Dragon's Lair

First and foremost, once you enter the castle, the stages occur in random order, which is awesome. It means that even if you're not skilled at the game, you'll still get to see a lot of the scenes. I also appreciate how you're NOT penalized for entering moves prematurely, which makes the game quite a bit easier. High scores are saved by the CD-i system. On the downside, when you lose a life you have to sit through an irritating "score screen" that prints numbers and letters one at a time along with some harsh sound effects. Also, you can't continue after losing your three lives. But despite these issues, I still prefer this version over the others I've played.

As a child of the eighties, I have a special nostalgic attachment to Dragon’s Lair. This sword cuts both ways, though. I am decidedly less tolerant of a bad port. The iPhone edition of Dragon’s Lair is excellent, bested only by the Blu-ray edition (which looks insane). Including both the arcade original and home version gives me two ways to play through the game. And I will play through it both ways repeatedly, too, because Dragon’s Lair joins Space Ace as a rare permanent fixture on my iPhone.

Un jeu très particulier. On aime ou on n'aime pas. Nous, on a aimé...

This version of the laserdisc arcade classic is without a doubt the best version of any platform. Everything from the arcade has been directly ported over. All the scenes and music are here! Another thing that makes DL so good is the fine control of Dirk which allows players to choose his movies with ease. On the downside, the CD access time is a nuisance breaking you away from the game too long.

Making better use of the hardware than most iPhone games, Dragon’s Lair takes advantage of the platform’s video capabilities, making the game a far better value than other handheld alternatives. The game’s excellent presentation values serve to punctuate an already great remake. For fans of the laserdisc original, Dragon’s Lair comes highly recommended.

Dragon’s Lair is downgraded to a neat novelty for the DSi due to the compression of the video which kills off some important flashes. Because of the latter, it is not necessarily newcomer-friendly. Still, it’s impressive to see the laser disc classic in a DSi download and serious retroheads will be tempted to give it a download. But I’m not sure if you want to spend 800 points just to see something cool, especially when there are better ports of Dragon’s Lair out there.

Dragon's Lair was a game well ahead of its time during its original release, but there's still something magical about the game, even by today's lofty video gaming standards. Sure the gameplay is very one-dimensional and the frame rate is choppy due to the compression of the video, but the play control itself is nearly arcade perfect. You might find more polished versions of the game out there, but if you've ever wanted to take this arcade classic with you on the go, this is the version you need. Just make sure you know how the game plays and what it can and can't do, because those looking for a more traditional play control system might be disappointed with the overly simplistic play control scheme the game makes use of.

Overall, this CD-i edition is a pretty decent version of Dragon's Lair, though it is by no means perfect. The gameplay is very shallow, but to my surprise I enjoyed it more than I thought. If you don't mind trial & error based gameplay and have unlimited patience you may even call this game a classic. But that's a leap too far for me ...

It's nice to see old games come back, but it's usually more fun if the game is updated for a new generation - as Atari did with Tempest 2000. If you're a fan of Dirk, though, this game is yours; it's made just for you.

Timing is everything in this translation of the arcade classic. The graphics are excellent with hardly noticeable access time. However, you must have precise timing skills to pass the stages. Fans of the game will like this one.

A perfect translation... provided you have the game memorized. Graphics, sound and gameplay are identical to the arcade classic, however, the absence of the yellow lamps can make the game a little too challenging at times. (There were moments when I knew exactly what to do, but when to do it was another story.) Otherwise an excellent conversion.

Unfortunately, the gameplay never lived up to the graphics. The joystick and sword button affected the action, but you never really felt in control. This version of Dragon's Lair is the best I've seen for a console. The graphics, which are easily the best aspect of the game, fill the entire TV screen and are only slightly pixelated. Even if you don't like the gameplay, you have to appreciate the entertaining full motion video. The cinematic sound is also excellent. Control is relatively good (by Dragon's Lair standards). Whenever you make a move an audible tone lets you know if you've made a correct or incorrect choice. Granted, you'll have to discover most of the correct moves through trial and error. The worst thing about this game is that it's completely linear; the rooms always appear in the same order. A little randomization would have gone a long way to enhance the replay value. As it is, you'll probably not want to play it for a long time after you finish it.

It plays exactly like the arcade original. If you liked the coin-op, you'll probably like this new CD-ROM version. But if you didn't, this won't change your mind.

Frustration abounds in this CD version of the arcade classic. You have to have pinpoint accuracy to be able to survive this one and believe me, it will definitely make you very angry! Still, graphically the game is very well done.

It's Dragon's Lair. The price is a little steep but if you know what you're in for, it's a really well done port and might be worth the plunge.

Malgré une idée plutôt sympathique pour l'époque, le jeu possède comme gros défaut sa difficulté vraiment excessive qui fera abandonner le défi même aux plus coriaces. Dragon's Lair possède pourtant un certain charme et est toujours présent dans le cœur des fans !

Overall, the game is a fun occasional play. Not really one you should solve, then jump back into again. Still, the great visuals (and tuneless humming of Dirk) make it a fun cartoonish adventure not to be missed.

There's not enough incentive here to play this game just to see the new scenes or the great graphics. Unless you're a Dirk die-hard, you'll find that Dragon's Lair may just be too much adventure to handle.

Au prix dérisoire où Dragon's Lair est vendu sur iPhone/iPod ou iPad, aucune excuse pour ne pas au moins découvrir ce monument du jeu vidéo. C'est vrai que son gameplay est d'un autre âge, mais il s'agit bien d'un titre ayant posé les bases des QTE, un système repris maintes et maintes fois depuis. Dommage que des soucis de jouabilité viennent entacher le plaisir de le redécouvrir sur les machines d'Apple. A choisir entre les trois versions, optez toutefois pour le jeu sur iPad, plus lisible dans la mesure où vos doigts ne se retrouveront pas en plein milieu de l'écran.

Au prix dérisoire où Dragon's Lair est vendu sur iPhone/iPod ou iPad, aucune excuse pour ne pas au moins découvrir ce monument du jeu vidéo. C'est vrai que son gameplay est d'un autre âge, mais il s'agit bien d'un titre ayant posé les bases des QTE, un système repris maintes et maintes fois depuis. Dommage que des soucis de jouabilité viennent entacher le plaisir de le redécouvrir sur les machines d'Apple. A choisir entre les trois versions, optez toutefois pour le jeu sur iPad, plus lisible dans la mesure où vos doigts ne se retrouveront pas en plein milieu de l'écran.

I noticed that all the death scenes are intact, which is good considering they tend to be abbreviated in other versions. And it's always cool to see our hero disintegrate into bones after using your last life. There are unlimited continues, but they do set you back a few rooms. I found it interesting that the instruction manual includes instructions for literally EVERY ROOM. All in all, Dragon's Lair on the Sega CD is quite decent - as long as you haven't played it on any other systems.

Si valoramos la conversión en sí, hay que admitir que es una de las mejores y más completas, con varios modos de juego, marcadores en línea de puntuaciones, y una imagen perfecta, muy nítida, además de la posibilidad de ver todo el juego como si de una película de animación se tratase, sin tocar el mando. Y la inclusión de Kinect es curiosa, pero no pasa de eso, una anécdota. Si querían homenajear este mítico título, podría haber salido a un precio más reducido, o junto a Dragon’s Lair II y Space Ace, pero así solo, por 800 Microsoft Points, se nos hace difícil recomendarlo, cuando por ejemplo está disponible para iPhone y iPad por tan solo 0,79 €. En cualquier caso es historia de los videojuegos, que de una manera o de otra deberíais conocer.

If the DSi is your only mode you have available to play this game, then you may want to consider downloading it. But if you have an iPhone, a PS2 or a PC or if you're willing to wait until it possibly hits the PSN store, seek these alternate venues. Paying $8.00 (800 DSi points) for a badly pixelated and poorly executed game is never a good idea, no matter how great the nostalgia is. Newcomers, however, who have no nostalgic twinges for the game should avoid it on the DSi completely.

I know Dragon's Lair is one of the more famous FMV games around, but the competition was so fierce on the Sega CD that this port should have gotten an upgrade. At the very least, it should have included some options to adjust the difficulty, more music should have been added, and the controls shouldn't have been so challenging. FMV games walk a fine line in that they usually get panned for being too hard or too easy, and while Dragon's Lair is over in under an hour (depending on how many times you die), it's just a frustrating journey to the princess. This is one dragon I won't be slaying again anytime soon.

It's the stuff that Disney blockbusters are made of - hardly surprising since Dragon's Lair's creator Don Bluth worked as a Disney animator for some years before setting up his own studio. It all sounds - and indeed looks - like so much fun, the problems only beginning when you actually try to play the thing.

What really blows my mind is the $10 (800 point) price of admission. When games like Braid and Beyond Good and Evil HD occupy the same price point, I would expect to get a little more than nostalgia for my points. In short, Dragon’s Lair is very difficult to recommend for anything other than nostalgia. The gameplay has not aged well, and the Kinect integration is gimmicky at best. Do yourself a favour and pass this one up for one of the other excellent games XBLA has to offer.

You either love or hate this full motion video arcade game. I remember when I first saw Dragon's Lair in an arcade in 1983. Nobody could play it, but I couldn't take my eyes off the gorgeous animated graphics. It's basically an interactive cartoon where you need to make the right movements at exact times. Don Bluth's animation is sensational, and the audio track is also impressive. This 3DO version provides the cleanest video I've seen on a console system, but unfortunately, this is also a very difficult version. The game provides little or no room for error, no audio feedback, and few clues as to what you should do next. As a result, it's mainly a matter of trial and error, which can be frustrating to say the least. In addition, the rooms are in a fixed order, and using continues requires you to repeat some of the areas you have already been through. Only die-hard fans will want to bother with this.

Dragon's Lair est aussi beau qu'inintéressant... et Dieu sait s'il est beau !