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Dragon's LairDVD review by - Yanman |
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Don't let the standard DVD size, look, and
packaging fool you, Dragon's Lair is as different to a standard DVD as digital video is to
analog VHS. For anyone that doesn't know the story of Dragon's Lair (You may be to young)
from its video arcade days, Dragon's Lair has a very familiar story line. It is the story
of the hansom prince Dirk the Daring, a knight on a mission to save a fair princess
(Daphne), from the clutches of an evil Dragon (Singe). In this revolutionary arcade game
of the 80's, the player controls high quality animation created by Don Bluth (An American
Tail, The Land Before Time) to guide the on-screen hero's actions and ultimate outcome.
From these legendary roots Dragon's Lair DVD-Video is born. And as the first interactive
game to be released for set top DVD players, sets the bar of DVD fun to a new high. The Game play goes something like this - using the DVD player remote you control the animated action of Dirk as he navigates a dark castle in search of the fair maiden. You use the menu navigation keys for left, right, up, down and the select (enter) key to use your sword. Note: this game will not play on the Toshiba 2107 &3107 DVD players. To say that this game is "fun" doesn't even begin to do it justification. You fight mystical creatures, and navigate mazes, in a colorful world of animated interaction. We can’t put down the remote; we haven’t watched a movie in the player since the game arrived. If they where charging $.50 per play I would have spent more than the twice the $44.95 estimated street price in just the first day (for those of you looking for the math that’s around 900 lives!), the more I played the more I craved to get to the next level. I've played for hours straight and I've still not gotten all the way through to the end, this game will provide many times the entertainment of the average movie DVD. The video quality is excellent (unbelievable considering that the animation is over 15 years old). Although some artifacts are clearly visible at times when Dirk is killed (which happened an awful lot when I was playing), they do not detract from game play. The sound is presented in arcade style AC3 (Stereo). Extras include a very interesting history segment, coming attractions, a list of hints to winning each level and a very useful and entertaining "watch" mode that lets you watch the animation as more of a movie than a game. If you're like me and haven't played this game in over 10 years (Or for some strange reason have never played), then our recommendation is to watch the "movie" version once or twice to a feel how you should react in each scene. If you like video games, or are just looking for a great way to show off your new fangled DVD player, then step into the Dragon's Lair and prepare to fight for the hand of the fair Daphne. Now where did I leave my sword…?
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Dragon's Lair Facts * Approximately 250-300 million people around the world have played Dragon's Lair. * To date Dragon's Lair has generated more than $107 million in revenues. * The Dragon's Lair name has been selling arcade and home video game versions consistently now for almost sixteen (16) years. There are no other original video games that have sold steadily for a longer period of time, none. * Dragon's Lair is one of only three games ever admitted into the Smithsonian Institution (the other two are Pong and Pac Man)
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