Panzer Dragoon Mini

Panzer Dragoon Mini is a single-player rail shooter that spans five levels, with each after the first including a boss encounter. Gameplay is scaled-down compared to the Sega Saturn entries, featuring no story and three difficulty levels. The player controls an aiming reticle for one of three selectable super deformed flying dragons without a rider as they move through the level.

The reticle can be controlled with the D-pad, and the player can attack enemies by either shooting or locking on them to fire shots simultaneously. During boss encounters, the camera occasionally switches to the side of the dragon. The boss' projectiles can be shot down but cannot be locked on. Each dragon has a health bar, which is reduced whenever the dragon takes damage from an enemy. If the dragon's health is depleted, the game is over, but the player can keep playing via unlimited continues and resume their progress via a password feature.

Panzer Dragoon Mini was developed by Rit's, a Japanese game developer established in 1991. Artist Hiroshi Kajiyama worked on the game's pseudo-3D models, while the soundtrack from Panzer Dragoon II Zwei was adapted by composer Hitoshi Sakimoto. Mini was handled by Sega with no involvement from Team Andromeda apart from the game's cover art, which was approved by Panzer Dragoon series creator Yukio Futatsugi. The game was published by Sega on November 22, 1996, as part of the Kid's Gear lineup, a brand applied to Game Gear titles intended for children.

Its late 1996 release, near the end of the Game Gear's lifespan, makes the game harder to find than earlier releases. It is considered a rare collector's item that commands high prices on the secondary collectible market.

Panzer Dragoon Mini was poorly received, with praise for its art style and boss designs but criticism of its pacing and lack of a plot. Famitsu's four reviewers found Mini monotonous compared to the previous Sega Saturn entries and faulted its graphical presentation. In a retrospective, Polish magazine Click! Konsole commended Mini for its visuals and simple gameplay premise.

Sébastien Péretti of French publication Retro Game called Mini a shameful offshoot of the Panzer Dragoon series. com's James Mielke regarded Mini as "a dumbed-down, cartoony shooter for kids that bears little resemblance to the epic adventures on Saturn."