The Adventures of Panzer: Legacy Collection [Review]
NES action platformers The Adventures of Panzer 1 and 2, together in an affordable package
Image credit: Ratalaika / Pixelcraft
Ratalaika Games has brought two new NES games by Pixelcraft to modern consoles! The Adventures of Panzer: Legacy Collection includes both The Adventures of Panzer and The Adventures of Panzer 2. Both games were released as physical cartridges and ROMs after successful Kickstarter campaigns ahead of this compilation.
The compilation package itself is barebones, but sufficient. It includes virtual manuals and art galleries for both games, basic shaders like a CRT filter, remappable controls, and most crucially, a rewind feature. I love that rewind is supported; games made for this generation can sometimes be frustrating and rewind let me have more fun than I would have otherwise.
Both games are 2D side-scrolling fantasy action platformers. They play similarly, but Panzer 2 represents a huge evolution for the series. The games are based on a webcomic created by the developer, Dave Nemeth.
Image credit: Ratalaika / Pixelcraft
In the first game, you play as General Panzer, a vain and clueless hero who returns after being gone for ten years. He finds his old sidekick, a downtrodden cowman, and sets off to “get the team back together,” to reunite his old crew for an important mission that won’t be revealed until the end of the game. Each of the game’s five levels is a journey through a different locale, with each of Panzer’s old lieutenants waiting at the end as a boss.
Character sprites are chunky, a bit crude, and small, about the size of Link in the original The Legend of Zelda. To me, this is a bit of a small scale for a scrolling platformer; games like this play better with larger sprites. The quality of background and foreground graphics varies, but is decent overall.
Image credit: Ratalaika / Pixelcraft
Panzer can run, jump, and slash with his sword. He also has a set of abilities that consume mana, which is regenerated with power ups—a horizontal axe throw, an arcing bomb throw, and a heal. Gameplay is straightforward, but it can be “NES hard,” so I used the rewind feature a lot, particularly with bosses. Level design is uninteresting, though I appreciate the variety of enemies distributed through the levels. On the whole, Panzer is an unremarkable platformer that wears out its welcome quickly.
Panzer 2 is a direct sequel and takes place almost immediately after the events of the first game. Panzer and his crew now have a base of operations and the ability to warp around the land to do missions. Someone has destroyed Panzer’s giant gold statue of himself, and he’s out to discover who did it.
Image credit: Ratalaika / Pixelcraft
The game has six levels and an added final boss level, all accessed from a select screen similar to a Mega Man game; each of these levels is larger and more interesting than any in the first game. Some levels introduce special gameplay mechanics, for example the Moon Base level has low gravity. Also included are a helpful tutorial level and Panzer’s base of operations, which you can explore.
Most importantly, the biggest improvement over the first game is the new character swapping system. The player can now swap between Panzer and at least one of three allies you choose to bring along in a level. This mechanic adds more dimension to the gameplay because each character has a specialization you can use. Panzer can slash and heal; the mage Ahzriaz has three ice attacks and can freeze waterfalls; Vespeto the troll can stealth and throw arcing bombs that break special blocks; and archer Kankaro can walljump, fire arrows, and play dead. The player can choose a companion that best fits his playstyle, and in some cases can use one of their special abilities to access secrets in levels. The distribution of special abilities over several characters creates far more varied and interesting gameplay possibilities that what’s available in the first game. Panzer 2 is far better than its predecessor.
Image credit: Ratalaika / Pixelcraft
Panzer 2 showcases developer Dave Nemeth’s growth as an NES developer and game designer, and is a far more mature effort than the first game. Nemeth is now developing Panzer 3 and has been posting his progress (with videos!) to the NESMaker forums; I’m very, very excited to play that game because Nemeth looks to be following his trajectory of improvement and it looks great.
My overall score is going to be brought down a little because of the first game, but on the whole, it’s a fun package that’s well worth the price.
The Adventures of Panzer: Legacy Collection is available now on Playstation 4/5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
