Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"My favorite of the original rooms would have to be the black knight, whose lightning sword electrifies the ground tiles in a particular order you must jump in order to reach him. In the 1983 game, this was a hoot; now it's even better."

---from the review

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Back in the blocky, sprite-graphics world of 1983 gaming, Dragon's Lair was a brilliant achievement. Using the latest laserdisc technology, it offered arcade gamers an interactive cartoon, at least a decade before CD-ROM technology would offer home gamers something even slightly similar. True, the only options in this linear cartoon story were to either 1) move Dirk the Daring in the right direction or 2) DIE, and yet Dragon's Lair was still a fun game --and a classic in arcade history-- made even more so thanks to excellent animation by Don Bluth (Anastasia).

Now, I know what you're thinking; this is just a 3D rendition of the exact same game, with the exact same rooms and exact same puzzles, only now they're 3D, right? Wrong. While there is a certain "ooh" and "ah" factor when seeing the 2D intro of Singe's castle fade into its 3D, fully-rendered polygonal version, there is a lot more to its interior than just 20-year-old puzzle concepts. Remember all those doors you could not enter, yet always wanted to...? Well, while sometimes door X needs to be entered before unlocking door Y, in time, you'll visit just about every room there is to see. This leads to what the game box claims is 250 rooms which translates to maybe around 50 separate levels to solve. Of these, only around half of them are based on the original game. Consider this "Dragon's Lair-Plus-Plus," because often, that's what it is.

Of course, being a 3D castle, Dirk can no longer survive by simply moving in four compass directions and swinging his sword on occasion. In addition to full 360 degree freedom of movement, Dirk can jump, duck, roll, climb ropes and chains, and best of all, use a crossbow for long-distance fights, with three arrow types to choose from. While you will have to grin when seeing the 3D renditions of some classic Dragon's Lair puzzle rooms, it's amusing how the puzzles have been revamped for a new generation of gaming. My favorite of the original rooms would have to be the black knight, whose lightning sword electrifies the ground tiles in a particular order you must jump in order to reach him. In the 1983 game, this was a hoot; now it's even better.

Such 3D effects --for the castle environment, anyway-- are spectacular. Many game maps are excellently done, with some truly head- scratching puzzles which are a lot of fun to solve, when the controls cooperate (more on that later). One bedroom even includes portraits of the evil Marduk and the fair princess Daphne, based on original artwork by Don Bluth. That's a cute touch. Add to that real-time lighting (which contributes to one of the more amusing of the new puzzle rooms), and you have a really cool-looking castle to enjoy as you explore it.

Not that it's all roses in 3D for poor Dirk. Instead of the Quake, Unreal, or even Lithtech (No One Lives Forever) game engines, this is clearly a totally new game engine, made from scratch. While this provides an acceptable graphics environment, what about the controls? Controlling Dirk would be dandy if the game designers used Quake/Unreal/Lithtech as a template, yet this game uses a totally new control schematic...and it isn't very good. In order to do a running jump, you have to press "R," and the direction key, and the jump key, all at once...? In one room, you must use this cumbersome keyboard trio while jumping speedily over platforms hovering above lava, before you get fried. Thanks to the clumsy controls, this puzzle is 10 times more difficult. No joke; in order to complete this game, I had to use a cheat; not because it's a difficult game, though it was the only way to survive thanks to the clumsy game interface. That just isn't right.

Then there are the characters. True, I played Taz: Wanted with no complaints at the pastel-colored cartoon characters therein, though Dirk the Daring could have been easily upgraded with bump mapping and high-res textures befitting a new-millennium game star, yet he's just a 3D polygonal version, of the exact same 1983 Dirk. I could say the same thing about the enemies as well, and if it wasn't for the in-game video of Daphne as she originally appeared; her polygonal likeness is a disappointment. Sure, these characters effectively salute their cartoonish 1983 brethren, yet when put in a castle with intricate texture maps and real-time lighting, the contrast is pretty glaring.

Regardless of these flaws, this was clearly a labor of love for someone who loved the original game; so much so, that even the cumbersome game interface is slightly forgivable, upon viewing a cute 2D ending, and a credit roll with its own music video. Said music video is even pretty memorable: "He's My Guy," as sung by Julie Eisenhower (she was the singing voice of the Princess in the cult classic Dragon's-Lair clone, Shadoan). In addition, complete the game and you unlock a "Gallery" in the main menu, which includes all videos from the game, and a THREE part behind-the-scenes documentary of the whole project. As I said, someone really loved this project, and it shows. Too bad their love for workable game control schematics wasn't as grandiose.

---Techtite