Panzer Dragoon II Zwei

Did You Know?

• A PC version was announced in 2007 for GameTap but never released due to GameTap's closure.
• The game's cover art used CGI graphics, which art director Yoshida jokingly said was done to save money.
• A remake for undisclosed platforms is in development by MegaPixel Studio.

Gameplay

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei is a rail shooter for one player, with seven stages in total. Every level after the first one ends with a fight against a boss. The plot unfolds through both pre-rendered and real-time cutscenes, and characters speak in the fictional language of the Panzer Dragoon world, with subtitles provided. The core gameplay stays close to the first Panzer Dragoon: you guide a targeting reticle for a dragon and its rider as they fly forward through each stage. Enemies come from every direction, and a radar in the top-right corner helps you track them. You can move the reticle using the D-pad, an analog pad, or the Saturn Mouse. Your attacks come from the rider’s gun or the dragon’s lock-on lasers. The new Berserk attack uses a meter that fills up as you destroy enemies; when activated, it fires homing lasers at every enemy on screen until the meter runs out. You can save your progress between levels. If the dragon dies, the game ends and you must restart from a save point. Levels two, three, and four offer a branching path, which changes the scenery and the types of enemies you face for the rest of that stage. Each level is scored on how many enemies you kill, how much damage you take, which route you pick, how many continues you use, and how fast you beat the boss. Based on your scores at the end of each level, the dragon evolves into stronger forms. There are six forms in total, with a final one unlocking just for the last boss. Beating the game opens Pandora’s Box, an extras menu where you can check completion stats, tweak the dragon’s traits, adjust the difficulty, get new weapons, replay individual levels, or watch the CGI cutscenes again.

Plot

Zwei is a prequel set before the original Panzer Dragoon, against the backdrop of a war between the Empire and Meccania over remnants of the Ancient Age. Jean-Jacques Lundi lives in a village where mutant coolias born with bioluminescence are killed as unlucky omens. Lundi defies tradition by sheltering an abnormal coolia with a glowing green throat and wings, naming him Lagi. When fully grown, Lundi rides Lagi outside the village to try to make him fly. An automated Ancient Age airship called Shelcoof destroys Lundi's village, and Lagi fires lasers from his mouth. Lundi and Lagi pursue Shelcoof alongside Imperial forces seeking to control it. A mysterious dragon attacks and drives them back. After recovering, they follow Shelcoof's trail while fending off beasts and Meccanian forces. They reach Shelcoof as its monster guardians destroy the Imperial fleet. The pair destroy Shelcoof's core and the hostile dragon incubating inside it. Lagi surrounds Lundi in a force field, sending him to safety, then attacks an approaching Imperial fleet. Lundi sees a vision of the past and near future, walks through Shelcoof's wreckage, finds a carving of a dragon similar to Lagi, and declares that Lagi lives on in his memory.

Development

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei came from Team Andromeda, the Sega group headed by Yukio Futatsugi. After the first Panzer Dragoon did well, Sega wanted two Saturn sequels: Zwei, a rail shooter, and Panzer Dragoon Saga, a role-playing game. Because the Saturn wasn't selling well, the team felt they had to work fast to finish the series on that console. Once the story basics and overall direction were set, Team Andromeda split into two groups. The two games were supposed to share staff, but that caused too much work, so Saga was paused until Zwei was done. Unlike the later large Saga team, Zwei was made by a small, close-knit crew of fifteen to twenty people. Work started in mid-1995, a few months after the first game came out. They wanted to build on the original's gameplay and make it run better with a smoother frame rate and nicer visuals. Since they reused the first game's engine, development took under a year. Tomohiro Kondo served as both producer and director. Futatsugi initially oversaw the stories for both projects, but when he focused on Saga, Katsuhiko Yamada took over Zwei's narrative and is co-credited for the original design and setting. Kentaro Yoshida handled art direction and design, with help from Manabu Kusunoki, the first game's artist. Yoshida also led the team. Newcomer Ryuta Ueda later became art director on Jet Set Radio. Takashi Iwade designed the enemy models, ship bosses, and the game's logo. Junichi Suto was the main programmer, with Hitoshi Nakanishi as the second programmer. CGI cutscenes were done by Yoshida, Kusunoki, Kazuyuki Iwasawa, and Katsumi Yokota, who also drew the ending credits illustrations.

Reception

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei was critically acclaimed upon release, with a score of 88% on GameRankings based on five reviews. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised its multiple routes, dragon transformations, and graphics, but felt low damaged longevity. GamePro wrote that it blows away any PlayStation shooter in graphics and imagination, noting it was too easy but that multiple paths increased replay value, and complimented how the music reflects gameplay. Entertainment Weekly deemed it much more refined than the original. Next Generation said that while gameplay makes minimal innovations to the on-rails format, the game keeps players hooked through visuals and story, concluding that visual sophistication and compelling storylines can overcome less than revolutionary gameplay. Rob Allsetter of Sega Saturn Magazine praised attention to detail and multiple routes, calling it a standard-bearer for its genre. Maximum's Daniel Jevons agreed that it laughs in the face of competing PlayStation 3D shooters, noting the on-rails format allows synchronizing soundtrack with events, and praised animation, 3D graphics, high frame rate, absence of pixelation, precise controls, lock-on attacks, and the ability to adjust difficulty by choosing routes. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei was a runner-up for Electronic Gaming Monthly's Shooter Game of the Year (behind Alien Trilogy) and Best Graphics of the Year (behind Super Mario 64). The following year they ranked it number 90 on their 100 Best Games of All Time, citing atmospheric levels, evolving dragon, and how it represented a true 3-D evolution for the shooter genre through the ability to rotate the perspective.