Seeing Dragon's Lair as a child in the 80s changed my life! I ended up studying art in college because of it. I own several OG animation model sheet from the game. thank for making this video.
I really enjoyed this! A delightful encapsulation of this title in its context. I also liked the clip of you at the end. It's a good reminder of the humans who make these things.
I seriously love Dragon's Lair. I must have been six when I first played it. I spent most of the time watching teenagers beat the game and finally did so myself when CD tech meagered with the PC sometimes back in the early 90's. I adore the animation to this day.
You'd put your 10p or whatever into this machine and 10 seconds later you'd be dead. It was quicktime events without the prompts. Looked amazing but boy were the arcade owners pissed about the maintenance of the machines (joystick rage) and moreso the players who'd play it one or two times then never return. It was a bad, bad game. Looked good tho. And it does say something to its staying power that I remember it being in our local 'arcade' into the late '80s maybe even early '90s.
Cowtipping what needs to be done I think, is make a game that looks like this ,same animation style ,but give the player total control! I've never seen a game like that but correct me if I'm wrong!
That little blurb at the end there made me do a double take, a company whose content makes me laugh/transcend reality on a near-weekly basis was in the vicinity of a place I interned at for a couple months. Keep up the good good work y'all!
I could play Dragon’s lair from begin to end. Yes, it was expensive to play, but it was the eighties. The demise of these laser disk games was that they were always breaking down. You would see them out of order in almost every arcade you went to. And they were terribly expensive to fix. So, the arcade owners would have 1 or 2 of these laser disc games sitting around losing money. Just the way I recall it.
As someone who is 50+, I remember when DL popped up at the local arcade. It blew our minds. We were playing what looked like a Saturday morning cartoon. Even now, especially with the stupid rebirth of 8bit-style graphics, the game has an amazing graphic quality.
I used to play this game in the arcade in 83. It was incredibly popular. I remember it being the first arcade game that cost 50 cents, double what the other games cost. It truly was a phenomenon.
Dragons Lair was the first game I ever saw in which the arcade owners would hookup a monitor to the cabinet and place it on top of the machine because the machine always had a crowd of people around it watching the person play.
It was meant to be, but it was replaced with a live action idea. Hopefully, it will be cancelled and we won't see another animated classic turned bad, like they're doing with all the classic Disney cartoons.
Dragons Lair is one of those games that I never really played, but that I have a huge fondness for because of the art style. (I had a crush on Princess Daphne) Great video, Simone! 👍
That cash register paper game at 2:19 is wild. But also it looks like the controls include a ZZYZX command. I thought it was referencing the spell XYZZY from Colossal Cave Adventure at first, but ZZYZX is actually the name of an abandoned "healing" town in the California desert founded in the 40s by a medical quack/evangelist. So I guess it's supposed to be a play on words between the two?
Don is one of my Dad's cousins. I remember raving about this particular game (but saw Space Ace at the local Chuck E. Cheese earlier) and he told me as much. I thought maybe he was pulling my leg, but he'd been super faithful to follow his films. I looked him up in the geneaological records at the Marion G. Romney library in 1992 in what is now BYU-Idaho, and I found that it all checked out, that it was true. There was a sequel: Dragon's Lair II.. not as good, but still interesting. Anyways, I *was* there for this. I was there for the Great Video Game Crash of 1983. The games absolutely were slick for the time, but I remember reading Bluth saying (COMPUTE! magazine, I think?) that the laserdisc setups were horridly expensive: something like a cool 10KUS$, or thereabouts. But I'd say it really did pave the way for the "game" extras you might find on a DVD of a movie.. but of course none of them as fantastic.
This was great! I had this game on CD, and I don't think I got past the first room of the castle. I was doing good just to get past the drawbridge. :P I would love to see more mini-docs like this!
4:59 “Dragon’s Lair itself wasn’t the future of video games” I disagree seeing as how ubiquitous quick time events have become. It seems as if many games are unable to tell stories without them.
I would say explore a hybrid solution, hand painted backgrounds could be mapped onto 3d geo to give that freedom of movement but the characters HAVE to be hand drawn! That is of paramount importance as it’s the emotional link to your audience ( people really expect that cell animated magic)Don Bluth is the best! Can’t wait to see the film!
A few days ago I listened to an episode of the Polygon Show and had the same thought as when watching this video: Simone has such a soothing voice. Also, what an interesting topic!
When this came out, I was 13. Fifty cents wasn't really practical on a $5 a week allowance. This game was incredibly hard to memorize. It lost me on a single dollar at Malibu Grand Prix in Oklahoma City that day. This was a fantastic piece! Good work and very informative.
Great video thanks for sharing, I have recently published some game play of 'Dragon's Lair TimeWarp' which the successor of the original Dragon's Lair and it was published on the Philips CDI platform.
AS PROMISED, the written story is here: www.polygon.com/videos/2017/10/27/16537352/stranger-things-season-2-dragons-lair-history
Seeing Dragon's Lair as a child in the 80s changed my life! I ended up studying art in college because of it. I own several OG animation model sheet from the game. thank for making this video.
"Let's coin up"
I really enjoyed this! A delightful encapsulation of this title in its context. I also liked the clip of you at the end. It's a good reminder of the humans who make these things.
I actually met one of the animators who worked on Dragon's Lair and some of the other games, Will Finn, the other day
I seriously love Dragon's Lair. I must have been six when I first played it. I spent most of the time watching teenagers beat the game and finally did so myself when CD tech meagered with the PC sometimes back in the early 90's. I adore the animation to this day.
Please do more videos like this, Simone ❤️ we love it
I had a friend next door whose dad had a laser disc, so I used to go over and play dragons lair with his tv remote, this was in like 2009 lmao
You'd put your 10p or whatever into this machine and 10 seconds later you'd be dead. It was quicktime events without the prompts. Looked amazing but boy were the arcade owners pissed about the maintenance of the machines (joystick rage) and moreso the players who'd play it one or two times then never return. It was a bad, bad game. Looked good tho. And it does say something to its staying power that I remember it being in our local 'arcade' into the late '80s maybe even early '90s.
Cowtipping what needs to be done I think, is make a game that looks like this ,same animation style ,but give the player total control! I've never seen a game like that but correct me if I'm wrong!
sounds like a oxymoron. a bad, bad game that lasted 20 years ROFL.
That little blurb at the end there made me do a double take, a company whose content makes me laugh/transcend reality on a near-weekly basis was in the vicinity of a place I interned at for a couple months. Keep up the good good work y'all!
Oh MAN do I remember how unbelievably frustrating Dragon's Lair was. It was such a cool looking game, and it was just unplayable. Great video, Simone!
It was just trial and error.
Love these simone! This and the night trap vid were a lot of fun :O
I could play Dragon’s lair from begin to end. Yes, it was expensive to play, but it was the eighties. The demise of these laser disk games was that they were always breaking down. You would see them out of order in almost every arcade you went to. And they were terribly expensive to fix. So, the arcade owners would have 1 or 2 of these laser disc games sitting around losing money. Just the way I recall it.
Dragon's Lair and Dragon's Lair II are both on Steam and most platforms
As someone who is 50+, I remember when DL popped up at the local arcade. It blew our minds. We were playing what looked like a Saturday morning cartoon. Even now, especially with the stupid rebirth of 8bit-style graphics, the game has an amazing graphic quality.
I used to play this game in the arcade in 83. It was incredibly popular. I remember it being the first arcade game that cost 50 cents, double what the other games cost. It truly was a phenomenon.
Dragons Lair was the first game I ever saw in which the arcade owners would hookup a monitor to the cabinet and place it on top of the machine because the machine always had a crowd of people around it watching the person play.
Now Don Bluth is making a _Dragon's Lair_ movie made entirely of hand-drawn animation.
It was meant to be, but it was replaced with a live action idea. Hopefully, it will be cancelled and we won't see another animated classic turned bad, like they're doing with all the classic Disney cartoons.
Fuck, this is really good. Simone, love this format are you showing that Polygon channel can be funny and also serious.
hey i really enjoyed this little mini documentary, I hope to see more!
Dragons Lair is one of those games that I never really played, but that I have a huge fondness for because of the art style. (I had a crush on Princess Daphne) Great video, Simone! 👍
this laserdisc is gigantique
We love you Simone
Simone's professional voice is unusual/pleasant to hear.
It's just the usual Tide Pod cadence.
MORE MOMMA
I had a version for the old Macintosh that I played as a kid in the 90s. I could never save the damsel, but I got a lot of nostalgia out of it.
I really enjoy these informative videos! I get excited whenever I see a new one and hope there's more to come!!
My friend, Steve McTilloturlerl, loves to play that game on his favorite system!
That cash register paper game at 2:19 is wild. But also it looks like the controls include a ZZYZX command. I thought it was referencing the spell XYZZY from Colossal Cave Adventure at first, but ZZYZX is actually the name of an abandoned "healing" town in the California desert founded in the 40s by a medical quack/evangelist. So I guess it's supposed to be a play on words between the two?
Don is one of my Dad's cousins. I remember raving about this particular game (but saw Space Ace at the local Chuck E. Cheese earlier) and he told me as much. I thought maybe he was pulling my leg, but he'd been super faithful to follow his films. I looked him up in the geneaological records at the Marion G. Romney library in 1992 in what is now BYU-Idaho, and I found that it all checked out, that it was true.
There was a sequel: Dragon's Lair II.. not as good, but still interesting. Anyways, I *was* there for this. I was there for the Great Video Game Crash of 1983. The games absolutely were slick for the time, but I remember reading Bluth saying (COMPUTE! magazine, I think?) that the laserdisc setups were horridly expensive: something like a cool 10KUS$, or thereabouts. But I'd say it really did pave the way for the "game" extras you might find on a DVD of a movie.. but of course none of them as fantastic.
Honestly? One of my favorite videos polygon has put up to date. Simone did a great job!
Simone, keep making videos like this about whatever games you want. This was great!
bless simone's existence in this world
This was great! I had this game on CD, and I don't think I got past the first room of the castle. I was doing good just to get past the drawbridge. :P I would love to see more mini-docs like this!
I really like these documentary pieces. More please.
4:59 “Dragon’s Lair itself wasn’t the future of video games”
I disagree seeing as how ubiquitous quick time events have become. It seems as if many games are unable to tell stories without them.
QTE's have mostly died out in video games in the last few years.
@@rn6312 They’ve decreased in their amount, but they have not died out.
@@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive You need to learn what the word "mostly" means, schmuck.
I would say explore a hybrid solution, hand painted backgrounds could be mapped onto 3d geo to give that freedom of movement but the characters HAVE to be hand drawn! That is of paramount importance as it’s the emotional link to your audience ( people really expect that cell animated magic)Don Bluth is the best! Can’t wait to see the film!
More video essays with Simone!
i remember watching my dad play this game as a kid
I love you Mum
You know what you really should have linked in the description below? The elevator music
Rest in Peace Holly's Pappy :(
Holy dang we need more Polygon on the streets of New York
A few days ago I listened to an episode of the Polygon Show and had the same thought as when watching this video: Simone has such a soothing voice. Also, what an interesting topic!
2 is a hoot just by the merit of how trippy it can get.
When this came out, I was 13. Fifty cents wasn't really practical on a $5 a week allowance. This game was incredibly hard to memorize. It lost me on a single dollar at Malibu Grand Prix in Oklahoma City that day.
This was a fantastic piece! Good work and very informative.
Just the video I was looking for, thanks guys
Windswept Simone is my handsome dad
More please!!!!!
Great video thanks for sharing, I have recently published some game play of 'Dragon's Lair TimeWarp' which the successor of the original Dragon's Lair and it was published on the Philips CDI platform.
This is an excellent video
great video simone!
more of these please
Great video. Excellent work! :)
If only Don Bluth did not go out of business, then we could've had a lot more animated games besides Dragon's Lair and Space Ace.
I wish I had come across this sooner! I would have spent so much on that kickstarter :D
Nice ending, Simone. Keep up the insightful content.
this was awesome! please make more like it
Daphne should be played by Natalie Dormer in a live action movie.
Fantastic job. Keep it up.
thanks simone, that was unusuakky informative;-) I'd highly appreciate more content like that.
Good job, nicely done video.
What was the clip of the random cartoon? Looked like it could have come from some version of Gulliver’s travels.
Awesome video!
There was a hologram game of this too
Huh, why isn't this on the main Polygon site?
It will be! I have a... 1500 word article waiting to be published, and it'll go up Friday morning. :)
Great video :-)
Wait wha? Why was the end filmed walking down the street?
What's the cartoon at 3:39?
Ohka that might be "Rock and Rule"?
animated sequence from the movie xanadu
What happened to Ryan Reynolds playing Dirk?
I think the movie got cancelled, and it would be a miracle.
*That's a lie.*
I was never tired of computer graphic style games as an 80s kid.
By 83, much of the public was, unfortunately.
Simone is good.
Wow Simone is so beautiful
2:15
Rick Diarrheas?
It would appear someone at vox wanted to remind us that they own polygon
This Simone persona is so much better than the Simone persona from the Q and A sessions and Video Game Theater.