The
1983 arcade classic Dragon's Lair has been released several times in
different versions, but the game has undergone an extensive upgrade and
has been released in high definition for Blu-Ray disc. The restored and
cleaned film looks stunning with the cleanest, sharpest image yet. This
version is faithful to the arcade game, including the classic arcade beeps
for movement and the scoring system. Unfortunately, there are a few minor
technical issues that mar the release, but they aren't significant enough
to affect the overall experience. Look inside as we return to this
legendary adventure and find out why it's never looked or played better.
Since its release in 1983, Dragon's Lair
has become one of the legendary classic games that have held appeal over
the years. Even now, a quarter of a century later, the game remains as fun
and challenging as it ever has. Much of the credit for this lies with
animator Don Bluth and his team, who created some timeless characters with
leading man Dirk the Daring, a cool cast of supporting characters, such as
the lizard king, his damsel in distress Daphne and finally the infamous
final battle with the dragon himself. The original arcade release was an
incredibly innovative and forward looking title that revolutionized games.
These days, its simple movement and sword controls probably seem a bit
limiting, but the animation and storyline have held up well enough to
remain compelling and exciting. Since that time, there have been many
attempts to bring the game home, though some were hampered by the
technology available at the time. Some of the earliest versions on
Coleco's Adam and the Amiga fell far short in trying to recapture the feel
of the arcade version. In the ensuing years, with the advent of digital
media such as Laserdiscs, CD-Rom, the experience has gotten closer to the
original arcade game. Most of the editions have done an acceptable job,
with the recent DVD iterations the closest translations yet.
None
of them have truly captured the vibrant look and feel of the original film
until now. Digital Leisure has released what should be the definitive
version of the game and have completely remastered in high-definition for
Blu-Ray players (including the Playstation 3) for the first time. What
makes this so release special is that this edition of Dragon's Lair has
been transferred directly from the original film with a completely
restored and cleaned appearance. There's also been a frame-by-frame
restoration done, which helps to make the image even cleaner by removing a
lot of the 'dirt' that accumulated on its original print. The result is
probably the sharpest, most vibrant appearance of the game yet. The colors
are much more vivid with better separation allowing the game's classic
animation to come fully into view for the first. Much of the details that
were lost in the original transfers are now quite visible and gives the
game a sharper and more focused appearance. Dragon's Lair also features
the game in full 1080p, with a letterboxed appearance that allows the
image quality to truly shine on the screen. Going even further, the game's
soundtrack has also been remixed and now features 5.1 surround sound that
makes things even better looking. This creates what is probably the
best-looking and stunning version of the game yet seen in any platform,
exceeding even the original arcade cabinets, which had only standard
television quality monitors. This high-definition approach allows players
to bask in the game's brilliant design and high-quality animation which
remains as appealing and enjoyable as ever.
While the game itself has never looked
better, this high-definition approach also applies to the game's bonus
features, which are very nicely implemented. Dragon's Lair includes an
extensive section where three of the game's original creators, Don Bluth,
Gary Goldman and, Rick Dyer discuss the game's creation, behind-the-scenes
information and the game's enduring impact among players and animators
alike. These are new interviews and were filmed in high-definition, what's
even better about this are the cool new commentary sections. Instead of
merely hearing them talk while the film plays, they appear in a window
above the screen so you can watch them simultaneously with the game. In
addition, players can view a short film that shows the evolution of the
game from its original Laserdisc to the current version, which gives you
an immediate sense of how much of an improvement this version is. There
are also trailers for several upcoming high-definition remasters and
several other extras. This makes for an impressive package overall that's
highly polished and quite interesting. From a gameplay standpoint, there
are several variations that you can change at the options screen where you
can set the difficulty, number of lives, scoring and turn the original
arcade sounds and move guide on or off. This allows you to play the game
as either a pure arcade game or a less demanding interactive movie.
As
for the game itself, it plays exactly as you remember it, though this
version has improved access time which makes the controls more responsive
and intuitive than before. The basic play mechanics are fairly simple and
most scenes have flashing cues and beeps that tell you when to move. Most
of the actions are fairly straightforward and easy to figure out, though
some scenes are definitely harder to beat than others. Dragon's Lair
requires a great deal of memorization in order to beat, but it's
relatively simple by today's standards and shouldn't give you too many
problems. You can choose to play in either Arcade mode, which limits your
number of lives and implements a scoring system, or play in the much
easier Home version with unlimited lives. Either way, Dragon's Lair
remains an enjoyable game and should give players an immediate rush of
nostalgia. Considering the limitations of the original game, you can
forgive some of the staccato gameplay, but there are some other, more
significant problems and glitches that seemed to have fallen through the
cracks. We tested Dragon's Lair on a Playstation 3 and there are some
fairly significant problems with the secondary menus, which drop the backgrounds and leave
just a black screen with text, which makes things seem less polished than
they should be. Another problem we encountered was a lack of sound, which
occurred sporadically. This could be resolved by rebooting the game, but
it was still annoying. These glitches are annoying and should have been
easy to fix, but they aren't enough to really detract what is otherwise an
exceptional and robust translation.
Despite these technical issues, Dragon's
Lair on Blu-Ray is easily the best looking and smoothest playing version
of the game released for the home to date. The image-quality is
exceptional and in many regards, exceeds even the original game in terms
of visual richness, detail, depth and sharpness. While some of the scenes
feel a bit disconnected, the game's faster access time makes for an even
more enjoyable game. Modern players will probably be a little put off by
its somewhat limited play mechanics, but older gamers who are willing to
overlook a few problems will probably enjoy this return trip to the
legendary Dragon's Lair.
Grade: B
