II…Zwei? 22? This series is confusing.
The name of the Panzer Dragoon series feels like a somewhat awkward way of referring to the presence of armored dragons, though that isn’t quite true – a “dragoon” is a type of soldier, not a dragon. Also, “Armored Dragon” would be a much worse title. Just terrible. Anyway, the series is set in a cool and surprisingly fleshed-out universe, complete with its own language (Panzerese, naturally). It’s a cool world that’s worth learning about if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s also jam-packed with mid-90s CGI glory:
Like its predecessor, Panzer Dragon II Zwei was released exclusively for the Sega Saturn, a sadly under-appreciated console. Despite its extremely sequel-y title (it says “2″ twice!), this one is actually a prequel. Without giving too much away, it explains the origins of the game’s world and its history. Also like the original, it’s a rail shooter, meaning the game largely takes cares of your movement so that you can focus on looking around, aiming, and blowing stuff to hell. There is, to put it lightly, a lot of stuff to blow up.
You have a few different weapons at your disposal. There’s a regular fast-shooting gun, a set of homing missiles used by aiming at targets’ weak spots, and a sweet super attack that’s unlocked by filling up a meter on the screen (it’s that green one in the screenshot above). There are a total of seven chapters, some of which have branching paths and hidden stuff. They also feature some totally rad boss battles:
You earn ‘evolution’ points by completing levels, taking certain routes, having high accuracy, and other goals, and those points help your dragon become cooler and more powerful. You could say that this is, uh…
Something like that.
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, or PDIIZ if you’re nasty, is excellent. It’s a bit on the short side, but branching paths and cool dragon upgrades make it stand out from its predecessor while keeping all the other great elements in place. As with anything that is both “good” and “on the Saturn,” it unfortunately doesn’t come cheap – a disc-only copy is $30-40, while a complete one goes for at least twice that. A remake is supposedly in the works, but details are fleeting.
The Panzer Dragoon series is pretty great in general, and had a couple of other releases – after Zwei was the Saturn RPG Panzer Dragoon Saga, which had a very low print run and is now a serious collector’s item. The early Xbox title Panzer Dragoon Orta was well-received but didn’t sell specially well, and that was it for the series. Many of the same designers worked on the spiritual successor Crimson Dragon, which was an Xbox One exclusive (and a pretty good one, too).
Next week, we’re looking at a rare NES game, which is really just a dumbed down version of a 16-bit fighting game. It probably isn’t very good. The article certainly will be, though! When have I ever let you down? See you next week.