Panzer Dragoon

"This game makes me smile."

Gameplay 9/10

The game is a rail shooter, (Star Foxish) in which you fly around on your dragoon and shoot stuff with your gun. You can also lock onto enemies and shoot dragon lasers. Your dragon can turn in all directions, and you'll need it considering enemies come from all sides. It's not awfully deep, but if you like the game you can put some time into getting 100% on each level. This is done by shooting down all the enemies in the level. I loved it to death personally, but then again this is definitely a matter of opinion. If you're in the mood to blow things off the screen (every is once in a while heh) You couldn't do better than Panzer Dragoon.

Graphics 9/10

Great for their time, but being an early Saturn game it's age definitely shows. The environments are still beautiful despite a few jagged edges. This game has better graphics than most PS1 games. The atmosphere the game creates is beautiful, and it still sucks you in despite it's age. Even with the lack of a compelling story, I still got that crazy tingly feeling at points while taking in the environments. Wonderful.

Sound 8.5/10

The music is pretty good, not the best music I've heard in a game, but it's excellent considering the game is a shooter. Most of the music is quite relaxing and flowing, but it does have it's upbeat tracks and such. My one complaint would be that some of the music does not fit at certain levels. Cruising through an action packed area complete with tons of enemies to shoot down deserves music a bit more exciting. I enjoyed it, I just wish they matched some of the tunes up better.

Control 10/10

I have absolutely no gripes with the control scheme in this game. A, B, or C shoots, and holding one of these buttons charges your dragons laser. taping one of the shoulder buttons rotates your dragons view 90 degrees. I never had any problems, the controls constantly responded well for me.

Overall 9/10

Panzer Dragoon is one of my favorite series of all time and Sega has done an excellent job with this one and it's sequels. I'm usually an RPG guy, but after playing 40 hrs of a slow paced epic, this game is without a doubt my choice for sitting back and blowing stuff up. It's relaxing, quite inexpensive by now (you should be able to pick it up for less than $10) and it just makes me happy. Can't wait for the X-Box installment

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/14/02, Updated 01/14/02