Balder
Supreme Overlord
Trying to cut down the amount of movies I watch
Posts: 6,827 
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Post by Balder on Jul 18, 2018 12:12:59 GMT
This week: Panzer Dragoon series Chosen by: CervantesYear: 1995 Developer: Sega, Team Andromeda, Smilebit Publisher: Sega Platforms: Saturn, Xbox, Game Gear, PC, R-Zone Send me suggestions to Balder. Next: MeleeMaestro, winnersdontusedrugs, Cervantes |
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Post by ModeratorNumber2 on Jul 18, 2018 12:15:53 GMT
Added and stickied.
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Post by teddykongcountry on Jul 18, 2018 14:13:12 GMT
Too expensive. Can't afford to buy any of them.
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Balder
Supreme Overlord
Trying to cut down the amount of movies I watch
Posts: 6,827
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Post by Balder on Jul 18, 2018 14:34:40 GMT
Too expensive. Can't afford to buy any of them. Even Orta? Got it dirt cheap, but haven't played it yet. |
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Armored Core Raven
Vanguard Ranger
Radio: The test is over. From this moment on, you are a Raven!
Posts: 1,737
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Post by Armored Core Raven on Jul 18, 2018 16:53:54 GMT
Short but great series.
Panzer Dragoon (Saturn, PC and Xbox):
The original game holds up well, it's stylized and clean enough visually that the lack of polygonal detail is not really an issue, at least not as far as enjoying the game goes, the rest of the game has a timeless value to it.
My biggest complaint is the brutal difficulty even on the easiest settings. Easy should be easy, not hard, it especially hurts when a game has a story you actually care about and want to see to the end. Still, it's a classic and for story there's thankfully Youtube these days.
5/5
Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn):
The prequel, sadly being a Saturn exclusive to this day, is in many ways better than the original, it looks better with more details and effects and it introduces some new gameplay mechanics that makes it deeper and adds replay value.
5/5
Panzer Dragoon Mini (Game Gear):
An overly simple and unimpressive game. The Game Gear can handle a lot more and they could've utilized it better. This watered down Space Harrier clone could've been an awesome side scroller or a top-down RPG or something.
2/5
Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn):
As an RPG it has significantly tougher competition than it does as an on-rail third-person shooter, it also sadly remains a Saturn exclusive, with that being said it manages to do a good job, there's a nice amount of story in there, it looks very good, the battles were kind of cool, it has some awkward controls though and I didn't love the japanese voice acting but it was okay.
Here's hoping Sega will get their shit together some day and release a Panzer Dragoon collection of some sort with all the games included, at least Zwei and Saga so they no longer have to remain Saturn exclusives.
4/5
Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox):
The one thing the Saturn games lacked was next-gen high-res detailed visuals that holds up to this day not just in art design but in technical quality, Orta more than makes up for that with some of the best graphics the Xbox powerhouse ever got to render.
Everything else is the same or better, it also has tons of extra bonus content, including a port of the PC version of the original game.
5/5
I haven't played the R-Zone version but I'm going to be bold and score it based on pure intuition.
-11/5
In my opinion the three main titles of the series (the original, Zwei and Orta) is what the series is ultimately all about, and they're all great, some of the best third-person on-rail shooters ever, and for this I give the series 5/5.
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dschult3
CGR Undertow Groupie
The true heir to the Monado.
Posts: 2,771
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Post by dschult3 on Jul 18, 2018 20:42:03 GMT
I haven't played the R-Zone version but I'm going to be bold and score it based on pure intuition. -11/5 I did not know this existed. How amazingly awful. |
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Balder
Supreme Overlord
Trying to cut down the amount of movies I watch
Posts: 6,827
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Post by Balder on Jul 18, 2018 20:49:05 GMT
The R-Zone game looks surprisingly functioning compared to other R-Zone games:
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dschult3
CGR Undertow Groupie
The true heir to the Monado.
Posts: 2,771
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Post by dschult3 on Jul 18, 2018 20:52:13 GMT
The R-Zone game looks surprisingly functioning compared to other R-Zone games:
Ha! I just looked this up. It doesn't look half bad. |
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scipioafricanus
Cartoon Pony Wrangler
Sega Does What Nintendon't... except the 32X
Posts: 3,571
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Post by scipioafricanus on Jul 18, 2018 22:54:51 GMT
Only played the first one on the Saturn, and the soundtrack alone is legendary.
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Cervantes
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
A former Incompetent Evil Commander (XP: 2423)
Posts: 2,820
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Post by Cervantes on Jul 18, 2018 23:04:59 GMT
A tip for people looking into buying the Saturn entries in the series, at least the shooter ones: the japanese copies are dirty cheap and the original even has that awesome Moebius art on the cover (much better than the US version art). As 1&Zwei are shooters, there's no language barrier - you can watch the cutscenes on Youtube or something, there's only a few of them.
Another tip: Panzer Dragoon Orta, which is cheap and fully compatible with the Xbox 360 and One/X, includes the first Panzer Dragoon in its entirety (it's unlocked after you beat the game), so that's another way to get it without paying outrageous prices.
I'll comment more on it later, but, for now, here's the CGR review on it:
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stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
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Post by stratogustav on Jul 19, 2018 6:43:24 GMT
Isn't the Saturn only for rich people?  |
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dschult3
CGR Undertow Groupie
The true heir to the Monado.
Posts: 2,771
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Post by dschult3 on Jul 19, 2018 13:22:12 GMT
Isn't the Saturn only for rich people? For new money maybe. Old money has their sights on the Neo Geo.
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stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
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Post by stratogustav on Jul 19, 2018 16:38:32 GMT
For new money maybe. Old money has their sites in the Neo Geo. Haha, good one. |
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Cervantes
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
A former Incompetent Evil Commander (XP: 2423)
Posts: 2,820
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Post by Cervantes on Jul 19, 2018 17:29:51 GMT
stratogustav - To be fair, the Saturn is only expensive if you're looking for the highly sought-after releases, stuff like PDS, Radiant Silvergun and those shooters you posted. If you're just looking for fun games, like Nights, Sega Rally, Daytona, Virtua Cop/Fighter, Virtual On, Astal etc., it's much cheaper. It's also cheaper if you're willing to buy the japanese releases of some games; a lot of them have no language barrier and even have their menus in english, like I observed with my copies of Sonic Jam, Virtua Cop 2, Virtual On and many others. I was lucky because most of my collection was either bought in the late 90s, when most Saturn games were under $10 after the console failed, or around 2008-10, when even rare releases still had fair prices (I got PD Saga for under $150; expensive, but not even close to its current prices). Around that time, I already had most of the expensive games that I wanted, so, since then, I've been only buying cheaper releases like arcade ports, platformers, racing/fighting games etc. and japanese RPGs (I got Phantasy Star Collection, Grandia, Terra Phantastica and others for very low prices, as there aren't many western people willing to buy RPGs in japanese).
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stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
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Post by stratogustav on Jul 20, 2018 3:14:53 GMT
To be fair, the Saturn is only expensive if you're looking for the highly sought-after releases, stuff like PDS, Radiant Silvergun and those shooters you posted. It's like they know what people really want, and they take advantage of that. It is not cool how they play with our feelings. If you think about the whole thing, it is is much easier to become a Hyper Dueler on this forum than to have the actual game. That's why I have been jumping with rejoice when I see some of those games hitting the NS lately. They are finally getting another shot at life. The Saturn's outstanding library is lost, trapped in such an expensive system, and it is sad people are not having the opportunity to experience those games. I really hope Sega would eventually do something about it. Imagine an official Sega Saturn Classic with all the 2D shooters, 2D platformers, and fighters. It would be Heaven on Earth. We can only hope. If anything at least, they should keep porting them to the NS. I have been having a blast with all the Saturn and Dreamcast releases this year. |
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