Back in the mid-90s when video games became more advanced, gamers began to dream of full 3D environments, which had teased them on the SNES and Genesis. Finally in 1995, Sega released the Saturn, which had 3D environment that were laughable now. Nonetheless, for the time until the N64 and PSX were to be released, the Saturn dropped the worlds jaw with breathtaking visuals, and excelling games. Notably the original Panzer Dragoon game that launched with the Saturn.

The game had originally started as a technology demo to boast the power of the console, but a developing team known as Team Andromeda took the wheel, and a legend was born. The first Panzer game was unique in many ways, one of which is due to the fact that it is one of the first 3D on-rails-shoot-em-ups. It was similar to Space Harrier and Star Fox in many ways, but if I ever catch you call it a spawn of either of those games, it will only show your ignorance. This game was much more than that.

Another thing that made the game unique was its storyline. The tale of a young hunter on a quest to stop an evil dragon from stopping an archaic tower, while gaining the loyalty of his steed (the blue dragon Lagi, of course) moved me. The game also had the most original art design I have ever seen in my life… ever. Vile bio-monsters, amazing environments, and airships that broke the boundary between organic and synthetic armor were the meat of the game.

If I could give a more in-depth overview of the plot it would be like this. A young hunter is chasing a Burrower creature responsible for the death of his friend stumbles upon two dragons in combat, one blue and the other black. When the rider of the blue dragon is gunned down with a fatal wound, he connects with the hunter in thought speech and begs him to stop the dark dragon from reaching the Tower. He then takes the riders gun, and saddles up on the Blue Dragon, ready to stop the evil black dragon at all costs.

Visually, the first Panzer game was, well pretty bad by today’s standards. Even for the day, I think they were just slightly above average, nothing more. The animations were clunky and blocky. You could have sworn that the dragon was made of sand paper. As far as the FMV goes, ehh… it’s okay, but Team Andromeda should of gotten a visit from George Lucas to spice up the special effects.

I will say that my favorite thing about this game was the weird, alien soundtrack that is heard throughout the game. Beautiful, orchestral music fits perfectly into the gameplay. It really helped to make you feel like this was another world. I actually enjoyed this music more than the music in its sequel Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Zwei had the futuristic techno going on which was okay, but it didn’t fit into the Panzer world in my opinion. Another thing that made the world feel extra-terrestrial was the fact that Team Andromeda invented and entire language for the game based on Latin, German, and Japanese. How can you complain with that?

As far as the actual gameplay went, it was more than the average shooter by a longshot. Panzer was interesting because it let you use full 3D turns, enabling you to see enemies from all directions. Your two motives for attack are your rider’s gun, which is fast, although not yet powerful or accurate. The second is your dragon’s homing lasers (or arrows or light, whichever you prefer), which are slower, but are much more effective in accuracy and speed. You can’t move around in all directions like in Star Fox 64, but it makes up for it by having the 360-degree camera, which I actually found more enjoyable.

Here is my turn to complain. First, I can say that I did not enjoy the length of this game. It can be beaten in only 45 minutes. Even for a shooter, that is short. Also, there is no save feature in this game (possibly because it can be beaten in 45 minutes?), so when you get stuck you can’t take a break. This game also happens to feature an insane difficulty level. It is improbable that you can play this game on hard and keep your cool. The game gets repetitive and boring, because you keep dying continuously, and the game is no longer fun. It becomes merely a vex in everyday life. Even if you do beat it on hard and unlock the limited amount of alternate options, special features, and other ‘goodies’, there just isn’t much of a game here.

Even with all of my complaints, I must say that this game spawned a legendary series that is once again being revived on a faithful green box, and it wouldn’t be possible without this game. The first Panzer game will never be forgotten as long as the series is popular. It is something worth remembering as one of gaming most original achievements. Tres bien!

Graphics Then

9/10 (3D was new in 1995. Gamers didn’t care)

Graphics Now

4.5/10 (“Gee Xbox, don’t look behind you but I think we’re being followed by a sawdust dragon… no, that’s Panzer Dragoon”.)

Sound/Music

10/10 (Even today, this game took advantage of the Saturn’s sound capability and moves me with lush, exotic beat.)

Gameplay

8.5/10 (Well, its not the everyday, shooter, I’ll tell you that.)

Difficulty

9.5/10 (Compare the difficulty of this game with that of those old arcade games that stole your quarters in the 1980s… grr.)

Originality

10/10 (Um… yeah… it’s Panzer Dragoon, must I say more?)

Longevity

5.5/10 (You could watch the atrocious Panzer Dragoon OVA twice plus the trailers in the time it takes to beat this game, minus the dying.)

Controls

7/10 (They were okay, I really like the L and R button camera rotation thing.)

Storyline

9/10 (Dragon chases dragon to stop evil Tower from destroying the world? I like.)

Replay Value

5/10 (Even with the few extras here, once you’ve beaten it, there isn’t much left to do.)

Fun Factor

9/10 (Was I having fun? I think so. If I wasn’t there wouldn’t be a scrap of work on this site by me.)

Overall

8.5/10 (Even though its sequels were way better, this was a first. And for that we shall rejoice it.)