Panzer Dragoon

Panzer Dragoon is an action Rail Shooter game released for the Sega Saturn in 1995. The game recieved a remake in 2020.

PLOT
The story takes place thousands of years after humans have laid waste to the planet through wars fought with cyber-genetic technology, transforming the once lush land into a desert like wasteland.

The world is now overrun with monsters; the descendant creatures of the genetically engineered weapons that humans themselves had created in the distant past, patrolling the ruins of the now ancient civilization.

Humans have survived and formed all manner of different colonies. Upon discovering the ancient ruins, a particular colony have excavated some of the forgotten technology in hopes to regain the lost power they once had. This particular group became the Empire and started to take control of the planet, spreading across it with an iron fist.

The Empire eventually came across one of the ultimate monuments of the forgotten age; a mysterious structure known only as 'The Tower ', said to hold incredible destructive power. If the Empire can get their hands on it they can destroy all who oppose them.

A pair of mysterious warring dragons show up, one blue and one black, and the fate of the entire world rests upon the wings of whoever emerges the victor.

The player takes control of Kyle Fluge, a hunter, who after hunting with his friends in a dusty valley, gets seperated from them and wanders into a ruin. Here he accidentally activates an elevator which leads to him narrowly escaping being killed by a giant shelled monster and becoming witness to a blue dragon and black dragon engaging in aerial combat.

After a laser beam like blast hits him, the rider of the blue dragon is badly injured, and as Kyle holds the dying man's hand, he entrusts his mission to stop the black dragon reaching the Tower to the young hunter via telepathic visions. Kyle takes the man's gun, and hops onto the back of the blue dragon determined to fulfill that man's dying wish.

Gameplay
Panzer Dragoon's gameplay consists of rail shooter segments in which the player can control the dragon to move up, down, left and right but it will continuously follow a set path flying forward constantly.

Kyle can shoot with the gun he obtained which appears as a fully controllable reticle, which also controls the way the dragon faces, allowing players to dodge incoming attacks.

Unlike most other games of the genre must defend himself from attacks in 360 degrees. Enemies can come from all directions, and an on-screen radar will tell you when opponents are sneaking up from behind.

As well as Kyle's ability to shoot, the player can also utilise the Blue Dragon's laser fire which can target up to eight enemies at once by holding down the fire button and moving the reticle over them.

After each flying section there is usually a boss battle where Kyle and his dragon must engage with a particularly tough opponent. Some of these boss battles have very specific areas where you must concentrate fire, but all will have the boss travelling to the left, right, behind and in front of the player.

Trivia

 * Panzer Dragoon was originally meant to be a 32X game
 * The game took artistic inspiration from Arzach, a french comic book with the author, Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, even contributing to creative process by supplying some original art.
 * The fantasy theming and inclusion of dragons was chosen to help Panzer Dragoon stand out from other rail shooting offerings of the time that focused more on classic sci-fi as it's inspiration.