Dragon's Lair
Encyclopedia
Dragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game
published by Cinematronics
in 1983. It featured animation
created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth
.
Most other games of the era represented the character as a sprite
, which consisted of a series of pixels displayed in succession. However, due to hardware limitations of the era, artists were greatly restricted in the detail they could achieve using that technique; the resolution, framerate, and number of frames were severely constrained. Dragon's Lair overcame those limitations by tapping into the vast storage potential of the laserdisc
, but imposed other limitations on the actual gameplay. The game's enormous contrast with other arcade game
s of the time created a sensation when it appeared, and was played so heavily that many machines often broke due to the strain of overuse. It was arguably the most successful game on this medium, and is aggressively sought after by collectors.
The success of the game sparked numerous home ports, sequels and related games. In the 21st century it has been repackaged in a number of formats (such as for the iPhone
) as a "retro" or historic game.
It is currently one of only three video games (along with Pong
and Pac-Man
) on permanent display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Singe, who has locked Princess Daphne in the foul wizard Mordroc's castle. The screen shows animated cutscenes, and the player executes an action by selecting a direction or pressing the sword button with correct timing, requiring the player to memorize each scenario in order to clear each quick time event
. The comedy
aspects of the game stemmed not only from the bizarre looking creatures and humorous death scenes, but also the fact that while Dirk was a skilled knight, he was somewhat clumsy in his efforts, as well as being a reluctant hero, prone to shrieking and reacting in horror to the various dangers he encounters.
The attract mode
of the game displays various short vignettes of gameplay accompanied by the following narration:
(FMV) segments playing for correct or incorrect choices. Dragon's Lair was one of the first arcade games to cost US$
0.50 (or two "credits") for a single play, twice as much as games traditionally cost up until that time.
(which later became RDI Video Systems). A team of game designers created the characters and locations, then choreographed Dirk's movements as he encountered the monsters and obstacles in the castle. The art department at AMS created storyboard
s for each episode as a guide for the final animation.
Dyer was inspired by the text game Adventure
. This game gave rise to an invention he dubbed "The Fantasy Machine." This device went through many incarnations from a rudimentary computer using paper tape (with illustrations and text) to a system that manipulated a videodisc containing mostly still images and narration. The game it played was a graphic adventure called The Secrets of the Lost Woods. Attempts to market The Fantasy Machine had repeatedly failed. Allegedly, an Ideal Toy Company
representative walked out in the middle of one presentation. Dyer's inspiration allegedly came during his viewing of The Secret of NIMH
, whereby he realized he needed quality animation and an action script to bring excitement to his game. He elected to take a reserved but as of yet unscripted location from The Secrets of the Lost Woods known as The Dragon's Lair.
The game was animated by veteran Disney animator
Don Bluth
and his studio. Development was done on a shoestring budget, cost US$1 million and took seven months to complete. Since the studio couldn't afford to hire any models
, the animators used photos from Playboy magazines for inspiration for the character Princess Daphne. The animators also used their own voices for all the characters instead of hiring voice actors
in order to keep costs down, although it does feature one professional voice actor: Michael Rye
as the narrator in the attract sequence (he is also the narrator for Space Ace
and Dragon's Lair II). The voice of Princess Daphne was portrayed by Vera Lanpher who was head of the Clean-up
Department at the time.
Dirk the Daring's voice belongs to film editor Dan Molina, who later went on to perform the bubbling sound effects for another animated character, Fish Out of Water, from 2005's Disney
film Chicken Little
, which he also edited. Dirk shrieks or makes other noises on numerous occasions but speaks words only twice. First, he mutters "Uh, oh" when the platform begins to recede during the fire-swinging sequence, then he exclaims "Wow!" when first entering the Dragon's Lair and laying eyes on the slumbering Princess Daphne.
The music and many sound effects were scored and performed by Chris Stone at EFX Systems in Burbank. Bryan Rusenko and Glen Berkovitz were the recording engineers. The 43 second "Attract Loop" was recorded in a straight 18 hour session. Featured instruments, all keyboards, were the E-mu Emulator
and Memory MOOG
.
The life of the original player's gas laser was about 650 hours; although later models had solid state lasers with an estimated life of 50,000 hours, the spindle motor typically failed long before that. It is rare to find a Dragon's Lair game intact with the original player, and conversion kits have been developed so the units can use more modern players.
The original USA 1983 game used a single side NTSC
laserdisc player manufactured by Pioneer; the other side of the disc was metal backed to prevent bending. The European versions of the game were manufactured by Atari under license and used single side PAL
discs manufactured by Philips
(not metal backed).
The Europe
an arcade version of Dragon's Lair was licensed to Atari
Ireland (as was Space Ace later). The cabinet design was therefore different from the Cinematronics version. The main differences were that the LED digital scoring panel was replaced with an on screen scoring display appearing after each level. The Atari branding was present in various places on the machine (marquee, coin slots, control panel and speaker grill area), and the machines featured the cone LED player start button used extensively on Atari machines. Although licensing for this region was exclusive to Atari, a number of Cinematronics
machines were also available from suppliers mostly via a gray import.
captures the level of excitement displayed over the game: "Dragon's Lair is this summer's hottest new toy: the first arcade game in the United States
with a movie-quality image to go along with the action... The game has been devouring kids' coins at top speed since it appeared early in July. Said Robert Romano, 10, who waited all day in the crush at Castle Park without getting to play, "It's the most awesome game I've ever seen in my life." Arcade operators at its release reported long lines, even though the game was the first video arcade game to cost 50 cents. Operators were also concerned however that players would figure out Dragon's Lair's unique predefined game play, leading them to "get the hang of it and stop playing it." By July of 1983, 1000 machines had been distributed, and there were already a backlog of about 7,500. By the end of 1983 Electronic Games
and Electronic Fun were rating Dragon's Lair as the number one video arcade game in USA, while the arcade industry gave it recognition for helping turn around its 1983 financial slump. Dragon's Lair received recognition as the most influential game of 1983, to the point that regular computer graphics looked "rather elementary compared to top-quality animation". By February of 1984, it was reported to have grossed over $32 million for Cinematronics. One element of the game that was negatively received was the blackout time in between loading of scenes, which Dyer promised would be eliminated by the forthcoming Space Ace and planned Dragon's Lair sequel. By the middle of 1984 however, after Space Ace and other similar games were released to little success, sentiment on Dragon's Lair's position in the industry had shifted and it was being cited as a failure due to its expensive cost for a game that would "lose popularity". In 2001, GameSpy
ranked Dragon's Lair as #7 on the list of "Top 50 Arcade Games of All-Time".
Dirk was received by reviewers as a character, who felt "unlike some video game heroes, Dirk's personality has a comic, human side to it." Princess Daphne received mixed reception. Often cited as one of the most attractive characters in video game history, as well as being one of the key damsels in distress
in video games, she also received mixed reactions for her ditsy voice and her half-naked appearance. Bluth described Daphne by stating "Daphne's elevator didn't go all the way to the top floor, but she served a purpose," a fact panned by critics of the game who perceived it to be violent and sexist. In 2009, Singe was ranked 93rd in IGN "Top 100 Videogames Villains".
.
Various home computer adaptations of Dragon's Lair were released during the 1980s and 1990s but because of (at the time) high memory consumption due to the detailed animation of the games, not all the scenes from the original game were included. Reviewers of the home computer versions differed widely in their appraisal of the game, with one Amiga
magazine awarding 92% due to the unprecedented audio-visual quality, while another magazine giving the same version a score of only 32% on account of the "wooden" gameplay. This led to Escape from Singe's Castle
, a pseudo-sequel where Daphne is kidnapped at the moment of Dirk's victory by a shapeshifter, forcing him to venture even further into the castle to save her again. The game was made up of unused scenes from the laserdisc version, though some portions (such as the lizard king and mud men) were shortened. The 8-bit versions were created by Software Projects
, while Readysoft handled the 16-bit versions. These used video compression and new storage techniques, but came on multiple 3.5" floppy disks.
The game also led to the creation of a short-lived television animated series, Dragon's Lair
by Ruby-Spears Productions
, in which the originally nameless Dragon was given the name Singe, and Princess Daphne (portrayed by Ellen Gerstell
) now wore a long pink dress. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced and aired on the ABC network from September 8, 1984, to April 27, 1985. It was last aired on the USA Cartoon Express
between the late '80s and the early '90s, with a commercial bumper showing Dirk inside the train entertaining children with magic tricks while Singe the Dragon ran by his back while Dirk pulled out his sword and chased Singe. The show was generally run of the mill, but boasted an unusual feature: to keep the show in the spirit of the game, before each commercial break a narrator would ask what the viewer would do to solve the problem facing Dirk. After the commercial break, the outcomes of the various choices were shown before Dirk acts on the correct idea (with the occasional exception) to save the day.
The game inspired a sequel (disregarding the Escape from Singe's Castle as one), Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
, created shortly after the original, but released in 1991.
It also led to the creation of 1984's Space Ace
, another game animated by Don Bluth and his crew. Space Ace was also a ROM and disc upgrade kit for the Dragon's Lair cabinets, complete with new control panel overlay, side art and header.
Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread was made for Amiga and DOS in 1993, mixing original footage with scenes from Time Warp that were not included in the original PC release due to memory constraints. The game also included a newly produced "Blackbeard the Pirate" stage that was originally intended to be in the arcade game but was never completed.
In late 2002, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original arcade release of the smash hit, Digital Leisure Inc. produced a special edition DVD
box set of the three arcade classics that defined laser disc arcade games: Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp. All the scenes from the original arcade releases were included and optionally the player could select new scenes that were animated in 1983, but not included in any previous Dragon’s Lair release. The games were also updated to include higher quality video, authentic scene order and a new difficulty selection to make it more challenging for Dragon’s Lair pros. Digital Leisure worked with a small independent game developer, Derek Sweet, to release a CD-ROM
4-Disc Box Set for Windows based PCs.
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
was developed in 2002, as a 3D
interpretation of the game for Microsoft Windows
, Xbox
, GameCube
and the PS2
.
A comic book miniseries based on the game, but incorporating elements from the cartoon series as well, like Dirk's horse Bertram, was released in 2003 by Crossgen Publishing, concurrent with a mini series based on Space Ace. Arcana Studio
is published the entire comic book series in 2006, as there were three issues that were never before published.
In 2005, Digital Leisure created a new Dragon's Lair III which utilized 3D footage from Dragon's Lair 3D, but controlled via a system like the original arcade games.
In the late 2006, Digital Leisure released "Dragon's Lair HD", which features an all-new High-Definition transfer from the original negatives (as opposed to just sourcing the laserdisc). The original mono soundtrack has also been remastered into Dolby Digital
5.1 sound (on PCs that can support it).
According to Don Bluth
and Gary Goldman
a Dragon's Lair movie has been scripted and is ready to go into production once financing for the project is in place. The film will be in the classic, traditional 2D animation style. Currently, however, the project is in development hell
.
On April 9, 2007, a Blu-Ray version of Dragon's Lair was released. This uses the same HD transfer as the aforementioned PC release, but went through a 6 month process to clean and remaster the image. Dragon's Lair Blu-Ray is the first title to fully utilize BD-J
technology.
. A non-linear arcade interpretation of Dragon's Lair and Escape from Singe's castle with elements of platform and puzzle was made by Software Projects
for 8-bit
machines in 1986.
The sequence with the drawbridge and eyestalks seen in the attract mode was excised from the original arcade version of the game, but still remains on the laserdisc, playable in fan-made modifications of the program, or in the version of the game released in Europe
as well as the Sega CD, PC, DVD, and HD versions.
A platformer adaptation of the game was also made for the Nintendo Entertainment System
and Super NES
called Dragon's Lair.
The Game Boy
version (entitled Dragon's Lair: The Legend) in particular has almost nothing to do with the source game aside from Dirk as the protagonist, Mordroc as the villain, and saving Princess Daphne as the objective. In fact, the game is a port of a five-year-old ZX Spectrum
game, Roller Coaster
, the result being a platform game where Dirk has to negotiate a series of thinly-disguised fairground rides. The later Game Boy Color
version, however, is a relatively faithful rendition of the original game.
The Dragon's Lair Deluxe Pack was released for home computer
s containing all the FMV for all three games. Though it contains all the video including some scenes cut from the North America
n version of the game, the gameplay was reported as lackluster.
ReadySoft released Dragon’s Lair for the Apple Macintosh on CD-ROM in 1994. A Sega CD version was also released.
DAPHNE
, an emulator for laserdisc based games, can emulate the original 1983 version. DAPHNE requires the ROM files plus the original laserdisc to run. Alternatively, an MPEG-2 video stream and Ogg Vorbis audio stream can be substituted for the laserdisc. These streams can be generated from the original laserdisc or from Digital Leisure's 2002 DVD.
In July 2010 The iOS version is released by Electronic Arts
on Apple's App Store. The game graphics have been cleaned up for the iPhone screen.
Laserdisc video game
A laserdisc video game is an arcade game that uses pre-recorded video played from a laserdisc, either as the entirety of the graphics, or as part of the graphics.-History:...
published by Cinematronics
Cinematronics
Cinematronics Incorporated was a pioneering arcade game developer that had its heyday in the era of vector display games. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look...
in 1983. It featured animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American animator and independent studio owner. He is best known for his departure from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such as The Secret of NIMH , An American Tail ,The Land Before Time , and All Dogs Go to Heaven ,...
.
Most other games of the era represented the character as a sprite
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
, which consisted of a series of pixels displayed in succession. However, due to hardware limitations of the era, artists were greatly restricted in the detail they could achieve using that technique; the resolution, framerate, and number of frames were severely constrained. Dragon's Lair overcame those limitations by tapping into the vast storage potential of the laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
, but imposed other limitations on the actual gameplay. The game's enormous contrast with other arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s of the time created a sensation when it appeared, and was played so heavily that many machines often broke due to the strain of overuse. It was arguably the most successful game on this medium, and is aggressively sought after by collectors.
The success of the game sparked numerous home ports, sequels and related games. In the 21st century it has been repackaged in a number of formats (such as for the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
) as a "retro" or historic game.
It is currently one of only three video games (along with Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
and Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
) on permanent display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Story
Dragon's Lair features the hero, Dirk the Daring, attempting to rescue Princess Daphne from the evil dragonDragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
Singe, who has locked Princess Daphne in the foul wizard Mordroc's castle. The screen shows animated cutscenes, and the player executes an action by selecting a direction or pressing the sword button with correct timing, requiring the player to memorize each scenario in order to clear each quick time event
Quick Time Event
In video games, a Quick Time Event is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen prompt. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game...
. The comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
aspects of the game stemmed not only from the bizarre looking creatures and humorous death scenes, but also the fact that while Dirk was a skilled knight, he was somewhat clumsy in his efforts, as well as being a reluctant hero, prone to shrieking and reacting in horror to the various dangers he encounters.
The attract mode
Attract mode
Attract mode is an arcade game's screen display shown when no one is playing the game. The main purpose of the attract mode is to attract passers-by to play the game, although it might also have the side effect to act like a screensaver.-Summary:...
of the game displays various short vignettes of gameplay accompanied by the following narration:
- "Dragon's Lair: The fantasy adventure where you become a valiant knightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
, on a quest to rescue the fair princess from the clutches of an evil dragon. You control the actions of a daring adventurer, finding his way through the castle of a dark wizard, who has enchanted it with treacherous monsters and obstacles. In the mysterious caverns below the castle, your odyssey continues against the awesome forces that oppose your efforts to reach the Dragon's Lair. Lead on, adventurer. Your quest awaits!"
Gameplay
Instead of controlling the character's actions directly, players control his reflexes, with different full motion videoFull motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
(FMV) segments playing for correct or incorrect choices. Dragon's Lair was one of the first arcade games to cost US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
0.50 (or two "credits") for a single play, twice as much as games traditionally cost up until that time.
Development
Dragon's Lair began as a concept by Rick Dyer, president of Advanced Microcomputer SystemsRDI Video Systems
RDI Video Systems was a video game company founded by Rick Dyer originally as "Advanced Microcomputer Systems", and was well known for its Laserdisc video games, beginning with the immensely popular Dragon's Lair...
(which later became RDI Video Systems). A team of game designers created the characters and locations, then choreographed Dirk's movements as he encountered the monsters and obstacles in the castle. The art department at AMS created storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
s for each episode as a guide for the final animation.
Dyer was inspired by the text game Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure gave its name to the computer adventure game genre . It was originally designed by Will Crowther, a programmer and caving enthusiast who based the layout on part of the Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky...
. This game gave rise to an invention he dubbed "The Fantasy Machine." This device went through many incarnations from a rudimentary computer using paper tape (with illustrations and text) to a system that manipulated a videodisc containing mostly still images and narration. The game it played was a graphic adventure called The Secrets of the Lost Woods. Attempts to market The Fantasy Machine had repeatedly failed. Allegedly, an Ideal Toy Company
Ideal Toy Company
Ideal Toy Company was founded as Ideal Novelty and Toy Company in New York in 1907 by Morris and Rose Michtom after they had invented the Teddy bear in 1903. The company changed its name to Ideal Toy Company in 1938...
representative walked out in the middle of one presentation. Dyer's inspiration allegedly came during his viewing of The Secret of NIMH
The Secret of NIMH
The Secret of NIMH is a 1982 animated film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. The film was produced by Aurora Pictures and released by United Artists. While released to critical acclaim,...
, whereby he realized he needed quality animation and an action script to bring excitement to his game. He elected to take a reserved but as of yet unscripted location from The Secrets of the Lost Woods known as The Dragon's Lair.
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
Don Bluth
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American animator and independent studio owner. He is best known for his departure from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such as The Secret of NIMH , An American Tail ,The Land Before Time , and All Dogs Go to Heaven ,...
and his studio. Development was done on a shoestring budget, cost US$1 million and took seven months to complete. Since the studio couldn't afford to hire any models
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, the animators used photos from Playboy magazines for inspiration for the character Princess Daphne. The animators also used their own voices for all the characters instead of hiring voice actors
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
in order to keep costs down, although it does feature one professional voice actor: Michael Rye
Michael Rye
Michael Rye is a US voice actor. He is also known as Mike Rye and sometimes used his surname at birth, Rye Billsbury...
as the narrator in the attract sequence (he is also the narrator for Space Ace
Space Ace
Space Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
and Dragon's Lair II). The voice of Princess Daphne was portrayed by Vera Lanpher who was head of the Clean-up
Clean-up
Clean-up is a part of the workflow in the production of hand-drawn animation, in which "clean" versions of the "rough" animation drawings are produced....
Department at the time.
Dirk the Daring's voice belongs to film editor Dan Molina, who later went on to perform the bubbling sound effects for another animated character, Fish Out of Water, from 2005's Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
film Chicken Little
Chicken Little (2005 film)
Chicken Little is a 2005 computer-animated science fiction family comedy film loosely based on the fable The Sky Is Falling. It was the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation...
, which he also edited. Dirk shrieks or makes other noises on numerous occasions but speaks words only twice. First, he mutters "Uh, oh" when the platform begins to recede during the fire-swinging sequence, then he exclaims "Wow!" when first entering the Dragon's Lair and laying eyes on the slumbering Princess Daphne.
The music and many sound effects were scored and performed by Chris Stone at EFX Systems in Burbank. Bryan Rusenko and Glen Berkovitz were the recording engineers. The 43 second "Attract Loop" was recorded in a straight 18 hour session. Featured instruments, all keyboards, were the E-mu Emulator
E-mu Emulator
The Emulator is the name given to a series of disk-based digital sampling keyboards manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1982 until 1990. Though not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was among the first to find wide use among ordinary musicians, due to its relatively low price and its size,...
and Memory MOOG
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
.
Technical details
The original laserdisc players shipped with the game (Pioneer LD-V1000 or PR-7820) often failed. Although the players were of good quality, the game imposed unusually high strain: Laserdisc players were designed primarily for playing movies, in which the laser assembly would gradually move across the disc as the data was read linearly. However Dragon's Lair required seeking different animation sequences on the disc every few seconds—indeed, less than a second in some cases—as dictated by gameplay. The high amount of seeking, coupled with the length of time the unit was required to operate, could result in failure of the laserdisc player after a relatively short time. This was compounded by the game's popularity. As a result, the laserdisc player often had to be repaired or replaced.The life of the original player's gas laser was about 650 hours; although later models had solid state lasers with an estimated life of 50,000 hours, the spindle motor typically failed long before that. It is rare to find a Dragon's Lair game intact with the original player, and conversion kits have been developed so the units can use more modern players.
The original USA 1983 game used a single side NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
laserdisc player manufactured by Pioneer; the other side of the disc was metal backed to prevent bending. The European versions of the game were manufactured by Atari under license and used single side PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
discs manufactured by Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
(not metal backed).
The Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an arcade version of Dragon's Lair was licensed to Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
Ireland (as was Space Ace later). The cabinet design was therefore different from the Cinematronics version. The main differences were that the LED digital scoring panel was replaced with an on screen scoring display appearing after each level. The Atari branding was present in various places on the machine (marquee, coin slots, control panel and speaker grill area), and the machines featured the cone LED player start button used extensively on Atari machines. Although licensing for this region was exclusive to Atari, a number of Cinematronics
Cinematronics
Cinematronics Incorporated was a pioneering arcade game developer that had its heyday in the era of vector display games. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look...
machines were also available from suppliers mostly via a gray import.
Reception
Dragon's Lair initially represented high hopes for the then sagging arcade industry, fronting the new wave of immersive laser disc video games. A quote from NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
captures the level of excitement displayed over the game: "Dragon's Lair is this summer's hottest new toy: the first arcade game in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with a movie-quality image to go along with the action... The game has been devouring kids' coins at top speed since it appeared early in July. Said Robert Romano, 10, who waited all day in the crush at Castle Park without getting to play, "It's the most awesome game I've ever seen in my life." Arcade operators at its release reported long lines, even though the game was the first video arcade game to cost 50 cents. Operators were also concerned however that players would figure out Dragon's Lair's unique predefined game play, leading them to "get the hang of it and stop playing it." By July of 1983, 1000 machines had been distributed, and there were already a backlog of about 7,500. By the end of 1983 Electronic Games
Electronic Games
Electronic Games was the first video game magazine published in the United States and ran from 1981 to 1994. It was co-founded by Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel, and is unrelated to the subsequent Electronic Gaming Monthly.-External links:* *...
and Electronic Fun were rating Dragon's Lair as the number one video arcade game in USA, while the arcade industry gave it recognition for helping turn around its 1983 financial slump. Dragon's Lair received recognition as the most influential game of 1983, to the point that regular computer graphics looked "rather elementary compared to top-quality animation". By February of 1984, it was reported to have grossed over $32 million for Cinematronics. One element of the game that was negatively received was the blackout time in between loading of scenes, which Dyer promised would be eliminated by the forthcoming Space Ace and planned Dragon's Lair sequel. By the middle of 1984 however, after Space Ace and other similar games were released to little success, sentiment on Dragon's Lair's position in the industry had shifted and it was being cited as a failure due to its expensive cost for a game that would "lose popularity". In 2001, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
ranked Dragon's Lair as #7 on the list of "Top 50 Arcade Games of All-Time".
Dirk was received by reviewers as a character, who felt "unlike some video game heroes, Dirk's personality has a comic, human side to it." Princess Daphne received mixed reception. Often cited as one of the most attractive characters in video game history, as well as being one of the key damsels in distress
Damsel in distress
The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
in video games, she also received mixed reactions for her ditsy voice and her half-naked appearance. Bluth described Daphne by stating "Daphne's elevator didn't go all the way to the top floor, but she served a purpose," a fact panned by critics of the game who perceived it to be violent and sexist. In 2009, Singe was ranked 93rd in IGN "Top 100 Videogames Villains".
Legacy
The original Fantasy Machine was later released as a prototype video game console known as HalcyonHalcyon (console)
The Halcyon was a home video game console released in January of 1985 by RDI Video Systems. The initial retail price for the system was USD$2500, and it featured a laserdisc player and attached computer, each the size of an early-model VCR. Only two games were released for the system before RDI...
.
Various home computer adaptations of Dragon's Lair were released during the 1980s and 1990s but because of (at the time) high memory consumption due to the detailed animation of the games, not all the scenes from the original game were included. Reviewers of the home computer versions differed widely in their appraisal of the game, with one Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
magazine awarding 92% due to the unprecedented audio-visual quality, while another magazine giving the same version a score of only 32% on account of the "wooden" gameplay. This led to Escape from Singe's Castle
Escape from Singe's Castle
Escape from Singe's Castle, also known as Dragon's Lair Part II - Escape From Singe's Castle is a computer game for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers. The game is sometimes referred to as Dragon's Lair II, but is not to be confused with the official arcade sequel Dragon's...
, a pseudo-sequel where Daphne is kidnapped at the moment of Dirk's victory by a shapeshifter, forcing him to venture even further into the castle to save her again. The game was made up of unused scenes from the laserdisc version, though some portions (such as the lizard king and mud men) were shortened. The 8-bit versions were created by Software Projects
Software Projects
Software Projects was the name of a computer game development company which employed Manic Miner developer Matthew Smith. After leaving Bug-Byte as a freelance developer, Smith was able to take the rights to his recently developed Manic Miner game with him, due to an oversight in his freelance...
, while Readysoft handled the 16-bit versions. These used video compression and new storage techniques, but came on multiple 3.5" floppy disks.
The game also led to the creation of a short-lived television animated series, Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair (TV series)
Dragon's Lair is a short-lived television cartoon series by Ruby-Spears Productions based on the 1983 video game of the same name. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced from 1984-1985, airing on ABC...
by Ruby-Spears Productions
Ruby-Spears Productions
Ruby-Spears Productions is a Burbank, California-based entertainment production company that specializes in animation...
, in which the originally nameless Dragon was given the name Singe, and Princess Daphne (portrayed by Ellen Gerstell
Ellen Gerstell
-Voice roles:*Jem *Monchhichis *Dragon's Lair - Princess Daphne *My Little Pony: The Movie *Little Clowns of Happytown *My Little Pony TV series...
) now wore a long pink dress. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced and aired on the ABC network from September 8, 1984, to April 27, 1985. It was last aired on the USA Cartoon Express
USA Cartoon Express
The USA Cartoon Express was a programming block of animated productions which aired on cable television's USA Network from late 1982 to September 15, 1996...
between the late '80s and the early '90s, with a commercial bumper showing Dirk inside the train entertaining children with magic tricks while Singe the Dragon ran by his back while Dirk pulled out his sword and chased Singe. The show was generally run of the mill, but boasted an unusual feature: to keep the show in the spirit of the game, before each commercial break a narrator would ask what the viewer would do to solve the problem facing Dirk. After the commercial break, the outcomes of the various choices were shown before Dirk acts on the correct idea (with the occasional exception) to save the day.
The game inspired a sequel (disregarding the Escape from Singe's Castle as one), Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a 1991 laserdisc video game by Don Bluth. It is regarded as the first "true" sequel to Dragon's Lair. It takes place years after the timeline of the original Dragon's Lair. Dirk has married Daphne, and the marriage has produced several children...
, created shortly after the original, but released in 1991.
It also led to the creation of 1984's Space Ace
Space Ace
Space Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
, another game animated by Don Bluth and his crew. Space Ace was also a ROM and disc upgrade kit for the Dragon's Lair cabinets, complete with new control panel overlay, side art and header.
Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread was made for Amiga and DOS in 1993, mixing original footage with scenes from Time Warp that were not included in the original PC release due to memory constraints. The game also included a newly produced "Blackbeard the Pirate" stage that was originally intended to be in the arcade game but was never completed.
In late 2002, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original arcade release of the smash hit, Digital Leisure Inc. produced a special edition DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
box set of the three arcade classics that defined laser disc arcade games: Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp. All the scenes from the original arcade releases were included and optionally the player could select new scenes that were animated in 1983, but not included in any previous Dragon’s Lair release. The games were also updated to include higher quality video, authentic scene order and a new difficulty selection to make it more challenging for Dragon’s Lair pros. Digital Leisure worked with a small independent game developer, Derek Sweet, to release a CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
4-Disc Box Set for Windows based PCs.
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair is an action-adventure video game released in 2002 by Dragonstone Software. The game is based on Cinematronics' 1983 laserdisc arcade game Dragon's Lair, and follows a similar story; the hero, Dirk the Daring, must enter the evil wizard Mordroc's castle to...
was developed in 2002, as a 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
interpretation of the game for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
and the PS2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
.
A comic book miniseries based on the game, but incorporating elements from the cartoon series as well, like Dirk's horse Bertram, was released in 2003 by Crossgen Publishing, concurrent with a mini series based on Space Ace. Arcana Studio
Arcana Studio
Arcana Studio is a Canadian comic book publisher and art studio founded by former Coquitlam, British Columbia school teacher Sean O'Reilly in 2004.-Overview:...
is published the entire comic book series in 2006, as there were three issues that were never before published.
In 2005, Digital Leisure created a new Dragon's Lair III which utilized 3D footage from Dragon's Lair 3D, but controlled via a system like the original arcade games.
In the late 2006, Digital Leisure released "Dragon's Lair HD", which features an all-new High-Definition transfer from the original negatives (as opposed to just sourcing the laserdisc). The original mono soundtrack has also been remastered into Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
5.1 sound (on PCs that can support it).
According to Don Bluth
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American animator and independent studio owner. He is best known for his departure from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such as The Secret of NIMH , An American Tail ,The Land Before Time , and All Dogs Go to Heaven ,...
and Gary Goldman
Gary Goldman
Gary Wayne Goldman is an American Film Producer, Director, Animator, Writer and voice actor, he is well known for working on films with Don Bluth like Anastasia, An American Tail and The Land Before Time...
a Dragon's Lair movie has been scripted and is ready to go into production once financing for the project is in place. The film will be in the classic, traditional 2D animation style. Currently, however, the project is in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
.
On April 9, 2007, a Blu-Ray version of Dragon's Lair was released. This uses the same HD transfer as the aforementioned PC release, but went through a 6 month process to clean and remaster the image. Dragon's Lair Blu-Ray is the first title to fully utilize BD-J
BD-J
BD-J, or Blu-ray Disc Java, is a specification supporting Java ME Xlets for advanced content on Blu-ray Disc and the Packaged Media profile of Globally Executable MHP .BD-J allows bonus content on Blu-ray Disc titles to be far more sophisticated than bonus content provided by standard DVD,...
technology.
Platform ports
Dragon's Lair led to the creation of numerous video game ports for home systems. Since some original sequences did not fit in the ports for those systems, they were re-released only in a virtual sequel called Escape from Singe's CastleEscape from Singe's Castle
Escape from Singe's Castle, also known as Dragon's Lair Part II - Escape From Singe's Castle is a computer game for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers. The game is sometimes referred to as Dragon's Lair II, but is not to be confused with the official arcade sequel Dragon's...
. A non-linear arcade interpretation of Dragon's Lair and Escape from Singe's castle with elements of platform and puzzle was made by Software Projects
Software Projects
Software Projects was the name of a computer game development company which employed Manic Miner developer Matthew Smith. After leaving Bug-Byte as a freelance developer, Smith was able to take the rights to his recently developed Manic Miner game with him, due to an oversight in his freelance...
for 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
machines in 1986.
The sequence with the drawbridge and eyestalks seen in the attract mode was excised from the original arcade version of the game, but still remains on the laserdisc, playable in fan-made modifications of the program, or in the version of the game released in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as well as the Sega CD, PC, DVD, and HD versions.
A platformer adaptation of the game was also made for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
and Super NES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
called Dragon's Lair.
The Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
version (entitled Dragon's Lair: The Legend) in particular has almost nothing to do with the source game aside from Dirk as the protagonist, Mordroc as the villain, and saving Princess Daphne as the objective. In fact, the game is a port of a five-year-old ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
game, Roller Coaster
Roller Coaster (video game)
Roller Coaster is a platform-based game which contains some strategy and puzzle elements. Uniquely it holds the claim of being the first video game to ever simulate amusement rides....
, the result being a platform game where Dirk has to negotiate a series of thinly-disguised fairground rides. The later Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
version, however, is a relatively faithful rendition of the original game.
The Dragon's Lair Deluxe Pack was released for home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s containing all the FMV for all three games. Though it contains all the video including some scenes cut from the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n version of the game, the gameplay was reported as lackluster.
ReadySoft released Dragon’s Lair for the Apple Macintosh on CD-ROM in 1994. A Sega CD version was also released.
DAPHNE
DAPHNE
DAPHNE is an arcade emulator application that emulates a variety of laserdisc video games with the intent of preserving these games and making the play experience as faithful to the originals as possible...
, an emulator for laserdisc based games, can emulate the original 1983 version. DAPHNE requires the ROM files plus the original laserdisc to run. Alternatively, an MPEG-2 video stream and Ogg Vorbis audio stream can be substituted for the laserdisc. These streams can be generated from the original laserdisc or from Digital Leisure's 2002 DVD.
In July 2010 The iOS version is released by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
on Apple's App Store. The game graphics have been cleaned up for the iPhone screen.
| Year | ## | Platform | Media | Developer | Publisher | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 01 | Arcade game Arcade game An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers... |
LaserDisc Laserdisc LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical... |
Starcom Starcom Starcom: The U.S. Space Force is an animated syndicated series in the 1980s that spawned a successful motorized toy line franchise in Europe and Asia for Mattel, despite its failures to succeed in its U.S. domestic market... |
Cinematronics Cinematronics Cinematronics Incorporated was a pioneering arcade game developer that had its heyday in the era of vector display games. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look... |
Original Release |
| 1984 | 02 | Coleco Adam Coleco Adam The Coleco Adam is a home computer, an attempt in the early 1980s by American toy manufacturer Coleco to follow on the success of its ColecoVision game console... |
Cartridge | Coleco Coleco Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and... |
||
| 03 | Coleco Adam Coleco Adam The Coleco Adam is a home computer, an attempt in the early 1980s by American toy manufacturer Coleco to follow on the success of its ColecoVision game console... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Coleco Coleco Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and... |
|||
| 1986 | 04 | Amstrad CPC Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,... |
Cartridge | Software Projects | ||
| 05 | Amstrad CPC Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Software Projects | |||
| 06 | ZX Spectrum ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd... |
Cassette Magnetic tape data storage Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive... |
Software Projects | |||
| 07 | Commodore 64 Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595... |
Cassette Magnetic tape data storage Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive... |
Software Projects | |||
| 1987 | 08 | ZX Spectrum ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd... |
Cartridge | Software Projects | Budget Release | |
| 09 | Amstrad CPC Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,... |
Cassette Magnetic tape data storage Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive... |
Software Projects | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle | ||
| 10 | Amstrad CPC Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Software Projects | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle | ||
| 11 | ZX Spectrum ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd... |
Cassette Magnetic tape data storage Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive... |
Software Projects | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle | ||
| 12 | Commodore 64 Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595... |
Cassette Magnetic tape data storage Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive... |
Software Projects | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle | ||
| 13 | Commodore 64 Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Amazing Software | Republished version includes both cassette versions on a single 'flippy' | ||
| 1989 | 14 | Commodore Amiga | Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | ||
| 15 | Commodore Amiga | Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle | ||
| 16 | Atari ST Atari ST The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | |||
| 17 | Personal Computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Sullivan Bluth / Merit Software | Released on: 5.25" Floppy | ||
| 18 | Personal Computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Sullivan Bluth / Merit Software | Released on: 3.5" Floppy | ||
| 1990 | 19 | Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987... |
Cartridge | Elite Systems Elite Systems Elite Systems is a UK video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. They are best known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games... |
||
| 20 | Game Boy Game Boy The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on... |
Cartridge | Elite Systems Elite Systems Elite Systems is a UK video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. They are best known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games... |
|||
| 21 | Macintosh Plus / SE Macintosh Plus The Macintosh Plus computer was the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2599... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | |||
| 22 | Atari ST Atari ST The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals... |
Cartridge | Readysoft | |||
| 1991 | 23 | Personal computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | ||
| 24 | Personal computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle (includes some non original arcade levels) | ||
| 25 | Personal computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle | ||
| 26 | Apple Macintosh | Floppy Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... |
Readysoft | Released name: Escape From Singe’s Castle (this version includes few levels from the original arcade game Dragon's Lair II : Timewarp) | ||
| 1992 | 27 | Super Nintendo Entertainment System Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short... |
Cartridge | Data East | ||
| 1993 | 28 | Sega CD | CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Readysoft | ||
| 29 | Personal computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Readysoft | |||
| 30 | 3DO 3DO Interactive Multiplayer The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Readysoft | |||
| 31 | Sega Mega-CD Sega Mega-CD The is an add-on device for the Mega Drive video game console, designed and produced by Sega and released in Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The device was also released in North America under the name Sega CD, for the Sega Genesis... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Readysoft | |||
| 1994 | 32 | Apple Macintosh | CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Readysoft | ||
| 33 | CD-I CD-i CD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. CD-i also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was developed by Philips and Sony... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Readysoft | |||
| 1995 | 34 | Atari Jaguar Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a video game console that was released by Atari Corporation in 1993. It was the last to be marketed under the Atari brand until the release of the Atari Flashback in 2004. It was designed to surpass the Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Panasonic... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Readysoft | ||
| 1997 | 35 | Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Release name: Deluxe Pack (also contained Space Ace and Dragon's Lair II) | |
| 36 | Personal Computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
DVD-ROM | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|||
| 1998 | 37 | Home DVD players DVD player A DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive... |
DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
||
| 38 | Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... |
DVD-ROM | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|||
| 2000 | 39 | Game Boy Color Game Boy Color The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than... |
Cartridge | Capcom Capcom is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its... |
||
| 40 | PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|||
| 2001 | 41 | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Arcade Authentic | |
| 42 | Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... |
DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|||
| 2002 | 43 | Home DVD players DVD player A DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive... |
DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Release name: 20th Anniversary Pack | |
| 44 | Apple Macintosh | DVD-ROM | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|||
| 45 | GameCube | CUBE-DVD | DragonStone | Capcom Capcom is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its... |
Remake name: Dragons Lair 3D | |
| 46 | Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... |
Xbox-DVD | DragonStone | UbiSoft Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries.... |
Remake name: Dragons Lair 3D | |
| 47 | Personal Computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
DragonStone | UbiSoft Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries.... |
Remake name: Dragons Lair 3D | |
| 2003 | 48 | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Release Name: 20th Anniversary Pack | |
| 2004 | 49 | PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
PS2-DVD | DragonStone | THQ THQ THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices... |
Release name: Dragon’s Lair 3D - Special Edition |
| 50 | GameCube | CUBE-DVD | DragonStone | THQ THQ THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices... |
Release name: Dragon’s Lair 3D - Special Edition | |
| 2005 | 51 | Mobile Phone Mobile phone A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator... |
Download | Disney Mobile | ||
| 2006 | 52 | Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
DVD-ROM | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
High Definition WMV | |
| 2007 | 53 | Home Blu-ray players | BD-R | Infinite HD | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|
| 54 | PlayStation 3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... |
BD-R | Infinite HD | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
||
| 55 | Home HD DVD players HD DVD HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format... |
HD DVD HD DVD HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format... |
Infinite HD | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
||
| 56 | Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... |
HD DVD HD DVD HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|||
| 57 | Personal Computer Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
20th Anniversary Pack released on 1 DVD instead of 4 disks | ||
| 2009 | 58 | iPhone IPhone The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007... |
Downloadable | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers... |
|
| 59 | Nintendo DSi Nintendo DSi The is a handheld game system created by Nintendo and launched in 2008 and 2009 in Japan, North America, PAL territories, and other regions. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony's PlayStation Portable... (DSiWare) |
Downloadable | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
||
| 2010 | 60 | Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... |
Nintendo optical disc | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Destineer Destineer Destineer is a computer game developer and publisher based in Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 2000 by former Bungie Studios vice-president, Peter Tamte... |
Release name: Dragon's Lair Trilogy (includes Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, and Space Ace |
| 61 | iPad IPad The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and... |
Downloadable | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Dragon's Lair LLC | ||
| 62 | Nintendo DS Nintendo DS The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... |
DS Game Card | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Destineer Destineer Destineer is a computer game developer and publisher based in Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 2000 by former Bungie Studios vice-president, Peter Tamte... |
||
| 63 | PlayStation 3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... (PlayStation Network) |
Downloadable | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
||
| 2011 | 64 | PSP PlayStation Portable The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004... |
Downloadable | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
|
| Future Releases | 65 | Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... |
Downloadable | Digital Leisure Digital Leisure Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use... |
In popular culture
- Dragon's Lair is featured in the Video Games LiveVideo Games LiveVideo Games Live is a concert series created and produced by industry veterans and video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several...
tour. - A Robot ChickenRobot ChickenRobot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
episode, "Celebrity Rocket", shows Dirk battling a mid-life crisis in the segment Dragon's Lair: The Middle Ages. - Dragon's Lair was once a featured game on the 1980s video game based game show, StarcadeStarcadeStarcade was a game show where contestants competed against one another by playing arcade video games. The series originally aired on WTBS from 1982–1983, followed by a run in syndication for the following season....
. The entire episode can be seen in Digital LeisureDigital LeisureDigital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. These three games were among the first to use...
's 20th Anniversary DVD and PC CD ROM editions. - The Italo danceItalo danceItalodance, also known as Nu Italo Disco, Nu-Italo or just Italo, is an offshoot of the Eurodance musical genre, which was especially popular in Europe in the late 1990s to the early 2000s.-Definition:...
group KotoKoto (band)Koto is an Italian synth pop group that originally consisted of Anfrando Maiola and Stefano Cundari, later with the Dutch composer Michiel van der Kuy.- History :...
used extensive samples from the game in its song "Dragon's LegendDragon's Legend"Dragon's Legend" was a song recorded by Italian synthpop group Koto. Released in 1988, it was their second and final single that charted, reaching No. 28 in the Netherlands. It contains samples from the 1983 video game Dragon's Lair. Later in the year, a remixed version called "Dragon's Megamix"...
". - A portion of the game was parodied in the TV show Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
. In Season 7, episode 8, titled "Family GayFamily Gay"Family Gay" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of the animated television comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 8, 2009. In the episode, Peter Griffin purchases a brain damaged horse who ends up causing a great deal of collateral damage at the...
", Peter portrayed Dirk the Daring. After bragging to Lois about almost beating "The Dragon's Lair" we see a flashback re-creation of the flying horse scene where he manages to dodge some of flames but smacks into the wall bringing up the dreaded death scene. - Dragon's Lair 3D was featured in The Sisterhood of the Traveling PantsThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (film)The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a 2005 American film, based on the novel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Delia Ephron.The film's production budget was $25 million...
. The Character Tibby interviews Brian McBrian who has supposedly broken every record there is for Dragon's Lair 3D.
External links
- Detailed info on Dragon's Lair from Cataroo
- Syd Bolton's Dragon's Lair page with detailed information on each version
- Dragon's Lair Blu-Ray Review
- Dragon's Lair HD Preview @ IGN Vault Network
- The Dot Eaters Article featuring a history of Dragon's Lair and the 80's laser game craze