When you look back on it, it’s really no surprise why the Saturn didn’t fare all that well against the PlayStation back in the old 32/64-bit console wars. Its game library simply couldn’t stack up (among other things). But that’s not to say the Saturn’s library was bad. Not by a longshot. In fact, it was filled with weird, fantastic exclusives from third parties and Sega themselves, many of which were brand new IPs that still have fanbases today. 

But by and large, those series that began life during the Saturn generation haven’t been treated all that well. Last Bronx, NiGHTS into Dreams, Fighting Vipers, Clockwork Knight, Bug!, Burning Rangers, the list goes on and on. But none have been mistreated more harshly than Panzer Dragoon. 

Panzer Dragoon is a weird name for a game, but boy was it a visual showpiece for the Saturn hardware. The original game was a real eye catcher in demo kiosks, but really only resonated with fans of that game’s particular genre. Its sequel, though, was a different story. Panzer Dargoon II: Zwei is a spectacular game that took what worked about the original and expanded on it like mad. It’s a beautiful title with wonderful music, fascinating lore, gorgeous art direction, and drum tight gameplay. It’s one of the best rail shooters ever put together, and still holds up when played on original hardware to this day. 

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Then there was Panzer Dragoon Saga, effectively the Saturn's answer to Final Fantasy VII. It’s a 4-disc epic that takes the Panzer Dragoon mythology and places it in an RPG of sorts. It’s astoundingly cool, and exclusive to the Sega Saturn. 

These three games are so very deserving of remakes or re-releases, but they’ve rarely, if ever, gotten them. There was a fantastic 4th Dragoon game on Xbox called Panzer Dragoon Orta (as well as a Japan only Game Gear game and a couple of Tiger LDC releases) but that’s pretty much it. Those three main games are easily among the finest to ever grace the Saturn, which is a high bar considering how many great games wound up hitting the system, and for the most part, they’ve been stuck exactly there, where fewer and fewer people have had the opportunity to experience them, especially outside of Japan where those lucky folks got the excellent Sega Ages stuff, including a beautiful arranged version of Panzer Dragoon. 

That is, until a few years ago when a remake of the first Panzer Dragoon hit modern platforms. 

When it was announced, I was very excited. It didn’t look great, but I figured it was early. Panzer Dragoon is the kind of game that could work so incredibly well on modern hardware in the right hands. Unfortunately, it wound up in the wrong ones. 

Panzer Dragoon Remake is… fine. It launched with a number of technical issues that have since been patched, but more than anything, it’s just a stunningly mediocre product. None of the original game’s charm was retained. Everything looks and feels so very bland. It’s fun, and it doesn't look BAD, per se, but it sure doesn’t look good. For a game whose claim to fame was showing off what the Saturn could do, this was just the wrong way to do a remake. 

It was developed by MegaPixel Studio, the folks behind the equally underwhelming House of the Dead remakes. There seems to be some sort of effort there, but it’s undeniable that the end product on just about everything they do is so far off the mark, and lacking in that specific soul that made Sega’s classics classics in the first place. 

But Panzer Dragoon is one thing. Panzer Dragoon II is another. The first game is a fun, somewhat shallow, cool experience. PD2 is a work of art. MegaPixel Studio had their work cut out for them, and it looks like they’ve missed the mark again, and by a WIDE margin. 

The demo for Panzer Dragoon II remake is available on Steam, and while it certainly looks better than their last remake, it’s a far cry from living up to the standard set by the original version. It moves faster, but feels slower. The visuals lack any kind of punch or soul. Environments feel empty. Explosions have no impact. It’s just wrong. 

I don’t understand how Sega allowed this to happen. This is one of their most critically acclaimed and revered franchises, and to see them farm its future out to a team that's clearly not up to the challenge of bringing it to modern platforms is nothing short of tragic. A simple remaster would have done just fine, and was probably something these folks could have handled. But these remakes? They aren't it. 

Panzer Dragoon deserves so much better. And while I respect the effort put into these remakes, and I certainly couldn’t do any better myself, I still hope with all my heart that MegaPixel Studio never gets their hands on Panzer Dragoon Saga. 

What do you think?