Dragon's Lair (1990 video game)

Dragon's Lair
Developer(s)	MotiveTime
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)	Mark Cooksey
Series	Dragon's Lair
Platforms	NES
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Action-platformer
Mode(s)	Single-player or Two-player (taking turns)

Dragon's Lair (ドラゴンズレア, Doragonzu Rea) 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.

Gameplay

The Drawbridge, the first level of the game

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).

Difficulty

Reception
Review scores Publication Score AllGame Defunct Games (F)

Due to the game's sluggish pace and the fact that most enemies are able to instantly kill Dirk with one touch (only the smallest enemies, such as bats, drain Dirk's life bar instead of killing him outright), the game received extremely negative reviews for its high difficulty level. The game is not unbeatable, but requires the player to learn the timing of the game's enemies and obstacles through repetition. The game's poor controls, lack of checkpoints, and finite number of lives, however, makes this nearly impossible and unplayable.

Another factor adding to the game's immense difficulty is the fact that the player can only lose five lives before being forced to start the entire game over. Also, in between levels, the player is taken to an elevator that travels between different floors, like in the arcade game. If the player gets off at the correct floor, they can continue the game. If the player gets off at the wrong floor, they are forced to replay a previous level.

Regional differences

The jump button has been changed from B to Up in the Japanese release.

Levels

• The Drawbridge
• The Dungeon
• The Elevator
• The Mines
• The Reaper's Domain
• The Dragon's Lair
• The Lizard King's Throne Room (bonus level)

After the Dungeon section the player must go through an elevator stage where the player dodges falling rocks and must jump out at the appropriate floor to enter the next level. The player cannot explore freely, but instead jumping on the wrong floor forces him to replay the previous level. The Lizard King's throne room is located at the bottom and can be entered anytime to recover all the gold that the Lizard King has stolen from the player. Unlike everywhere else, here touching the Lizard King leads to an instant death. Artwork for the game was provided by Don Bluth, animator of the original Dragon's Lair laserdisc game.

Reception

The game was panned by critics and gamers due to its poor controls, trudging movement and immense difficulty level, even criticized for the player being able to die by almost any object in one hit. Allgame gave the game a 1 and a half star rating and says "one word: Frustration".

External links

• Dragon's Lair at IMDb