Release
Saturday, December 29, 1990
Critic score
55/100
Platform families
1
Editorial overview
Inside Dragon's Lair
What it is
Dragon's Lair is a side-scrolling platform game based on the laserdisc game of the same name released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and developed by the MotiveTime group. Plotwise, the game is identical to the original.
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. The controller layout is reversed from other mainstream NES titles, with Select functioning as the Pause-button while Start is used for the Candle object (which helps reveal hidden weapons). Also, B is used for jumping, and A for attacking (the input of the A & B buttons is almost always the opposite in similar NES games).
Two different versions were released later, first for the Famicom, with major improvements on playability and speed, and a second one for PAL regions, expanding upon the Famicom version with new enemies and cutscenes.
The premise
Unlike the original Dragon's Lair, where gameplay depended on quick time events, the player fully controls Dirk as he makes his way through the castle defeating enemies and avoiding obstacles to rescue Princess Daphne. Dirk now has equipped throwing knives to launch at enemies rather than using his sword, and the game features gold collectibles.
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