Growing up in a Nintendo and PlayStation household, I regrettably missed the Sega era of consoles. There are many Sega franchises that I was prevented from experiencing due to the closed nature of the console ecosystems in the 1990s. Obviously by the early 2000s, Sega removed themselves from the console market and began developing video games for the remaining brands: PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox. Many franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog, Crazy Taxi and Shinobi suddenly broke out of Sega's walled garden and onto the PS2, Xbox and GameCube. There were still many Sega series that I never touched, and one of them was Panzer Dragoon. This series was most notably present on the Saturn, though there was a late entry on the original Xbox as well, in Panzer Dragoon Orta.
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| Image Credit: Panzer Dragoon Legacy |
For years, I thought Panzer Dragoon held a sort of mystique that intrigued me, but again, I had no Sega consoles and never really thought to get back into retro gaming until around the time of the Covid pandemic. Fortunately for me, right around the same time frame, Panzer Dragoon received a remake. Panzer Dragoon: Remake came out in March 2020 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and the ill-fated Google Stadia. Developed by the Polish team MegaPixel Studio, this game sought to enhance and revitalize the 1995 Saturn original, and mostly succeeded, though it left many diehard fans of the series feeling underwhelmed and frustrated, largely as a result of the altered and "bland" art direction.
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| Image Credit: Panzer Dragoon Legacy |
The art of Panzer Dragoon is indubitably its strongest trait. As soon as I booted this game up, I felt almost entranced by its otherworldly universe and design. Alien-like dragons covered in bone colored armor plating, airships that look like floating rocks, sunken and ruined cities, and various environmental objects that look almost bio-mechanical in nature; Panzer Dragoon takes the familiar, arcadey trappings of 3D rail-shooter and transports you into a world unlike anything you've ever seen.
The designers intentionally tried to paint a wholly unique, unfamiliar setting and aesthetic, and they succeeded. They knew that having prominent elements like dragons would conjure medieval Western European imagery, but they instead went for a sci-fi style, with design inspiration coming from Ottoman/Turkish art. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and David Lynch's incredibly bizarre Dune adaptation provided some design inspiration as well. There's also a very clear connection to the French artist Moebius, and his comic Arzach, which looks quite similar to Panzer Dragoon. Moebius actually went on to design the covert art for the game. The design team went so grand with the conception of Panzer Dragoon, that they actually invented a fictional language, which is totally fitting, given the game's incredibly alien setting. Long after I wrapped up Panzer Dragoon, my mind kept pulling me back to this fascinating world. I immediately wanted to move into the sequels and experience more of this universe.
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| Image Credit: Panzer Dragoon Legacy |
This remake was derided for the shift in art direction. Critics stated that the more intentional aesthetic of the original was swapped out for generic looking scenery. Personally, I feel like the trade-off for higher visual fidelity was worth it, as Panzer Dragoon: Remake is gorgeous. And for what it's worth, I've never played the original, and I still feel like Panzer Dragoon: Remake had a beautiful world that felt unlike anything else I've ever seen. From a surface level glance, it doesn't appear like the remake changed the design in any egregious way. As a general fan of retro gaming though, I can absolutely appreciate the cutting-edge, highly stylized visuals from the 1995 Saturn original.
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| Image Credit: Panzer Dragoon Legacy |
While the art design for Panzer Dragoon is completely sublime, the gameplay is pretty bog standard, as far as rail-shooters go. It's competently made and quite fun, though I found it to be incredibly easy. You and your dragon mount are dodging all manner of airborne missiles, and trying to coordinate return fire to free up the sky, as you fly across the beautiful landscape. I found that 90% of the time, I could utilize the lock-on auto fire mechanic and just unload my gun into everything on the horizon and it made the game trivially easy. You do also have to cover your sides and your rear, as enemies will regularly try to catch you unaware. I didn't mind the breezy difficulty though. Listening to the game's stellar soundtrack and cruising through these amazing levels and blasting monsters and airships out of the sky made for a really pleasant, relaxing evening.
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| Image Credit: Panzer Dragoon Legacy |
The plot for Panzer Dragoon is barely there. There are a few cutscenes, and they have no dialogue, but the game's myriad elements come together and still manage to convey a compelling story. There's an unspoken majesty to the whole experience. The story is set in the far future, in the ruins of a world long ago ravaged by war. Our protagonist, Keil, is traveling through a canyon and finds a hidden facility of sorts, and it appears to be powered by ancient technologies from the pre-war era. Monsters attack Keil, but he is suddenly saved by an armored blue dragon, who is being chased by a huge black dragon. The blue dragon's rider is killed during their struggle and Keil is psychically chosen to be the rider's successor. He grabs the deceased rider's gun and climbs atop the blue dragon to chase the black dragon. Keil and the dragon fly through a diverse range of exotic landscapes, battling dangerous wildlife, airship armadas from a villainous faction and the black dragon. Ultimately, Keil defeats the airship forces and has a climatic final battle with the black dragon, who mutates and becomes an enormous, monstrous dragon. I know this all sounds very barebones, and that's because it quite literally is. It's a very simple plot that leaves your imagination to fill in the blanks. Again, I don't really mind that it's so straightforward, but I do wish they could've taken the opportunity with the remake to include some additional story details. The incredible design of the universe almost demands for more context and worldbuilding.
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| Image Credit: Panzer Dragoon Legacy |
Panzer Dragoon: Remake is an altogether solid package. Even if you don't fancy yourself a fan of 3D rail-shooters, I highly recommend checking this game out. You can frequently purchase it at a deeply discounted price, which is ideal with its incredibly brief runtime. The music, gameplay and art come together to create a wonderful, unique game that you'll be thinking about for hours (or days, if you're like me) after you complete the game. I can't wait to play the rest of the games in this franchise. I was pleased to read that Panzer Dragoon's sequel, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei is also receiving the remake treatment.
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