While it seemed cutting edge at the time, today Dragon's Lair ranks more as a footnote in videogame history rather than a signpost of a true revolution. Other times, guessing the timing of a right move requires simple blind luck. The challenge comes in interpreting what's happening onscreen - should Dirk jump over that chasm as it starts to crumble at his feet, should he leap up and grab a rope, or should he simply wait and draw his sword in anticipation of a pending monster attack? Sometimes the game cheats, providing a visual clue that turns out to be a ruse, such as a flashing "Drink Me!" sign that will actually end in disaster. There's only about 19 minutes of actual content, but it will take far longer for most to unlock it all, as you must memorize the combination of joystick commands needed to "move" Dirk in the appropriate directions, as well as activate his sword with a single button, all in real-time as the animation plays. In order to save his princess, Dirk must enter the Dragon's castle, and through a series of about two dozen mini-episodes, overcome strange booby traps, battle weird creatures and unlock various treasures on his quest into the 'Dragon's Lair.' Once there, it will be a Herculean battle, as Dirk must outwit the fiery beast, grab Daphne and escape with a nice big booty of treasure. Dirk is a squared knight in the Arthurian mold, whose lady love Princess Daphne has just been kidnapped by the Dragon of the title. Archaic by today's standards, and rather clumsy in execution (not to mention outrageously expensive - costing a then-whopping 50¢ a play) it was still the first mainstream merging of narrative film and video games.įirst explained to us in the animated "teaser" that always preceded the the start of the arcade version of the game (it can be watched here as well - just let the main menu sit for a bit, and the mini-movie starts automatically), the set-up for 'Dragon's Lair' is incredibly generic, but cute nonetheless. Using familiar joystick and button commands, players could guide the intrepid Dirk the Daring through a series of fantastical animated worlds, battling all sorts of bizarre creatures and saving a beautiful damsel in distress. Combining hand-drawn 2-D animation with then-cutting edge Laserdisc technology, 'Dragon's Lair' was more than just another game, it was the birth of a radical new future for the form. I still vividly remember the day in the summer of 1983 when my local arcade got 'Dragon's Lair.' Sure, at that stage in my development a new sequel to 'Pac-Man' or 'Defender' would have been enough to rock my world, but this was something utterly one-of-a-kind - a game so unique that I had to stand behind a crowd of other awestruck teenagers just to get a glimpse into the cabinet. Of course, no event at the arcade was more momentous than the arrival of a Brand New Game - that magical moment a shiny new box was wheeled onto the arcade floor, luring me into yet another tantalizing world of pixels and puzzles. A mere five bucks in quarters would provide hours of enjoyment, even if those insatiable machines gleefully ate my coins faster than a Hungry Hungry Hippo eats marbles. The weekly trip to the local arcade was like my birthday, the Fourth of July and Christmas all rolled into one. So, did they manage to pull it off? Read on.Īs a child of the '80s, videogames were a huge part of my life. It's this "light-on-the-interactivity" part that Digital Leisure (the game's distributor) has been promising to improve with this Blu-ray release, making use of the format's BD-Java technology. Without falling falling squarely in one or the other camp, one might assume that the game would just fade away, but instead it has enjoyed a curiously strong afterlife in recent years, both as a traditional PC-based game and (more successfully) as a light-on-the-interactivity standard-def DVD game. Yet while several other games were produced and released in a similar fashion, ultimately Laserdisc was not to be the format of choice for advanced gaming, leaving 'Dragons Lair' a technological oddity - not really a video game as traditionally defined, and not really a movie, either. Originally conceived and produced in the early '80s as an arcade game utilizing then-cutting edge Laserdisc technology, for a brief moment in time 'Dragon's Lair' bridged the gap between animated film and video games, enabling players to progressively "unlock" scenes in an otherwise traditionally-produced animated film. The short answer to both questions is that 'Dragon's Lair' has always been a most unusual brand of video game. Those unfamiliar with 'Dragon's Lair' may be wondering why an arcade game is being released on Blu-ray disc, and/or why we're reviewing it here at High-Def Digest.
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