![]() This mystical item contains the Windows PC port of the original Panzer Dragoon game – giving players two games for the price of one and giving them half of the series in one package. You’ll get that and feel like you’ve accomplished something – but you’ll also open up pandora’s box. Your reward for completing the game isn’t just the satisfaction of a job well done. ![]() You’ll definitely pick up some tricks quickly and series vets will be right at home instantly. It’s a very forgiving game as a whole and includes an easy mode to get newcomers or those who just aren’t good at shooters, into the adventure. Fortunately, Orta’s checkpoint system is fairly kind and won’t set you too far back if you die. If you don’t, you wind up taking far more damage and will lose quite a few lives. Things transitions from there into core combat, where you’ll have to look ahead, to each side and then behind you to make sure that you’re killing everyone. Impressively, these are all in-engine and really show off how impressive the graphics are even today. Generally speaking, you start a stage off with some context provided by a cinematic. Orta’s formula is a bit more boss and mid-boss heavy than the prior entries. Marking enemies allows you to take them down with ease, while just outright shooting projectiles remains the best way to survive a tough fight. During significant events in the narrative and the game itself, everything shifted to a letterboxed 16:9 view – giving you a different look at the world as the camera shifts around to show you things you can’t normally see even with the 90 degree camera shifts. Giant Evil Group came across and the game’s widescreen presentation at times led to it feeling far more cinematic than most games in a 4:3 era. It wasn’t the most compelling story on Earth, but the core idea of You vs. The core game was very similar to prior entries, but with a greater emphasis on story. It also used the Xbox controller perfectly and felt like a natural fit for the previously six face button-only series. In the case of Orta, it gave players a rare treat – a rain shooter and one with stunning graphics. Jet Set Radio Future, Sega GT, Shenmue II, Crazy Taxi III, and Panza Dragoon Orta all delivered high quality gaming experiences that you couldn’t get on any other console. Skipping the Dreamcast entirely, Sega’s next entry in the series was on the Xbox – a console they offered so many exclusives to that it practically felt like a follow-up to the Dreamcast. The series went on a long sabbatical after that point and wouldn’t see a new game until 2003’s Panzer Dragoon Orta. Its sequel was more of the same, before things shifted to Panzer Dragoon Saga. It looked incredible for its time, made perfect use of the shoulder buttons, and showed how existing genres could benefit from the extra horsepower and 3D nature of having a moveable camera in the game. It allowed you to move the camera to either side or behind in order to attack enemies. From a pure behind the back perspective, you had games like Space Harrier – but Panzer Dragoon did far more than that. Rail shooters weren’t in vogue and there really hadn’t been any like it at that point. Panzer Dragoon was something entirely different, though. I was an only child and loved Sega – -so getting a home console with Virtua Fighter packed in was a savings just because I didn’t have to buy quarters, while Daytona was a solid conversion and scratched my itch for that particular game. The original Panzer Dragoon was a darling of mine during the Saturn’s launch - and yes, I was one of the 20 people in the United States that had one then. Space Harrier is an all-time favorite just for its soundtrack and fast action, even if I’m not going to be winning any world records playing it. ![]() Traditionally, they’ve been some of the hardest games for me to enjoy because of their frantic nature, but when done right, they’re fantastic. The recent release of Rez Infinite rekindled my love for rail shooters. We come here to pay our respects, to reminisce, and to wonder aloud what a passing mad doctor might be able do with all these corpses and some high-definition lightning. Out back of the Hardcore Gamer office you’ll find our Graveyard, where countless long-dead classics lie.
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