Panzer Dragoon has finally returned! A venerated Sega franchise, the Panzer Dragoon series has been around since way back in 1995 on the Sega Saturn, a solid quarter century! Over that time, there have only been six games released in the series, notably the infamous Panzer Dragoon Saga, one of the most coveted titles on the Saturn, fetching hundreds of dollars as it has never been re-released. Fortunately for modern gamers though, the first game in the series has been remastered and re-released for the Nintendo Switch however and it’s already out! Sega and Forever Entertainment S.A. have blasted their way onto consoles worldwide with the release of Panzer Dragoon Remake which just dropped on March 26th for the reasonable price of $24.99! But for those of you gamers who aren’t familiar with the franchise, what is it? Sure, you fly around on a dragon and stuff, but what are you really getting for your cash?
Panzer Dragoon Remake is, at its core, a flight-sim style shmup in 3D. If you’ve ever played games like Rez, After Burner, or Sin & Punishment, you’ll be right at home here. This is a rail shooter where you’re controlling the dragon and rider, aiming, locking on, and dodging, all at the same time. Enemies come from all sides and camera angles are unique and tricky sometimes. You can rotate your camera 360 degrees as well, shooting in any direction you’re facing. Your goal? To stop the Imperial Army from using their biological weapons (aka dragon tech and more) to subjugate humanity!
There’s not a complex plot to Panzer Dragoon. In fact, other than a few cut scenes, there isn’t really any significant story. For those of you paying attention, the game is subtitled, but the language likely isn’t familiar. That’s because it doesn’t exist and Sega actually created their own language just for the Panzer series, using it in all the main titles! But don’t expect to get a deep rewarding story here. It’s just a vehicle to move the game along.
On the upside, aside from the story, Panzer Dragoon is one of the most uniquely stylized games ever released. The creatures and enemies are wild and creative, the backgrounds are fantastic and bizarre, and everything about the game just screams of creativity. It’s an absolutely gorgeous game, and it wowed back when it came out on the Saturn. Gamers back then absolutely treasured the franchise, blasting through level after level. One of the greatest things about Panzer Dragoon Remake is that the art style is completely and utterly intact. In fact, every single thing is cleaned up, upgraded, and remastered in glorious HD, reawakening the experience we all had back in ’95 for a whole new generation!
It’s hard to put into words how gorgeous Panzer Dragoon looks. It’s semi-organic, semi-technological, and seamlessly blended to feel more like another world than almost any other game. The Switch manages to really make the game shine as well. On the initial release there were some graphical hiccups in both the game textures and the cinema sequences, but Sega has already released a patch that cleaned up the imagery nicely and it’s absolutely breathtaking. If you’re a fan, this is everything you could have hoped for, especially after the patch.
From a gameplay standpoint, nothing has really changed here in 25 years. If you’re expecting a long game, don’t, as Panzer Dragoon is only six levels long. That’s it. Now, you’re spending $25 on six levels, sure, but they’re gorgeous, sprawling, and they get challenging as hell towards the end. Most competent flight sim players will breeze through, but for the rest of us, it’s a bit of a learning curve. The controls in Panzer Dragoon Remake take some getting used to. While up is up, down is down and so forth, it doesn’t feel natural when you’re flying in 3D. When you move the left stick, both your dragon and targeting reticle move in Classic mode, a strange feeling identical to the original on the Saturn as there were no twin sticks at the time. Hell the Saturn didn’t even have the 3D controller yet when the first game was released and you had to play with a digital D-pad, which was surprisingly effective.
Now, however, we’re using analog, and it’s a bit floatier. It’s hard to target anything at first, but switching to an inverted Y-Axis helps a lot (i.e. down is up and up is down). Holding down B uses your lock on, and you simply guide the reticle over enemies to lock on to up to 8 targets at a time. Let go and you fire all your shots at once, no reload required. L and R buttons shift your camera to one of four static angles. That’s all there is to it. If that playstyle doesn’t work for you, Sega tossed in a second configuration as well though.
Modern mode is the updated control scheme for Panzer Dragoon designed for modern twin stick controls. Your dragon controls with the left stick and your reticle with the right. L and R are the same, but ZR is your lock on and releasing it fires. It sounds more natural, but it’s not. Moving your dragon and your reticle independently is definitely not what the game was originally intended to do, and it’s tough. Add on top of that that your dragon’s movement is inverted along with the reticle when you invert the Y-Axis and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. It’s also much harder to pull and release the R trigger while aiming with the right thumb stick and flying with the left. It just doesn’t feel natural. You’ll still manage, especially in the early levels, but by level 4 it’s a struggle. It’s also highly recommended to use a Pro controller, especially in Modern mode, as the Joy-Cons are just too tough to hit the right buttons.
Unfortunately, there’s no button mapping available in Panzer Dragoon, a rather glaring oversight when looking at updating one of the greatest rail shooters of all time. This is a game that screams for customization, and it’s surprisingly minimal. Add to that the noticeable load times at boot up and between levels and you’ve got a fair amount of frustration building. Scoring and shootdown rates are tracked, allowing you to gather extra continues, but you can just restart from the main menu and save your continues by playing through whatever level you’re on again until you’re practiced enough to challenge the boss. All the enemy layouts are static, so once you’ve learned the patterns, hit placements, and weaknesses of bosses, the game should be a piece of cake!
Since we’re looking at a timed exclusive for the Switch, it would be remiss to ignore the joys of being able to play Panzer Dragoon Remake portably. As undocked games go, Panzer Dragoon is absolutely playable, especially if you’re using a Classic control configuration. It looks good, but has the same tedious load times, and you really don’t get the full impact of the visuals or the music while undocked, unless you’re wearing headphones. Docked is definitely the way to play this one, so settle in at the TV because it’ll be worth it.
The soundtrack for Panzer Dragoon is legendary as well, and there’s no question that it’s aged extremely well here. Saori Kobayashi created the original soundtrack for the game 25 years ago and came back to remix the music for Panzer Dragoon Remake. Initially, the original soundtrack was the only one featured, but as with the graphics, the soundtrack was also patched and the remixed soundtrack is now included in Panzer Dragoon Remake, and it’s a joy to hear. The music blends into the landscape, taking you further into the world than ever before and this is one soundtrack that’s worth downloading! Fortunately, it’s available digitally here, so check it out!
What you’re getting with Panzer Dragoon Remake is a solid re-imagining of a classic game. That means some of the early control foibles older gamers got used to decades ago which may frustrate new players. It also means a shorter game, and a surprising lack of overall depth. No achievements, no hidden objects, nothing that modern gamers are used to. There is a photo mode built in for in-level gameplay static images, which is rather cool, but that’s really not going to cut it for people who are expecting a bit more depth for their money. A gorgeous landscape, unique creatures, and a spectacular soundtrack will definitely wow you, but there’s a reason that this isn’t a full-price release. If you’re okay with that, you’ll absolutely love Panzer Dragoon Remake. You might hate yourself once you attempt to master the controls, but the game is rewarding and immersive and it’s a love letter to classic early 3D gaming, a throwback that shows that sometimes the oldies can still charm us if we give them a little patience.
This review is based on a digital copy of Panzer Dragoon Remake provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes. Docked mode was played with a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. All screenshots are of actual gameplay and cinemas. Images purposely don’t show major in-game events. Panzer Dragoon Remake is a timed exclusive for the Switch and will be coming to both Google Stadia and Steam in the near future. And for those of you that aren’t aware? Panzer Dragoon Zwei is coming too! Sadly, not Panzer Dragoon Saga though, as the original source code was lost, but hey, if enough people are interested, maybe Sega will finally remake it from the ground up too! And Shining Force III Parts 1-3 while they’re at it…
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