Quick Look: Dragon's Lair

Why in the gods name is he button prompt off to the side of the screen. You can't even watch the terrible ass terrible cartoon, all you're doing is staring at a freaking button prompt. Literally the worst game I've ever seen.

In spite of its flaws (which are numerous) this game still gives me a warm, fuzzy, 80s nostalgia vibe.

So they could have looked at the PS3 version like two years ago. Huh. Interesting.

@poperamone said:

Breaking brad. Kinect hardcore mode...

I like the cut of your jib.

Does it count as an ER if they never touch the controller for it? Either way, I've always wanted to watch through the whole game, as the iPhone version is a pain to use.

why won't this game fuckin' die already!

Dragon's Lair Endurance Run!

Love the hate toward earlier games getting renewed. Though this game has been re-invented way too many times. Defenestration is a key to stopping this.

Riveting stuff. But that's real easy to be a snarky dick about, in 2012 - had I seen this shit back in the day my mind would've been blown. Off my shoulders.

@PolygonSlayer said:

People need to stop buying this garbage so we don't get any more releases of it.

You do realize that these never ending conversions cost about piss-all to do right? And thus even a marginal sale will turn a profit.

OK, I'm glad I watched this. Having deliberately put off playing any version of this classic - keeping it special, you know - I had a feeling this would be the way to finally get around to seeing it. And I wasn't disappointed! OK so it's almost impossible to complete but that animation is so gorgeous and Bluth's innovation which he used to great effect to think up each scene just has to be applauded.

I had a feeling GB would play out the video like this and I'm glad I've seen the whole game from start to finish and in fluid full detail now. There's some of the death scenes still to see, not to mention the game's sequels, but I can finally tick Dragon's Lair off my to play / watch someone play list! Thanks guys!

@Castiel: No, she's REALLY hot. Biggest childhood boner. Get the key, slay the dragon.

@Spatulalad said:

"This looks unbelievable!" Then you play it and you're like "I can't believe it!"

:D

^

<3 these guys

I'm fulling willing to own up to never having played this, and I can get why it was a big deal at the time of its original release, but do people still consider this good? Because aside from the animation, it seems terrible.

...have I just watched an endurance run?

Well, I guess that's the end of the Dragon's Lair endurance run. It's been fun seeing this through, from beginning to end. I can't wait to see what you guys are going to do next!

I support ninja ER's. First Bad Dudes, now this.

"Now it's green. That's how you know you're in the green part."

While re-released and rehashed for every platform known to man, Don Bluth's timeless art style and the game that essentially invented the 'quick time event' is still timeless.

The pinnacle of ink and paint 2D animation in my opinion.

You know. Before computers did all the art and animation.

I have this game on C64 and DVD.

@Dragonblade said:

While re-released and rehashed for every platform known to man, Don Bluth's timeless art style and the game that essentially invented the 'quick time event' is still timeless.

Timeless game is timeless.

...Sorry.

Guys. Do not search for Daphne porn mock-ups on the interwebs. That shit is fucked up. Even more disturbing than all the Simpsons porn that is weirdly obsessed with incest.

Wait, what? There was a GameCube version? :S

Am I the only one who sees a little bit of Dirk the Daring in Brad?

Wow, this looks pretty boring and frustrating at the same time. Dragon's Lair is definitely a classic that hasn't aged well. By the way, Polygonal Dirk the Daring is pure nightmare fuel. Thanks Giantbomb!

@ErikSchroder said:

Wait, what? There was a GameCube version? :S

Of Dragon's Lair 3D, yes.

I was reading the ticker at the bottom of the menu screen:

"Have Kinect? Be sure view your photos to see action shots of yourself playing as Dirk the Daring."

Aw, thanks, Digital Leisure. I'll be sure view those photos.

@kennyshat said:

I'm fulling willing to own up to never having played this, and I can get why it was a big deal at the time of its original release, but do people still consider this good? Because aside from the animation, it seems terrible.

Dragon's Lair is in the Smithsonian alongside Pong and Pac-Man.

That said, it's entirely designed to suck quarters in an arcade setting. It's something you play through once to see what it is, and then you're done. It was a trailblazer, to be sure (imagine walking into an arcade where there's a shitload of circle-chasing-block games, and here's a Disney-level cartoon alongside those), but it was never meant to be played at home.

Thanks for showing us so nobody would accidentally spend too much on this. Unless the publisher is reading this, in which case I'm super psyched to go buy Dragon's Lair now. Please don't sue GB.

@mlarrabee said:

I was reading the ticker at the bottom of the menu screen:

"Have Kinect? Be sure view your photos to see action shots of yourself playing as Dirk the Daring."

Aw, thanks, Digital Leisure. I'll be sure view those photos.

Are you sure it didn't say Dirk Diggler? Cause that'd be way better.

Every time they say the title I keep on hearing them say dragon slayer

Also every time they say Dirk I keep on thinking they're referring to Dirk Diggler

I understand why it is an arcade game. I'm surprised that Microsoft points were not being deducted out their out account every time they hit continue. The cartoon animation is amazing, everything else sucks. The values proposition for this product is unacceptable. Thanks Ryan and Vinny for showing this.

Accidental Dragon's Lair endurance run?

@Dragonblade: You've clearly never animated anything in 3D.

And now I have no reason to buy the game at all. Not like I was going to anyways.

I always wanted to play this in the arcade until I watched people get so angry. But it was on the edge of technology for games back in the day. Watching it now, I realize the legend was greater than the actual reality. Still, it's a good looking game.

@dezvous said:

@Dragonblade: You've clearly never animated anything in 3D.

You mean you just don't hit the "go" button and it creates a game?

$1 per play barrier kept me from playing much Dragon Lair back in the day, which in retrospect is probably a good thing.

I like how they only mention the GOOD Don Bluth films, dude made some horrendous ones as well haha.

I kept thinking "No way are they gonna show the whole game." Then they did it!!

"We can't show the whole game...we'll get sued by...DON BLUTH!!"

XD

Dragon's Lair Endurance Run complete?

Holy, Effin', Crap.......I think I'm allowed to count this towards my "Games Completed" list

As someone who is now starting to learn how to make DVDs for my job, after watching this quicklook, I am now trying to figure out how the DVD version of Dragon's Lair was put together on a technical level.

I'm starting a petition for Vinny to change the title of this video to Dragon's Lair: Endurance Run.

Who's with me?

Dragon's Lair was interesting when it first came out, but it hasn't aged well at all. $10 seems like a complete ripoff.

Sounds like they're saying Dragon Slayer every time.

You guys really should Quick Look a few more versions of Dragon's Lair, or it's sequels (including Space Ace). Or even the weird ports/versions of those other games - like the SNES version of Space Ace that isn't laserdisc-y at all.

I don't actually like Dragon's Lair 2 because... I think between that and Space Ace, they made everything move WAY faster. So it's like, 100% chaos all the time and sometimes you can't even tell what's going on because you just burn through scenes so quickly and have so little time to react.

Aw man, Secret of NIMH! That cartoon was great! So dark, so adult compared to what they give kids nowadays. I remember the stabbings and death. Emotional stuff, not glorifying the violence at all. How come they treat children like they can't handle stuff like that anymore? Everything's all.... saccharine and soft. Makes you worry how they'll turn out.

I want to watch Secret of NIMH now. Too bad I'm playing Dragon's Dogma and my terrible memory means I'll forget to.

Edit after watching: Wow, so this game was the original QTE. No wonder I hated it. Even as a little kid, I knew QTEs were the very worst thing ever in gaming. Ever. The worst. In gaming. Did I say ever? Ever.