I'm still amazed at how the designers were able to almost seamlessly combine animation with a videogame in 1983 the same year as Moon Patrol and Mario Bros.
Dude I have no idea what is going on it seems like a cartoon but I gather it's actually a game and it just seems crazy even in 2021 I can't work out if it's edited or just really slick play
@@ClunkisMunk They're saying that we take it for granted nowadays how primitive the game's mechanics are compared to modern day games. In 1983 it was a new hot thing that captured people's imaginations. Like most arcade games in that time, it was always more powerful than a home console because the cabinet was made just for one game. I'm not from the 80s or anything but I know that back in the day these were the most advanced games you could play compared to Atari and NES.
@@AlcoholicBoredom..... Which was revolutionary at the time. What are you attempting to argue here? At any rate, revolutionary or not, it was a quarter eating memorization slog. Those "quick time events" were set and never changed.
This game was really hard for me. Then one day I go into the arcade and see this guy beat the whole game without dying once. I was in awe. That guy was superhuman.
@@Trainwheel_Time You are correct. I practiced for an entire summer and got close to the end. Then, I watched a kid beat he game and carefully watched what he did on the one screen I couldn't get past which was the moving floor tiles. Once in the dragon's chamber, slaying the dragon was actually easy to do. The first time I did it was on the boardwalk in Ocean City. When I turned around to leave, there were so many people around watching me I couldn't even get out of arcade. Those were the days!
Ah, yes... back in the days when you had two options - spend tons of quarters learning through trial and error, or stand there watching someone ELSE spend tons of quarters learning through trial and error. No walkthroughs, no internet, no phones... just people livin' in the moment and desperately trying to survive the next room.
I like how each required action has a visual cue. Even the electrified floor with the knight has clues by showing the openings on the floor. All you have are your reflexes with assessment. Shame a lot of the imitators forgot this part of the game design through the 80s and 90s.
When the game debuted in 1983, I first saw it at my local county fair - every arcade tent had at least 5 consoles of it and the unit at the center of the tent had a video screen above it so a whole crowd could see what was happening.
I couldn't get passed the draw bridge, but I was really young. This was basically one of those Holy Grail games I would just watch in awe as others play.
Same, and the arcade co-op was also way too expensive. I wasted my money quickly on other games instead (Operation Wolf/Afterburner/Outrun). 😅 Minimum requirements for Dragon's Lair were deep pockets, god-like memory + timing + reflexes, nerves of steel to deal with the game and the crowd of kids surrounding you, and 100% commitment and dedication. None of any those things I could afford. 😂 This game was only for the "best of the best".
Good to see I dropped a bunch of quarters to make it 1/4 of the way through. Basically memory game...I would count...1, 2, 3 go and learn learn learn. Good to see it all the way through.
I used to try and play this as a six year old back in the 80s, and even then I knew it wasn't much of a game. The animation is great and they did come up with a novel idea, not to mention the tech that went into it was pretty far out there when it debuted, but as a game? It just barely qualifies as such. Even when compared to the rather simplistic, often single screen affairs of it's contemporaries it's a step below those. I mean aren't QuickTime events pretty much the worst part of any game containing them? Video games are about controlling whatever on screen avatar the creators choose and interacting with the environment they created. The more control over your character and the more ways to interact with the game world generally makes for better, more interesting gameplay. The more choices the better (some exceptions exist). This is just about as limited as it gets in regards to character control and environment interaction. Again, the visuals are fantastic. I was huge fan of Bluth as a kid. Had The Secret of Nimh on VHS and I must have watched it literally hundreds of times. The technology was pretty much cutting edge (it was actually Laserdisc instead of DVD). I only recall ever seeing one Laserdisc player outside of an electronics store (those discs were massive). I give the credit where it's due but I personally can't give it many points based purely on the "game" part of the game.
I remember people doing this as late as the early 90's. There was that one kid that we thought was so cool because he was always playing this game. It was always busy... and the one time I was able to get to the controls it was a dollar... which by that time in the day I no longer had. Still... great memories.
I beat this game after pumping tons of quarters into it, but hit was a magnificent day. The game was hooked up to a tv in the game room window in the mall and a crowd gathered. Everyone cheered when I finally finished it. What a day.
Lol. 1st off, it was .50, 2ndly, it was thee animation that was too distracting for me to pay attention actually playing, and 3, it was WAAAAY to hard.
@@jorgetomas380 The arcade that I went to had this and it was .25 Can you imagine the amount of money the arcades must have made off of these arcade games?! It would take a lot of experimentation to master this.
@@Dbusdriver71, alot of the arcades I went to justified the .50 because A. it was Disney & B. the animation. Which was obviously a money grab. But, you're right, they made a killing off of our ignorance as kids.😅
My older brother was friends with the arcade owner’s nephew, so after hours they would play the game with one quarter because the uncle would unlock the machine for them. They took notes on a notepad as to which actions to do next, all the way to the end.
I have to admit that I was immediately drawn to this game when it first came out. It was so far ahead of any other arcade game and the graphics were in a league of its own. With that in mind, I had no clue how to actually play the game. I would just keep pumping in quarters and keep dying but would tell all my friends at school how I played the new Dragons Lair game all weekend 😂 Growing up in the late 80s-90s was the best!
@@Meatball2022 Exactly! You’re correct, it was just like playing a cartoon and we had nothing similar at the time. I’m sure kids would laugh at this game nowadays but I’ll never forget how amazing it was back then.
@@chrisjenkins203 I remember a scene with a flask labeled “drink me”, like the old Alice in wonderland thing. The funny thing was you had to move to the side to STOP him from drinking it, as if any random person walking through a castle would automatically drink a flask sitting on a desk. Haha
@@chrisjenkins203 I also remember the final stage had 2 ways to complete it. A quicker one skipped many of the hopping around but required quicker timing. The longer one was longer but the timing was easier...
I remember this game as a kid in the arcade, it was impossible. To this day I think it's the hardest game ever created...plus it cost a dollar for three lives.
Yup. And the arcade one didn't have those helpful arrows pointing which direction to go. We had to figure that shit out ourselves. I never did finish that damn game. Spent a hell of a lot of money on it though.
I still think there are much harder games out there, but this, alongside Don Bluth’s other arcade creation, Space Ace, are certainly VERY challenging and satisfying to play
I’m sure you’re right but I was always gutted and devastated. I never knew how to do ANYthing in this game. Well, the one move I mastered above all others was spontaneous demise.
my pops recently restored a Dragon's Lair arcade cabinet, the dude has it memorized now. definitely worth playing when you don't have to pour money into it
That sounds so amazing to be able to play this game in its proper form of an arcade cabinet but never have to pay any actual money. Honestly, I don’t understand 99% of people’s reasons for owning arcade cabinet machines but this one would fall in the 1%. Congrats! I am super jealous and wish I could own it as well. 🐉🎮⚔️🏰🤴👸
For those wondering if it was actual game play, not quite The scenes were all rendered on a laser disc (very large in size, much bigger than your DVD's) A video sequence would play and at a certain moment, you used the joystick to determine an action based on what was the moment in the video game (say the floor dropped open), you either jumped one way, jumped up etc Your action determined what video sequence would play next, Choose the wrong action and you could die, or go down a sequence of play that led to nowhere, or make the correct action to continue on the successful path Those who got their names in the high score list, would go all the way through to the last scene and then deliberately loose a life. Do it again until the last life left and then make the correct action to complete the game This is how you maximised the points rather than just complete the game first pass through It was all about getting your name in the top list :-) I was hopeless at this game, I did regularly clock Gyruss though
Wow. 12 minutes to play this game in its entirety. TWELVE. I can't tell you how many quarters I saw being chucked into the DL machines back in the day. I never got very far myself. I could never get the hang of the timing. I enjoyed watching others play (and suffer!) through this one, as well as Space Ace, which came a bit later.
Took me back to being a wide-eyed fascinated 10 year old, never got very far , watched the older kids play it but never saw it completed, thought I was impossible! Thank you from 10 year old me!
Same here. Same age. And at 50 cents a whack, I think I could only get past about 3-4 “levels” (and that’s being nice, this played out FAAARRRR longer than I imagined back then) and the volume always seemed to be so loud on that game. For me, this game was in the Safeway grocery store and I would beg my mom for some quarters to play it while she shopped. And she would give me that look when I came trudging back so quickly….she could tell the game was eating quarters like crazy. You had to be lightning fast to make it the next “fight”, and some of the death scenes for ole Dirk were pretty gruesome lol. Seems like he would melt, burn up, fall hard and get stabbed. At least that’s what I remembered, it’s been 40 damn years…..wow.
Speaking of going broke, which is what will happen if you get involved too much with a game such as this, one of the worst contenders for a video game EVER!!.
My local candy store had this and it was revolutionary for its day. I couldn’t afford to play Dragon’s Lair but only watched with sadness as other kids played. All other games were one quarter and Dragon’s Lair was probably one dollar.
Brings back great memories of my youth, hanging out with my Dad playing video games. My Dad was in the video game /vending business in the 80's-90's so I got to use the keys to click on as many credits as I wanted as long as no customer's were around the store's, good stuff.
I really enjoyed Dragon’s Lair as a kid. This was a really cool game that me and my friends would play at the local arcade game room. This video brings back a flood of great memories. I loved this game, Defender, Stargate, Tempest, and many more. 👍
I remember trying to play this in a arcade and cut my losses early. It wasn’t enough fun to keep paying the price to get through it. Glad this was posted here. So much of this game / QuickTime movie, that I’d never seen
I'm convinced the joysticks on most of these games were broken or rigged. There was always one direction that seemed to work 0-10% of the time (like left).
the game was setup to take your quarters... you could inside the system set the window time for the joy stick... also as the laser disk player got older, the sync between controller player would get out of sync... Making the game even more unplayable.
I had a crowd around me when I beat it for the first time, It was about the fifth time I had made it the final liar. At age 20 it was the greatest moment of my life cause not had beat it yet. Btw on the final platform drop entering from the left you can drop 9 levels and give everyone a thrill before you jump
I remember watching my friend Joey beat this game in an arcade with a huge group of sadly mostly guys on a Friday night in the 80's. Kick ass times. :)
My dad grew up playing the home PC version and I remember watching him beat the treasure room when I was very little. Now I have a lot more admiration for him as I struggle to beat the switch version.
My God, this was the hardest game ever. I only made it to the first tile floor fight with the black knight. I could never figure out the pattern on the floor. Too much money. This game was a dollar for three attempts
I bought this game for the gbc as a kid probably back in like 2004 or so. I didn't even know it was an arcade game. I was so confused about the game that when I actually did figure out how to play it, it felt do damn good to beat the dragon and save the princess.
I remember this in Aladdin's Castle arcade when it came out. First game to use disks (Laserdiscs) and to use quick select options to choose your movements/actions. Was very innovative at the time.
I love it. Spent many Sundays mastering this game. WHEN I was 17 I mastered it at the Arcade in Birmingham UK, where everyone knew me as the Dragon Slayer. PRICELESS MEMORIES
This is amazing. Not one of my friends could win this game. My girlfriends brother worked in the arcade in the mall I grew up in. He could open the machine and trigger a bunch of credits. This was the most expensive game to play at 4 quarters for 3 lives. We would play for hours which probable cost the owner hundreds of dollars in time. But it never got played. It was mainly a pinball house more than and arcade.
The lights and the sounds of a arcade back in the late 70's to mid 80's here in Chicago was amazing. We got first release here an in Tokyo...a great time to be a gamer
I remember how cool we thought, because it was on a laser disc. Never could get very far. It was so expensive. To think I had to wait 40 years to see the end. 🎉 Thank you!
I used to complete this game after a ton of quarters! And would show off whenever someone was watching me. I had the poker face on whenever I played this classic 😀
One the funny things about this game was the screen prompts were so quick before you died you honestly barely could pay attention to the screen if you were playing. This was one of the few games it was more fun to watch some one else play.
Spent so many quarters on this game. Loved it. Beat it several times. In the arcade near me they had a tv above the cabinets so people could watch you play. What a great time in life.
Such a classic game, my friend & I would head into town (Sydney, Australia) after high school in the early 80's about once a month to play the arcade games which were only available in the lobby of a cinema complex on George Street. We'd play TRON, Asteroids, Battle Zone and this Dragon's Lair to name a few. We'd play until the sun set then take the train back to our homes in the suburbs ... good times =o).
That bing noise of every successful joystick stroke brings back memories. Some good times. It was such a flex back in the day to do that whole run on one quarter.
This game brought back great memories as a kid. Someone linked this to me after I committed how this was one of my top favorite 3 video games from the 80s. The other two being Space Ace and Rastan. Funny I don’t remember those arrows being in the game. I had to take educated guesses or read a lot of video game magazines to find out how to play. If I recall there was a part two to the game which took almost ten years to come out. It never made it to the east coast unfortunately.
I can't believe someone played it through. Every time I put tokens in this game nothing would happen except for me losing my tokens, I thought it was a scam.
Well... Arcades in the 80s rarely had perfectly working controls. If you didn't press a button or move the joystick at the exact moment then your dead. Heh, I knew all the moves and because of bad controls I often died. I fared better at Space Ace for some reason.
Thats exactly my thoughts. It sat there looking all impressive but no one played it cause it didn't seem to work and was expensive. Much rather play gauntlet instead.
I mastered this game back in the day and could beat it with a quarter but it took me quite a few quarters to get to that point. Used to have people all stand around it and watch me play. There was actually a couple other games that I would play too called Thayer's Quest and Space Ace that came out too around the same time but I never quite mastered them.
Ah yes, Thayer's Quest. With that keypad control like choose your own adventure outcomes. I can hear it now: 'Go away! Strangers aren't welcome here!' 😆
I remember playing this on our home computer decades ago. The plus side was, didn't have to spend quarters on lives, though you had to start completely over if you ran out (not sure if the arcade version did that, too) The down side was, there were no direction or action indicators like there were in this video. I still remember, to this day, that "Space" was the key you pressed for the sword.
This game is a mixed bag. On one hand, it's beautiful, it's amazing how they achieved that in 1983 when games were just a bunch of big pixels, the animation is gorgeous, you can still enjoy this game really well just by watching it, and the gameplay is not as bad as people think. However, this game really is a scam, the original version did not have those arrows, it was pure trial and error, the game was expensive on arcades, costing a whole dollar for 3 lives, and overall, it's another game that was more of a novelty, interactive movies failed to catch on, CDs tried to revive games like this but failed, and even when interactive movies came back, they still use the technology used for regular games instead of pre-recorded footage. Cuphead finally achieved what this game was supposed to be, a playable cartoon.
Dragon's Lair was a quantum leap in graphics and gameplay. Unfortunately, the expensive laser disc players didn't fare well in cabinets that vented in dust and cigarette smoke, and the gameplay was linear, so once you saw the ending, there was little reason to keep spending quarters.
You make it look easy, it so wasn't! Every time it was randomly generated and those windows of the right button press were so short! This is HOURS of trial and error, memorising the right response. Amazing work getting to the end in one play!
I never got far into that game, I didn't realize it was that long. More than a few repeated sequences, which surprises me. Was a great game, and fun to just watch
This was the hardest game i played as a kid. I never made it past the rapids section. You had to hit that button at the exact right split second.. Maddening!
Laser disc games like this were glitchy as hell when they got older. The disc would deteriorate, the player would get laggy, and the controls themselves would get worn and you'd have to replace the microswitches. Of course, the microswitches would wear out in all of the joysticks, so that wasn't unique, but boy when you're trying to get that controller to work and you get killed it really messes with your head! It was ahead of its time to be sure.
Yes, a friend used to work at a video parlor back then He was always having to clean those laser disc's (disc and the player) Joysticks were always getting replaced. They used to put metal plates around the base of the joysticks to stop the wood on the machines getting destroyed. They used to have coins too until the street kids would bring in screwdrivers and all stand around a machine so people couldn't see what was happening and open the machines cash box. Tokens then quickly replaced coins.
Great Caesar's Ghost, do I love this game! The first time I reached Singe, I had only the single current life and had never seen the sequence. I made it through on pure reaction. I've seldom been more gratified in besting a game, or been more clenched up during the process. It was a straight-up rush!!
The pattern used on the checker board is still ingrained in my brain. It's been in there for about 40 years. I was the first of my friends to make it to the dragon, but not to beat it. The feeling of finally making it to that final board was right up there with making out with a girl for the first time only more expensive (2 quarters). Dragon's Liar was at the end of the standup video game craze. It was for me anyways. I never got into the fighting games. It started with Pacman and ended with this one. In my top 5 for sure. Ms. Pacman, Pole Position, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Tempest, Moon Patrol, Mario Brothers all got a huge share of my, my mom's, my sister's, and the crippled children's quarters. Not my finest hour, but boy was it fun.
When this game came out, It was the BOMB. I remember the lines to play it stretching out of the arcade. I sucked at it so my turn was pretty short. I didn't have the money or patience to go all the way to the end of the line for another go. Glad I got to see the ending finally!
I'm still amazed at how the designers were able to almost seamlessly combine animation with a videogame in 1983 the same year as Moon Patrol and Mario Bros.
It seemed like some kind of impossible magic to me back in the day. It was like a cartoon that you could actually control!
Dude I have no idea what is going on it seems like a cartoon but I gather it's actually a game and it just seems crazy even in 2021
I can't work out if it's edited or just really slick play
Eeyup.
@@BrianMillerCEO you could not of said it better
@@BrianMillerCEO you could not of said it better Brian
You had to be around in 1983 to really appreciate how revolutionary this arcade game was for its time!
You’re saying this doesn’t hold up now?
@@ClunkisMunk They're saying that we take it for granted nowadays how primitive the game's mechanics are compared to modern day games. In 1983 it was a new hot thing that captured people's imaginations. Like most arcade games in that time, it was always more powerful than a home console because the cabinet was made just for one game.
I'm not from the 80s or anything but I know that back in the day these were the most advanced games you could play compared to Atari and NES.
@@meatyofficial I should have worded it better. “You’re saying we can’t appreciate it now?” Now it’s fixed.
It only seemed revolutionary. It was basically just using a laserdisc where the joystick moved it to different places on the disk.
@@AlcoholicBoredom..... Which was revolutionary at the time. What are you attempting to argue here? At any rate, revolutionary or not, it was a quarter eating memorization slog. Those "quick time events" were set and never changed.
This game was really hard for me. Then one day I go into the arcade and see this guy beat the whole game without dying once. I was in awe. That guy was superhuman.
Its not that. Its just 340 bucks in quarters and memorization.
@@Trainwheel_Time It's both.
You can try to memorize a game for hours and hours, if you aren't skilled enough, you won't be able to finish it.
@@Trainwheel_Time game was visually unique but not great gameplay
Guy was skilled for sure but also rich.
@@Trainwheel_Time You are correct. I practiced for an entire summer and got close to the end. Then, I watched a kid beat he game and carefully watched what he did on the one screen I couldn't get past which was the moving floor tiles. Once in the dragon's chamber, slaying the dragon was actually easy to do. The first time I did it was on the boardwalk in Ocean City. When I turned around to leave, there were so many people around watching me I couldn't even get out of arcade. Those were the days!
Ah, yes... back in the days when you had two options - spend tons of quarters learning through trial and error, or stand there watching someone ELSE spend tons of quarters learning through trial and error. No walkthroughs, no internet, no phones... just people livin' in the moment and desperately trying to survive the next room.
At 50 cents a pop, it was some expensive learnin
I like how each required action has a visual cue. Even the electrified floor with the knight has clues by showing the openings on the floor. All you have are your reflexes with assessment.
Shame a lot of the imitators forgot this part of the game design through the 80s and 90s.
When the game debuted in 1983, I first saw it at my local county fair - every arcade tent had at least 5 consoles of it and the unit at the center of the tent had a video screen above it so a whole crowd could see what was happening.
There was actually a walk through book you could buy from actual book shops.
You could also buy the book. How to beat dragons lair. It's what I did
Lets just apreciate the satisfaction that this guy gave us, WE ALL FAILED AT THE START SO LETS GIVE THIS MAN A MEDAL
I couldn't get passed the draw bridge, but I was really young. This was basically one of those Holy Grail games I would just watch in awe as others play.
Same, and the arcade co-op was also way too expensive.
I wasted my money quickly on other games instead (Operation Wolf/Afterburner/Outrun). 😅
Minimum requirements for Dragon's Lair were deep pockets, god-like memory + timing + reflexes, nerves of steel to deal with the game and the crowd of kids surrounding you, and 100% commitment and dedication. None of any those things I could afford. 😂
This game was only for the "best of the best".
Right?!
Good to see I dropped a bunch of quarters to make it 1/4 of the way through. Basically memory game...I would count...1, 2, 3 go and learn learn learn. Good to see it all the way through.
Wasted so many quarter rolls and barely got past the drawbridge. I’m apparently not alone!
This game was so far ahead of its time, it's all 100% quicktime events. Amazing.
It’s dvd but you have reaction time which is very creative
I used to try and play this as a six year old back in the 80s, and even then I knew it wasn't much of a game. The animation is great and they did come up with a novel idea, not to mention the tech that went into it was pretty far out there when it debuted, but as a game? It just barely qualifies as such. Even when compared to the rather simplistic, often single screen affairs of it's contemporaries it's a step below those. I mean aren't QuickTime events pretty much the worst part of any game containing them?
Video games are about controlling whatever on screen avatar the creators choose and interacting with the environment they created. The more control over your character and the more ways to interact with the game world generally makes for better, more interesting gameplay. The more choices the better (some exceptions exist). This is just about as limited as it gets in regards to character control and environment interaction. Again, the visuals are fantastic. I was huge fan of Bluth as a kid. Had The Secret of Nimh on VHS and I must have watched it literally hundreds of times. The technology was pretty much cutting edge (it was actually Laserdisc instead of DVD). I only recall ever seeing one Laserdisc player outside of an electronics store (those discs were massive). I give the credit where it's due but I personally can't give it many points based purely on the "game" part of the game.
@@jamesstaggs4160 blah blah blah
You know this game was hard af as a kid and you couldn't beat its the only reason your talking shit
Wireless controller.
There were a few games like this that came out. There was the Space Ace, and a first-person helicopter one too, I forget the name.
Never thought I'd live to see what happened at the end of this game, thanks for the upload 🙂
Me 2. I never got past the 2nd scene. Maybe not even the first. In the arcades. I didn’t play it too much. Put most of my quarters into other games.
Same here!
I'm amazed as well, definitely a God amongst men.
That is why God gave us TH-cam!
When good players would play this, a big crowd would gather and watch.. lol, We were all nerds back then.
Probably because not many people got very far.
@@cmatin01 thats cause the joystick was rigged to "double tap" alot resulting in death.
Yeah as a 9 year old I would be so happy to see a adult playing it. I’d run right over and try to get a good spot to watch. Never seen anyone beat it.
A couple of the arcades in Houston had a second monitor on top so you could see the game without crowding the player. It was a huge draw.
I remember people doing this as late as the early 90's. There was that one kid that we thought was so cool because he was always playing this game. It was always busy... and the one time I was able to get to the controls it was a dollar... which by that time in the day I no longer had. Still... great memories.
That just saved me a ton of quarters, had to wait 35 (edit) years though, lol
Lol
Just 20? Try 35. Lol
Same...and my father got it on laser disk and it was still impossible.
I bought the game on cd and still am mastering it. This game was a trendsetter.
Me too
I beat this game after pumping tons of quarters into it, but hit was a magnificent day. The game was hooked up to a tv in the game room window in the mall and a crowd gathered. Everyone cheered when I finally finished it. What a day.
This game kicked my ass and stole all my quarters in the 80's.
We didn't know then were this would all go to. PC's, nitendo, game boy and the like. IF we knew, we would have saved our quarters.
Lol. 1st off, it was .50, 2ndly, it was thee animation that was too distracting for me to pay attention actually playing, and 3, it was WAAAAY to hard.
@@jorgetomas380 The arcade that I went to had this and it was .25 Can you imagine the amount of money the arcades must have made off of these arcade games?! It would take a lot of experimentation to master this.
@@Dbusdriver71, alot of the arcades I went to justified the .50 because A. it was Disney & B. the animation. Which was obviously a money grab. But, you're right, they made a killing off of our ignorance as kids.😅
My older brother was friends with the arcade owner’s nephew, so after hours they would play the game with one quarter because the uncle would unlock the machine for them. They took notes on a notepad as to which actions to do next, all the way to the end.
Lol awesome
lucky
I have to admit that I was immediately drawn to this game when it first came out. It was so far ahead of any other arcade game and the graphics were in a league of its own. With that in mind, I had no clue how to actually play the game. I would just keep pumping in quarters and keep dying but would tell all my friends at school how I played the new Dragons Lair game all weekend 😂 Growing up in the late 80s-90s was the best!
It was like playing a cartoon
@@Meatball2022 Exactly! You’re correct, it was just like playing a cartoon and we had nothing similar at the time. I’m sure kids would laugh at this game nowadays but I’ll never forget how amazing it was back then.
@@chrisjenkins203 I remember a scene with a flask labeled “drink me”, like the old Alice in wonderland thing. The funny thing was you had to move to the side to STOP him from drinking it, as if any random person walking through a castle would automatically drink a flask sitting on a desk. Haha
@@chrisjenkins203 I also remember the final stage had 2 ways to complete it. A quicker one skipped many of the hopping around but required quicker timing. The longer one was longer but the timing was easier...
Early 80s.
I remember this game as a kid in the arcade, it was impossible. To this day I think it's the hardest game ever created...plus it cost a dollar for three lives.
Yup. And the arcade one didn't have those helpful arrows pointing which direction to go. We had to figure that shit out ourselves. I never did finish that damn game. Spent a hell of a lot of money on it though.
i never saw anyone get past the beginning lol
Want to beat this game? *SECRETS REVEALED*
I still think there are much harder games out there, but this, alongside Don Bluth’s other arcade creation, Space Ace, are certainly VERY challenging and satisfying to play
yall got ripped off. it only cost us 25cents.
Dragon's Lair - All Deaths Compilation would be epic. The death scenes were hilarious
th-cam.com/video/Wg25NxzitIs/w-d-xo.html
I’m sure you’re right but I was always gutted and devastated. I never knew how to do ANYthing in this game.
Well, the one move I mastered above all others was spontaneous demise.
There is a video like that th-cam.com/video/S2Iv8cCinBg/w-d-xo.html
Ha the entire time i was watching this i was thinking that exact same thing lol
I loved watching people play this but couldn’t do it myself. It was too hard. Never got far.
His screams and yells still crack me up after all these years.
Sir Homer of Simpson.
my pops recently restored a Dragon's Lair arcade cabinet, the dude has it memorized now. definitely worth playing when you don't have to pour money into it
That sounds so amazing to be able to play this game in its proper form of an arcade cabinet but never have to pay any actual money. Honestly, I don’t understand 99% of people’s reasons for owning arcade cabinet machines but this one would fall in the 1%. Congrats! I am super jealous and wish I could own it as well. 🐉🎮⚔️🏰🤴👸
@@chrisjenkins203 they have one at my local arcade
Definitely worth the money to get Dragon Lair Cab.
@@patsfan4life You have a local arcade?
@The Great Pumpkin yeah Arcade Odessey in SoFla
For those wondering if it was actual game play, not quite
The scenes were all rendered on a laser disc (very large in size, much bigger than your DVD's)
A video sequence would play and at a certain moment, you used the joystick to determine an action based on what was the moment in the video game (say the floor dropped open), you either jumped one way, jumped up etc
Your action determined what video sequence would play next, Choose the wrong action and you could die, or go down a sequence of play that led to nowhere, or make the correct action to continue on the successful path
Those who got their names in the high score list, would go all the way through to the last scene and then deliberately loose a life. Do it again until the last life left and then make the correct action to complete the game
This is how you maximised the points rather than just complete the game first pass through
It was all about getting your name in the top list :-)
I was hopeless at this game, I did regularly clock Gyruss though
Wow. 12 minutes to play this game in its entirety. TWELVE. I can't tell you how many quarters I saw being chucked into the DL machines back in the day. I never got very far myself. I could never get the hang of the timing. I enjoyed watching others play (and suffer!) through this one, as well as Space Ace, which came a bit later.
I used to stand behind the bigger kids and watch them play this, completely mesmerized by it.
Took me back to being a wide-eyed fascinated 10 year old, never got very far , watched the older kids play it but never saw it completed, thought I was impossible! Thank you from 10 year old me!
Same here. Same age. And at 50 cents a whack, I think I could only get past about 3-4 “levels” (and that’s being nice, this played out FAAARRRR longer than I imagined back then) and the volume always seemed to be so loud on that game. For me, this game was in the Safeway grocery store and I would beg my mom for some quarters to play it while she shopped. And she would give me that look when I came trudging back so quickly….she could tell the game was eating quarters like crazy. You had to be lightning fast to make it the next “fight”, and some of the death scenes for ole Dirk were pretty gruesome lol. Seems like he would melt, burn up, fall hard and get stabbed. At least that’s what I remembered, it’s been 40 damn years…..wow.
This game is a warning about chasing expensive women.
Speaking of going broke, which is what will happen if you get involved too much with a game such as this, one of the worst contenders for a video game EVER!!.
@Dawson Flynn nobody gives a shit
@@mattbell5602 I hate those jerks, they are constantly spamming everywhere.
This game was super hard back in the day. I’m glad to see I finally get to see how it ends
There were DIP switch settings to make the game easier or harder, set by the arcade owner.
2:47 i just love how calm he is when he get out of the water where there are like 200 snakes. 😂😂🤣🤣
Dragon keeps a magic sword that can kill him right in the living room....
Old fairy tale trope. Beowulf killed the Grendel's mother with a giant killing sword she kept in her lair, IIRC.
Like Superman keeping a kryptonite collection.
suppose you'd rather keep it close than not know who has it
My local candy store had this and it was revolutionary for its day. I couldn’t afford to play Dragon’s Lair but only watched with sadness as other kids played. All other games were one quarter and Dragon’s Lair was probably one dollar.
Brings back great memories of my youth, hanging out with my Dad playing video games. My Dad was in the video game /vending business in the 80's-90's so I got to use the keys to click on as many credits as I wanted as long as no customer's were around the store's, good stuff.
I sure miss Dad and video games.
For such a short game there is a ton of reused assets. Still a classic, Don Bluth’s animation is gorgeous.
Fr! He did a great job animating Disney movies and even his own movies! :)
Guess there is another 20 minutes of death animations? 😀
40 years later, and this animation style video game concept still feels fresh and interesting. Still feel there's lots of opportunity to explore it!
there is, was, Flash games were this
I really enjoyed Dragon’s Lair as a kid. This was a really cool game that me and my friends would play at the local arcade game room. This video brings back a flood of great memories. I loved this game, Defender, Stargate, Tempest, and many more. 👍
I remember trying to play this in a arcade and cut my losses early. It wasn’t enough fun to keep paying the price to get through it.
Glad this was posted here. So much of this game / QuickTime movie, that I’d never seen
I'm convinced the joysticks on most of these games were broken or rigged. There was always one direction that seemed to work 0-10% of the time (like left).
the game was setup to take your quarters... you could inside the system set the window time for the joy stick... also as the laser disk player got older, the sync between controller player would get out of sync...
Making the game even more unplayable.
I used to think this was a Disney movie from the 70s 😂
Since Don Bluth, the creator, worked for Disney, you wouldn’t be too far off the mark.
@@MWRJET When is dragon lair going to be in the movie
@@kingajrocks2345 im not sure but ryan reynolds is gonna be the main character
It almost looked like it. Reminds me of the Black Cauldron.
I'm not sure that princess is Disney friendly...
I had a crowd around me when I beat it for the first time, It was about the fifth time I had made it the final liar. At age 20 it was the greatest moment of my life cause not had beat it yet. Btw on the final platform drop entering from the left you can drop 9 levels and give everyone a thrill before you jump
I remember watching my friend Joey beat this game in an arcade with a huge group of sadly mostly guys on a Friday night in the 80's. Kick ass times. :)
The Dark Souls of it's time.
That's actually pretty funny
You even stop being maidenless!
Amazing how good this game looks compared to other games in the 80’s. It was hard af too.😅
Just hand drawn animation (Don Bluth) cells on laserdisc. Like a choose-your-adventure TV game.
The irony is they worked so hard on a beautiful game, but since it was so impossibly hard, no one ever saw it...
Yeah, it’s weird.
Oh, gobs of people did. It was all over the place when I was a kid.
@@oddish4352 i don't mean ppl didnt see it... I played it also as a kid.. i mean it was so hard i never saw anyone get past the bridge 😂
@@michaelsalmon3450EXACTLY!! Didn’t have any clue about that princess and what she sounded like lol
i can't tell y'all how many times I played this as a kid and failed!!! This brought me back!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!
This game was larger than life to a 7yr old me. I had Dragon's Lair taste with Pac-Man money.
My dad grew up playing the home PC version and I remember watching him beat the treasure room when I was very little.
Now I have a lot more admiration for him as I struggle to beat the switch version.
My God, this was the hardest game ever. I only made it to the first tile floor fight with the black knight. I could never figure out the pattern on the floor. Too much money. This game was a dollar for three attempts
we got lucky. 3 lives for 25 cents.
Thank you. I've waited 40 years to see this all the way through.
Thank you for posting this video. I've never gotten this far into the game and I am truly enjoying all of it for the first time.
This game always fascinated me. It was so ahead of it's time
I bought this game for the gbc as a kid probably back in like 2004 or so. I didn't even know it was an arcade game. I was so confused about the game that when I actually did figure out how to play it, it felt do damn good to beat the dragon and save the princess.
I dropped many quarters into this machine during the 80’s. It was truly grind breaking for its time.
I remember this in Aladdin's Castle arcade when it came out. First game to use disks (Laserdiscs) and to use quick select options to choose your movements/actions. Was very innovative at the time.
love how this is only 12 minutes, but still like 50% of the game is repeated.
That's because it is. You played each scene twice. One regular and one reverse.
I love it. Spent many Sundays mastering this game. WHEN I was 17 I mastered it at the Arcade in Birmingham UK, where everyone knew me as the Dragon Slayer. PRICELESS MEMORIES
Owned it on the 360 via free download late 90s I want it back..
This is amazing. Not one of my friends could win this game. My girlfriends brother worked in the arcade in the mall I grew up in. He could open the machine and trigger a bunch of credits. This was the most expensive game to play at 4 quarters for 3 lives. We would play for hours which probable cost the owner hundreds of dollars in time. But it never got played. It was mainly a pinball house more than and arcade.
I could of swore this game was a dream of mine as a kid, FINALLY FOUND IT!!!
This game was designed to make children poor.
You mean the arcades and developers rich.
You mean parents. Kids don't have jobs or income at that age.
MadMax still holds the highest score for this game 😂
That's the Strangest thing I saw today.
That madmax guy was the best at almost every game back then
The lights and the sounds of a arcade back in the late 70's to mid 80's here in Chicago was amazing. We got first release here an in Tokyo...a great time to be a gamer
The length a man will go to get some nookie is crazy. 😂
Well the Princess was a pretty tasty snack, so...
A “young “ man
It would have been much cheaper and far less dangerous for him to have gone to a prostitute.
RIP to all the quarters it took to getting to this point.
trying to qualify for an 'entry' level job in the 21st century be like:
So true. Interview and test rounds which seem endless and where even the slightest mistake or hesitation can take you out of the "game" lol.
You really want this job? Okay, prove to use you want to be here by playing Dragon's Lair, lol.
Ahh ! I remember this game ! Nothing quite like it when it came out, we couldn't believe it. Hasn't aged well though looking back at it now.
I remember how cool we thought, because it was on a laser disc. Never could get very far. It was so expensive.
To think I had to wait 40 years to see the end. 🎉 Thank you!
Thanks a lot! Where were those yellow arrows 35 years ago when I lost more quarters than I can count?
I was thinking the same! Never noticed them till now!
They were always there
Lol I know right
@@mindseyeproductions8798 No they weren't. The visual cues were in lighting doorways and objects. There weren't arrows in the original arcade game.
We all lost all of our money to this game.
I used to complete this game after a ton of quarters! And would show off whenever someone was watching me. I had the poker face on whenever I played this classic 😀
NERD
One the funny things about this game was the screen prompts were so quick before you died you honestly barely could pay attention to the screen if you were playing. This was one of the few games it was more fun to watch some one else play.
As a person who doesn’t like video games and like animated movies I can comfortably say that this is the best looking video game I’ve ever seen!
When this came out, I immediately knew it was a quarter sucker, so I stayed away.
Man I forgot about this game. Just kept watching saying to myself "I remember that!"
Spent so many quarters on this game. Loved it. Beat it several times. In the arcade near me they had a tv above the cabinets so people could watch you play. What a great time in life.
Such a classic game, my friend & I would head into town (Sydney, Australia) after high school in the early 80's about once a month to play the arcade games which were only available in the lobby of a cinema complex on George Street. We'd play TRON, Asteroids, Battle Zone and this Dragon's Lair to name a few. We'd play until the sun set then take the train back to our homes in the suburbs ... good times =o).
Time Zone and Galaxy World! I'd do the same - Padstow to Central and back in the late evening!
Whoever designed the princess in this game deserves a medal.
I remember watching ‘Silver Spoons’ and being insanely jealous that the kid had this in his game room.
I was so jealous of Rick. Freakin kid had everything. But I still had a great childhood and wouldn’t change it for whatever The Rickster had.
That bing noise of every successful joystick stroke brings back memories. Some good times. It was such a flex back in the day to do that whole run on one quarter.
This game brought back great memories as a kid. Someone linked this to me after I committed how this was one of my top favorite 3 video games from the 80s. The other two being Space Ace and Rastan.
Funny I don’t remember those arrows being in the game. I had to take educated guesses or read a lot of video game magazines to find out how to play.
If I recall there was a part two to the game which took almost ten years to come out. It never made it to the east coast unfortunately.
I can't believe someone played it through. Every time I put tokens in this game nothing would happen except for me losing my tokens, I thought it was a scam.
Well... Arcades in the 80s rarely had perfectly working controls. If you didn't press a button or move the joystick at the exact moment then your dead. Heh, I knew all the moves and because of bad controls I often died. I fared better at Space Ace for some reason.
Thats exactly my thoughts. It sat there looking all impressive but no one played it cause it didn't seem to work and was expensive. Much rather play gauntlet instead.
@@cupofqwarffee4802 Yup. Gauntlet was fun and multiplayer. After you tried Dragons Lair a couple.times and lost all your cash you didn't bother again
I mastered this game back in the day and could beat it with a quarter but it took me quite a few quarters to get to that point. Used to have people all stand around it and watch me play. There was actually a couple other games that I would play too called Thayer's Quest and Space Ace that came out too around the same time but I never quite mastered them.
Ah yes, Thayer's Quest. With that keypad control like choose your own adventure outcomes. I can hear it now: 'Go away! Strangers aren't welcome here!' 😆
That was incredible! Thanks for uploading :D
I remember playing this on our home computer decades ago.
The plus side was, didn't have to spend quarters on lives, though you had to start completely over if you ran out (not sure if the arcade version did that, too)
The down side was, there were no direction or action indicators like there were in this video.
I still remember, to this day, that "Space" was the key you pressed for the sword.
This is the first Dark Souls game!!!!
Dark Souls was easier lol
This game is a mixed bag.
On one hand, it's beautiful, it's amazing how they achieved that in 1983 when games were just a bunch of big pixels, the animation is gorgeous, you can still enjoy this game really well just by watching it, and the gameplay is not as bad as people think.
However, this game really is a scam, the original version did not have those arrows, it was pure trial and error, the game was expensive on arcades, costing a whole dollar for 3 lives, and overall, it's another game that was more of a novelty, interactive movies failed to catch on, CDs tried to revive games like this but failed, and even when interactive movies came back, they still use the technology used for regular games instead of pre-recorded footage.
Cuphead finally achieved what this game was supposed to be, a playable cartoon.
I want a show or a movie on this game just because the adamation is so pretty
@@princessfiona2967 There was a show, but I think it sucked.
I remember Mastering this game in 83 after spending countless quarters on it learning. Greatest time of my Life as a 16 yr old. :)
There was only one arcade in Columbus that had this game when I was a kid. Thanks for the flashback.
I remember having 30 people behind me watching when I killed the dragon. I was a superstar that night......
@Mr. Bongs BurgH Actually....I did do shit. 3 times. And once without losing a single life.
@Mr. Bongs BurgH What’s the matter, jealous?
@Mr. Bongs BurgH little jealous?
@Mr. Bongs BurgH They thought so until they saw the ending.
Dragon's Lair was a quantum leap in graphics and gameplay. Unfortunately, the expensive laser disc players didn't fare well in cabinets that vented in dust and cigarette smoke, and the gameplay was linear, so once you saw the ending, there was little reason to keep spending quarters.
Yeah, but nobody saw the ending at least in my arcade.
I have always seen this as the heart and soul of the Dark Souls series
Can you imagine living at the heart of a dungeon like this and leaving to go to the store then realizing you forgot your wallet
You make it look easy, it so wasn't! Every time it was randomly generated and those windows of the right button press were so short! This is HOURS of trial and error, memorising the right response. Amazing work getting to the end in one play!
It’s not very hard to beat the game when you have arrows telling you where to go.
Im embarrassed to.say I was just a kid when the original dragon lair came out in arcades in the 80s. It was such futuristic game back then...lol.
Why would you be embarrased for saying this?
I never got far into that game, I didn't realize it was that long. More than a few repeated sequences, which surprises me. Was a great game, and fun to just watch
This was the hardest game i played as a kid. I never made it past the rapids section. You had to hit that button at the exact right split second.. Maddening!
If you close your eyes...it sounds like Homer Simpson going thru this castle
His screams and yells sounds like Homer when he gets scared or nearly injured.
LOL, I love the voice acting for Dirk.
This playthrough has saved me many, many quarters.
When first looking at this, it looks more like you're watching a show than playing a game. And THAT'S probably the beauty of it.
Laser disc games like this were glitchy as hell when they got older. The disc would deteriorate, the player would get laggy, and the controls themselves would get worn and you'd have to replace the microswitches. Of course, the microswitches would wear out in all of the joysticks, so that wasn't unique, but boy when you're trying to get that controller to work and you get killed it really messes with your head! It was ahead of its time to be sure.
Yes, a friend used to work at a video parlor back then
He was always having to clean those laser disc's (disc and the player)
Joysticks were always getting replaced. They used to put metal plates around the base of the joysticks to stop the wood on the machines getting destroyed.
They used to have coins too until the street kids would bring in screwdrivers and all stand around a machine so people couldn't see what was happening and open the machines cash box. Tokens then quickly replaced coins.
I never lasted a minute in this game
Same here, this game was such a money grab. 90% percent of the time you had to guess to way to go.
That’s what she said
Great Caesar's Ghost, do I love this game! The first time I reached Singe, I had only the single current life and had never seen the sequence. I made it through on pure reaction. I've seldom been more gratified in besting a game, or been more clenched up during the process. It was a straight-up rush!!
I must have played this game a hundred times back in the day. As I'm watching I'm thinking "left, left, sword, down . . . "
Great share. I can't even imagine how many quarters I spent on this game. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.
The pattern used on the checker board is still ingrained in my brain. It's been in there for about 40 years. I was the first of my friends to make it to the dragon, but not to beat it. The feeling of finally making it to that final board was right up there with making out with a girl for the first time only more expensive (2 quarters). Dragon's Liar was at the end of the standup video game craze. It was for me anyways. I never got into the fighting games. It started with Pacman and ended with this one. In my top 5 for sure. Ms. Pacman, Pole Position, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Tempest, Moon Patrol, Mario Brothers all got a huge share of my, my mom's, my sister's, and the crippled children's quarters. Not my finest hour, but boy was it fun.
Always reminded me of the Rankin/Bass cartoons, or the animated movie Wizards.
Looks like Bluth production. Yay google, it is.
I remember when this hit the arcade, it was the first of its kind and I loved it!
When this game came out, It was the BOMB. I remember the lines to play it stretching out of the arcade. I sucked at it so my turn was pretty short. I didn't have the money or patience to go all the way to the end of the line for another go. Glad I got to see the ending finally!