Saturn update: I played through Panzer Dragoon Eins und Zwei, thinking the whole time that I wish I could barrel roll. Imagine my joy at finding it in Pandora’s Box (turns out it’s not so useful after all). The whole atmosphere of these games is intoxicating and more than enough to make up for somewhat shallow interaction. Just being in the world is satisfying. I also watched the opening cutscenes to Saga and was quite impressed with what I saw. I remember reading someone’s posts about how the tone isn’t quite where it should be, so I’m hesitant to dive in. (Edit: Wow, that poster was @alteredfish and the post was from two years ago! November even!! I read that when it was first posted and now I’m mad at time).
Big moment for me today: I finished the second half of Burning Rangers. That final level certainly throws a whole lot of plot at you! Suddenly, it makes sense that the same people would push out Sonic Adventure in the same year.
I really appreciate the diversity in the level design though I want more. I want Burning Rangers 2 for the Dreamcast. I want the impossible. The budget and ambition feel totally out of scope for what Saturn games usually reach for. I can’t imagine what the development process was like; I’d love to read a post-mortem.
I took a couple more screenshots from the final level. If you want to be as surprised as I was, don’t look.
