Panzer Dragoon Saga

My Most Memorable Panzer Dragoon Moments

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Image credits: Will of the Ancients

As one of my favorite video game franchises, Panzer Dragoon contains many memorable experiences for me. From my first time flying through the sunken ruins in the original to my final battle in Saga, this series will always hold a unique place in my collection of gaming experiences.

With Team Andromeda Month winding down, I wanted to share some of these experiences. In the interest of keeping things interesting, since most Panzer games tend to end on a high note, I won’t be talking much about final stages or boss battles. I will also be spreading them across all of the games in the franchise in order to avoid favoring any one game too much over the others, as they are all worth talking about. Keep in mind this is a personal list, so feel free to chime in with your own top five moments in the comments!

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Classic SEGA Ads: Panzer Dragoon Zwei’s US Commercial

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You want to know how good Panzer Dragoon Zwei is? It’s apparently caused a nuclear holocaust. Think about that.

From what I’ve seen of them, SEGA Saturn commercials are…weird. Worse yet, they often aren’t really all that appealing. This one in many ways is kind of perfect example of that. Here they have this weird, quirky Japanese rail shooter where you destroy hoards of enemies atop a laser-shooting dragon, and what do they do? Compare dicks with the Playstation.

Of course, bit-measuring and graphics chest thumping was all the rage back in ‘90s video game advertising, but the sad thing about its use here is that it does nothing to make me want the game or the system. The commercial really is just kind of…lazy. It definitely has nothing on Japan’s iconic Segato Sanshiro campaign, or the Xbox’s Panzer Dragoon Orta commercial, which we’ll be getting to next month.

I’ll admit, Zwei is probably a hard game to fit into SEGA of America’s typical commercial formula. It has no attitude to it, and it’s very Japanese. That said, I doubt commercials like this did the Saturn many favors.

To wash the taste of this one out of your mouth, I’ve gone ahead and included the Segato Sanshiro commercial for Panzer Dragoon Saga below. It’s pretty much an abridged version of the Zwei ad, but its still got that awesome theme song!

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The Future of Panzer Dragoon

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It’s hard to believe Panzer Dragoon Orta is more than 12 years old. Looking back, Orta has aged incredibly well. Its visuals are still gorgeous and its gameplay still feels just as smooth and polished as it did in 2003. In an age where all sorts of obscure games are seeing digital re-releases and all sorts of franchises and genres are finding new life in the realm of digital, I think it’s a missed opportunity that Panzer Dragoon hasn’t received any sort of new release while digital gaming has been booming.

So today I thought I’d write up an article exploring the many ways Panzer Dragoon could (and should) fit into SEGA’s renewed focus on digital and mobile gaming.

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Year of the Developers: We take flight with SEGA’s Team Andromeda

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The SEGA Saturn’s surprise early launch in America is considered one of the most disastrous mistakes in the history of the video game industry. It angered SEGA’s third party publishers and retail partners, it allowed Sony to get the drop on the Saturn with a lower price point and it ultimately destroyed SEGA’s dominance in the American market, financially crippling SEGA permanently. The launch did have a bright spot though: it introduced the games of SEGA’s Team Andromeda to the West.

This month is devoted to the games of Team Andromeda, and to kick things off we have a developer and Panzer Dragoon franchise retrospective. Ready to take flight?

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Round Table: Our favorite SEGA developed Saturn games

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We are coming to a close in our SEGA Saturn Month here at SEGAbits, so we decided to go out in a bang by telling you guys our favorite SEGA in-house developed game. SEGA had a power house of developers during the 90’s and most of them really hit their strides during the Saturn, we know its hard to pick just one game, so we will also be listing three more titles as honorable mentions.

Like always, if you guys want to let us know your favorite SEGA developed Saturn titles, you can do so in the comments section.

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Crimson Dragon creator wants to to make a Crimson Dragon RPG

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Yukio Futatsugi is the creator of the acclaimed Panzer Dragoon franchise, though he has left SEGA to work at Microsoft Game Studios Japan, the developer working on Crimson Dragon. Yes, that Xbox One title that looks very similar to the iconic SEGA franchise.

SEGA also had a spin-off of sorts called Panzer Dragoon Saga, which happens to be an RPG instead of a rail shooter. That title was created by Yukio Futatsugi, and when asked at E3 if he would ever return to make a new RPG, he said he would like to make one based in the Crimson Dragon world. Seems that the team is full of SEGA employees that worked on the old Panzer Dragoon titles and it shows.

When he was also asked if he would like to see Panzer Dragoon Saga re-released by SEGA, he stated yes. He said that they’ve talked about a re-release over at Grounding Inc (the name of his studio) and ultimately came to the conclusion that it would be too hard to remake. Of course, this RPG will only happen if Crimson Dragon does well on Xbox One…

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Presenting “My Life with SEGA: The Next Level”, a short film by A.J. Rosa

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They took his game. The Holy Grail of SEGA Saturn titles….Panzer Dragoon Saga. Now, A.J. Rosa must go up against an old friend and a swarm of henchmen in order to reclaim what is rightfully his.

Starring Shawn Morgan, Mickey Mac, Doug Beamer and Alex Gonzales. Written and Directed by A.J. Rosa.

WARNING! This video contains action violence, adult language, obscure references and severe ass-kicking. VIEWER DISCRETION is STRONGLY ADVISED! Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

After the break, check out, download, and print out the kick-ass My Life with SEGA: The Next Level poster.

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Panzer Dragoon creator talks about his time at SEGA

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Eurogamer is running a pretty neat piece on Yukio Futatsugi, the creator of the Panzer Dragoon franchise. Like every great piece they go into detail on how he grew up, the schools he went to and how he ended up at SEGA. One of the neat pieces of information was that at age 23 he took over Team Andromeda. Think about it, this dude was in charge of many people older than him at the age of 23. He was 25 when Panzer Dragoon came out. Crazy!

“I handed in several proposals, one of which was Panzer Dragoon,” says Futatsugi. “I’d only been there about two years, but they accepted my proposal and put me in charge of the project. Just like that I was making Panzer Dragoon for the Saturn launch. It was a difficult project. All the programmers and designers were above me in the company but I had to tell them what to do, which was tricky. But I was young, so I could be stubborn.”– Yukio Futatsugi

The piece goes on and talks about his work after leaving SEGA, working at Microsoft Studios and releasing Phantom Dust (a great Xbox game, if you haven’t played it). He also confirms that Crimson Dragon is still in the works!

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Petition: Asking SEGA for remastered versions of the Panzer Dragoon games

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The guys over at The Will of the Ancients have posted up a very good petition, one that asks SEGA to remaster the past Panzer Dragoon games for current generation consoles. Not to mention the recent passing of artist Jean Giraud, now is the perfect time for SEGA to bring these classics back. You want them, I want them. Sign the petition below!

http://www.panzerdragoonrevival.com/

Spread the above link, everywhere. Also follow The Will of the Ancients on twitter.

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Tuesday Tunes: Sona Mi Areru Ec Sancitu

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Panzer Dragoon Saga was the epic finale to SEGA’s Panzer Dragoon trilogy, and what a finale it was! Switching from the more limiting rail shooter format to a fully 3D RPG, it mixed elements from the rail shooters with RPGs in a way that is still unique even to this day. The Saturn’s magnum opus, Panzer Dragoon Saga, had a beautiful soundtrack to match its scope, the crown jewel being Sona Mi Areru Ec Sancitu. In my humble opinion this stands as one of SEGA’s best songs, period.

Another great track from this game is “Atolm Dragon”, the theme for the boss fight with said dragon, which you can listen to after the break.

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