Quick Look: Dragon's Lair

Man, Asura's Wrath has come a long way since the first game.

@Dragonblade: You're either trolling or have no idea whatsoever what actually goes into digital art and animation.

Wow they show you what to press? That is not how I remember it. Braindead 13 was better in every way anyway.

Calling it - best Quick Look 2012.

Since they don't make it clear in the Quick Look and people seem to be complaining about it...

The Digital Leisure releases of Dragon's Lair in this console generation (PS3, PSP, DS/DSi/3DS, Wii, 360, iOS, Android) are all 99% arcade authentic in their presentation.

And by that I mean that you CAN run the games with the guide/direction indicator graphics TURNED OFF and the levels will accept all of the authentic arcade inputs/timing (and alternate inputs where applicable) as you remember them.

The ability to turn off guided moves has typically been present with an on/off option in most home versions of the game in the recent past, but this past round of releases is very much uniform in its formatting across all platforms it has been released on.

The repeated deaths that Jeff and Vinny were encountering on the "home" version of the falling platform are based on the requirement that you MUST leap off the platform on the 3rd stop (Or optionally/alternately the 9th stop if the platform is the single instance of the mirror version you get mid-run, or if that level immediately follows the Throne Room or Mud Men level.)

This is not a requirement in the "arcade" version within the software where the platforms allow for some level re-ordering if you select the 1st or 2nd stop.

Man, I didn't know Dragon's Lair had been released so many times. Not sure we really need another port of this, especially not at that price.

@Gamer_152: An understandable concern, but whether the majority of people like it or not - Dragon's Lair really is in the same category as Pac-Man and Tetris where nostalgia and history is concerned.

Do we NEED to play any classics from that era on modern systems? No. Do some people want to? Yes.

Where there's no 1st party software restriction in place, I see no problem with making the best conceivable/HD versions of desirable classics available on modern consoles.

Dragon's Lair may have been released on umpteen consoles since the 80s, but everything prior to this last round from Digital Leisure has been pretty limited/sub-standard/janky in every possible way. These releases are the gold-standard in terms of the mastering of the footage and the accuracy of the timing/controls.

@FrankieViturello: I suppose it doesn't hurt it being at least available for people who want it, and if this is a better version than previous ones I guess that's all the better, but I still maintain that asking 800 points for this is too much. While obviously a solid part of game history I also really wouldn't say it is as big a part as games like Pacman and Tetris, I think it falls short of achieving quite that status.

@MrKlorox said:

Dragon's Lair is a known quantity. Let's see some Dragon's Dogma.

Dragon's Lair Dogma?

If anyone is interested, the entire trilogy and Space Ace is available on one disc for the Wii.

...and you guys forgot to mention Bluth's last great movie Titan A.E.!

Dirk is so gonna get laid.

Wow, I've only ever played the monochrome Game Boy version, and there are pretty much no similarities at all to this. It's a 2D platformer, none of the puzzles/encounters are anything like these. If I recall correctly there wasn't even a death state, just a point where I got stuck as I had no idea what to do anymore. There was something with a long mine cart ride, and balls that were spinning around in circles that you could jump on. It did have decent music and graphics (considering the limitations of the platform) though.

@fisk0: Interesting Dragon's Lair fact - that original GameBoy game is actually a port of a ZX Spectrum game called Roller Coaster with some sprite swaps.

Check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_Coaster_(video_game)

@FrankieViturello said:

@fisk0: Interesting Dragon's Lair fact - that original GameBoy game is actually a port of a ZX Spectrum game called Roller Coaster with some sprite swaps.

Check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_Coaster_(video_game)

That's ridiculous and makes so much sense. Fuck, that's crazier than when they palette swapped Doki Doki Panic into a Mario game. Thanks for that bit of information. Mind blown just as I was about to go to sleep.

This is essentially a game consisting of nothing but quick time events. No wonder it's no fun to play.

I have to say though that Don Bluth can animate some superb cartoon breasts.

@DocWattson said:

Gotta love those sound effects.

@Jonnyflash80: you essentially added a word that doesn't belong in that sentence

Computer animation doesn't do all the work for you. Maya is a hell of a complicated, fussy program, and unless you know what you're doing and have considerable talent, your work's going to come out shitty. Second, good, serious animation's still being made, and heck, they sometimes get more things past the radar than they did when I was a kid (I never remember the word "sexy" being allowed on a kids' cartoon when I was younger, but now it's totally okay).

With that being said, I think the reason the game keeps being re-released is because of Don Bluth's amazing animation and the fact that the gameplay was innovative. It's not as impressive now, because we're so used to QTE's, but you have to understand the historical context. I'd still rather watch all of the scenes tied together as part of an overarching plot than play it, though.

If anyone's ever wondered why Daphne looked the way she did its cause her design was based off mens magazine lingerie photo shoots. Apparently the only thing the animation crew had for reference at the time. haha

Daphne my first videogame crush. Sad.

I still remember the first time I saw someone playing Dragon's Lair in the arcade. It absolutely blew my mind. "Video games can look like that? Holy shit! THE FUTURE IS HERE!" Then I played it. It was still pretty incredible at the time.

Vinny's deluded enthusiasm made this QL.

Welcome to the Dragon's Lair endurance run.

Asura's Wrath is much better than this non-game.

I kinda want to play this now.

"You're like 'this looks unbelievable' and then you play it and you're like 'I can't believe it'"

that game is great, but it can get on your nerves really really hard :P

No comments on this since June 2012, wat?! Watching it again in honor of Ryan, if something!

Also;

Dragon's Lair, the original Resident Evil 4.