Game Debate #153: Dragon's Lair

[Reed Rothchild | 9,507]

The SNES and NES games are indeed nothing alike.

I was considering breaking this poll out for all of the different versions, but opted against it.  The original is the only one I consider notable enough.

[Tulpa | 3,488]

It was absolutely mindblowing for the time, and I suspect that people were willing to put up with its flaws and expense just to see the next scene play out.

It'd be like if we had a holodeck today, but it socked you in the balls every few minutes.

[mbd39 | 2,017]

I've never even played it. It rates high as a tech showcase for the time and as a piece of art. As a game I doubt it's good.

 

[wongojack | 211]

16 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

Here's a comparison between the US, Europe, and Japan Famicom versions.

 

Thank You!  The speed is an improvement, but I honestly think I'd rather memorize the arcade game patterns than deal with the patterns of projectiles and vertically-tiered enemy avoidance strategies needed to actually make progress in any of those versions.  I'll put trying one of the non-US versions somewhere on my list of backlog items though.

Edited May 12, 2023 by wongojack

[Tulpa | 3,488]

Yeah, it's still not an NES game to write home about, but it's at least functional. I don't know why anyone would put themselves through the US version when these exist (NES completion dudes excepted, they have no choice. )

[Tanooki | 4,929]

@wongojack Hmmm.  Now that I think of it I remember seeing that in the past about the GB being a re-skin of not a good game to start with so scratch that.  GBC I bought that back when it came out, but re-picked it up again a few years ago.  Love-hate, it was $10 worth it to me to keep mentality basically.  I know enough of the maps or can look them up, read up, and it's accurate on moves short of some removed from the long Smithy sequence so that's likely why it's a win.

Seeing what @Tulpa has though...yeah that's in the win category for everyone but the US.  Yikes, I may have to see if I can try it myself here later and maybe fish for a famicom copy of the game if I like it.

I just don't want the old game anymore without the QTEs, speed isn't an issue, memory turns rage inducing so I don't care to do that.  I'll check the SNES one too though since they all vary.  Space Ace was screwball too if you look at SNES, there is some utterly huge squares 'video' (hah) clips of the laserdisc game mixed with what appears to be a pretty crappy unique title as well but I've not tried it.  Space Ace just never got handed around as much, nor as Dragon's Lair 2 really either.

 

 

Edit: Just watched that video.  Japan wins.  Europe has the right speed, but then they added in a lot of added cheap death moments or creatures causing them given Dirk's size being quite hard to avoid.  Shame they took a step back there, but still not the dumpster fire the US got.  Now I know which is definitively the best.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Tanooki

[G-type | 2,476]

awesome visuals, but not really fun. I remember being so excited when I first saw an arcade game with graphics that looked like a real cartoon, only to be very disappointed when I found out you only had a indirect control of it and that it was hard as shit.

[WhyNotZoidberg | 585]

8/10 for me.

 

It came as a bonus game with the 3DO my family somehow ended up with in '94. True, the challenge resides exclusively in memorizing the inputs to keep the scenes going, but I still had a lot of fun doing it just to see what each next room would hold. 
 

I do like to recommend the game, it's the best among its kind

[cj_robot | 540]

Princess Daphne, yo

10/10

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

6 hours ago, WhyNotZoidberg said:

8/10 for me.

 

It came as a bonus game with the 3DO my family somehow ended up with in '94. True, the challenge resides exclusively in memorizing the inputs to keep the scenes going, but I still had a lot of fun doing it just to see what each next room would hold. 
 

I do like to recommend the game, it's the best among its kind

I didn't even know there was a 3DO version. I found a playthrough on YouTube and it looks like you can clear the game in about 10 minutes if you know what to do.

[koifish | 555]

On 5/12/2023 at 9:37 AM, Tulpa said:

It was absolutely mindblowing for the time, and I suspect that people were willing to put up with its flaws and expense just to see the next scene play out.

It'd be like if we had a holodeck today, but it socked you in the balls every few minutes.

I see you're a VR enthusiast as well

[koifish | 555]

I gave it 2/10. It could honestly deserve less but I felt somewhat generous (and I didn't really think it was worse than desert bus).

 

This game is the epitome of what I hate in games. It's all flash, zero substance, with a nice cartoon to hide the fact that playing it sucks. As so many have echoed, if I want a game, I want a game. If I want a movie, then I'll watch a movie. I'd honestly have more fun playing with a DVD player and moving the menu highlights around. Actually as I think of it more, I'd probably rather pack and move a house than play this game. I revise my score, it's a 0/10. Good try Don, and good cartoon, but ultimately proof of why games shouldn't try to be movies. 40 years and we still haven't learned this!

[Tulpa | 3,488]

1 hour ago, koifish said:

I see you're a VR enthusiast as well

At least with VR, your happy sacks are safe.

 

Unless Ted comes over and sneaks up on you while you have your headset on. Fuckin' Ted.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

2 hours ago, koifish said:

This game is the epitome of what I hate in games. It's all flash, zero substance, with a nice cartoon to hide the fact that playing it sucks.

This.

[JamesRobot | 5,786]

Pretty crappy game.  But still a cool concept.  Can't go any higher than a 3.

[rdrunner | 422]

7/10 - While I can definitely not see myself putting quarters into the actual machine, I had a lot of fun playing this game on Xbox 360.

I also have fun memories of the listening to the curator at Funspot tell stories about restoring his cabinet while standing next to it.  He would stop in mid-sentence every time the demo movie played, recite it perfectly, then go back to what he was saying.

Edited May 18, 2023 by rdrunner