Collection essentials #317: Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (Saturn)

Now we’re talkin’. Here’s another prime example of a good video game sequel: one that takes the solid foundation of the original game, adding and improving many things to make a game that is clearly superior. 

Story-wise, Panzer Dragoon II is actually a prequel. It’s still in the post-apocalyptic part of the timeline, though. Surviving humans are very cautious about mutating creatures. One species, the Khourieats, sometimes are born with blue-white light in their throats, and the surviving humans euthanize those specimens as soon as that light becomes visible, out of fear. This game’s protagonist disobeys this norm and raises one of these mutant Khourieats and named it Lagi, and eventually Lagi starts growing wings. Our protagonist hopes that this will cause a change of heart in his fellow villagers, but as soon as Lagi learns to fly, those darn imperials destroy his village! And so, our hero sets out with his special friend to make the darn imperials pay. As in the original, a story plays out as the game progresses, and they put more effort into it than in the first game.

I said regarding the first game that it felt just a little bit lacking, that there should have been more to it. And this sequel indeed delivers on that front. It has the same basic gameplay as the first time, but now there’s a “Berserk” meter that fills up as you shoot down enemies. When it’s full, you can let out a powerful barrage of lasers for several seconds as the meter depletes! It’s a very welcome addition to gameplay. This game also has branching paths in its levels, where you can choose one of two different ways to go, and this adds a lot to replay value since you can try the different routes that you didn’t pick before. Also, Lagi will grow as the player progresses through the game, and his attributes will depend on how the player has performed up to that point, further enhancing replayability. The game is not so punishingly difficult this time, though you can still crank up the difficulty if you want a good ol’ challenge. And perhaps best of all, you can actually save the game between levels this time!

That’s really all I need to say about Panzer Dragoon II, just that one paragraph’s worth of new stuff is enough to propel it from being merely another “good” game to being a “great” game. It’s a bit surprising to me that Panzer Dragoon 1 has been ported or remade a few different times, yet II has never received the same treatment and still has only ever been released on the Sega Saturn. Luckily for me, that’s a console I own, and therefore I am happy to consider it an essential for the ol’ collection.