Panzer Dragoon

 Switch
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 103 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 103
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 103
  3. Negative: 22 out of 103
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  1. Madine
    Mar 30, 2020
    2
    Supidly Terrible, graphics are mediocre, even ugly at times, color is really odd, Sound is generic and lacks the personality of the original. Also theres input lag on the controllers, it doesnt add anything to the game, is better to play the otiginal. Prize is absurd 25€ for this is a SCAM. Same replayability than the original. ZERO add ons. I love the panzer dragoon series but i dont wantSupidly Terrible, graphics are mediocre, even ugly at times, color is really odd, Sound is generic and lacks the personality of the original. Also theres input lag on the controllers, it doesnt add anything to the game, is better to play the otiginal. Prize is absurd 25€ for this is a SCAM. Same replayability than the original. ZERO add ons. I love the panzer dragoon series but i dont want this, is not fair to the franchice to have this CHEAP remake.… Expand
  2. Brnlv
    Mar 27, 2020
    3
    Feeling more like a remaster than a true remake, this game feels extremely old fashioned. The aiming system is poor, and the 360-degree gameplay flat-out badly handled. This game needed to be reimagined, not just ported with better graphics. A disappointing, overpriced and unimaginative effort.
  3. MrWonderful32
    Mar 26, 2020
    4
    Pretty dissapointing, much of the charm of the original is gone and replaced with the most generic background assests I ever seen, the cutscenes are updated in so ways and in some other ways not so much they still feel outdated regardless of "Remake" name attached to it, gameplay was changed a bit and not for the good, the dragoons are pretty bouncy and that becomes very annoying whenPretty dissapointing, much of the charm of the original is gone and replaced with the most generic background assests I ever seen, the cutscenes are updated in so ways and in some other ways not so much they still feel outdated regardless of "Remake" name attached to it, gameplay was changed a bit and not for the good, the dragoons are pretty bouncy and that becomes very annoying when trying to aim, overall just a mediocre remake.… Expand
  4. ElvisPrime
    Mar 26, 2020
    3
    I'm actually shocked. It's quite bad. I loved the original. Immediately from opening cinematic, it seems familiar, but "off". It's like a bunch of game devs that don't understand why people love games. The cinematic, has okay music, but the sfx are TERRIBLE. Just shockingly bad. The whole cinematic is too up tempo, tranistions into other scenes weirdly and animations and set pieces are allI'm actually shocked. It's quite bad. I loved the original. Immediately from opening cinematic, it seems familiar, but "off". It's like a bunch of game devs that don't understand why people love games. The cinematic, has okay music, but the sfx are TERRIBLE. Just shockingly bad. The whole cinematic is too up tempo, tranistions into other scenes weirdly and animations and set pieces are all wrong. Spider creature moves in a way that makes it seem like it's injured rather than intimidating. your weapon is supposed feel weak, but spider reacts to your weapon yoo much... WHAT?!? It's supposed to make you feel small and weak, and your weapon makes it reel back? WHY?!? VO is too low. Frankly this is the high point of the game.

    Get into gameplay now. Huge loadtimes for some unknown reason. Reticle is terrible. Lock-On is haphazard, like a tiny reticle to lock on from, and the reticle is no longer 3D like it used to be, so it's hard to tell where your dead center lock-on is, because it's obscured by the rest of the reticle. this is not how the saturn version functioned at all. Single rapid fire is too slow. You used to be able to rapid fire an attack, but now it's forced pacing shot. Which makes it useless most of the time. No more having decisions between lock on or single fire. Heavy target in front of you and you want to unload with rapid fire? not even worth it.

    Your Dragon bounces around CONSTANTLY. Literally bounces. Makes it near impossible to determine position to dodge. Second boss for instance, good luck figuring out where you are and how to dodge. It's not even hard, just annoying.

    Enemies are too colorful and so is the environments. No more shadows or severely reduced. Making them impossible to see in many instances. Radar is no help, because the radar makes no sense. Distance and position are off. Enemies that seem right in front of you are considered too far to lock on to, but are close on the radar. Enemies that are in front of you are actually under you. I think the radar is based on speed scale. So if you are flying slow or stationary, the radar has some kind of zoom, but it's not clear.

    Enemy hitboxes. The lock on reticle is so small and annoying, it's really difficult to get multi target locks. You are constantly struggling with the controls to line it up, and you MUST use lock-on, because its the only way to find hitboxes at all. They changed the looks but not the hitboxes, so you will fire on a wing, but not at the exact pixels they want, but there is no visual feedback. It's a complete mess. Also, the targeting is as annoying with single rapid fire. So it's a huge hassel to figure out how to shoot. Shot em ups are my thing, this feels like a bad remake on Dreams (PS4).

    The SFX are the worst. Dragon Growls, to fired shots, to that annoying ambient sound when you are holding the lock on. it's terrible. Get to the end of a level, and you'll see how bad it is. Audio is badly mastered. SFXs cut of abruptly and jarringly, like someone made 10sfx in a single wave file and badly edited them apart. Truly shocking how amateur hour this feels.

    Bosses: in original, some felt grindy. Here it feels haphazard, barely feels like your doing damage, cause you can't target or find hit boxes properly. Giant ship, you get 1 or 2 lock-ons as you pass. When you should be getting up to 8. So it feels broken, but they must know this in playtesting, because as you fumble barely being able to find a hitbox, it suddenly dies... What? I remember unloading on turrets of first boss to try and do pure damage, or get as many lock-ons across all the targets. Now, it feels terrible, but they know the balance sucks, and just make the bosses die anyway.

    How others here are giving it 10s, i don't know. Do you let nostalgia rule you? did you just want to get in with high scores cause fanboyism? I LOVE Panzer Dragoon, and this ain't it. This is a pale comparison. Even the music is not as good. The only good things about this game, are the things they were able to lift directly from the original. Some of the musical score is 80% as good as the original, and based on how good that is, that's good. But it's pathetic here. Because it's squandering epic content to make meh content. I don't even have a sense of the music while in levels. Used to be quiet moments where enemies build up, and feels like an echo. All contributing to overall sense of flight. Here, it's too dark, too much color that the enemies are pretty much invisible before they jump on you (i'm talking docked mode on large HD display, don't get me started on undocked. It's unplayable)

    Honestly, how do you mess this up this bad?

    Maybe wait to see what they can fix in patches. It just feels frustrating to play.    … Expand
  5. vodkaffee
    Jan 29, 2021
    3
    A lot of potential destroyed by so many flaws on design.
    Do not buy even on sale, buy a better space shooter, like galaga tbh.
  6. abrus
    Jun 28, 2023
    3
    It takes between 150-200 seconds to load each (short) level! This makes the game practically unplayable! This is unacceptable! Avoid!
  7. TheLinkgirl
    May 21, 2023
    2
    When Panzer Dragoon was originally announced, I was pretty interested in this game. Being a fan of other similar on-rails shooters such as Space Harrier, Star Fox and Panorama Cotton, I figured I would give the game a shot, and livestream it to some friends. What followed was a pretty disastrous display of disappointment.

    I feel that a long explanation is unnecessary. While I did find the    When Panzer Dragoon was originally announced, I was pretty interested in this game. Being a fan of other similar on-rails shooters such as Space Harrier, Star Fox and Panorama Cotton, I figured I would give the game a shot, and livestream it to some friends. What followed was a pretty disastrous display of disappointment.

    I feel that a long explanation is unnecessary. While I did find the visuals to be fine, everything else just didn't sit right with me. Sadly, the area that felt least enjoyable to me was the gameplay, which in a game where all that you're doing is gameplay, is a pretty big error. Needless to say I won't be excited to replay this any time soon.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Cubed3
    Jul 6, 2020
    60
    At a cheaper price this could be recommended for a quick Sunday afternoon stroll, especially for anyone nostalgic of the original title. A nifty touch would have been to include the original game as an unlockable, which would at least help sweeten the fact that this can be completed within an hour or two. Despite its abundant and underwhelming flaws, Panzer Dragoon: Remake is still a piece of gaming history that deserves to be played, and shooting down waves of enemies does still prove to be satisfying.
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  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    May 1, 2020
    70
    Hopefully the first footstep (or in this case, wingflap) toward flying back into the larger Panzer Dragoon world. [Issue #46 – May/June 2020, p. 29]
  3. COGconnected
    Apr 24, 2020
    60
    Panzer Dragoon: Remake won’t be for everyone. I never played the original game, but I have a basic knowledge of the franchise. It looked familiar to a personal favourite of mine, Star Fox, but unfortunately, Panzer Dragoon was nowhere near as enjoyable. It simply lacks a lot of the fun touches and personality that make the Star Fox franchise so good. Panzer Dragoon does have some fun moments and some of the visuals are quite impressive. I didn’t care much for the story and the game is quite short. If you were a fan of the original, nostalgia alone might be enough to make the purchase. It’s worth noting that a remake of the sequel is already in development, so if you do enjoy Panzer Dragoon: Remake, you’ll have something more to look forward to.
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