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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The first few minutes of Panzer Dragoon when your blue dragon majestically soars above the rippling water to the tune of Flight define a classic video game introduction that I doubt I will ever forget. A part of me expected the experience to be steadily downhill from there given the common complaints that I’ve heard, but to the game’s credit, it quickly established its defining hook and never let go. Panzer Dragoon was one of the first games to take total advantage of its 3D space, and it does so through its ability to rotate the player’s aim in 360 degrees. The catch is that while you can’t aim sideways/behind the dragon when looking forward, there’s a trade-off in that you can’t steer the dragon and change its mid-air position while in first-person aiming around the sides of/behind its body. As a result, there’s a precise science to swapping between these two camera modes. The macro never gets complex (shoot everything in sight while dodging and shooting down enemy attacks), but the micro is just involved enough to where there’s little downtime as you constantly peruse your surroundings and systematically pick off your foes. This is a game that wants the player to be aware of everything around them, and Team Andromeda was more than happy to let them soak in the sights given that the minimalist UI (simply consisting of a radar for spotting enemies and a player health bar) never really gets in the way. Even today, I find Panzer Dragoon to be an absolutely gorgeous game, and I can only imagine how people in 1995 felt playing this for the first time.
I’ve been warned that Panzer Dragoon’s difficulty can be a significant roadblock, but after a few playthroughs, I think it’s definitely conquerable. Besides mastering control of the player reticle/camera, players need to recognize when to utilize the homing laser lock-on (holding down the fire button) versus mashing to quickly fire the player’s handgun. The homing laser is great for getting rid of enemy swarms and easily targeting moving foes, while the handgun is a godsend for melting beefy mobs and bosses while sniping faraway targets that can’t be locked onto. In particular, Episode 3’s jumping ship boss is a notable chump check if you refuse to lock-on, while Episode 5’s airships will overwhelm you if you don’t mash. Additionally, I’ve also heard that Panzer Dragoon can feel very punishing since the player is allowed only one game-over before they have to restart a run, and the game only regenerates half of the player's health upon completing a level. However, given that the player can earn an extra credit per stage if they manage to shoot down more than 85% of the enemies in a single episode, I'd say there’s enough leeway given if the player takes the time to master its controls and meticulously defeat enough enemies instead of simply playing entirely defensive.
The only real gripe that I’d have is that enemy attacks sometimes blend into the background (ex: black cannonballs on top of dark environments) and can be tough to spot, especially when obscured by smoke effects from already defeated airships. I can still dodge most of these attacks with enough experience, having learning the enemy spawn positions, though it takes time to master given that players need to adapt to the game’s weightiness and natural response time. After all, you’re controlling a rider controlling a dragon rather than controlling the dragon itself, so it takes a bit more time to shift the model away from incoming barrages. As is, I’d still prefer if all enemy attacks were distinctly colored to stand out from both my own projectiles and the surroundings. Regardless, Panzer Dragoon was a breath of fresh air and I don’t mind its relative simplicity or brevity when it manages to succinctly capture an enthralling rail-shooting experience that I’ll gladly replay just to see myself visibly improve with every new run. All I can say is that this was certainly no flight of fancy; if the base model was this good, then I can’t wait to see what Team Andromeda/Smilebit have to offer with Zwei and Orta.
I’ve been warned that Panzer Dragoon’s difficulty can be a significant roadblock, but after a few playthroughs, I think it’s definitely conquerable. Besides mastering control of the player reticle/camera, players need to recognize when to utilize the homing laser lock-on (holding down the fire button) versus mashing to quickly fire the player’s handgun. The homing laser is great for getting rid of enemy swarms and easily targeting moving foes, while the handgun is a godsend for melting beefy mobs and bosses while sniping faraway targets that can’t be locked onto. In particular, Episode 3’s jumping ship boss is a notable chump check if you refuse to lock-on, while Episode 5’s airships will overwhelm you if you don’t mash. Additionally, I’ve also heard that Panzer Dragoon can feel very punishing since the player is allowed only one game-over before they have to restart a run, and the game only regenerates half of the player's health upon completing a level. However, given that the player can earn an extra credit per stage if they manage to shoot down more than 85% of the enemies in a single episode, I'd say there’s enough leeway given if the player takes the time to master its controls and meticulously defeat enough enemies instead of simply playing entirely defensive.
The only real gripe that I’d have is that enemy attacks sometimes blend into the background (ex: black cannonballs on top of dark environments) and can be tough to spot, especially when obscured by smoke effects from already defeated airships. I can still dodge most of these attacks with enough experience, having learning the enemy spawn positions, though it takes time to master given that players need to adapt to the game’s weightiness and natural response time. After all, you’re controlling a rider controlling a dragon rather than controlling the dragon itself, so it takes a bit more time to shift the model away from incoming barrages. As is, I’d still prefer if all enemy attacks were distinctly colored to stand out from both my own projectiles and the surroundings. Regardless, Panzer Dragoon was a breath of fresh air and I don’t mind its relative simplicity or brevity when it manages to succinctly capture an enthralling rail-shooting experience that I’ll gladly replay just to see myself visibly improve with every new run. All I can say is that this was certainly no flight of fancy; if the base model was this good, then I can’t wait to see what Team Andromeda/Smilebit have to offer with Zwei and Orta.
I think this game has a weird learning curve and it has some odd spikes of difficulty here and there, but it grows on me with each playthrough. I love the one sequence nature of it, and it has some pretty tight level design. I like Zwei more in most regards but the challenge of this one is what really sets it apart for me. I wish I felt more for the music, like flight is such an incredible song, the best in video games, but every other song is a bit forgettable to me. I think my favorite level is the tunnel sequence, it's so intense and the boss in that is killer. It's definitely worth learning and beating
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