Source
r/SegaSaturn•
GeekCritique

Someone said we need more people sharing their Saturn experiences here... so here are my thoughts having just finished Panzer Dragoon for the first time!

Been on a big, BIG Saturn kick the past month or so. I got one for Christmas '97 (I was a Sonic kid, waiting for Sonic games), but US retailers pretty well stopped stocking it almost immediately after that point, so I only had five or so games as a kid!

Panzer Dragoon definitely, definitely shows its age. It was one of the first 3D console games of its era, and the only US Saturn launch game that wasn't based on an arcade machine. But once I got used to that and put myself in the mindset of a brand-new Saturn owner in 1995, man was it impressive for its time. It reaches for a sense of scale that wasn't like anything else, and it's pretty easy for me to appreciate it on that level.

The music is absolutely phenomenal, which helps the tone of the game land well even today. It's a pretty simple game, sort of like Star Fox meets After Burner, but that just means it's easy to learn, hard to master. That's like, the essence of gaming to me. And it is VERY hard to master.

It's absolutely brutal in terms of difficulty. I breezed through the first episode, but everything after that was a wall. Every little mistake I make mattered, and that gave every encounter and boss fight a fantastic sense of tension. I really enjoyed it, and I wanted to finish it before I moved on to really putting time into its sequels, 'cause I get the feeling they're gonna improve on this game's groundwork by leaps and bounds.

Posted Jan 15, 2023, 12:05 PM UTC

229
SaveusAlex•

Can't wait to see your thoughts on 2! I really enjoy the first but a few stages get brutal towards the end. The second game however felt like they nailed everything, your last statement here couldn't be any more correct.

4
PM_ME_UR_SEXTOYS•

I finished PDS before either of the rail shooters, but it really made me fall in love with the world. I had to play both of them as soon as I was done with saga.

The series does a fantastic job of showing just enough to keep you fascinated.

2
Gambizzle•

Respect for finishing it BTW... it gets tricky and the last boss is pretty tough IMO.

2
thevideogameraptor•

I played it myself not too long ago, was expecting a more orchestral score.

2
brittonmakesart•

I just played and (kinda) beat Panzer Dragoon for the first time last weekend! The difficulty was brutal towards the end, but a mix of easy mode and some cheats allowed me to see the ending.

I was surprised by the little touches that made this game feel much more cinematic than I had expected. The occasion camera work, high concept (if sparsely told) story, and unique design of the game gave me a lot of respect for what I originally thought would be a 3D Space Harrier cash-in.

The lack of a save game function had me scratching my head a bit, but the game is short enough to make it less of a pain. That, plus level select cheats at the main menu make it feel more like a 16-bit game with a 3D treatment - I half expected a password feature lol.

Overall I was surprised by the presentation and the feel of the gameplay, but slightly underwhelmed given it is probably praised as one of the best game on the system.

1
Gribbon1020•

Panzer Dragoon was definitely one of my favorites as a kid and I recommend it to anyone. With that said, if anyone is curious about the game or wanting to play it again but don’t have a Saturn or the game, a company remastered it for new gen consoles and it was a blast going through it again with everything looking polished. They have physical copies and digital. There is even talks of them remastering PD2 in the future.

1
Joseluki•

The opening level with that soundtrack still blows my brain.

1
MLH70•

The Switch version is fantastic! But part 2 on the Saturn and I played another on Xbox were unbelievable for the time.

1
[deleted]•

I was playing PD too the other week. Was doing fine for the most part but Chapter 5 (?) was the wall for me. The level when you're inside a tunnel and there's a giant enemy. Panzer Dragoon is tough for sure. One thing that helped is that I realized there's a 'dodge' mechanic. Double tap L/R/U/D. Realized that mechanic during the boss that has helicopter blades and you need to be moving up/down to avoid them. Thankfully PD has lots of cheat codes but I want to get to the point where I can beat it in a legit way.

1