Difference between revisions of "Panzer Dragoon"
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'''Produced & Copyright & Published by:''' [[Sega|Sega Enterprises. Ltd.]]<br> | '''Produced & Copyright & Published by:''' [[Sega|Sega Enterprises. Ltd.]]<br> | ||
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− | ===PC | + | ===PC version=== |
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'''Executive Producer:''' [[Shoichiro Irimajiri]]<br> | '''Executive Producer:''' [[Shoichiro Irimajiri]]<br> | ||
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Revision as of 12:40, 22 March 2016
Panzer Dragoon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Saturn, Windows PC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Sega | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Team Andromeda, H.I.C.? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (15 tracks) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Panzer Dragoon (パンツァードラグーン) is a 3D "on-the-rails" shoot-'em up game developed by Team Andromeda in 1995. It was originally released for the Sega Saturn, becoming one of the flagship titles of the console, and one of the few games available at launch in North America and Europe.
Contents
Story
Panzer Dragoon follows the story of Keil Fluge (unnamed in western versions), a member of a hunter party who encounters a fight between two dragons, the Solo Wing (in blue) and the Dark Dragon (in black). The rider of the Solo Wing is mortally wounded in the battle and entrusts his mission, as well as his dragon, to Keil. Keil must stop the Dark Dragon from reactivating an ancient ruin and wreaking havoc on the world.
Gameplay
Panzer Dragoon is an on-the-rails shooter, meaning that players have little control over the direction the Solo Wing travels in. Instead, the player is given full 360-degree view of the playfield and the ability to fire at surrounding enemies. There is a choice of two main offenses: a lock-on laser weapon, and a rapid fire gun weapon. There are six levels, each with a boss battle at the end.
History
Development
Development on Panzer Dragoon dates back to early 1994, when Yukio Futatsugi, Manabu Kusunoki and various other Sega staff (primarily from Sega AM6) were brought together to form Team Andromeda. Tasked with producing a shooter for Sega's upcoming console, project development would last for the best part of a year, and would involve a team of roughly fifteen people.
Panzer Dragoon was envisioned as an "arcade-style" shooter from an early stage, in part due to the fact that many members of Team Andromeda had migrated from Sega's arcade divisions. Core members of the team were also anxious to move into 3D, having previously been restricted to two dimensions in their earlier arcade projects. The game was influenced by the likes of Starblade, Star Fox and RayForce, as well as Sega's own Space Harrier.
It was customary for 3D shooters of the time for the player to ride a 3D object such as a jet fighter or a tank. Panzer Dragoon's developers however decided it would be more original for the player to ride an armored dragon - a living creature which could also allow for richer animations. During development the game was casually known as "armored dragon" (kiko-ryu in japanese), although Futatsugi, feeling that this name was too bland, decided to translate it to German (a practise continued with the sequel, Panzer Dragoon Zwei).
With this basic concept in mind, the creators were given three months to define a visual identity and a setting for their game, prior to writing code and creating physical assets. A decision was made to set the adventure in a post-apocalyptic science fantasy world, complete with ruins and relics of a fallen civilisation and mankind struggling for survival, something frequently found in Japanese anime at that time. Futatsugi was particularly influenced by one of his childhood readings, The Long Afternoon of Earth a science-fiction novel by Brian Aldiss, in which one side of the earth became perpetually hot, the other perpetually cold.
The first presentation video of Panzer Dragoon featured a green dragon, in-line with traditional European/medieval depictions of the creature, however the team quickly decided make it "more sci-fi", again in an attempt to make the product more original. The dragon was made blue and covered in a white, bone-like armor - ancient flying technology originating from the ancient times, which is also depicted in the sceneery. The the mix of natural and technological elements in the game's world, was chosen in order to set it appart from classic science-fiction 3D games of the time. It was largely designed by Manabu Kusunoki, inspired by Japanese anime and manga. The art direction was later pushed towards a Turkish/Ottoman style to avoid the strict European aesthetics of the early presentation video.
One of Panzer Dragoon's major artistic influences was Arzach, a comic book series created by French artist Jean Giraud, known by his alias Moebius. Moebius would contribute in the creative process of the game with original artwork (just as the Japanese/South Korean cover art). Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and David Lynch's Dune movie were also key inspirations. Kusunoki was adamant to not include giant robots such as those seen in the then-popular Gundam anime, and he avoided unrealistic character designs such as those seen in the Final Fantasy series of RPGs. Kentaro Yoshida, texturing and modelling artist of Panzer Dragoon, described the creation process as similar in style to Star Wars, in that it "made an unearthly world appear so real". Takashi Iwade, who produced the opening cutscene and character models, claimed to be inspired by antique clocks and similar industrialised products from the era, myriapods, marine mollusks and ammonite. The battleship was inspired by a rusty fishing boat.
The Sega Saturn's hardware was new to Team Andromeda, and given that Yukio Futatsugi was still new to the company, Panzer Dragoon was kept relatively simple in design. Though Futatsugi had a clear vision of what he wanted (keeping the style of the game pure). cutscenes are minimal, and enemies were created out of simple shapes, making them both easy to understand visually, and more suited to the Saturn's hardware (and likewise, levels are also relatively simplistic and barren). A surprising amount nevertheless went into an elaborate back story for the game, with Futatsugi, going so far as to create a new language for the game, mixing elements of of Ancient Greek, Latin and Russian. This choice was allegedly inspired by the anime The Wings of Honneamise which did something similar, and of which team members were fans of.
Working on new hardware proved difficult for the young team, forcing the game to miss its initial deadline given by Sega (the Japanese system launch, i.e. November 1994). This was partly due to the fact the Saturn's hardware was not finalised when production began, meaning the team lacked a useful Saturn prototype to test their progress (programmers were in fact forced to work with hypotheticals, "guessing" what the features of the system would be). Team Andromeda also created its own graphics library and mapping tools instead of using Sega's in an attempt to make the most of the new system. The game's graphics and cutscenes were produced with Softimage, and the 3D elements were programmed on SGI workstations using OpenGL.
The programmers were eventually able to transition to the debug Saturn they had received, but the process proved difficult, with the game suffering from very low frame rates (in the end, the team made do with 20FPS in some sections, much lower than the 60s and even 30s common in games today). The first two levels produced (a desert (level 2) and a forest (level 5)), lacked features aside from sand and forest effects because they were uncertain how far the hardware could be pushed. Keeping CPU limitations in mind, simple tornado effects were added to level 2, to liven things up.
Work on the soundtrack began after the rest of game was complete (similar to the audio strategy seen in big budget films). The music was designed to specifically reflect each level art-style and events, the "on rail" progression system proving beneficial as the developers would know exactly where the player would be at any given time. The soundtrack was outsourced to Yoshitaka Azuma, who was composing musics for NHK TV programs at that time - it is a mix between orchestral and synthesizer tracks, and was assisted by gameplay videos, allowing for specifically timed pieces which match the player's progression in each level.
Legacy
Panzer Dragoon was an unexpected success for Sega, particularly in western regions. Though the game had been mentioned briefly by the video game press of the era, the game drew an unusual amount of attention after Sega's shock decision to bring the Sega Saturn's launch date four months forward. Being one of only five launch titles in North America (with a subsequent early release on Europe), Panzer Dragoon was one of the few fully 3D video games available for the console, and the first not to be an arcade port.
Following its release on the Sega Saturn, Panzer Dragoon was ported to Windows PCs in 1997. This version would find itself included as a bonus in the later game, Panzer Dragoon Orta for the Xbox.
In 2006 Panzer Dragoon was re-released as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series for the PlayStation 2 as Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 27: Panzer Dragoon.
Panzer Dragoon was followed by Panzer Dragoon Zwei, which despite its name is actually a prequel to this game, chronologically. Its existence has also inspired the likes of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
Production credits
Saturn version
Producers: Yoji Ishii, Tomohiro Kondo
Director: Yukio Futatsugi
Main Programmer: Junichi Suto
Sound Director/Sound Effects: Tomonori Sawada
Original Character Designer: Manabu Kusunoki
System Programmer: Hidetoshi "Wiz" Takeshita
Tool Producer: Kengo Naka
Map Structures/Enemy Setting: Akira Tereaswa, Katsuhiko Yamada
Programmers: Hitoshi Nakanishi, Kengo Naka, Hiroshi Yamazaki, Asaya Yamazaki
Dragon Model Designer: Manabu Kusunoki
Character Model Production/Effects: Kentaro Yoshida, Masaya Kishimoto, Takashi Iwade
Background Model Production: Misaka Kitamura
Background Graphics: Yumiko Kayashima
Main Title Designer: Takashi Iwade
Sega Logo Man Designer: Kentaro Yoshida
Opening CG Production: Manabu Kusunoki, Misaka Kitamura, Takashi Iwade
Ending Illustrartions: Ryuichiro Kutsuzawa
Music Composer: Yoshitaka Azuma
Orchestration: Tomoyuki Hayashi
In Collaboration With: K.K Peace Flag, Polygram K.K.
Image Illustrartions: Moebius
Voice: Yoshiaki Kashima, Tatsuyuki Maeda, Koji Iwashita, Shiro Maekawa, Katsuhiko Yamada
Publicity: Hitoto Kikuchi, Tadashi Takezaki, Yasushi Nagumo, Yosuke Okunari
Sega Of America Inc.
Producer: Dante Anderson
Project Manager: Sarah Richmond
English Text: Kerry Kirkham
Lead Tester: Cristine M. Watson
Special Thanks: Noriyoshi Oba, Yutaka Sugano, Yukifumi Makino, Takashi Narita, Naoyuki Machida, Kazuya Fujishima, James Spahn, CS Hardware, Saturn Project Team
Created By: Team Andromeda
Produced & Copyright & Published by: Sega Enterprises. Ltd.
PC version
Executive Producer: Shoichiro Irimajiri
Producer: Toshinori Asai, Takehiko Kobayashi
Director: Shinji Fujiwara, Tadashi Kuroi (Windows 95 Native Staff)
Sound Director/Sound Effects: Tomonori Sawada
Main Programmer: Tatsuya Satoh
Project Leader And Programmer: Koue Tsukuda
Programmers: Kazuhisa Hasuoka, Akihiko Kakinuma, Tetsuji Mukai, Takahiro Nagata, Noritaka Yakita, Kenichi Yoko
Installer Programmer: Kei Takashima (Windows 95 Native Staff)
Designer: Nobuhisa Tajiri
Planners: Tadashi Kuroi, Hiroto Saiki
Music Composer: Yoshitaka Azuma
Testers: Tomohisa Nakayasu (Windows 95 Native Staff), Toshiyuki Fujimoto, Takahiro Hirakawa, Tomohisa Nakayasu, Kenji Shintani
Coordinators: Satomi Kawasaki, Yasuhide Nagasawa, Chie Tokoro
Publicity: Hiroyuki Otaka
Manual: Ko Ariizumi, John McClain, Osamu Nakazato
Special Thanks: Kazuya Fujishima, Namie Kawashima, Naoyuki Machida, Yukifumi Makino, Takeshi Narita, Noriyoshi Oba, Yutaka Sugano, Tomonori Saguchi, James Spahn, Koue Tsukuda
Created & Copyright By: Sega Enterprises. Ltd.
Published By: Expert Software Inc.
Artwork
Promotional material
Physical scans
Saturn version
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Based on 51 reviews |
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PC version
PC, UK (Expert Software) |
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PC, UK (Xplosiv) |
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PC, DE |
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PC, ES (Xplosiv) |
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PC, KR |
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External links
References
- ↑ File:CVG UK 181.pdf, page 49
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 File:CVG UK 165.pdf, page 32 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name ":File:CVG UK 165.pdf_p32" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 File:MeanMachinesSega31UK.pdf, page 54 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega31UK.pdf_p54" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 4.0 4.1 File:MeanMachinesSega36UK.pdf, page 91 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega36UK.pdf_p91" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 5.0 5.1 Saturn no Game wa Sekai Ichi~i~i~i!: Satamaga Dokusha Race Zen Kiroku, SoftBank Publishing, page 11 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name ":File:SnGwSISDRZK Book JP.pdf_p11" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ CD Consoles, "Avril 1995" (FR; 1995-xx-xx), page 84
- ↑ Consoles +, "Avril 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 142
- ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1995-08-22)
- ↑ Edge, "May 1995" (UK; 1995-03-20), page 72
- ↑ Electronic Entertainment, "August 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 76
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "July 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 34
- ↑ Famitsu, "1995-03-17" (JP; 1995-03-03), page 1
- ↑ Freak, "10/95" (IL; 1995-xx-xx), page 1
- ↑ GameFan, "Volume 3, Issue 7: July 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 13
- ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 8 No. 8 August 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 38
- ↑ GamePro, "August 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 48
- ↑ GamePro, "November 1995" (DE; 1995-10-04), page 40
- ↑ GamesMaster, "May 1995" (UK; 1995-04-16), page 58
- ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "June 1995" (UK; 1995-0x-xx), page 64
- ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "September 1995" (UK; 1995-0x-xx), page 69
- ↑ HiTech, "Abril 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 46
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Agosto 1995" (ES; 1995-xx-xx), page 70
- ↑ Joypad, "Avril 1995 (Joypad International supplement)" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 16
- ↑ MAN!AC, "05/95" (DE; 1995-04-12), page 30
- ↑ Maximum, "October 1995" (UK; 1995-09-01), page 144
- ↑ Mega, "June 1995" (UK; 1995-05-31), page 4
- ↑ Mega Force, "Octobre 1995" (FR; 1995-xx-xx), page 122
- ↑ Mega Fun, "08/95" (DE; 1995-07-19), page 78
- ↑ Next Generation, "June 1995" (US; 1995-05-23), page 102
- ↑ Player One, "Juillet/Août 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 62
- ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, August 12, 1995" (UK; 1995-08-12), page 1
- ↑ Power Unlimited, "Jaagang 3, Jul/Aug 1995" (NL; 1995-06-28), page 41
- ↑ Saturn Fan, "1995 June" (JP; 1995-05-08), page 38
- ↑ Saturn+, "Christmas 1995" (UK; 1995-12-14), page 57
- ↑ Secret Service, "Maj 1996" (PL; 1996-05-01), page 67
- ↑ Sega Magazin, "September 1995" (DE; 1995-08-16), page 62
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "September 1995" (UK; 1995-08-13), page 58
- ↑ Sega Power, "June 1995" (UK; 1995-04-20), page 38
- ↑ Sega Pro, "May 1995" (UK; 1995-04-13), page 72
- ↑ Sega Pro, "September 1995" (UK; 1995-08-10), page 52
- ↑ Sega Megazone, "August 1995" (AU; 1995-0x-xx), page 22
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "April 1995" (JP; 1995-03-08), page 104
- ↑ Strana Igr, "" (RU; 1996-xx-xx), page 95
- ↑ Super Juegos, "Agosto 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 42
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Septiembre 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 28
- ↑ Top Consoles, "Mai 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 82
- ↑ Total Saturn, "Volume One Issue Four" (UK; 1996-12-29), page 42
- ↑ Ultimate Future Games, "May 1995" (UK; 1995-04-01), page 70
- ↑ Ultimate Future Games, "September 1995" (UK; 1995-08-01), page 89
- ↑ Última Generación, "Mayo 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 74
- ↑ Video Games, "8/95" (DE; 1995-07-26), page 68
- ↑ VideoGames, "June 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 73
Games in the Panzer Dragoon Series | |
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Panzer Dragoon (1995) | Panzer Dragoon Zwei (1996) | Panzer Dragoon I & II (1996) | Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998) | |
Panzer Dragoon (1996) | Panzer Dragoon: Remake (2020) | |
Panzer Dragoon Mini (1996) | |
Panzer Dragoon (1997) | |
Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002) | |
Panzer Dragoon: Remake (2020) | Panzer Dragoon II Zwei: Remake (20xx) | |
Panzer Dragoon: Remake (2020) | |
Sampler Discs | |
Panzer Dragoon Playable Preview (1995) | Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG Taikenban (1997) | Panzer Dragoon Saga Demo Disc (1998) | |
Panzer Dragoon Orta Demo Disc (2002) | |
Panzer Dragoon related media | |
Panzer Dragoon SMF Music Data (1995) | Panzer Dragoon Original Sound Track (1995) | Panzer Dragoon Original Full Sound Version (1995) | Panzer Dragoon Power Remix (1995) | Panzer Dragoon Zwei Original Soundtrack (1996) | O.V.A. Panzer Dragoon Original Soundtrack (1996) | Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG (1997) | Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG Complete Album (1998) | Sona Mi Areru Ec Sancitu (1999) | Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG Memorial Album (2001) | Panzer Dragoon Orta: Die Panzer Dragoons Chronik (2002) | Panzer Dragoon Orta Original Soundtrack (2002) | Panzer Dragoon Orta Official Soundtrack (2003) | Panzer Dragoon (2016) | Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga 20th Anniversary Arrangement (2018) | Panzer Dragoon: Remake The Definitive Soundtrack (2021) | |
Panzer Dragoon Zwei Original Arrange Album "Alternative Elements" (1996) | Panzer Dragoon Original Sound Track (Remastered) (2006) | | |
Panzer Dragoon Koushiki Guide Book (1995) | Panzer Dragoon Zwei no Sekai: Panzer Dragoon Zwei Koushiki Guide Book (1996) | Panzer Dragoon OVA Fan Book (1996) | Tanoshii Beyer Heiyou: Panzer Dragoon Original Soundtrack (1997) | Panzer Dragoon Azel (1998) | Azel Panzer Dragoon RPG Official Guide (1998) | V Jump Books Game Series: Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG (1998) | Azel Panzer Dragoon RPG Guide Book (1998) | Prima's Official Strategy Guide: Panzer Dragoon Orta (2003) | Kaze to Akatsuki no Musume: Panzer Dragoon Orta (2004) | |
Panzer Dragoon (1996) |
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