"When a Saga is born..."

PANZER DRAGOON for Sega Saturn

Some times, out of trivial funding and research, legends are born. Super Mario, Metroid, The Legend Of Zelda, Pokemon, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy and Megaman, all these share in common that when they debuted, no one would have thought where they will be today. And while these series enjoyed critical acclaim and unbelievable sales, there are some other franchises, which would deserve every single bit of success. And their success did indeed arrive, but only in small doses.

One of these lesser legends is the Panzer Dragoon series. Arguably, it's huge world, consisting of so many ethos and cultures, totally alien to us, the intriguing (yet never unveiling) story, and the non-hero approach of it, gathered many fans around the world. Panzer Dragoon was a Role Playing Game at heart, that was presented in the form of an On Rails Shooter. It has not been a surprise that one of it's later incarnations, was a true Role Playing Game.

So, we know what is all about Panzer Dragoon. But exactly how good was the very first Panzer Dragoon, which arrived closely after the release of the 1994 behemoth, the Sega Saturn?

Team Andromeda was a small team of Sega. Their members all had the same vision. To create a vast world, completely different than any other appearing in games of the time. It would be a mix of ancient and modern, a mix of mechanical and biological. It would be a world that had a long lost past, and a misty future. The cultures and ethos, that they placed in it, were different than ours, but they never were unbelievable. In the end, the whole world that they created, was a fantasy land. But the fairy tale that they wanted to tell, was as real as it could be. Team Andromeda had the magic touch to make a legend.

But were they capable of making the actual game fun to play?

GRAPHICS:

This game was released shortly after the Sega Saturn arrived. And in contrary to most of it's launch titles, this was actually looking pretty. The opening movie, even though dated today, was brilliant at it's time. It had a certain movie like feeling, that was sure to convince most Saturn owners. When the game actually begun, you were thrown in an awesome looking first stage. It's an ancient site, swallowed by water. And there is water everywhere. Water fantastically designed, moving and flowing, and even reflective. The scenery was moving and convincing, made up of a considerable amount of polygons, for it's time. Your dragon and your character were really detailed, and all the enemies had a distinctive look. Everything was greatly designed, for a 1995 game.

Technically, this was truly a showcase of the Sega Saturn. The game would run without even the slightest slowdown, while you were moving your own dragon, shooting tens of enemies on screen, flying across vast landscapes, and fighting huge end of level bosses. Reflections, shades and shadows are all existing in this game. The only true shortcomings are what you would expect from such an old game. Everything looks a bit dated today. The polygon count is not even close to matching this of later N64 and Playstation games. It's also pretty pixelated, but never disorientating. The effects and everything in this game's graphics, set new standards that were only surpassed by Nintendo's Star Fox 64 in 1996.

GRAPHICS SCORE: 7.5/10

SOUND:

The score of this game is truly amazing. Even though an On Rails Shooter game, the soundtrack was written as if this was a Role Playing Game. It's fully orchestrated and greatly performed. It's so rich and deep, that even many games that appeared much later, fall short in front of this. The opening theme, is still one of the best I ever heard on the Sega Saturn, or any 32-bit console. The sound effects are really well done too. From your dragon cries, to the sound of your laser gun, to the shrieks of the enemies and the theatrical voice acting, everything on offer here is really above anyone's expectations. In the sound department, Panzer Dragoon excels, even when put against the best games.

SOUND SCORE: 8.5/10

CONTROLS:

You will need a bit of time before you really get the grips of the controls. Everything is really done with the use of a single button. Press it quickly and you will fire your rider's laser gun. Hold it and you will lock on enemies as you move your crosshair on them, and then you will fire your dragon's homing lasers. Even if it sounds a bit limited in the first place, it is not actually. Most enemies die with a shot or two, and you will soon concentrate on killing all the enemies in the stage, and receive higher rankings.

If I have to say something bad on the controls, it would have to be that because of the nature of the game (an On Rails Shooter), when flying on a Dragon, it badly mixes two different flying feelings. You are misled to believe that your Dragon should fly like most airborne vehicles. You, by instincts, want to use the inverted movement setting. But if you try to, you will realize that then you need to use the normal movement setting, because of the crosshairs. It's a bit unsettling in the beginning, but soon you will get accustomed with one of the two settings, and you are likely to stick with it for every Panzer Dragoon game after it. The last bad thing I can find about this game, is that there is not truly an analog function if you try to use the Sega Saturn Analog Controller. Instead you get digital responses, no matter what device you are using. Ultimately though, these problems never hinder down your gaming experience.

CONTROLS SCORE: 8.0/10

STORY:

''The rider of the armored blue Dragon is fatally wounded by a powerful laser blast through his chest. They land before you.

The Sky Rider stretches out his hand to you, a desperate gesture for help. As your hand touches his, the Sky Rider's mind and yours become one. In his final thoughts, you see a tower that is under control of the Imperials. They have discovered the true use of the tower-the most powerful weapon ever created. With this and the Dark Dragon, a bio weapon created by the tower, the Imperials will be unstoppable!

The Sky Rider speaks his final words. 'Don't.. let the Dark Dragon return to the Tower.. If that happens, the horror of the Ancient Time..'

The Sky Rider falls at your feet, his life force spiraling off into the great unknown. The Dragon lets out a piercing cry for it's fallen master. From now on, it is your destiny to lead the Dragon to the tower''.

These are but a small hint of the story in the game. It is deep and vast, and thoroughly detailed. Once you play this game, you will see that it really has a Role Playing Game feel to it. Albeit in very small doses. What's in there is epic, but ends too soon, and you are never fully given any answers to your questions. In order to fully understand what's on offer here, you need to play the other two Panzer Dragoon games on the Sega Saturn. Panzer Dragoon Zwei, and Panzer Dragoon Saga. But still, even if the actual story is tiny, it is an epic compared to what other shooters have on offer. Never before had any company created such a rich story to accompany what is ultimately a shooter game. For this reason alone, the score is high. But it's also that the story is truly deep, that sends the score to the top.

STORY SCORE: 8.5/10

GAMEPLAY:

What if a game has a fantastic score, a great story and decent graphics, if it doesn't actually play well, then it's nothing.

Luckily, Panzer Dragoon is also a joy to play, other than listen and see. In the end, it's only an On Rails Shooter, but it is greatly performed. You fly around with your Dragon, while you avoid obstacles and enemies' fire, and at the same time shoot everything on screen. The catch is that you can turn your view 180 degrees, so that you shoot enemies not only from the front, but also from behind and from the sides. Depending on the ratio of enemies you have killed in a stage, you are rewarded with extra continues. Depending on the difficulty, it is harder to receive continues, and the enemies are also stronger to defeat and deal more damage to your Dragon. When you reach the end of a level, a huge boss fight begins, in which you will be testing your flight and shooting skills to their limits.

But there are some things that hinder down the experience of this game. In many stages, there are so many enemies, that delivering a 100% shot down ratio is next to impossible and only down to luck. But the biggest problem of all, is that this game is really small. The game only consists of 7 stages, and each does not last more than 10 minutes. The experienced player can finish the game without dying once, in about an hour. Even if it is your first time with the game, you will likely finish it in a day. From then on, it is a matter of hours before you see everything on offer, like the bonus shooting stage, or the different guns. It's a beauty while it lasts, but it does not last long.

GAMEPLAY SCORE: 8.0/10

OVERALL:

In the end, Panzer Dragoon was surpassed by many games. But it gave birth to one of the best video games series, and lead to the highly acclaimed Panzer Dragoon Saga. While it has not truly aged well as other classics, it is still a joy to play, and interesting enough on it's own to warranty a purchase. If you ever wanted to see gaming at it's finest, while at the same time set foot in the beautiful world of Dragons and Imperials, then you truly have to take a look to this gem.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.3/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/04