Game review - Dragon's Lair
[Digital Leisure]
Developers: Advanced Microcomputer Systems, Bluth Group
Publishers: Cinematronics (former), Digital Leisure (current)
Genre: Adventure
Original release date: June 19, 1983 (arcade)
Platform(s): Arcade, Windows, macOS, Linux, and many other platforms
Reviewed on: macOS
Back in the 1980's, the medium of video games was still in their infancy with their pixelated graphics and distorted sound effects. Arcade back then like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, despite their primitive presentation, were still groundbreaking in terms of interactivity. But then came Advanced Microcomputer Systems with their ambitious idea of using cinema-quality visuals and audio in a game put onto a Laserdisc, which came in the form of Dragon's Lair, which acted as the opposite of other games that time, where it's stellar presentation compensated for it's limited gameplay.
Dragon's Lair is an action-adventure game presented in hand-drawn animation crafted by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, who at the time just made his directing debut with the underrated animated classic The Secret of NIMH. Like with most games at the time, it uses the basic scenario of hero rescues princess, which in this case is Dirk the Daring rescuing Princess Daphne from an evil dragon. The game plays out as a series of quick time events, where the player must press the correct button at the right time.
[Digital Leisure]
For something that came out in 1982, Dragon's Lair is unlike anything that was seen and heard from any other video game up to that point. Thanks to Don Bluth and his team of animators, the animation presented in the game is very solid, and can be considered feature quality. For one thing, the game has a fast tempo to it. To complement this, the action and animation has to flow constantly, so the gameplay never feels like it's stopped, and gives plenty of eye candy to behold. Within the detailed castle backgrounds, there are a variety of obstacles which boast creatively-designed monsters and clever traps. When the player falls victim to one of these, each one will result in a comical death animation of Dirk to fit in with the game's humourous tone.
Another impressive feat of the presentation is the audio. As well as being the first video game to utilize stereo sound, the sound effects are professionally recorded to pair up with the great animation. The voices were done by the crew due to budget reasons, like film editor Dan Molina as Dirk and head of clean-up Vera Lanpher as Princess Daphne, all of which do a great job in giving life to the playful characters.
However, with animation and audio this good, the gameplay itself must suffer from it's drawbacks. The simple objective of pressing the right button at the right time is simple enough, but because the game utilizes the medium of film as it's main output, it severely limits the interactivity that is typically expected in a video game. It also limits the amount of outcomes, so it feels more like sitting through an interactive movie rather than fully controllable video game.
Your path to success in this game all depends on your reaction to events, which in this case is pressing the right button at the right time. The game features an indicator which quickly flashes which button to press, which must be pressed almost immediately. While challenging in parts, this can make the game a bit too easy. There is however an option to remove the flashes to resemble the original arcade gameplay. This can make the game harder, but it's never clear on what you're supposed to press and when (aside from a few brief flashes in background objects), now resulting in the game to be both difficult and frustrating. By time, you will get used to which buttons to press in each scene, and the game does twist the game a little by flipping a scene horizontally and having each played out randomly. The only downside is that some scenes do repeat later on can make the experience repetitive.
Overall, Dragon's Lair is the perfect example in how an innovative game can act as a double-edged sword. It's artistic and technical innovations are undeniably admirable thanks to the brilliant animation by Don Bluth, but at the same time, the game's format limits the interactivity, providing players with a challenging, but restrictive experience that can be both too easy and too hard depending on the settings chosen. Despite it's age, Dragon's Lair is still among the important titles of video game history, and it's still worth checking out for animation fans and those curious on historic video games.
With so many different ports to various platforms, the PC version (Windows/macOS/Linux) by Digital Leisure (available on Steam along with Space Ace and the Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp) is a recommendation. It features the animation remastered 720p HD, customization gameplay options, achievements, a behind-the-scenes interview with director Don Bluth, producer Gary Goldman, and game designer Rick Dyer, and even a drawing tutorial video with Bluth himself. Bluth and Goldman are also planning a Dragon's Lair hand-drawn animated feature with the help of crowdfunding, which should be interesting to see how that turns out.
