALSO finally got the official rechargeable batteries for mine and his Xbox controller.

And so after all this work and effort, I finally played it.. and was remarkably disappointed. For starters I will still ponder why was the lock on nerfed so badly??? Saga introduced other forms for your Dragon but in this game you have to be switching all the fucking time if you wanna be doing any damage or any health resourcing when none of that bullshit was in the previous games. Playing it the old way, your damage just tickles them at most.

The game also has the most bullshittingly difficult difficulty to a point it made me genuinely mad in literal years. it's buttfuckingly unfair. Zwei is a game where it became harder by the paths you decided to choose. In Orta it's just fucking difficult because it said so, fuck you, you dare have fun? kiss that ass goodbye. BE SURE TO GET A NICE WHOPPING OF TWO BOSSES IN A FUCKING ROW!!!!!

I thought maybe I was delusional, I thought maybe I was wrong after simply beating Easy, but I ended up being right. I gave Normal another go and just could not. It's so fucking bullshit.. And not even fucking worth it. As all you need to know about the story is that it is LITERAL BULLSHIT!!! I don't like Mobo and his stupid fucking posse. Every time I see these imbeciles talk I miss the humanity of Paet, Gash, and Azel. They spoke with character. Growth. Personality. I miss it so much.. It was all in Saga. All dissipated in Orta.

Orta in general for me is a literal disappointment. I wasn't expecting or hyping up that it'd be the best of the series. Literally the minimum for me was just it simply be a fun time. A great time. A journey in a unique world.

But instead I get a game that can't fucking make up its mind on if it desires to be ambitious like Saga or have the simple storytelling of Zwei and the first one. It doesn't help either when you look into it even the Developers themselves feel mixed on if they should've even made a 4th one after Saga.

Which anymore is that I recognize the Pandora's Box which in fact is why my rating isn't any lower even if to be completely honest, I think alot of it is buttfucking padding. ESPECIALLY WHEN SOME OF THAT INFORMATION COULDVE BEEN TOLD WITHIN THE GAME.

What's that? You want to be told the story's details in the STORY!?? NAHHHHH!!!! GO READ ABOUT IT JERKWAD!!! STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!!!!

Dropped it for a bit there as I was playing some Panzer Dragoon games but after Saga and no Orta, picked this baby back up and even though Transformed improves on many things, the first game is pretty damn good. Despite the lack of achievements or online on Steam, it's still a worthwhile ride and especially as this entry has many things the sequel did not. Has all stars all unique to each character, characters that didn't make it in the sequel, and yeah. Will say right now I do think it's strange the tracks are mainly based on a set of games rather than one per game. Regardless, still a fun time yeah.

AND MAKE A THIRD SEGA ALL STARS RACING!!!! WITH MORE SEGA SATURN CHARACTERS TO BOOT!!!!!!!
and #BRINGBACKBONANZABROS

Panzer Dragoon Saga is a game at some point dabbling in anything Sega or old console related you will have heard of.

The legendary game that never got the proper release it deserved. Suffered from an extremely limited release as Sega was burying the Saturn. Is and was the elusive, the rare game for most, that was out of their reach til emulation became more refined. And for some til the capability of a modded Saturn to play such burned games.

And for me, of course it was this game. If there was ever a game I had wanted to play in middle school, it was this game. I hadn't put my focus into it at the time so outside of playing a bit of a Japanese version, I never had made the push to properly play the game. And of course there's when my own eyes got to see a copy for sale at 800+ at a convention.

So years later, I finally get a Saturn once again and knew it got to be modded and even before getting it modded there was already two games I had burned and the first I ever burned was indeed Panzer Dragoon Saga. (the other was the 4 discs of Shining Force III) That was the game I wanted to finally play and beat. And finally check out the game that is inaccessible to so many.

After beating Panzer Dragoon I, II, and then Mini and it was finally time. Time to finally beat the eluded masterpiece that had never been rereleased. And I must say.. it does live up to the hype.

Without saying much about the story beyond that it makes the previous games look like kiddie fodder in comparison is that despite it being very untraditional as an RPG, it in turns lends for a more fun and lively time playing the game. And a battle system based on speed too. Encouraging more beating the enemy quick, and in return alot of exp. Perhaps it could be too easy but honestly I'd rather be spamming and blasting than in agony waiting for shit to get over with like in FF7 or even Burning Rangers lol.

And I haven't even started discussing the presentation. As a response to FF7, it utterly makes some good as hell use of the fact it spans 4 discs. Compared to FF7 where that game opted to have most of itself on the first disc then the last two mainly be the remaining bits. Panzer Dragoon Saga rather smartly has it spanned evenly so you not only have in game cutscenes that utilize lively motion capture but also FMVS that draw you in, and complete voice acting for every single piece of dialogue ever spoken outside of the main character's thoughts.

All of that and the game runs silky smooth 95% of the time with the only time being it chugs a little tiny bit but that's it. And absolutely smashes in the park the idea the Saturn is incapable of any good 3D. The haters have not seen this one yet.

In general, it's a game that to be honest out of the mostly 90's three rpgs for me (FF7, Mother 3 and this) yeah, Saga wins. It's a shame it didn't get the success it deserved at the time as if you ask me, while the devs argue it was from them not caring to make something mainstream, I'd say it had more to do with the Saturn being a console not as many people owned compared to a PlayStation where having your game on there would atleast get more attention. Saga could have used the rereleases in recent time but alas did not happen. Saga is a classic. Delicate. And I am glad and happy to have finally played such an enduring game.