It was privileged to have reviewed such a classic game in Blu-Ray format, and here is our review of this game.

Review of Dragon’s Lair

The original Dragon’s Lair, released in arcades in 1983, captured the hearts, and the quarters, of many a gamer. Animated by famed Disney animator Don Bluth, it took seven months to create at a cost of nearly 1 million dollars. It has since become one of the greatest, and most famous arcade games, of all time. It arguably was the saving grace of the laser-disc format, at least for a time. So it’s an example of history repeating itself with the newest release of Dragon’s Lair, on Sony’s Blu-Ray disc format.

The game operates from the viewpoint of Dirk the Daring, attempting to rescue the Princess Daphne from an evil wizard’s castle. The castle is replete with many traps, deadly inhabitants, and an evil dragon. Instead of players controlling Dirk, as in a typical game, players control his reflexes as he finds himself faced with trap after trap after trap. Players can choose from one of the four cardinal directions, or make Dirk use his sword. Dirk will attempt to avoid the trap in that direction, and if the player is successful in picking the right one, he’ll move on to the next scene. If not, the player will be treated to a humorous death scene. The game’s difficulty relies on extremely small time windows for control inputs, and essentially a 20% chance of getting the right answer. One would assume this would make the game incredibly frustrating, but in fact, it’s not. Much of the time the correct input can be figured out on one’s own (if there are spikes to your right, you’re not going to go that way!), although sometimes it is counter-intuitive. In addition, the death animations are hilarious, and sometimes it is fun to watch Dirk die over and over. Even the success animations are fun.

The original Dragon’s Lair was not without its format problems. Reports abound of laser-disc players not being able to handle the physical strain of the game. The new version has similar problems. Presented as the first interactive game to play in typical Blu-Ray players, it has problems running on the PS3. The diamond that appears on screen when Dirk is to make a decision, does not appear on the PS3, as tested. This makes it difficult to even know when the decision needs to be made, let alone which one to do. Through trial and error, one can hit directions until the noises change, but it makes the game more difficult than it needs to be.

In addition, the gameplay style has its own problems. The game skips around to random chapters: upon death, you may find yourself on an entirely different problem, possibly one deep into the game. It makes the storyline very difficult to piece together. It has similar problems with successful problems, one often finds himself at the same place he just solved earlier.

On the positive side, the graphics are stunningly beautiful, reminiscent of the feelings we had upon watching our first Disney movie. The colors are rich and sharp, even through non HDMI connections, and the blacks are deep and well defined. The sounds are similarly rich and well presented.

Dragon’s Lair on Blu-Ray certainly has its problems, but it makes a strong showing for the nostalgia gaming scene. While it doesn’t have the best rep as a PS3 game, it’s certainly well worth checking out for anyone who enjoyed the original. Even gamers who like animated comedies like Shrek, or Madagascar, would similarly enjoy it. I had a difficult time with getting through this game, but boy, was it the most enjoyable difficult time I’ve had in years.

Dan Rosenthal
Editor in Chief

If you would like to purchase or get more information please visit official Dragon’s Lair site

Filed under: Blu Ray News, D, Games