Panzer Dragoon II Zwei

The redundantly-titled Panzer Dragoon II Zwei consists, shockingly, of more Panzer Dragoon. That’s not the dismissal it would normally be, because Panzer Dragoon was a notoriously short but sweet experience, and more of it is exactly what fans wanted. I, for one, am never going to turn my nose up at another couple hours of homing-laser-breathing dragon-riding action across artfully realized alien landscapes. Particularly not when the controls, soundtrack, and challenge level are as terrific as they are here. Nevertheless, it’s a bit disappointing that the sequel to one of the most unorthodox games in its genre has very few creative contributions of its own. I’m also annoyed that the announced remake of the sequel is basically vaporware at this point, because most of the things I don’t like about it are things a remake could easily fix. These include the laughable pre-rendered cutscenes, the hit detection of jittery 2D sprites in a 3D environment, and the obscure method of choosing between multiple routes within a level.