Dragon's Lair (1990 video game)

Dragon's Lair
North American cover art
Developer(s)Motivetime
Publisher(s)
Programmer(s)Andy Williams
Artist(s)David Percival
Composer(s)Mark Cooksey
SeriesDragon's Lair
Platform(s)Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
  • NA: December 1990
  • JP: September 20, 1991
  • EU: January 3, 1992
Genre(s)Cinematic platformer
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer[a]

Dragon's Lair[b][c] is a cinematic platform video game developed by Motivetime and published by CSG Imagesoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Based on the LaserDisc game of the same name, it is identical plotwise to the original.

Gameplay

The game is a side-scroller with the character walking slowly. Dirk can walk, crawl, or jump forward, and he has an array of weapons that he can discover and use to dispose of enemies. There are seven areas of the castle and four main levels of play.[1]

The Drawbridge, the first level of the game

Regional differences

PAL and Famicom versions have faster gameplay than the original North American release due to improved framerate.[2][3] Both versions also use 256KB ROMs compared to the US's 128KB ROM.[3] Furthermore, the PAL version has also additional enemies in The Entrance Hall level: spiders, flying insects, and a giant snake boss at the end; new death animation (when Dirk gets flattened); splash screens that appear as the player enters each level (beside The Dungeon stage); and The Elevator Shaft area has increased difficulty with added projectiles flying around, touching one is instant death.[3] The Japanese and PAL versions play most of the songs faster. Also, a part of the ending theme was changed.

The 30 Life Code was added exclusively to the PAL and Japanese versions. It gives 30 lives to the player after they gain a high score and enter "BATS" as their name. The player will get the extra lives in their next game.[3]

Reception

The game was panned by critics due to its poor controls, sluggish movement, and immense difficulty level. The game was especially criticized for the player dying in one hit from most obstacles (even by touching a door) and enemies, despite the player having a health bar.[citation needed]

GamePro's Charlie T. Astan were one of the few to give the game a positive score, noting it as having "brilliant graphics" and a "high frustration factor", though Astan speculated that with how the player is defeated in "all sorts of amusing and creative ways", that "you might come to like it."[4]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Up to 2 players with alternating turns.
  2. ^ Japanese: ドラゴンズレア, Hepburn: Doragonzu Rea
  3. ^ titled as Sullivan Bluth Presents: Dragon's Lair on the cover art and in-game as Sullivan Bluth's Dragon's Lair or Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair
  4. ^ In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review, two critics gave Dragon's Lair a 4/10, one a 3/10, and another a 5/10.[6]

References

  1. ^ Dragon's Lair Instruction Manual. CSG Imagesoft. 1990. p. 9.
  2. ^ "Sullivan Bluth Presents Dragon's Lair for NES (1990)". MobyGames. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Dragon's Lair (NES)". The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Aslan, Charlie T. (October 1990). "Nintendo ProView: Dragon's Lair" (PDF). GamePro. pp. 60–61.
  5. ^ Baker, Christopher Michael. "Dragon's Lair - Review". AllGame. San Francisco: All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  6. ^ Harris, Steve; Semrad, Ed; Alessi, Martin; Sushi-X (March 1991). "Dragon's Lair". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 4, no. 3. p. 16.
  7. ^ "Dragon's Lair Review". Mean Machines. January 1992. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Lachel, Cyril (May 22, 2012). "Dragon's Lair Review for NES (1990)". Defunct Games. Retrieved January 7, 2014.