Basics
- Publisher: Digital Leisure Inc. / Cinematronics / StarCom
- Release Date: 2001 / Original Arcade Game: 1983
- Type: DVD port of a classic coin-op arcade game
- Genre: Adventure / Laserdisc game
The Good
- Nostalgic window to the 80s arcade classic.
- Wonderfully crafted Don Bluth animation.
- Same gameplay as the original arcade, sans the joystick.
- The closest version to the original ever released for a home system.
- Historic 1983 and 1984 news broadcasts of interviews and behind-the-scenes with Don Bluth and Rick Dyer.
The Bad
- Gameplay doesn’t register properly on all DVD players.
- Claims to be digitally remastered, but that just means they transferred it form laserdisc to DVD. The digital picture is somewhat weaker than the original arcade version.
- Features a non-game playthrough of the animation; however they omit some of the best stuff - the fatalities.
- Not compatible with current or next-gen console controllers.
- Misleading ESRB age rating. Just because the game is a cartoon, doesn’t mean it’s safe for all ages.
Features
- Trailers for other DVD games including the Don Bluth/Rick Dyer classics Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp and Space Ace.
- On screen corner display shows you which button/direction you pressed.
- If the menu is idle it cycles through the game intro, just like the original arcade classic.
History
The brainchild of Rick Dyer, Dragon's Lair was originally not intended to be a video game at all. In 1979 Dyer built a prototype machine in using cash register tape with text and illustrations in a Choose Your Own Adventure style game. You select the hero's next move and the paper strip progresses to the results of your decision. Although inventive, a paper tape game was hardly practical in the coin-op world. Then Dyer went to see Don Bluth's film The Secret of NIMH and had an epiphany…a fully cell-animated video game! Dyer approached Bluth and the two teamed up to revolutionize the industry. The only problem was how to do it?
In the 80s, the precursors to DVDs were laserdiscs. Most folks think of laserdiscs as giant DVDs, but this isn’t 100% accurate. DVDs are a digital media where the video is digitized and compressed. Laserdiscs are an uncompressed, analog media. Because of this laserdiscs provide a cleaner image with no artifacting (those annoying digitized squares you see while watching a DVD), but they can't hold as much information. By converting the game animation to a laserdisc, the joystick and fire button worked as a remote control. Instead of controlling Dirk’s physical movement you control what decision he makes. Once you’ve selected Drik’s next move, the game would chapter skip to an animation showing victory, or fatality.
The Launch
There was a lot stacked against Dragon’s Lair when it hit arcades. The industry had just crashed and the cost to manufacture the game was more expensive than any other arcade game on the market as the technology was so different.
Regardless Bluth and Dyer found a partner with arcade publisher Cinematronics, and in 1983 Dragon’s Lair games started appearing in arcades, Pizza Places and Family Fun Centers across the country. In spite of the 50 cent cost, twice the price of traditional game, it was an instant hit.
Due to the laserdisc guts quickly wearing out, it is extremely difficult to find a working unit today, making it one of the most sought after arcade games by private collectors.
The Game
The DVD release of Dragon’s Lair is an exciting landmark for enthusiasts and nostalgia buffs alike, as it’s the closest you ever come to playing the original game at home, bringing a breath of fresh air after the years of horrible Dragon’s Lair computer andconsole recreations.
Because the DVDs have a similar set up as laserdiscs, with chapter advancing and directional buttons on the remote, the transition is quite nice. Publishers Digital Leisure transferred the original animation directly from the source, so you play the exact same game that you did in the arcades with your DVD remote replacing the joystick and fire button.
The gameplay was considered to be one of the most difficult to play back in the day, and it still is today. Knowing what move to make isn’t instinctual, it’s hard to time things just right and easy to get overwhelmed, however Digital Leisure have added a few features to ease your stress. Color coded icons appear on the screen indicating the move you’ve just made. If the icon is blue, then you made the wrong move and need to do it again. If a yellow icon pops up, you’ve made the right move and progress in the game. Eventually you’ll get it right and unlike the arcade game, you don’t have to plug in another 50 cents to continue.
