Panzer Dragoon Remake - Review

 

Many moons ago I played a game by Sega called Panzer Dragoon Saga II, a fantastic rails shooter. Later they released a game called Panzer Dragoon Saga, one of the first RPG's I ever played and one of the most memorable. The first game in the series was called Panzer Dragoon. I played it years after it was released on PC - it handled poor and looked in desperate need of a visual overhaul. When I saw there was a remake I thought it was worth a look.

I love food but I might love sweets even better. Refreshers were something I really like growing up, which is unusual as I don't really like lemon or lemon flavoured things. There are tough, chewy, full of colouring and sugar - simply put they are bad for you. Things you enjoy during your childhood are not always the same as those you like as adult. Strangely while Refreshers have enjoyed their high point there is still something great about them now. Playing Panzer Dragoon had the time of this game and indeed series seen its day?

Story

The story is set a thousand years in the future, the once densely populated Earth has been reduced to almost nothing. It is no surprise that weapons of mass destruction were the cause of the issue. Civilization seems to be made up of small towns and nations, and the ruling force is known as The Empire. They are already starting to take over but their latest discovery is ancient weapons which could change everything. 

Moments into the game's intro sequence someone riding a dragoon kills another in front of your eyes. The dying rider chooses you to take charge of the dragoon and simply tells you to follow the dragoon, he knows where he is going.  

Overall the story is sparse yet intriguing and continues to develop as the series continues. When all is said and done you don't really get much of a story from any arcade rail shooter but this one certainly piqued my interest.

Visuals

Panzer Dragoon was originally released on the Sega Saturn in 1995, at this time polygons were being used to help create visuals. The visuals could sometimes look clunky and even ugly but at the time they were pretty damn good. While the newly remake Panzer Dragoon Remake cannot hope to rival today's visual marvels it is also far cry from the original release twenty-five years ago. The colours used in the game are quite vibrant especially during the forest episode, the games look pretty smooth and it is easy to see how much time and effort MegaPixel Studios put into the game.

Overall the visuals are massively improved over the original release and while the remake may not be as impressive as some of newer games on the market it cannot be overlooked how much effort has gone into this remake.

Music

The music is classic Sega, warm and whimsical sounds, it is reminiscent of the music of Studio Ghibli. The music is composed by Yoshitaka Azuma, who worked on Panzer Dragoon Orta and Saori Kobaishi who worked on Panzer Dragoon Saga, Sonic Drift 2, Nights Into Dreams, and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz.

The soundtrack runs just shy of an hour, it features some great tracks including; 'Main Title', 'Sudden Turn', 'Departed Souls', 'Imperial Capital Set Ablaze' and 'Conclusion'. Overall it's a fairly solid soundtrack that really is a classic example of early Sega Saturn music.

Gameplay

Panzer Dragoon Remake has the same mechanics as the original but with some improvements. Essentially the game is an arcade rail shooter, which is really fun as you don't see any nowadays. There are two weapons; your pistol and the dragoons lock-on lasers, the lasers are far superior to use on enemies with the exception of one of the bosses.

While you are stuck on a rail you can, and need, to bob and weave to avoid structures and incoming projectiles. The radar is a big help in this regard, not with structures but enemies as you can see where they are coming from and act accordingly.

Overall the gameplay is simple and fun - the only issue I ever ran into was that the lock-on lasers could be slow to recognise targets on occasion. There is a lot of replay value as there are a number of difficulty setting and even a Pandora's Box menu which can really change the game.

Final Thoughts

So, after a few hours of play how did I feel? Pretty damn good. The game really played on my nostalgia and made me giddy to play Panzer Dragoon Zwei (which hopefully will be released later this year). The story is interesting, the visuals look pretty solid for an older game, the music reminds me of a simpler time and the gameplay is a lot of fun. Overall this one gets a solid 4 out of 5