Now Playing: Panzer Dragoon & Panzer Dragoon 2

Panzer Dragoon is a rail-based shooter originally released on the Saturn in 1995. Graphically, I must admit the game is looking rather dated, particularly in terms of its background environments. The enemy designs, however, are all very clean and striking, and still look good today – particularly the bosses.

But the dated graphics can be an issue at times. It varies by level, but in some it can become difficult to separate your targets from the background. Panzer Dragoon is a fast paced game, but its speed can result in some muddled scenery making it hard to spot incoming projectiles or enemies.

 

There are 7 episodes to complete and overall, they are all nicely designed and fun to play. That said, each can be cleared in about 5-8 minutes. So it’s not a very long game, but it does offer a degree of replayability through its ranking system and three difficulty modes – and the Hard mode certainly lives up to its name.

In terms of its combat, although Panzer Dragoon introduced the multi-directional system to the series, it’s far less mobile than in its refined sequels. Switching to the side or rear of your dragon pulls the camera extremely close, restricting your field of view and reducing your manoeuvrability to near zero. This can result in some hits you take feeling rather cheap as there’s little you can do to avoid them.

It is possible to adjust the camera and pull it back (the game offers 3 levels of perspective) but switching views is tricky to do in a hectic fight and you then have to switch the view a second time when you return to the default position. It’s a fiddly system that was thankfully dropped in Zwei.

The combat has your standard laser attack plus your lock-on ability, but there’s no berserk attacks, glide boosting, or dragon morphing. It relies pretty much entirely on fast paced shooting and even faster reflexes to target and dodge. So it may be rather basic compared to its sequels, but Panzer Dragoon remains an enjoyable, fast paced ride – albeit a rather short one.

Panzer Dragoon really established the series in terms of style, tone and sound. The music is great and the enemy design is fantastic. Story wise, Panzer is very basic, with a limited number of cut-scenes and minimal dialogue. But in some ways, this only enhances what was the original introduction to this fascinating world.

Although I’ve been a little critical of particular elements of the game, Panzer Dragoon remains an engaging, challenging and very enjoyable rail-based shooter. It may have been surpassed by its refined sequels, but it’s still a solid and fun game to play.

7/10

Panzer Dragoon Zwei (1996) isn’t a massive leap forward from the original, but it is, overall, an improved and refined sequel. It’s not quite on par with Orta, which was able to combine elements of these original games with the Saga battle system, but Zwei was another step in the right direction. And whilst I’d rate Orta as the best rail-based game in the series, it did have the luxury of building upon everything that came before it, including the improvements made in Zwei.

Switching views is now smooth and effortless without any shifts in perspective – it remains at a constant, perfect distance. Zwei also introduced dragon morphing to the series (on a much more basic level), berserk attacks and multiple routes. Like the original, there are 7 episodes to complete, each taking around 5-10 minutes, but the game does offer some replayability through its ranking system.

That said, out of the three rail-based Panzer Dragoons, Zwei is probably the easiest game in the series. There’s no difficulty options, and the game can be blasted through in a single sitting (and life) with relative ease.

The combat system has your standard gun and homing laser attacks with a degree of manoeuvrability to dodge incoming projectiles. You can switch to side or rear views which, as I’ve mentioned, is far smoother than in the original. In Zwei, however, your laser attacks will boost your ‘berserk meter’ allowing you to unleash a devastating storm of lasers. It’s a single special attack and best saved for boss encounters.

Overall, I’d rate the level and enemy design higher in Zwei than the original. The graphics are much improved, with far cleaner background environments meaning you’re not occasionally struggling to separate your foes from the scenery. Each level also has different routes you can take offering a slightly different experience which also somewhat adds to the replay value.

At the end of each episode you’re graded by various things such as percentage of enemies shot down, clear time and which path you chose (some are more difficult than others). This is where the dragon morphing comes into play, as your dragon evolves into a stronger form based on your performance. The only real problem with this, is that because the game is pretty easy, you’ll unlock increasingly tougher dragon forms…which will then make it even easier.

Seeing the dragon evolve is great though, and the improved animations and environments really bring the world to life. The enemies are great, especially those with multiple ‘parts’ you have to whittle away. Zwei offers a good degree of variety to environments and encounters, including some fantastic boss fights, but I must admit a couple of the episodes feel a little weak compared to the rest.

As with all the Panzer games, the music is great and the general world design is brilliant. Zwei also has an expanded story which opens up more of the world to the player, with a little more emphasis on the bond between dragon and rider. Once again, it’s rather basic and teases more than it reveals, but it provides a solid foundation for some excellent levels and fast paced action.

Panzer Dragoon Zwei is an improvement over the original in all the right ways – with the possible exception of difficulty. But though its not as challenging as the original, Zwei is the game I’d always prefer to replay, with more visually striking environments and enemies, multiple routes through levels and new dragon forms. It’s a refinement of everything the original introduced.

7/10