I was a kid when this game came out. I can clearly remember watching people playing this game and I was in total amazement. We had never seen anything like this before. It was WAY ahead of it's time. I would sit at the Arcade for hours watching this game along with Mortal Combat! Man those were the days!
Kids today could never fully appreciate the experience of Dragon's Lair. I don't mean actually playing the game, but the experience of walking into an arcade, seeing primitive titles such as Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Turbo an such and then seeing THIS. Something which seemed from a future era, obviously like nothing before or for at least 20 years following. It attracted us kids because of its animation. In an era of 8-bit pixels, this was eons ahead of the pack. As far as game play, it didn't seem to matter that we couldn't actually control "Dirk The Daring" or lose 50 cents-per-game on endless plays. We were playing the "game of the future".
Well it was certainly visually gorgeous for its time but that's about the only praise it deserves. I personally never gave it much consideration beyond that, even back in the day.
inceptional Looking back now, I wouldn't consider this a good game...but back in the day I was obsessed with it because it was innovative. I spent a lot of money but was able to regularly beat it. But after winning a couple of times the desire to play was gone, because it was just a matter of memorizing the moves.
Anxiety Entertainment I played it when it was still one quarter, and I figured out how to pop the door, and got quarters back out with a straw and a piece of gum until I found the reset button. I only did this when no one would give me any more quarters. My Mom worked at a bowling alley at the time, and this was one of the few games I loved in the game room. Pac man used to be a favorite, but grew tiresome fast. I played it every time I could, and often got to the dragon, but never slayed it. I think that princess would have turned into a horrible hag anyway. I would have liked the dragon better. Galaga was my first big arcade game which was in the liquor store of the trailer park where I grew up. I would save my quarters, and play any chance I could. I often missed the school bus because I was there playing. Many years later someone showed me the "cheat" to it, and it was never the same.
I learned to press the button really fast playing Galaga and years later was able to beat my friends playing on the Nintendo because I had developed fast fingers.
Exactly. It wasn't the play itself. Video games were pixels not full on CARTOONS! Not only that when your character died you see him ACTUALLY die skelton and all..VERY innovative for its time.
@@Dsano Me too, lol! But with a flattened straw at the pizza parlor. We used to play Donkey Kong there until the owner came up to us one day and saw that we had about 50 credits on the machine and then kicked us out.
Without youtube I could never know how this ends. The furthest of any play I have seen is the horse ride. Kids back then were just to excited to see the animation. Nobody had the skills nor the money to play this to the end.
Thank you so much for sharing this video. My next-door neighbor had this game in their garage for "testing" with the neighborhood kids to see if it would be popular in their store. Not for 50 cents a game (We were able to play it for free). The best kid on our street was never able to make it past the rolling balls. Now I know how the game ended after all these years!
The opening scene under the drawbridge was never in the original standup game in 1983. From the castle zooming in, he just ran in the castle and started from there. In fact the sequences throughout the game are not even in the peoper order as the arcade coin-op version. I should know since my all-time high score is just over 300,000, beating the dragon. Played countless times!!
Wow, thank you for showing the complete walkthrough. I kind of feel cheated to see that there's so much repeat + trial and error, that back when it was in the arcades it was impossible for kids like me to have a chance at beating the game with the few quarters we had.
Folks that never got the chance to see and play this in an Arcade or have the chance to understand what the general idea of the History of Dragon's Lair Books - - Would probably look at this and say, "What The FUCK"!!??! How the hell is this a game"?
Yes, many of the scenes are repeated in reverse. I imagine it was a question of storage on the Laser Disc. It likely used less data to flip a scene, as opposed to creating a unique scene. Laser Disc's one downfall was limited storage capability.
Thanks for the Video!!! Man this video brought back memories... When I was around 13 my granddad in Toronto had 3 of them in his basement for a few months until he found another place to put them... my lil brother and I played the shit out of them... was actually a pretty easy game to master once you figured out the formula
I never played the game (and maybe never will) but I enjoyed watching this walkthrough. Just one thing I don't get : Why do you have to go through the same places several times ? Is it the way the game was made ? Weird.
I had no idea this game was so long. That's cheap how they repeat everything just going to the right instead of the left or whatever. So, what would it cost to play this game until you beat it? About $5,000? I remember it being very difficult.
It's interesting that near the end of the game, the princess goes from distress to horny as hell. Seriously at 10:50, does it look like she wanted escape right that second!
Amazing looking game at the time and a peek at the future. Unfortunately, at twice the cost of better games the machine usually stood at the prime position in the arcade un-played. 95% of players only saw either the demo screens or some guy completing about 5% of the game before giving up. Dumb move by the manufacturer to put such a difficult game at 50c.
@Kary Nation I guess it depended where you were! Every place that had a Dragon's Lair game in the Seattle/Tacoma, Washington area at the time had lines to play the game. Even in convenience stores like 7-11, where I wasted many dollars until I beat the game! It was the coolest game I played until I ran into a holographic video game! That one cost $1 in quarters to play, and only lasted in the arcade for about 6 months! I can't remember the name of the game, but you played the character of a gunslinger from the old west going through time shooting things! The machine was way too complex, and kept breaking down! I would've loved to have beat THAT one! lmao
Wow, how cheap are the mirrored stages to double the pain. Liked the horsie. And the glittery pantyhosed thighs. ;) Also: Koto - Dragon's Legend (Siegfried's Mix)
i could never get past 5 mins of this game , it was years ahead of its time back then of any other game of its time ! but my Cuz beat it the first day and it cost about 30 plus dollars dollars , if i remember right it was like 75 cents plus to play it ? but she has one of the photographic memorys !! " cheater " LOL it was never fun playing games with her LOL !!!
I remember how awful I thought this game was when I tried it in a video game arcade in the 1980s. I was just blown away by how good the graphics looked compared to everything else all around it (Ghosts'n'Goblins, Space Invaders, Mario Bros etc...). Now that I'm seeing it again, I feel silly for nor understanding that the game is basically just a series of cartoons triggered by quick time events. In my defence, I was only 8 years old and video games were new to me then :).
Ridiculous. The animation is classic, but the gameplay was horrible. Outside of the flashing items, you never knew just what direction to really push the joystick or use your action button. It was all very random. At least now you could actually create some relatively controllable gameplay with decent 3-d graphic animation.
It was hard as hell. I couldn't play worth shit, so I'd usually end up watching how far my buddy could make it. The worst part was waiting that extra two or so seconds of load time after an action to see if you lived or died.
Yeah that was really the point of arcade coin operated video games,to draw you in take your money then trip you up repeatly to continually make you dump quarters into it.
I was a kid when this game came out. I can clearly remember watching people playing this game and I was in total amazement. We had never seen anything like this before. It was WAY ahead of it's time. I would sit at the Arcade for hours watching this game along with Mortal Combat! Man those were the days!
Kids today could never fully appreciate the experience of Dragon's Lair. I don't mean actually playing the game, but the experience of walking into an arcade, seeing primitive titles such as Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Turbo an such and then seeing THIS. Something which seemed from a future era, obviously like nothing before or for at least 20 years following. It attracted us kids because of its animation. In an era of 8-bit pixels, this was eons ahead of the pack. As far as game play, it didn't seem to matter that we couldn't actually control "Dirk The Daring" or lose 50 cents-per-game on endless plays. We were playing the "game of the future".
Well it was certainly visually gorgeous for its time but that's about the only praise it deserves.
I personally never gave it much consideration beyond that, even back in the day.
inceptional Looking back now, I wouldn't consider this a good game...but back in the day I was obsessed with it because it was innovative. I spent a lot of money but was able to regularly beat it. But after winning a couple of times the desire to play was gone, because it was just a matter of memorizing the moves.
Anxiety Entertainment I played it when it was still one quarter, and I figured out how to pop the door, and got quarters back out with a straw and a piece of gum until I found the reset button. I only did this when no one would give me any more quarters. My Mom worked at a bowling alley at the time, and this was one of the few games I loved in the game room. Pac man used to be a favorite, but grew tiresome fast. I played it every time I could, and often got to the dragon, but never slayed it. I think that princess would have turned into a horrible hag anyway. I would have liked the dragon better. Galaga was my first big arcade game which was in the liquor store of the trailer park where I grew up. I would save my quarters, and play any chance I could. I often missed the school bus because I was there playing. Many years later someone showed me the "cheat" to it, and it was never the same.
I learned to press the button really fast playing Galaga and years later was able to beat my friends playing on the Nintendo because I had developed fast fingers.
Exactly. It wasn't the play itself. Video games were pixels not full on CARTOONS! Not only that when your character died you see him ACTUALLY die
skelton and all..VERY innovative for its time.
It took me over 30 years to finally see the end of this fokin game. If I had all the quarters I wasted on Space Ace and this game I could buy a car..
50 cents a shot - that was a heavy commitment in those days. I too have never made it that far.
yep.
@@Dsano Me too, lol! But with a flattened straw at the pizza parlor. We used to play Donkey Kong there until the owner came up to us one day and saw that we had about 50 credits on the machine and then kicked us out.
I love that laughter / scream from the Black Knight at 4:16, it reminds me of Disney's Headless Horseman.
Without youtube I could never know how this ends. The furthest of any play I have seen is the horse ride. Kids back then were just to excited to see the animation. Nobody had the skills nor the money to play this to the end.
I agree. I never saw the dragon until just now!
I mastered this game back in 83. Fun times. Spent way too much money.
Lucky bastard.All I could do back then was watch after spending dollar or more aptly watching my dollar disappear into that machine.
There was nothing like this at the time. This game ate a ton of quarters at my local arcade. Good times.
Thank you so much for sharing this video. My next-door neighbor had this game in their garage for "testing" with the neighborhood kids to see if it would be popular in their store. Not for 50 cents a game (We were able to play it for free). The best kid on our street was never able to make it past the rolling balls. Now I know how the game ended after all these years!
STILL the most hilariously bubbleheaded princess ever to exist after all these years! Her IQ is like -79!
lol and she's blond
Mario and link wish they could get a kiss from their princesses
***** Oh I have, but a kiss on the nose is not a real kiss.
***** At least they banged between these game and the second.
+dmscimo link from zelda 2 got kissed by her.
@@azzzanadra no, it was just a hug
They'll just have to settle for a firm and friendly handshake. Or in this era, an elbow rub. :)
I was in college when this came out in the eighties. Took me almost a hour to go through all of these levels.
The opening scene under the drawbridge was never in the original standup game in 1983. From the castle zooming in, he just ran in the castle and started from there. In fact the sequences throughout the game are not even in the peoper order as the arcade coin-op version. I should know since my all-time high score is just over 300,000, beating the dragon. Played countless times!!
Wow, thank you for showing the complete walkthrough. I kind of feel cheated to see that there's so much repeat + trial and error, that back when it was in the arcades it was impossible for kids like me to have a chance at beating the game with the few quarters we had.
Luckily, my local arcade has a working version set on free play. Finally close to beating this after all these years.
Beat original game was great to play on a quarter once you mastered it and a crowd would form around you much like space ace
Thanks for posting.....I will have less sleepless nights knowing there was at least one way for Dirk The Daring to make it home in one piece!
If I could suddenly have all my quarters back that went into this thing, I could retire now on easy street.
Yeah?
WHO WOULD DESIGN SUCH A CASTLE?!?!
When you do a flawless run, Dirk is the ultimate badass
His screams are hilarious though
Damn,,,awesome game but could never figure out how to play it - very expensive learning curve @ 50 cents a game back in the 80's
Run?
0:15 The Moat Monster says it all to the players with their quarters. "Give me money !"
11:38 the most glorifying moment in my gaming experience. I screamed victory and my dad comes in cheering with me
Awesome,I really just got a "flashback" to 1983-'84.
Can't believe that ultimately I got so close to the end and never knew it!
First game that took two quarters instead of just one. I think I tried it twice and went back to spy hunter.
That princess is hot AF.
She was actually inspired from a chick the creators saw in a playboy magazine
***** Meh she looks like a disney character. And lo and behold I just read the animator was a Disney animator Don Bluth.
Especially when she says:
oooOOOooo !
Yes yes yes ok?
Damn! Early 80s, the mall arcade and I think I only ever got to 2:40. So crazy!
This game was hard.
I got to tell you, this doesn’t strike me as a video game at first look
That was the appeal.
Folks that never got the chance to see and play this in an Arcade or have the chance to understand what the general idea of the History of Dragon's Lair Books - - Would probably look at this and say, "What The FUCK"!!??! How the hell is this a game"?
Dragon’s Lair The King of the lasergame…❤❤❤
Anybody ever wondered what Princess Daphne whispered in Dirk's ear???
She said "Meet me in bed tonight"
The princess looks so weird. Is that a... g-sting? O.o
That was a fun game in the arcade
I do believe that Dirk the daring wasn't carrying around a shield of defense.
Yes, many of the scenes are repeated in reverse. I imagine it was a question of storage on the Laser Disc. It likely used less data to flip a scene, as opposed to creating a unique scene. Laser Disc's one downfall was limited storage capability.
Thanks for the Video!!!
Man this video brought back memories...
When I was around 13 my granddad in Toronto had 3 of them in his basement for a few months until he found another place to put them...
my lil brother and I played the shit out of them...
was actually a pretty easy game to master once you figured out the formula
MAN! YOU HAD TO STAND IN LINE,WAIT AN HOUR AND PAY 2-QUARTERS TO PLAY 10 SECONDS,THE CABINET HAD AN EXTRA MONITOR ON TOP,IT WAS THE CRAP.
Have to say, I prefer DL2 to this. Even if the entire game was like an acid trip, at least it had the decency to not repeat itself so many times.
Yes?
Dragons Lair...yes I was there in '83...........
This surpassed the limits
I never played the game (and maybe never will) but I enjoyed watching this walkthrough. Just one thing I don't get : Why do you have to go through the same places several times ? Is it the way the game was made ? Weird.
Good?
How come you didn't get off the elevator before it crashed?
The best part might actually be Dirk’s noises when he gets scared XD
Okay?
Save Me!!! =D
I hear homer Simpson! 6:26
I had no idea this game was so long. That's cheap how they repeat everything just going to the right instead of the left or whatever. So, what would it cost to play this game until you beat it? About $5,000? I remember it being very difficult.
i paid a guy to play this at the arcade all the way through-he only had to feed it quarters a couple of extra times
The part with the disc when you're dropping down...are you supposed to let it hit the ground?
Don Bluth is now making a feature film Dragon's Lair. See his project at this link below.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/donbluth/dragons-lair-the-movie
what a great game.
what a great game.
Classic, you see my younger generation this is where your modern day QTEs come from
6:33 lmao, the fire! This game! XD
23:15!
Great game. Got to a point where I could beat it. It took many quarters though.....
you were supposed to get off the falling disc-not smash into the ground!
Yes?
Best $7,481.50 I ever spent ! HA
Lol, this guy totally follows the samurai code. Ha ha.
I've played and beat both the first and the second game
Cooler?
Man that game got easy quick.
Looking at this the SNES version is a lot easier, even though it's a pain in the ass game. Gotta love Dirk's screaming though. He sounds like Homer.
It's interesting that near the end of the game, the princess goes from distress to horny as hell. Seriously at 10:50, does it look like she wanted escape right that second!
Amazing looking game at the time and a peek at the future. Unfortunately, at twice the cost of better games the machine usually stood at the prime position in the arcade un-played. 95% of players only saw either the demo screens or some guy completing about 5% of the game before giving up. Dumb move by the manufacturer to put such a difficult game at 50c.
Angelize Tuco I had it on computer when I was 10. It was free. Lmao
@Kary Nation I guess it depended where you were! Every place that had a Dragon's Lair game in the Seattle/Tacoma, Washington area at the time had lines to play the game. Even in convenience stores like 7-11, where I wasted many dollars until I beat the game! It was the coolest game I played until I ran into a holographic video game! That one cost $1 in quarters to play, and only lasted in the arcade for about 6 months! I can't remember the name of the game, but you played the character of a gunslinger from the old west going through time shooting things! The machine was way too complex, and kept breaking down! I would've loved to have beat THAT one! lmao
Stranger Things 2 trailer brought me here.
The 2nd one is so much better.
Dirk = Courage the Cowardly Dog?
..I have no idea.. whats even..
Wow, how cheap are the mirrored stages to double the pain.
Liked the horsie. And the glittery pantyhosed thighs. ;)
Also: Koto - Dragon's Legend (Siegfried's Mix)
Wow. Most Asshole-Castle ever created!!
Cost .50
Literally a game of QTEs.
HOW IS IT SO FUN
04:08 all seeing eye
23:17?
I hated this game in the arcade. Could never get past 1 minute of playing. No instructions in the arcade, just flashing lights.
i could never get past 5 mins of this game , it was years ahead of its time back then of any other game of its time ! but my Cuz beat it the first day and it cost about 30 plus dollars dollars , if i remember right it was like 75 cents plus to play it ? but she has one of the photographic memorys !! " cheater " LOL it was never fun playing games with her LOL !!!
Bull poop! I used to slay the dragon every time with 5 lives left!
Not really gameplay...this is game when you "watch" the DVD instead of playing it.
@Dokushindansei I liked DL2 Daphne better. Way less squeakier.
Whoa?
Me gusta las papas.
The art and animation are pretty much the only things that were good about this.
I remember how awful I thought this game was when I tried it in a video game arcade in the 1980s. I was just blown away by how good the graphics looked compared to everything else all around it (Ghosts'n'Goblins, Space Invaders, Mario Bros etc...). Now that I'm seeing it again, I feel silly for nor understanding that the game is basically just a series of cartoons triggered by quick time events. In my defence, I was only 8 years old and video games were new to me then :).
Uh oh?
Ridiculous. The animation is classic, but the gameplay was horrible. Outside of the flashing items, you never knew just what direction to really push the joystick or use your action button. It was all very random. At least now you could actually create some relatively controllable gameplay with decent 3-d graphic animation.
I guess that was Cinematronics' way of making money. I certainly spent a small fortune in quarters on it.
My god, this looks like a really bad game!!! So many options, so easy to die.
That makes it bad?
It was hard as hell. I couldn't play worth shit, so I'd usually end up watching how far my buddy could make it. The worst part was waiting that extra two or so seconds of load time after an action to see if you lived or died.
no other game had death scenes.... but it wasnt graphic
Yeah that was really the point of arcade coin operated video games,to draw you in take your money then trip you up repeatly to continually make you dump quarters into it.
Frank Kepler
well it work for many year until i got my playstation