It was indeed a novel and original looking game. I disliked the lack of control I noticed the one time I paid to play. I was accustomed to instant responses from characters like Pac Man for example. Regarding its "graphics" I agree they are impressive especially for 1983.
@@chirojohn75 *"he's talking about an arcade game. This was revolutionary at that time. Nothing else was like it."* Yes, I know what he's talking about. I'm just pointing out what it actually was, it was a video player where if you clicked the joystick or the sword button at the right time, you could progress. It was just a laserdisk where you were selecting tracks and given a timeframe to do it. It was *absolutely amazing* to me when I first saw it, but now that I understand it, not so much. It's just a laserdisk where you're given a timeframe to click a switch in a predetermined order. What was absolutely remarkable about it at the time, is that it looked like a computer generated graphic - something unthinkable at the time. It wasn't until the early 1990's that full motion video could be done on a computer. I understand the simplicity of it, and the genius of making use of that simplicity, but the game itself - mengh. It was remarkable for its time for LOOKING incredible, but it didn't age well. I can play this game through easily today, because it's only about reaction to cues on the screen. Any kid could master this game in an hour or so today. Any kid back then could - if they dumped $20 worth of quarters into it - about 40 tries at practice - it was 50 cents a game. There's a reason no new game like this exists today. Although it LOOKS amazing, it's not very challenging or interesting once you master it because you're so restricted to the world. It was just a choose your own adventure book in graphical form - remember those?
@Brett R I'm not comparing Dragon's Lair to games today. I'm saying, because I know this to be true, is that this game was a big hit, when it hit arcades, and that hoopla lasted perhaps a month. It looked incredible, but the game play itself, players quickly abandoned it.
Fantastic journey down memory lane. I remember playing this game in 1985 at Ringwood Bowling Alley in Melbourne Australia. It’s was as infuriatingly difficult as it was beautiful. Thanks for the great review! 🍻
I always loved Dragons Lair as a kid but it was always so damn hard that I could never finish it, but I’d see other older people finish it. What’s funny is it wasn’t until Dragons lair was released on PS3 that I actually finished the game and believe me that was like a Bucket list level event for me. What’s funny is Dragons Lair 2 Time Warp was a bit Easier and I did finish that one at the Arcade.
This is my favorite arcade game of all time. I remember playing it in the arcade in the early 80's. I have it on multiple platforms and have played it thousands of times and it NEVER gets old to me. I still get tears in my eyes when I get to the lair.
Really? About 15 years ago I setup a MAME machine and basically emulated everything I could get my hands on. Dragon's Lair was a game I never really was able to play as a kid. Took me less than a day to master it. All you do is follow the cues given to you. Once you get proficient on it, you don't even need the cues. I did have the version for the Amiga though, and it's PRACTICALLY the same as the arcade.
Hey I got to work on the DVD version of this game you could play on any DVD player with the remote. Its exactly like the arcade some DVD players had some lag and it had a option that would just play the entire game straight through, very lame, but I had no say so, I was just the DVD author. It was a lot of work.
I own the DVD which I enjoyed lots on my old player. I still play it as an iso virtual DVD, and it is super-responsive. I've been a Dragon's Lair fanatic since the Arcade game. Probably bought the game 5 times on various consoles/computers/other. I even pitched to a publisher that I wanted to produce a PocketPC version (2000's), but couldn't garner interest from them, though I did a proof of concept - playing 'the tentacle room'.
I remember the first time I saw this machine. It was 1983 at Aladdin's Castle in South Bend, IN. I tried it once since it was a whopping 50 cents (or two tokens) which was a bit rich for my blood as a 7 year old and I died rather quickly. I was happy to watch others play. Thanks for the video :)
Thanks for watching. I didn't play It A whole lot back in the day because $0.50 Was the equivalent of two other games. I liked watching other people play toO :-)
I was 11 when this came out, I don't think it was the price that scared me as much as when I saw other ppl play I thought it was to hard but eventually I got good at it and repeatedly played it even though I could finish it every time. I also just funded the mini arcade version of this.
@@fordprefect4728 having never been anything other than awful at this game and space ace, the fact you can complete it every time leaves me in awe. The 7 year old me would have loved to have seen that back in the day.
This game is was my big brothers favorite game of all time. Sadly he passed away when he was 23. I do a series called "Road to Recovery" on my channel and Im going to do this game.
Hey bud, my condolences about your bother. I have an older brother,,and we get along incredibly well, never really fought more than a handful of times in my 42/his 46 years on this planet.... With all due respect and if its okay to ask u, the ROAD TO RECOVERY that you do, is it about people in RECOVERY and going thru the struggle? Because that's me, over the last 10 years or so, and its so hard; ill always carry that damn demon with me...
I fell in love with Dragon's Lair the moment it hit my local arcade in NYC in 1983. It took me many, many, many $$$ worth of quarters, but I finally mastered the original LD arcade version game.
I still remember the first time I saw Dragon's Lair. It was in the 'basement' arcade at Ben Franklin in Antioch, IL. We walked in and heard a booming narrator's voice and there, in the center of the room was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. A cartoon arcade game. I was in shock. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. More than 30 years ago and still a vivid memory.
I'm in Illinois as well and we used to have a Ben Franklin around here too. I don't recall there being games there that's been a long time ago :-) thanks for sharing
Hard to believe kids will never know the feeling of getting a pocket full of quarters and dropped off at the local arcade. It really was the golden era. I miss the old days….😢
I remember when this game twas released back in 83, it was so popular you’d sometimes have to wait in line to play, then the laserdisc player would freeze up. When my local Chucky Cheese Pizza finally got one, I was able to play it, I’d go over after school and play for an hour, took two tokens. It’s was hard but it was fine, I beat the game once but it took a few months. I never owned it or played it on any others system other than the arcade version. If One Up ever releases a version I may pick that up, thanks for another good review.
Thanks for sharing your story. I didn't play too often because it cost $0.50 where I was at. If they make a miniature version that is probably going to be a must buy. Thanks for the kind words
When I first saw this game and actually played it I was blown away. This was early.mid 80's. It cost a dollar to play and that was unheard of in my arcade world.
Just outside of Detroit in the early 90's I used to visit an arcade in Westland mall called pocket change and it was $1.00 to play. (I could never get it to respond properly)
I remember walking into Lucky Star near Blackpool Pleasure Beach (UK) back in 1983 and clapping eyes on Dragons Lair for the first time. I was 8 years old and it absolutely blew me away. The first home version I owned was the Amiga 500 version back in 1991, thankfully I have the full game on PS4 and Xbox One now.
SKOT FREE You bet! Hey, you remember Space Ace?? There was a whole class of those "digital laser discs" as they were called in those days what we now call DVDs. I can't remember the actual name of another one but it was a .007-style spy action game like Dragons lair, Don Quixote, and Space Ace. Those games were always so expensive! lol
Algo Rhythm oh Absolutely space ace I was horrible at tho. I also remember the Anime Game that was like Dragons Lair. If I remember you got a choice at the beginning to go to a Gun Range to practice or to just start the game and Had Robots and a part with a train and you had to shoot robots in it as well. Correct me if I’m Wrong, Wasn’t there a Game like this with Lupin the 3rd?
Algo Rhythm I found it! It was called CLIFFHANGER! Omg 😱 I so remember that game! It was really Lupin the 3rd! Woooow the memories man I had totally forgot about that game until now!
Actually, Laserdiscs were analog, typically 1 frame of video per "Groove", (with audio). If you've seen videos of these games where disc rot happened, you'll see the analog artifacts, like scrambled/miscolored lines, or sync issues where the video is bad.
Worked in an arcade that had it. Here's a cool thing - the players weren't full laserdisc players as the head tech found out - some kind of proprietary system - he borrowed it overnight to watch some laserdiscs and it only played the first few minutes...
Born in 1978 here. As a very young kid, I remember seeing Dragon's Lair at ShowBiz Pizza and being completely mesmerized, but also not being able to actually play it. I would just hang back and watch the big kids play. However, years later in the Spring of 1991, I stumbled across Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp while on spring break vacation in Phoenix, AZ (and the surrounding metro areas) at a place called Golf Land (a miniature golf and arcade spot in Mesa). This is when, as a seventh grader, I became completely obsessed. I managed to reach the third level and was hopelessly hooked. When I got back home to Aurora, CO, I managed to track down a machine at a local arcade (by the Aurora Mall). I also found a machine at (the legendary) Casa Bonita in Lakewood. These are the two places where I ended up learning and beating the entire game; my friend and I would get dropped off at these places in order to play it (well, I'd play it and he'd watch). This was during the peak of the original Mortal Kombat, so no one else seemed interested in DLII, but I sure was. It's my favorite arcade game of all time. I also managed to find an old Space Ace once, but never an original Dragon's Lair. It wasn't until I found one at a retro arcade here in Pasadena, CA called Neon that I was finally able to play an original Dragon's Lair machine (in my early 40's). It made me exteremly happy. I've since swapped by DVDs for the Blu-ray HD versions of the trilogy and really enjoy playing them at home. I really cannot praise these games enough. They bring me so much joy and the animation is beautiful. They really awaken my nostalgia.
I have heard about golf land out on the West Coast, I've actually been hearing about it for years. I have never seen a time warp cabinet in person until a month ago when we went to galloping ghost. I'm glad my channel can scratch that nostalgic itch for you :-)
I remember a lot of locations from my childhood specifically from the video games that were there. From the Popeye game at my local gas station to the only cockpit version of the original Star Wars arcade game I ever saw at Busch Gardens in Virginia. We have a Youth Center called thataways here in town run by the Parks and Recreation. That is the only place I ever saw Dragon's Lair in the wild and it was often out of order. They also had the game based on the band Journey, and I remember that one vividly.
Omg I had goose bumps when you mentioned showbiz pizza in Davenport Iowa. I too lived there in the golden year of 1983. My first encounter was at the mall and yes the return of the jedi was playing right across from the arcade.
Northpark mall. Sorry I should've clarified that. I also have the little walk through book that gave you the right moves to beat the game. Still one of the most difficult games out there in my opinion. Thanks for this great channel I absolutely love all of your videos.
@@jathbones Very cool, I don't recall the movie theater over there at all. I know there was showcase up on North Brady but that was it as far as I can recall
This game absolutely blew my mind when I first saw it in the 1001 Plays arcade just outside Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA. I didn't play it much since my quarters would last me all of 10 seconds lol. It was fun to watch people who knew what they were doing though. I later beat the PC MS-DOS version in the early 90s, which def was in VGA as it pretty much looked like the Amiga version.
My number one favorite game of all time. I actually own two of them. One is a home built replica I made, running Daphne emulator, and a hack to use the original LED scoreboard(the scoreboard was given to me by Jeff Kinder of the Dragon's Lair Project website when I went to visit him). The other, is a project machine, that was originally DL, but was converted to Altered Beast. I'd love to get it running original hardware, but it will more than likely run Daphne as well. I am down to needing side art and control panel overlay. Great Job
Don Bluth has always been one of my favorite animators. Another great video, Pat. I would've, however, liked to have seen how the 3DO and CD-I versions compared.
Thanks for the compliments, at the time people were complaining that the videos were too long so I decided to cut out the less redundant versions of the game. That is no longer the case because now I put each and every version of the game even if it's an abbreviated version.
@@TheMathius78 I thought I was the only one. I was always curious how each game could translate to each particular console. I think as far back as the Atari and Intellivision I was curious what each version looked like
There's a PS3 port now that is a faithful implementation of the original, for DS1, 2, and Space Ace. Even has "help" modes to adjust the difficulty and stuff. Super cool.
Dragon's Lair was an amazing game for its time I was fortunate to find that arcade game and play it back in 1986 and boy that game made a big impact on me I love the great animation in game so thanks for reminding me of this outstanding game.
EDIT: I am so glad you mentioned Showbiz Pizza, that is what my comment below is about too! Original: I have a VHS of a birthday party from around 1986 where my parents took us all to Showbiz Pizza, basically a ChuckE Cheese but with other animatronics and a band with a gorilla. Anyhow, no matter when it is in this video if one were to watch it, you can hear one thing over everything. That being exactly what is said at 2:30 in this video, the attract mode of Dragons Lair being BLASTED through the arcade of the "restaurant" ... I recall wasting a few more than I should of tokens in this game too, i sucked at it, I just didn't get it ... though now ... I would wager I am even worse at the game. Ahhh memories. Of a time when an arcade was my babysitter and sometimes best friend. Miss you Chico, from Hobby Oasis, in Atlantic Beach Florida. The best combo ever of miniatures, models, paper and dice RPGs, and connected to it right next door a smoky and lively coin op video game arcade. Mom would drop me off, Chico would hand me the keys to the cabinets, I would sweep and empty cigarette butts, and play all the games I wanted to for free since I had the keys to the cabinets. Double Dragon. Tecmo Football (the one with like 2 or four CRT tv screens), man I swear I had it all in my seven year old life!
That's very nice of you to say.This video was the third one I had done and the quality is just terrible compared to what I've done lately. I will plan on remastering this and putting in new content in the future. Thank you
The Meijer store near me had a large, raised, octagon shaped arcade area toward the back of the store in the early 80’s. I remember that was the first, and only place I saw Dragon’s Lair. And they installed the extra screen on to of the game so everyone could see the game being played. I never got the chance to play it because there was always a line.
Showbiz Pizza in Davenport? The Quad Cities? I wonder if we ever bumped into each other. Fond memories of playing Tron at the Duck Creek Mall. Don't even get be started on the places around Moline. Keep up the good work. Your clips are excellent.
I used to go to Duck Creek Mall and play APB. They had a decent size arcade. The showbiz arcade was fantastic, much better than Chucky cheese that we have now. And the arcades in North Park, Southpark the various bowling alleys around here, etc. :-)
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Goodness that does bring back memories. I also remember a place next to Southpark and the Parkway theater lots. It was a disco club designed as a castle that closed and reopened as an arcade & pizza place. Name escapes me, though. I grew up in Geneseo, so this is all familiar territory to me. Good times.
You missed a version. I actually have a DVD, yes, a DVD, playable version of the game. You used the up/down/left/right/enter on the DVD remote to control the actions of Dirk. It's pretty much identical to the arcade version. Space Ace was cool, too. I always considered that the "next version" of Dragon's Lair.
I've been trying to find that one for a long time. I'd have even settled for the BluRay version which was said to include the Starcade episode where it made its televised debut.
A Blu-Ray disc of this game was produced, as well. It works on standard Blu-Ray players, but it's now out-of-print. There's a great digital-only Trilogy available on PS4 & XB1: DL1&2 + Space Ace.
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries - I forgot to mention, the Dragon's Lair Trilogy collection is also available on the Switch. Looks & runs great in portable mode, too.
So glad I nabbed a special set of both the original "Dragon's Lair" and "Dragon's Lair II : Time Warp" on CD-ROM for play on PC, which included "Dragon's Lair 3D : Return To The Lair", and of course, the sci-fi answer to DL, "Space Ace". All games are exactly as they were in the arcade. Still fun to play.
I thought it was, but now I'm not so sure? LOL - Your video showed the games in their arcade cabinets lined up side by side, and I saw that "Thayer's Quest" that I might(?) have seen in the arcades before but cannot be sure... now I wish that game had been included in my little box set, lol.
1st time I saw this was in Funland Amusements on Blackpool’s world famous Golden Mile. I was 12 years old and it blew mine & my friends minds. I have this game on my iPhone today. This video took me back to 1983. What a great memory of a time when life was awesome
This game was amazing to me as a kid, but my mom would hardly ever let me play it because it was $.50 and the arcade had it set to difficult mode and I would burn through all my money so fast lol
The horrible ports of Dragon's Lair, are what inspired Eric Chahi to create the legendary "Another World", also known as "Out of this World" in America. He started his project, with the theory that converting the original animation cells into vectors, would have worked better, for rich animation. (less disks, too)
Nice video, there were also Laserdisc releases for home. You connected a C64, Amiga or other computer that got the control software and played it using your normal Laserdisc player.
I first saw this game in a game room at the hotel I was staying at with my folks in Kissimmee Florida in 1984,I was 5 going on six. My first trip to Disneyworld
The problems with the laserdisc players were either dirt, or alignment. My late best friend went to a class that taught him how to fix them. The most popular player was the Pioneer LDP-1000. It was a laserdisc player with a serial port that told it where to seek to. NO SIR! The Amiga version shipped on 4 floppies! The copy protection was such that they could pack 6 disks worth of data onto 4 disks. When it was cracked, it had to be unpacked, and that blew it out to 6.
Oh really, I don't recall that but of course that was 30 years ago. I know there are some games at the crack to get past the original disk size limit. I want to say Eagle soft had cracked California games because of their crack-tro another disk had to be added. Completely forgot about that
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries The crack was done by ACU Australian Crackers United. They mentioned my bud "Bigfoot" in the intro, because he went on record saying that it couldn't be cracked. (Because that's what Robin of Quartex had told him.) Now, on to Eaglesoft. It was MOSTLY Mitch from Philly, but there were other members around. One of the OTHER members, Mr. Nike is also a friend of mine. (I know a LOT of people!) :-)
NO SIR! The correct laserdisc player for Dragon's Lair is LD-V1000, and it can have many more than the two possible problems you listed. NO SIR! This player does not have a serial port. It's parallel. The interface manual is downloadable for confirmation. NO SIR! A simple Google Image search for "amiga dragon's lair floppies" will show you multiple pictures of all 6 Amiga floppies with ReadySoft labels. It's not only disheartening, but also tacky to type authoritatively on a topic, while starting out a little bit douchey with "NO SIR!", and then proceed to be wrong with every single point you make. The dozen errors that are contained in this video were already enough of a disservice. Old memories must be double-checked, or they deserve to be called out.
I remembered when it was featured on the Saturday morning Starcade show. Kids would play video games to see who had the highest score to move on. Dragon's Lair 2 finally made it out in 1990 but took awhile as the original company went under. You could tell it wasn't completely finished which was tragic. It was darker and funnier than the original.
We had an small arcade in my small hometown of Park Rapids, MN (less than 2,500 people) in '83/'84 and this was there. Luckily no 4-5 hour waits and 50 cents went down like crazy...
Timeout video game arcade in Robbinsdale, MN. 2 tokens (maybe quarters) per play, and yes, they had the volume tuned up on that game for weeks. I didn't know the Bluth connection despite The Secret of MIHM being a favorite of mine.
there's really no way to overstate the impact of this game's arrival. i was 6 years old and i remember it really well. we would go to the mall just to watch the title sequence over and over
I invested in a pamphlet that offered tips on how to work through the game. The first time I got close to winning I got so excited I almost passed out and had to step outside the arcade in order to sit down. The next time I played I managed to get to the end without passing out.
The PS4 version is fantastic. Great response time on the controls and also comes packaged with the sequel and Space Ace! Gives me nostalgia chills every time I fire it up...
also of note in around 2006 Digital Leisure Inc released Dragons Lair on Blu-Ray disc which you could play through your Blu-Ray player, no game console needed though you could play it through a console that has a Blu-Ray player built in like the Playstation 2 at the time. i noticed that at 1:29 you were showing a clip from Dragons Lair 2 Time Warp.
Ya know until right now I never stopped to wonder if Dragons Lair was ever any kind of influence (even minutely) on Hidetaka Miyazaki and the development of Bloodborne..and Ghosts&Goblins too!
Oddly enough, I first saw Dragons Lair at ShowBiz in Garland Tx, and bought my first Amiga 1000 because of Defender of the Crown too. Because of Dragons Lair, I got into the gaming biz (Apogee Software) and became friends with Larz, one of the developers of Defender of the Crown. I have multiple versions of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace all unopened from the manufacturers. I bet I still have the Amiga version somewhere.
New Wave Toys (Replicade) is coming out with a 1/6 scale fully rendered arcade cabinet early this year. I was lucky enough to be a backer in their kickstarter project. I can’t wait👍🏼
Fast forward to November 2020 and the release of the New Wave Toys Replicade version in 1/6 scale. The game is incredible and the detailed arcade cabinet is gorgeous!!!
Quarters were too precious and this was too expensive for my blood back in the day, but I always really wanted to play it as a kid. I dug the cartoon series.
Loved this game and remember it fondly from playing it back in the arcades in the 80's growing up. Love the fantasy genre. Apparently Netflix is making a tv series starring Ryan Reynolds as Dirk the Daring! You can buy a digital copy of this game on the Xbox Live Store for $9.99 for the Xbox 360. And on the Xbox One you can own Dragon's Lair Trilogy which includes Dragon's 1-2 & Space Ace.
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries There is a longplay video with load screens, I was off, 50 second load time. :| czcams.com/video/9aKGocupxuY/video.html
I sold these when they were new- back in the day. These were really hard to keep running. The laser disk players and dirt in the cabinet weren’t compatible.
I remember seeing this game for the first time at Showbiz Pizza in Houston, TX and I blew through $3 bucks and never made it past the Black Knight. Dragon’s Lair inspired some great spin-offs from other developers, my favorite of which is Braindead 13.
I was a little disappointed that you showed the cover of but didn't discuss the DS version. Granted it was decades later but holding this game in your hand is still pretty magical for someone who grew up with very few quarters to spend on the arcade version. The SNES version is probably the one I spent the most time on, and it did a pretty good job of capturing the feeling of the setting of the arcade original even if the gameplay was drastically different. Also, when you look at Daphne it makes complete sense that Playboy was an inspiration. It's weird tidbits like those that I love to hear & see in documentaries.
I animated on Dragons Lair I & II and Space Ace. We had the arcade machine in the lobby of the studio so we could play it all the time without having to pay. Still was tough to make it all the way through.
OH MY GOD!!!!! at the very end of the video, Thayer's quest, THATS IT!!!! for 30 something years i have been trying ti find out what that weird game was i saw in my old arcade as a kid. for some reason i had it stuck in my head that the title had "Black" in it, ive been describing the game to people for decades and no one ever knew what i was talking about. i would sit there and watch it play its little trailer thing but never dared play it because the keyboard where the controls should be scared the hell out of me. all i could remember was the kid standing in the hedge maze and shooting the arrow. it sat in a corner of the arcade "The Goldmine" at our local mall, and i would stand there while my friends took their turns at whatever game we were playing and just stair at it playing its little clips over and over, just waiting to see somebody go over and play it so i could watch and see what was going on. but never once did i ever see anyone even approach it. and all these years all i could remember was the clip of the kid shooting the arrow and the weird keyboard style controls. and NO ONE ever knew what i was talking about. WOW!! anyway, yeah i played dragons lair probably 4 or 5 times and died instantly and never touched it again. i was a very poor kid on a bad side of town. and couldnt afford dragons lairs high price and was totally confused once i put the quarter in and had no actual control at all over the character. that was it for me.
Well I'm glad I could help LOL as far as dragons lair, I only played it a handful of times because it was $0.50 to play and I did not have a whole lot of money back then. I enjoyed watching other people play it though.
still remember the chills when it came out -- amazing -- also the FIRST time ANYONE saw a cartoon on a MONITOR (ie high resolution cartoon!)
Haha - don't be silly. It was a standard laserdisc, playing on an NTSC monitor no better in quality than a color television of the time.
It was indeed a novel and original looking game. I disliked the lack of control I noticed the one time I paid to play. I was accustomed to instant responses from characters like Pac Man for example. Regarding its "graphics" I agree they are impressive especially for 1983.
@@fuzzywzhe he's talking about an arcade game. This was revolutionary at that time. Nothing else was like it.
@@chirojohn75 *"he's talking about an arcade game. This was revolutionary at that time. Nothing else was like it."*
Yes, I know what he's talking about. I'm just pointing out what it actually was, it was a video player where if you clicked the joystick or the sword button at the right time, you could progress. It was just a laserdisk where you were selecting tracks and given a timeframe to do it.
It was *absolutely amazing* to me when I first saw it, but now that I understand it, not so much. It's just a laserdisk where you're given a timeframe to click a switch in a predetermined order.
What was absolutely remarkable about it at the time, is that it looked like a computer generated graphic - something unthinkable at the time. It wasn't until the early 1990's that full motion video could be done on a computer. I understand the simplicity of it, and the genius of making use of that simplicity, but the game itself - mengh. It was remarkable for its time for LOOKING incredible, but it didn't age well.
I can play this game through easily today, because it's only about reaction to cues on the screen. Any kid could master this game in an hour or so today. Any kid back then could - if they dumped $20 worth of quarters into it - about 40 tries at practice - it was 50 cents a game.
There's a reason no new game like this exists today. Although it LOOKS amazing, it's not very challenging or interesting once you master it because you're so restricted to the world. It was just a choose your own adventure book in graphical form - remember those?
@Brett R I'm not comparing Dragon's Lair to games today. I'm saying, because I know this to be true, is that this game was a big hit, when it hit arcades, and that hoopla lasted perhaps a month. It looked incredible, but the game play itself, players quickly abandoned it.
Fantastic journey down memory lane. I remember playing this game in 1985 at Ringwood Bowling Alley in Melbourne Australia. It’s was as infuriatingly difficult as it was beautiful. Thanks for the great review! 🍻
Thanks for sharing your story, and thanks for the nice words
This game was the hit every arcade indeed. I recall everyone being drawn to the game. So awesome back then, and still today!
It's a thing of beauty, and really popular back in the day at my arcade
I always loved Dragons Lair as a kid but it was always so damn hard that I could never finish it, but I’d see other older people finish it. What’s funny is it wasn’t until Dragons lair was released on PS3 that I actually finished the game and believe me that was like a Bucket list level event for me. What’s funny is Dragons Lair 2 Time Warp was a bit Easier and I did finish that one at the Arcade.
Excellent, I was there were any good at it probably because I wouldn't spend the $0.50 to play :-)
This is my favorite arcade game of all time. I remember playing it in the arcade in the early 80's. I have it on multiple platforms and have played it thousands of times and it NEVER gets old to me. I still get tears in my eyes when I get to the lair.
It is one of my favorites too, it never gets old
Best arcade game ever. When I hear that attract mode I get chills and tears. I love it to death.
Really? About 15 years ago I setup a MAME machine and basically emulated everything I could get my hands on. Dragon's Lair was a game I never really was able to play as a kid. Took me less than a day to master it. All you do is follow the cues given to you. Once you get proficient on it, you don't even need the cues. I did have the version for the Amiga though, and it's PRACTICALLY the same as the arcade.
Hey I got to work on the DVD version of this game you could play on any DVD player with the remote. Its exactly like the arcade some DVD players had some lag and it had a option that would just play the entire game straight through, very lame, but I had no say so, I was just the DVD author. It was a lot of work.
That's awesome, thanks for sharing your story
I actually have one of those dvds I bought it ages ago !
I own the DVD which I enjoyed lots on my old player. I still play it as an iso virtual DVD, and it is super-responsive. I've been a Dragon's Lair fanatic since the Arcade game. Probably bought the game 5 times on various consoles/computers/other. I even pitched to a publisher that I wanted to produce a PocketPC version (2000's), but couldn't garner interest from them, though I did a proof of concept - playing 'the tentacle room'.
I have the DVD version & LOVE it. Great work!!!
I remember the first time I saw this machine. It was 1983 at Aladdin's Castle in South Bend, IN. I tried it once since it was a whopping 50 cents (or two tokens) which was a bit rich for my blood as a 7 year old and I died rather quickly. I was happy to watch others play. Thanks for the video :)
Thanks for watching. I didn't play It A whole lot back in the day because $0.50 Was the equivalent of two other games. I liked watching other people play toO :-)
I was 11 when this came out, I don't think it was the price that scared me as much as when I saw other ppl play I thought it was to hard but eventually I got good at it and repeatedly played it even though I could finish it every time. I also just funded the mini arcade version of this.
DUDE That's where I saw it for the first time too!!! Let me guess....It was in Scottsdale Mall, right? :-)
@@fordprefect4728 having never been anything other than awful at this game and space ace, the fact you can complete it every time leaves me in awe. The 7 year old me would have loved to have seen that back in the day.
@@stevenross-watt8640 I could never get into Space Ace or DL2 as much bc the levels weren't random like DL1 was.
This game is was my big brothers favorite game of all time. Sadly he passed away when he was 23. I do a series called "Road to Recovery" on my channel and Im going to do this game.
That's cool, sorry to hear about that though
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries i do remember dragon's lair and maybe Halloween you will see a woman dressed up like princess daphne.
I'm sorry to hear your brother died so young, may he rest in arcade paradise with eternal quarters.
Very sorry for the loss 🙏
Hey bud, my condolences about your bother. I have an older brother,,and we get along incredibly well, never really fought more than a handful of times in my 42/his 46 years on this planet....
With all due respect and if its okay to ask u, the ROAD TO RECOVERY that you do, is it about people in RECOVERY and going thru the struggle? Because that's me, over the last 10 years or so, and its so hard; ill always carry that damn demon with me...
I fell in love with Dragon's Lair the moment it hit my local arcade in NYC in 1983. It took me many, many, many $$$ worth of quarters, but I finally mastered the original LD arcade version game.
That is cool, I was never very good at it but I liked watching people play it
I still remember the first time I saw Dragon's Lair. It was in the 'basement' arcade at Ben Franklin in Antioch, IL.
We walked in and heard a booming narrator's voice and there, in the center of the room was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. A cartoon arcade game.
I was in shock. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
More than 30 years ago and still a vivid memory.
And I got about 20 seconds of play for that 50 cents.
I'm in Illinois as well and we used to have a Ben Franklin around here too. I don't recall there being games there that's been a long time ago :-) thanks for sharing
I remembered this as if it was yesterday. Thanks for the video!
The video creator is right. I do distinctly remember the volume of the trailer being very high for that cabinet - and it was Showbiz!
The video creator?? Show some respect for Patman!
Love the roundup of the various 8-bit / 16 bit home ports...... a unique aspect of your vids!
"It's almost as much fun to die as playing the game." Yeah, until your parents stop giving you quarters.
LOL isn't that the truth
😂🤣😂🤣😢😢😢😢
Hard to believe kids will never know the feeling of getting a pocket full of quarters and dropped off at the local arcade. It really was the golden era. I miss the old days….😢
I purchased this arcade game. Still love it. It's a favorite when company shows up!
That's awesome, I would love to own an original cabinet
Now a lot of original cabinet use a raspberry inside not the huge LD.
czcams.com/video/pu9RkmA5JIY/video.html
I remember when this game twas released back in 83, it was so popular you’d sometimes have to wait in line to play, then the laserdisc player would freeze up. When my local Chucky Cheese Pizza finally got one, I was able to play it, I’d go over after school and play for an hour, took two tokens. It’s was hard but it was fine, I beat the game once but it took a few months. I never owned it or played it on any others system other than the arcade version. If One Up ever releases a version I may pick that up, thanks for another good review.
Thanks for sharing your story. I didn't play too often because it cost $0.50 where I was at. If they make a miniature version that is probably going to be a must buy. Thanks for the kind words
You can buy it from Microsoft store now. All 3 games in one package
When I first saw this game and actually played it I was blown away. This was early.mid 80's. It cost a dollar to play and that was unheard of in my arcade world.
They should remake this for VR.
A dollar? It was $0.50 around here and even then I didn't play it that often
Just outside of Detroit in the early 90's I used to visit an arcade in Westland mall called pocket change and it was $1.00 to play. (I could never get it to respond properly)
I remember as a dollar as well in Ontario Canada!
I died playing it many times, and yes there was always a line-up...
It was $1 at Aladdin's Castle in the Milwaukee area. Technically it was $0.80 or 4 tokens, and you got 5 tokens for a dollar.
I remember walking into Lucky Star near Blackpool Pleasure Beach (UK) back in 1983 and clapping eyes on Dragons Lair for the first time. I was 8 years old and it absolutely blew me away. The first home version I owned was the Amiga 500 version back in 1991, thankfully I have the full game on PS4 and Xbox One now.
I had the Commodore 64 version 1st but then seeing it run on and Amiga 500 at our local computer store I knew I had to get one.
Man, I used to love this game! Never could get half way through. Super Don Quixote was another really cool one!
The game is really difficult especially at $0.50 a plate
Omg Super Don Quixote wow I haven’t thought of that game in years and as soon as you said the name the memories came flooding back! Wow thanks 🙏
SKOT FREE You bet! Hey, you remember Space Ace?? There was a whole class of those "digital laser discs" as they were called in those days what we now call DVDs. I can't remember the actual name of another one but it was a .007-style spy action game like Dragons lair, Don Quixote, and Space Ace. Those games were always so expensive! lol
Algo Rhythm oh Absolutely space ace I was horrible at tho. I also remember the Anime Game that was like Dragons Lair. If I remember you got a choice at the beginning to go to a Gun Range to practice or to just start the game and Had Robots and a part with a train and you had to shoot robots in it as well. Correct me if I’m Wrong, Wasn’t there a Game like this with Lupin the 3rd?
Algo Rhythm I found it! It was called CLIFFHANGER! Omg 😱 I so remember that game! It was really Lupin the 3rd! Woooow the memories man I had totally forgot about that game until now!
Actually, Laserdiscs were analog, typically 1 frame of video per "Groove", (with audio). If you've seen videos of these games where disc rot happened, you'll see the analog artifacts, like scrambled/miscolored lines, or sync issues where the video is bad.
Worked in an arcade that had it. Here's a cool thing - the players weren't full laserdisc players as the head tech found out - some kind of proprietary system - he borrowed it overnight to watch some laserdiscs and it only played the first few minutes...
@Sol Cutta I loved the Vouyer game on the CDI
@Sol Cutta Well, the CD-i was digital. :)
Born in 1978 here. As a very young kid, I remember seeing Dragon's Lair at ShowBiz Pizza and being completely mesmerized, but also not being able to actually play it. I would just hang back and watch the big kids play.
However, years later in the Spring of 1991, I stumbled across Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp while on spring break vacation in Phoenix, AZ (and the surrounding metro areas) at a place called Golf Land (a miniature golf and arcade spot in Mesa). This is when, as a seventh grader, I became completely obsessed. I managed to reach the third level and was hopelessly hooked. When I got back home to Aurora, CO, I managed to track down a machine at a local arcade (by the Aurora Mall). I also found a machine at (the legendary) Casa Bonita in Lakewood. These are the two places where I ended up learning and beating the entire game; my friend and I would get dropped off at these places in order to play it (well, I'd play it and he'd watch). This was during the peak of the original Mortal Kombat, so no one else seemed interested in DLII, but I sure was. It's my favorite arcade game of all time.
I also managed to find an old Space Ace once, but never an original Dragon's Lair. It wasn't until I found one at a retro arcade here in Pasadena, CA called Neon that I was finally able to play an original Dragon's Lair machine (in my early 40's). It made me exteremly happy. I've since swapped by DVDs for the Blu-ray HD versions of the trilogy and really enjoy playing them at home.
I really cannot praise these games enough. They bring me so much joy and the animation is beautiful. They really awaken my nostalgia.
I have heard about golf land out on the West Coast, I've actually been hearing about it for years. I have never seen a time warp cabinet in person until a month ago when we went to galloping ghost.
I'm glad my channel can scratch that nostalgic itch for you :-)
I remember a lot of locations from my childhood specifically from the video games that were there. From the Popeye game at my local gas station to the only cockpit version of the original Star Wars arcade game I ever saw at Busch Gardens in Virginia. We have a Youth Center called thataways here in town run by the Parks and Recreation. That is the only place I ever saw Dragon's Lair in the wild and it was often out of order. They also had the game based on the band Journey, and I remember that one vividly.
I can recall the journey game as well. The graphics are very cool for its time. I can recall seeing specific games at certain locations as well :-)
I love your commentary! It reminds me of my local racetrack commentator
LOL, thanks
Omg I had goose bumps when you mentioned showbiz pizza in Davenport Iowa. I too lived there in the golden year of 1983. My first encounter was at the mall and yes the return of the jedi was playing right across from the arcade.
Which mall are you talking about, Northpark or South Park?
Northpark mall. Sorry I should've clarified that. I also have the little walk through book that gave you the right moves to beat the game. Still one of the most difficult games out there in my opinion. Thanks for this great channel I absolutely love all of your videos.
@@jathbones Very cool, I don't recall the movie theater over there at all. I know there was showcase up on North Brady but that was it as far as I can recall
I remember going to the Showbiz in Davenport, IA for my 4th birthday in 1988. Crazy how time flies. Great video, fellow QC native!
Very cool!I have very vivid memories of seeing the game at showbiz. Glad you enjoyed the video, cheers :-)
This game absolutely blew my mind when I first saw it in the 1001 Plays arcade just outside Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA. I didn't play it much since my quarters would last me all of 10 seconds lol. It was fun to watch people who knew what they were doing though. I later beat the PC MS-DOS version in the early 90s, which def was in VGA as it pretty much looked like the Amiga version.
My number one favorite game of all time. I actually own two of them. One is a home built replica I made, running Daphne emulator, and a hack to use the original LED scoreboard(the scoreboard was given to me by Jeff Kinder of the Dragon's Lair Project website when I went to visit him). The other, is a project machine, that was originally DL, but was converted to Altered Beast. I'd love to get it running original hardware, but it will more than likely run Daphne as well. I am down to needing side art and control panel overlay. Great Job
That's awesome, I always wanted to own an original cabinet. Thanks for the nice words
Don Bluth has always been one of my favorite animators. Another great video, Pat. I would've, however, liked to have seen how the 3DO and CD-I versions compared.
Thanks for the compliments, at the time people were complaining that the videos were too long so I decided to cut out the less redundant versions of the game. That is no longer the case because now I put each and every version of the game even if it's an abbreviated version.
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries I'm obsessed with version comparisons so be as thorough as you feel like being. :)
@@TheMathius78 I thought I was the only one. I was always curious how each game could translate to each particular console. I think as far back as the Atari and Intellivision I was curious what each version looked like
There's a PS3 port now that is a faithful implementation of the original, for DS1, 2, and Space Ace. Even has "help" modes to adjust the difficulty and stuff. Super cool.
Dragon's Lair was an amazing game for its time I was fortunate to find that arcade game and play it back in 1986 and boy that game made a big impact on me I love the great animation in game so thanks for reminding me of this outstanding game.
It was truly innovative for its time. Thanks for watching
EDIT: I am so glad you mentioned Showbiz Pizza, that is what my comment below is about too!
Original: I have a VHS of a birthday party from around 1986 where my parents took us all to Showbiz Pizza, basically a ChuckE Cheese but with other animatronics and a band with a gorilla. Anyhow, no matter when it is in this video if one were to watch it, you can hear one thing over everything. That being exactly what is said at 2:30 in this video, the attract mode of Dragons Lair being BLASTED through the arcade of the "restaurant" ... I recall wasting a few more than I should of tokens in this game too, i sucked at it, I just didn't get it ... though now ... I would wager I am even worse at the game. Ahhh memories. Of a time when an arcade was my babysitter and sometimes best friend. Miss you Chico, from Hobby Oasis, in Atlantic Beach Florida. The best combo ever of miniatures, models, paper and dice RPGs, and connected to it right next door a smoky and lively coin op video game arcade. Mom would drop me off, Chico would hand me the keys to the cabinets, I would sweep and empty cigarette butts, and play all the games I wanted to for free since I had the keys to the cabinets. Double Dragon. Tecmo Football (the one with like 2 or four CRT tv screens), man I swear I had it all in my seven year old life!
Love this game (even though I totally suck at it!) and your videos! Thanks so much for making these!
Thanks for watching, glad to enjoy the content… And I suck at this game too :-)
These docs are awesome! You are the consummate gunter!
Thank you very much Glad you enjoyed the content
Great video, one of the best videos on CZcams. If not the best.
That's very nice of you to say.This video was the third one I had done and the quality is just terrible compared to what I've done lately. I will plan on remastering this and putting in new content in the future. Thank you
I am from Muscatine and I was mesmerized by the same machine in Davenport !
That's very cool, I have never talked to anybody from Muscatine on here :-)
The Meijer store near me had a large, raised, octagon shaped arcade area toward the back of the store in the early 80’s. I remember that was the first, and only place I saw Dragon’s Lair. And they installed the extra screen on to of the game so everyone could see the game being played. I never got the chance to play it because there was always a line.
That's the way it was around here to, they had installed an extra monitor on top because the lines were so long and people want to see it
Showbiz Pizza in Davenport? The Quad Cities? I wonder if we ever bumped into each other. Fond memories of playing Tron at the Duck Creek Mall. Don't even get be started on the places around Moline.
Keep up the good work. Your clips are excellent.
I used to go to Duck Creek Mall and play APB. They had a decent size arcade. The showbiz arcade was fantastic, much better than Chucky cheese that we have now. And the arcades in North Park, Southpark the various bowling alleys around here, etc. :-)
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Goodness that does bring back memories. I also remember a place next to Southpark and the Parkway theater lots. It was a disco club designed as a castle that closed and reopened as an arcade & pizza place. Name escapes me, though. I grew up in Geneseo, so this is all familiar territory to me. Good times.
You missed a version. I actually have a DVD, yes, a DVD, playable version of the game. You used the up/down/left/right/enter on the DVD remote to control the actions of Dirk. It's pretty much identical to the arcade version.
Space Ace was cool, too. I always considered that the "next version" of Dragon's Lair.
Thanks for the correction
you beat me to it! yup, I bought the DVD version, which can be played right from the DVD remote control!
I've been trying to find that one for a long time. I'd have even settled for the BluRay version which was said to include the Starcade episode where it made its televised debut.
it was really loud in the arcade. this put pressure on you to do well and not die in under 5 seconds.
LOL,That's true and at $0.50 a game
and not die*
@@DarthVader1977 cheers buddy. i'll change it now.
And when they added a monitor for everyone to watch your ineptitude...
I have been a fan of Dragon's Lair since it was released! Very good video. Would be interested to see history of Space Harrier.
Great suggestion!Thank you very much
These videos are pure gold..
That's very nice of you to say, thank you so much
A Blu-Ray disc of this game was produced, as well. It works on standard Blu-Ray players, but it's now out-of-print. There's a great digital-only Trilogy available on PS4 & XB1: DL1&2 + Space Ace.
Thanks for the info
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries - I forgot to mention, the Dragon's Lair Trilogy collection is also available on the Switch. Looks & runs great in portable mode, too.
So glad I nabbed a special set of both the original "Dragon's Lair" and "Dragon's Lair II : Time Warp" on CD-ROM for play on PC, which included "Dragon's Lair 3D : Return To The Lair", and of course, the sci-fi answer to DL, "Space Ace". All games are exactly as they were in the arcade. Still fun to play.
That is a really good compilation
I thought it was, but now I'm not so sure? LOL - Your video showed the games in their arcade cabinets lined up side by side, and I saw that "Thayer's Quest" that I might(?) have seen in the arcades before but cannot be sure... now I wish that game had been included in my little box set, lol.
Thanks for the video. I loved this game. Dropped many quarters into it.
So glad I got to enjoy the latter part of the arcade frenzy in the early 90s.
These are wonderful memories. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
DL 3D was my favorite. Great memories playing this with my wife and friends for many nights!
I love the cell shaded graphics, and with full control of your character as well
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries YES!! Agreed!
1st time I saw this was in Funland Amusements on Blackpool’s world famous Golden Mile. I was 12 years old and it blew mine & my friends minds. I have this game on my iPhone today. This video took me back to 1983. What a great memory of a time when life was awesome
Excellent, I would suggest watching the remastered version which features better audio and more content
I beat that game and Space Ace a long time ago. Never forget the drop the joystick walk away from the machine nerd moment.
LOL, I can recall people doing that as a kid
This game was amazing to me as a kid, but my mom would hardly ever let me play it because it was $.50 and the arcade had it set to difficult mode and I would burn through all my money so fast lol
I hardly play growing up either because the cost $0.50 :-)
the intro to this is one of my first memory's that and star wars arcade peter piper pizza Apache junction Arizona 1988 probley
Excellent, thank you for sharing
The horrible ports of Dragon's Lair, are what inspired Eric Chahi to create the legendary "Another World", also known as "Out of this World" in America.
He started his project, with the theory that converting the original animation cells into vectors, would have worked better, for rich animation. (less disks, too)
Very interesting, I never knew that. Thanks for the info
I played this when it first came out in 1983 at my local vhs film rental place. Had the snes version and the megs cd. Was one of favourite games 👍
It's definitely a top 10 classic
Remember seeing this the first time at the San Jacinto Mall at Yesterday's.........so much fun!
Nice video, there were also Laserdisc releases for home. You connected a C64, Amiga or other computer that got the control software and played it using your normal Laserdisc player.
I loved this game as well as Space Ace. A sleeper though that I never hear much about is Cliff Hanger, I loved that game.
Jerm there is an arcade in Pittsburg that has DL, SA, and CH. Plus, many other laser disc games.
Eric Drennan I need to visit! 😀
I first saw this game in a game room at the hotel I was staying at with my folks in Kissimmee Florida in 1984,I was 5 going on six. My first trip to Disneyworld
That's awesome, I've never been to Disney World
1983 Showbiz Pizza, Evansville, IN~ First Time Played (FTP). FF to today...I have it on my phone...STILL CAN'T BEAT IT.
Only Bluth/Dyer game I remember seeing at that location was Space Ace.
The first time I saw the game was at the CNE in Toronto. There were at least 10 games setup and they were charging 4 quarters a game. Golden memories.
The problems with the laserdisc players were either dirt, or alignment. My late best friend went to a class that taught him how to fix them. The most popular player was the Pioneer LDP-1000. It was a laserdisc player with a serial port that told it where to seek to.
NO SIR! The Amiga version shipped on 4 floppies! The copy protection was such that they could pack 6 disks worth of data onto 4 disks. When it was cracked, it had to be unpacked, and that blew it out to 6.
Oh really, I don't recall that but of course that was 30 years ago. I know there are some games at the crack to get past the original disk size limit. I want to say Eagle soft had cracked California games because of their crack-tro another disk had to be added. Completely forgot about that
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries The crack was done by ACU Australian Crackers United. They mentioned my bud "Bigfoot" in the intro, because he went on record saying that it couldn't be cracked. (Because that's what Robin of Quartex had told him.) Now, on to Eaglesoft. It was MOSTLY Mitch from Philly, but there were other members around. One of the OTHER members, Mr. Nike is also a friend of mine. (I know a LOT of people!) :-)
NO SIR! The correct laserdisc player for Dragon's Lair is LD-V1000, and it can have many more than the two possible problems you listed.
NO SIR!
This player does not have a serial port. It's parallel. The interface manual is downloadable for confirmation.
NO SIR! A simple Google Image search for "amiga dragon's lair floppies" will show you multiple pictures of all 6 Amiga floppies with ReadySoft labels.
It's not only disheartening, but also tacky to type authoritatively on a topic, while starting out a little bit douchey with "NO SIR!", and then proceed to be wrong with every single point you make. The dozen errors that are contained in this video were already enough of a disservice. Old memories must be double-checked, or they deserve to be called out.
@@DragonsLairProject Fair enough. I only remember hearing about the Amiga version from the guy who cracked it. SO what do *I* know. (shrugs).
This Game was my Favorite when it came out in 1983. The First Arcade I saw it in where I live was called SPACE PORT.
Excellent, where was that located at
I remembered when it was featured on the Saturday morning Starcade show. Kids would play video games to see who had the highest score to move on.
Dragon's Lair 2 finally made it out in 1990 but took awhile as the original company went under. You could tell it wasn't completely finished which was tragic. It was darker and funnier than the original.
I grew up in Davenport also. I remember playing this game at north park mall arcade
Hello there fellow quad citizen, I used to love going to the mall at North Park but didn't get to because I grew up in Colonna Illinois
The LaserDisc game that I got to play the most of was the one that's the helicopter game was called Cobra command
I recall playing that it was pretty good
We had an small arcade in my small hometown of Park Rapids, MN (less than 2,500 people) in '83/'84 and this was there. Luckily no 4-5 hour waits and 50 cents went down like crazy...
Timeout video game arcade in Robbinsdale, MN. 2 tokens (maybe quarters) per play, and yes, they had the volume tuned up on that game for weeks. I didn't know the Bluth connection despite The Secret of MIHM being a favorite of mine.
there's really no way to overstate the impact of this game's arrival. i was 6 years old and i remember it really well. we would go to the mall just to watch the title sequence over and over
That's exactly what I would do
I invested in a pamphlet that offered tips on how to work through the game. The first time I got close to winning I got so excited I almost passed out and had to step outside the arcade in order to sit down. The next time I played I managed to get to the end without passing out.
The PS4 version is fantastic. Great response time on the controls and also comes packaged with the sequel and Space Ace! Gives me nostalgia chills every time I fire it up...
It's really good on their
also of note in around 2006 Digital Leisure Inc released Dragons Lair on Blu-Ray disc which you could play through your Blu-Ray player, no game console needed though you could play it through a console that has a Blu-Ray player built in like the Playstation 2 at the time. i noticed that at 1:29 you were showing a clip from Dragons Lair 2 Time Warp.
Ya know until right now I never stopped to wonder if Dragons Lair was ever any kind of influence (even minutely) on Hidetaka Miyazaki and the development of Bloodborne..and Ghosts&Goblins too!
It could be, not sure
This vid got me to sub.
Thanks for this.
Awesome, welcome aboard. Thanks
love that game bringing me back 30 years
It is definitely a classic
Oddly enough, I first saw Dragons Lair at ShowBiz in Garland Tx, and bought my first Amiga 1000 because of Defender of the Crown too. Because of Dragons Lair, I got into the gaming biz (Apogee Software) and became friends with Larz, one of the developers of Defender of the Crown. I have multiple versions of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace all unopened from the manufacturers. I bet I still have the Amiga version somewhere.
That's awesome, sounds like you are quite the Dragons lair collector. Thanks for sharing your story
Always a huge fan of dragons lair . Bought a CDI Phillips with the laser disc add on just to play this
Great vid, very interesting! 👍
Thanks for watching
Showbiz Pizza in Fairview Heights, IL is the first place I saw this game too!
New Wave Toys (Replicade) is coming out with a 1/6 scale fully rendered arcade cabinet early this year. I was lucky enough to be a backer in their kickstarter project. I can’t wait👍🏼
Oh really? That sounds great
Fast forward to November 2020 and the release of the New Wave Toys Replicade version in 1/6 scale. The game is incredible and the detailed arcade cabinet is gorgeous!!!
There was a version for the Amiga which uses the original Laserdisc so you play the original game. Same for Space Ace.
That's very cool
The gameboy color version blew me away. If you haven't checked it out you should. Amazing how they pulled it off on an 8 bit console.
9:22 That is actually my picture. Nice to see my work being used I guess. Just in case you don't know this was taken at California Extreme 2006.
I had no idea, I found it on Google
Few years ago this was release on a dvd disc and you played it using your dvd controller. It had the same animation from the original.
Yes I have seen that
Aw, I thought this might lead into Dragon's Lair II. That was the one I finally mastered a full run in 3 quarters or less.
Quarters were too precious and this was too expensive for my blood back in the day, but I always really wanted to play it as a kid. I dug the cartoon series.
You and me both, I think I played it once back then
Loved this game and remember it fondly from playing it back in the arcades in the 80's growing up. Love the fantasy genre. Apparently Netflix is making a tv series starring Ryan Reynolds as Dirk the Daring! You can buy a digital copy of this game on the Xbox Live Store for $9.99 for the Xbox 360. And on the Xbox One you can own Dragon's Lair Trilogy which includes Dragon's 1-2 & Space Ace.
I saw they were making a live-action version, hopefully it turns out well. Thanks for the info
I had the Amiga version also, the load screen were torture! I remember it took a minute to load each scene.
I don't recall it being that bad but again that was 30 years ago
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries There is a longplay video with load screens, I was off, 50 second load time. :| czcams.com/video/9aKGocupxuY/video.html
I remember standing in line waiting to play this. Oh...the memories.
It seems like every time I went to showbiz pizza there was always a crowd around this game
Played it @ Take Ten Arcade Asheville NC in 83/84. I died very quickly. Love the 80's.
So did I :-)
I sold these when they were new- back in the day. These were really hard to keep running. The laser disk players and dirt in the cabinet weren’t compatible.
I read the the LaserDisc players kept breaking down
Fascinating Game and still Fascinates Silly today the good Old Laser Disc
LOL, yes indeed
I remember seeing this game for the first time at Showbiz Pizza in Houston, TX and I blew through $3 bucks and never made it past the Black Knight. Dragon’s Lair inspired some great spin-offs from other developers, my favorite of which is Braindead 13.
Good old showbiz :-)
Laserdiscs actually store video in an analog format, different from the digital CD, DVD and BDs, although later releases did include digital audio.
Thanks for the correction
I only got to play this only once int the arcades, I now have it on the Xbox 360, yes I still have an Xbox 360.
I do as wellBut is starting to Fail on me
I was a little disappointed that you showed the cover of but didn't discuss the DS version. Granted it was decades later but holding this game in your hand is still pretty magical for someone who grew up with very few quarters to spend on the arcade version. The SNES version is probably the one I spent the most time on, and it did a pretty good job of capturing the feeling of the setting of the arcade original even if the gameplay was drastically different.
Also, when you look at Daphne it makes complete sense that Playboy was an inspiration. It's weird tidbits like those that I love to hear & see in documentaries.
Thank you, I couldn't show all the conversions because there were Just too many of them.Glad you enjoyed the video
Completely understandable. One video can't cover everything that everyone wants.
I animated on Dragons Lair I & II and Space Ace. We had the arcade machine in the lobby of the studio so we could play it all the time without having to pay. Still was tough to make it all the way through.
Very cool, thanks for sharing
OH MY GOD!!!!! at the very end of the video, Thayer's quest, THATS IT!!!! for 30 something years i have been trying ti find out what that weird game was i saw in my old arcade as a kid. for some reason i had it stuck in my head that the title had "Black" in it, ive been describing the game to people for decades and no one ever knew what i was talking about. i would sit there and watch it play its little trailer thing but never dared play it because the keyboard where the controls should be scared the hell out of me. all i could remember was the kid standing in the hedge maze and shooting the arrow. it sat in a corner of the arcade "The Goldmine" at our local mall, and i would stand there while my friends took their turns at whatever game we were playing and just stair at it playing its little clips over and over, just waiting to see somebody go over and play it so i could watch and see what was going on. but never once did i ever see anyone even approach it. and all these years all i could remember was the clip of the kid shooting the arrow and the weird keyboard style controls. and NO ONE ever knew what i was talking about. WOW!!
anyway, yeah i played dragons lair probably 4 or 5 times and died instantly and never touched it again. i was a very poor kid on a bad side of town. and couldnt afford dragons lairs high price and was totally confused once i put the quarter in and had no actual control at all over the character. that was it for me.
Well I'm glad I could help LOL as far as dragons lair, I only played it a handful of times because it was $0.50 to play and I did not have a whole lot of money back then. I enjoyed watching other people play it though.
I remember seeing it and was in awe of this game on arcade but never played it . Aladdin's Castle
Top video!! Thanks. LOVE this game.
Glad you enjoy it! Thank you very much
I had this on the Amiga. great game
I was blown away by this back in the day
Showbiz Pizza in Davenport!?!? I loved that place!
I live in Bettendorf now!
Anyone remember the arcade gameshow in the 80s, Starcade? I remember this game being featured and was blown away games could do this.
I used to watch it on WTBS on Saturday mornings I believe