''Dragon's Lair'' is an
interactive film LaserDisc video game
An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, o ...
developed by
Advanced Microcomputer Systems and published by
Cinematronics
Cinematronics Incorporated was an arcade game video game developer, developer that primarily released vector graphics games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other companies released games based on raster graphics, raster displays, early ...
in 1983, as the first game in the ''
Dragon's Lair
''Dragon's Lair'' is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer. The series is notable for its film-quality animation by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms. It has also been adapte ...
'' series. In the game, the protagonist Dirk the Daring is a knight attempting to rescue
Princess Daphne from the evil dragon Singe who has locked the princess in the foul wizard Mordroc's castle. It featured animation by ex-
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
animator
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...
.
Most other games of the era represented the character as a
sprite, which consisted of a series of pixels displayed in succession. 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 (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
but imposed other limitations on the actual gameplay.
The success of the game sparked numerous home
ports Ports collections (or ports trees, or just ports) are the sets of makefiles and Patch (Unix), patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages. T ...
, sequels and related games. In the 21st century it has been
repackaged in a number of formats as a retro or historic game.
Gameplay
The game is "
on rails
Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms.
0–9
A
...
", meaning the narrative is predetermined and the player has very limited influence on its progression. The game consists almost entirely of animated cutscenes. The player does not control the character's actions directly, but controls his reflexes, with actions determined by selecting a direction or pressing a button in order to clear each
quick time event, with different
full motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than Sprite (computer graphics), sprites, vector graphics, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games featur ...
segments showing the outcomes. The game consists of a sequence of challenges played in a random order. Some scenes are played more than once before reaching the end, some of which are flipped or mirrored such that the opposite actions (e.g. left instead of right) are required.
Plot
The
attract mode
Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms.
0–9
A
...
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 knight, 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!"
Comedic aspects of the game include bizarre-looking creatures and humorous death scenes, and the portrayal of the player character as a clumsy, easily scared and reluctant hero.
Development
''Dragon's Lair'' began as a concept by Rick Dyer, president of Advanced Microcomputer Systems (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
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proce ...
s for each episode as a guide for the final animation. Dyer was inspired by the text game ''
Adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
''. 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
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an Interactive storytelling, interactive story, driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus ...
, ''The Secrets of the Lost Woods''. The game's concept as an interactive movie LaserDisc game was inspired by
Sega
is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
's ''
Astron Belt'', which Dyer saw at the 1982 AMOA show.
Attempts to market ''The Fantasy Machine'' had repeatedly failed. Allegedly, an
Ideal Toy Company
Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy ...
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'' is a 1982 American animated Fantasy film, fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien (author), Robert C. O'Brien's children's novel, ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N ...
'', whereby he realized he needed quality animation and an action script to bring excitement to his game. He elected to take a reserved but unscripted location from ''The Secrets of the Lost Woods'' known as ''The Dragon's Lair''.
The game was animated by veteran Disney animator and ''The Secret of NIMH'' director
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...
and his studio. The game had a development budget of US$3 million and took seven months to complete. Since the studio could not 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: Time Warp''). 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 was provided by film editor Dan Molina, who later went on to perform the bubbling sound effects for another animated character,
Fish Out of Water
Fish out of water is an idiom used to refer to a person who is in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings.
Fish out of water may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Fish Out of Water'' (1993 film), a Danish film
* ''Fish Out of ...
, from the 2005 Disney film ''
Chicken Little'', which he also edited. 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
The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy-disk storage that was manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Although it was not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was innovative in its integratio ...
and
Memorymoog.
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 (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170.
In 1953, a second ...
LaserDisc player manufactured by Pioneer; the other side of the disc was metal backed to prevent bending. This made the disc heavier than a typical laser disc, which accelerated the failure of the spindle bearings of the player motor.
The European versions of the game were manufactured by
Atari
Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...
under license and used single side
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
discs manufactured by
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
(not metal backed).
A prototype made its debut at Chicago's Amusement Operators Expo (AOE) in March 1983. The complete laserdisc and ROM sets of this preview demo version have not survived to this day. The European 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. The original Fantasy Machine was later released as a prototype video game console known as
Halcyon. Dirk the Daring also appeared in the 1993
Game Boy
The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...
puzzle game, ''Franky, Joe & Dirk: On the Tiles'', along with Franky from ''
Dr. Franken'' and Joe from ''
Joe & Mac''.
Home versions
''Dragon's Lair'' led to the creation of numerous video game
ports Ports collections (or ports trees, or just ports) are the sets of makefiles and Patch (Unix), patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages. T ...
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 Castle'':
* A
nonlinear
In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear system) is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathe ...
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.
* A
side-scrolling
A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...
cinematic platformer adaptation of the game was also made for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
, titled ''
Dragon's Lair
''Dragon's Lair'' is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer. The series is notable for its film-quality animation by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms. It has also been adapte ...
''.
* 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
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...
game, ''
Roller Coaster
A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...
'', the result being a platform game where Dirk has to negotiate a series of thinly-disguised fairground rides. The later
Game Boy Color
The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...
version
of the same name, however, is a relatively faithful rendition of the original game.
* Another platformer adaptation of the game was also made for the
Super NES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...
, also titled ''Dragon's Lair''.
* ''The Dragon's Lair Deluxe Pack'' was released for home computers containing all the FMVs for all three games. Though it contains all the video including some scenes cut from the North American version of the game, the gameplay was reported as lackluster.
* ReadySoft ported and released ''Dragon's Lair'' for the
Macintosh computers
Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
on CD-ROM in 1994. A
Sega CD
The Sega CD, known as in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory and format for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. Originally released in November 1991, it ca ...
version was also released.
*
DAPHNE
Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater.
There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...
, 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
MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods ...
video stream and
Ogg
Ogg is a digital multimedia container format designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of digital multimedia. It is maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation and is free and open, unrestricted by software patents. Its name is ...
Vorbis
Vorbis is a free and open-source software project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The project produces an audio coding format and software reference encoder/decoder ( codec) for lossy audio compression, libvorbis. Vorbis is most comm ...
audio stream can be substituted for the LaserDisc. These streams can be generated from the original LaserDisc or from Digital Leisure's 2002 DVD.
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 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
''Another Magazine'', styled ''AnOther'', is an international fashion and culture
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, bel ...
gave 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
Software Projects was a computer game development company which was started by ''Manic Miner'' developer Matthew Smith (games programmer), Matthew Smith, Alan Maton and Colin Roach. After leaving Bug-Byte as a freelance developer, Smith was abl ...
, while
ReadySoft handled the 16-bit versions. These used video compression and new storage techniques but came on multiple
-inch and
-inch floppy disks.
In late 2002, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original arcade release,
Digital Leisure produced a special edition DVD box set containing ''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. Digital Leisure worked with a small independent game developer, Derek Sweet, to release a CD-ROM 4-disc box set for Windows-based PCs.
In 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). 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, or Blu-ray Disc Java, is a specification supporting Java ME (specifically the Personal Basis Profile of the Connected Device Configuration or CDC) Xlets for advanced content on Blu-ray Disc and the Packaged Media profile of Globally Execut ...
technology. In 2013, ''Dragon's Lair'' was released on Steam via
Steam Greenlight. This iteration of ''Dragon's Lair'' features 720p remastered video, remastered game footage, and bonus content.
The home conversions received mixed reviews. The Commodore 64/128 version of the game was reviewed in 1988 in ''
Dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
'' #133 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
''
GameFan
''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising, and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and imported video games. It was notable for it ...
'' reviewed the
Sega CD
The Sega CD, known as in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory and format for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. Originally released in November 1991, it ca ...
version, scoring it 297 out of 400. ''
GamePro
''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' reviewed the Sega CD version in 1994. They commented that the controls require such precise timing that the game can be very frustrating, and criticized the lack of replay value and grainy video quality, but were positive in their assessment of the game, asserting that "''
Time Gal'', ''
Road Avenger
is an interactive film game developed by Data East, featuring animation by Toei Animation, originally released in Japan as a laserdisc, LaserDisc-based arcade game in 1985. The player assumes the role of a vigilante who pursues a biker gang resp ...
'', and ''
Sewer Shark
''Sewer Shark'' is a first-person rail shooter video game, and is the first on a home console to use full motion video for its primary gameplay. It was originally slated to be the flagship product in Hasbro's Control-Vision video game system, ...
'' are all coy imitators of the best LaserDisc arcade game there ever was... ''Dragon's Lair''!" In 1994, ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The magazine was fou ...
'' gave the Sega CD version a 6.2 out of 10, criticizing that "pinpoint accuracy" was required to complete the game, making it too frustrating.
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' gave the
3DO version a 7 out of 10, praising the superior graphics and short load times. They gave the CD-i version a 7.5 out of 10, with all four of their reviewers agreeing it to be the best home version of the game to date. ''
Next Generation'' reviewed the CD-i version of the game, rating it two stars out of five. Though they concurred that it was an arcade-perfect conversion, they concluded that "People who like the stand-up version or enjoyed any of Don Bluth's other titles
..will be in heaven, otherwise it's probably best avoided."
* In July 2010, the
iOS
Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
version was released by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
on Apple's
App Store
An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...
. The game's graphics have been cleaned up for the
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
screen.
* In early 2019, HarmlessLion released ''Dragon's Lair'' under a license from Digital Leisure for the
TI-99/4A
The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments (TI) in 1979 and 1981, respectively.
Based on TI's own TMS9900 microprocessor originally used in minicomputers, the TI-99/4 was the first 16-bit home computer. The assoc ...
home computer. It was released as a 128MB cartridge playable on the stock console.
* In March 2022, Brutal Deluxe, in celebrating their 30th anniversary, ported ''Dragon's Lair'' to the
Apple IIGS
The Apple IIGS (styled as II) is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer beginning in September 1986. It is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound" ...
computer, using resources from ReadySoft's Amiga, Atari ST and PC DOS versions from decades earlier.
Reception
''Dragon's Lair'' initially represented high hopes for the then-sagging arcade industry, fronting the new wave of immersive LaserDisc video games. A quote from ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' 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." 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 its unique predefined game play, leading them to "get the hang of it and stop playing it".
By July 1983, 1,000 machines had been distributed, and there were already a backlog of about 7,500.
Lifetime sales exceeded 16,000 cabinets. By the end of 1983, ''
Electronic Games
''Electronic Games'' was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States and ran from October 15, 1981, to 1997 under different titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley, and Arnie Katz.
History
The h ...
'' 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".
John Nubbin reviewed ''Dragon's Lair'' for ''
Different Worlds
''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987.
Scope
''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...
'' magazine and stated that "Most who have tried ''Dragon's Lair''
..like it - enough to keep shoving 50 cents into it time and time again."
The game topped the monthly US ''RePlay'' charts for upright
arcade cabinet
An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
s from September 1983 through November 1983, and topped the US ''
Play Meter
''Play Meter'' (initially ''Coin Industry Play Meter'') was an American trade magazine focusing on the coin-op amusement arcade industry, including jukebox and arcade game machines. It was founded in December 1974 by publisher and editor Ralph C ...
'' arcade charts for
arcade locations (such as
ShowBiz Pizza Place) from September 1983
through
January 1984 and again in March 1984. It was listed by ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' magazine as America's third highest-grossing
arcade game of 1983, below ''
Ms. Pac-Man'' and ''
Pole Position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
''. By February 1984, ''Dragon's Lair'' was reported to have earned over ( adjusted for inflation) for Cinematronics. In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Dragon's Lair'' on their October 1, 1984 issue as being the eleventh most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month.
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".
Arcade owners were also displeased with the mechanical unreliability of the LaserDisc drive.
In 1995,
Flux
Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications in physics. For transport phe ...
magazine rated the arcade version 47th on its Top 100 Video Games writing: "A somewhat frustrating movement-timing factor, but still fun to play and watch." In 2001,
GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
ranked ''Dragon's Lair'' as number 7 on the list of "Top 50 Arcade Games of All-Time". It was one of only three video games (along with ''
Pong
''Pong'' is a 1972 sports video game developed and published by Atari for arcades. It is one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, but B ...
'' and ''
Pac-Man
''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...
'') put in storage at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
.
Releases
Cultural references
''Dragon's Lair'' appears in the ''
Stranger Things
''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...
'' episode "
Chapter One: MADMAX" (2017).
See also
*
''Dragon's Lair'' (TV series) (1984–85)
Notes
References
External links
*
''Dragon's Lair''at Classicgaming.cc
*
*
Syd Bolton's ''Dragon's Lair'' page with detailed information on each versionThe Dot Eaters Articlefeaturing a history of ''Dragon's Lair'' and the 80's laser game craze
Dragon's Lair Project
{{Authority control
Dragon's Lair
1983 video games
3DO games
Amiga games
Amstrad CPC games
Android (operating system) games
Arcade video games
Atari Jaguar CD games
Atari ST games
Cancelled Sega Genesis games
CD-i games
Cinematronics games
Classic Mac OS games
Commodore 64 games
CP/M games
DOS games
DSiWare games
DVD interactive technology
Full motion video based games
IOS games
Kinect games
LaserDisc video games
Linux games
MacOS games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo DS games
PlayStation Network games
Sega CD games
Steam Greenlight games
Video games developed in the United States
Wii games
Windows games
Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
ZX Spectrum games
Code Mystics games
Merit Studios games
Digital Leisure games
Video games designed by Don Bluth
Coleco games
RDI Video Systems games
Visionary Design Technologies games