3ERSS Panzer D

Developed by Sega's now legendary (and disbanded) Team Andromeda,

Panzer Dragoon is the original game in the Saturn's famed trilogy. As a

launch title, Panzer Dragoon carried the burden of proving the Saturn's

capabilities and it carried them well---proving the Saturn could handle

3D just fine. And despite being the weakest of the three Saturn Panzer

games, Panzer Dragoon holds its own in the series and is one of the

most original shooters of the 32-bit era.

One thing that set Panzer Dragoon apart from other shooters was the

originality of its storyline. While the plotline itself is quite simple (that

is, in this specific game, not in the Panzer timeline as a whole), the

complex world that Team Andromeda created is magnificent. The

Panzer world occurs in a distant future after humans nearly met their

end at the hands of their own bio-weapons. Fighting to regain power, a

tribe of humans known as the Imperials have discovered an ancient

tower that houses a deadly ancient weapon.

You are a seemingly normal human; out on a hunting trip you get

separated from your party and witness a battle between two dragons.

One rider is fatally wounded. Just before he dies he connects with you,

urging you to ride his dragon and prevent the Dark Dragon from

returning to the aforementioned Imperial tower. Throughout the game's

seven levels you will make your way to the tower to stop the Dark

Dragon while the Imperials attack you with battleships and while you

defend yourself against the bio-creatures that almost saw the end of

humankind so many years ago.

Gameplay

Panzer Dragoon is a rail shooter as you "fly" through the levels on a

fixed course at a fixed speed. You can rotate your viewpoint 360

degrees via the L and R buttons, allowing you to kill enemies anywhere

around you. You use the D-pad to aim your cursor at enemies and also

to fly around on-screen---which is crucial since this is how you dodge

enemy attacks. You have two weapons: your gun and the dragon's

lock-on laser; both of which use the same button (A, B, or C). (That is,

there really is only one button of gameplay). Knowing when to use

which weapon will prove crucial to your success. To use the more

powerful but less accurate gun press "shoot" (or press it repeatedly for

rapid fire), to use the weaker but more accurate lock-on laser hold

"shoot," move the cursor over as many enemies as you like until they

are locked-on, and then release "shoot" to kill them.

Some people won't like the simple gamplay; I thought it worked well.

Some people won't like being on "rails"; I have mixed feelings as it is

both good and bad. Good because the pace of the game is always

maintained---creating tension and allowing you to focus more on killing

enemies. Bad because it's hard to dodge enemy attacks and shoot

enemies at the same time, especially in boss battles. But, the ability to

maneuver around and dodge enemy attacks does add to the gameplay.

Now just because I said the gameplay was simple does not mean it's

easy. Not at all. This game is difficult. Very difficult. One reason it is

difficult is because there is no save feature (something I cannot

comprehend and which drags the whole game down). Consequently, if

you want to beat the game you have to beat it straight through. If you

do well in a stage you will be rewarded with a continue, and you will

need them. (Note: there is a level select code that bypasses this

problem).

There are three difficulty levels to choose from: Easy, Normal, and

Hard. I beat the game on Normal after much practice and much

frustration. Another reason the game is so difficult is because the lock-

on laser does not lock on as easily as it should. Perhaps a larger target

cursor could have helped, but as it stands enemies fly by too fast to

lock-on to them as you should be able to. Thus you are left susceptible

to many attacks. And since there are no health powerups if you get hit

too much before the boss encounter at the end of every level you won't

have a chance.

And yet another reason the game is difficult is because the weapons

are both pretty weak. (There are stronger weapons to be unlocked or

accessed via code that can help). It just takes too many hits to kill

simple enemies. Because of the high difficulty level you are often

forced to memorize levels before you can get through them at a high

enough shot-down percentage to earn the extra continues you will

need to defeat the game. And that really takes away from what is so

great about the game----the surprise and tension created by dozens of

enemies coming out of nowhere to attack you.

Despite its minor gameplay issues, the story is intriguing and the

Panzer universe is engrossing enough to distinguish this game from

other shooters.

76%

Graphics

For a Saturn launch game the graphics in Panzer Dragoon are pretty

good. Some of the environments are superb, such as the water in the

water levels and the fast pace of the underground tunnel level; some

look like they belong on the Sega CD, such as the foliage in the

vegetation level. The FMV sequences look good for the most part with

some of the detail being excellent, but some of the textures are

subpar. I have mixed feelings about the level of detail found in-game

characers as well. Overall, though, not too shabby.

85%

Sound

The sound effects are decent, nothing spectacular, but the soundtrack

is superb. The orchestra-esque music is great, giving the game a

mythical ambience and a historical feel to it. Simply put, I loved the in-

game tracks.

93%

Replay Value

Only seven levels (there is also a bonus level) and most are pretty

short. Thus, the game takes only a few hours to defeat (less than an

hour if you don't suck). This wasn't a problem for me as I don't

especially like unnecessarily long games, especially shooters. So

because its short length you can easily jump back into the game. But

again, a lack of save feature really hurts here as all the weapons,

special features, and levels you unlock disappear once you turn the

power off. You can type in codes to get them back but it just doesn't

feel the same.

81%

Overall

This game provided a fresh take on the shooter genre when it debuted.

It has become a cult-classic simply because the games that follow it in

the series were some of the best games of the 32-bit era. Every series

needs a beginning, though, and Panzer Dragoon is a good one.

However, it does have some serious issues. The high difficulty level and

lack of a save feature means that you will be replaying the same levels

over and over, which can get frustratingly repetitive.

But despite minor gameplay issues, this game stands out as a must-

have simply because Team Andromeda created such an engrossing

world. They even created a new language for the game to make it more

realistic! The language, which fans refer to as Panzerese, is rumored to

be an amalgamation of Latin, German, Japanese, and other modern

languages.

80%