Dragon's Lair Gets May Release Date

35
Lee Bradley

Microsoft has confirmed that Dragon's Lair will hit Xbox Live Arcade on 18th May.

For those not in the know, or who are simply too young to remember, Dragon's Lair is a classic Laserdisc game published by Cinematronics, renowned at the time for its gorgeous animation techniques.

The XBLA edition of the game features Kinect support, as well as offline co-op for up to two players, online leaderboards, Avatar items, Gamerpics and a mode that allows you to watch Don Bluth's animation without the nasty business of, y’know, playing the game.

No word on price just yet. Watch the vid below to see the game in action.

Comments
35
  • I never actually got to play this so i'll more than likely get it this time around.
  • Personally thought this game was terrible .
  • I would watch the video. If there was one...
  • @2 I wouldn't say terrible but certainly the popularity of this game was due to it's uniqueness. It spawned not only a sequel and an offshoot(Space Ace), but also a Saturday morning cartoon. In '85 I could get to the Dragon but never beat him, now I'll have my chance. :D
  • No one cares, Diablo III is coming.
  • @4 it was popular for its graphics . Not its gameplay . I think those that haven't played it are going to get a big of a shock .
  • @6 Agreed - it was popular at the time mainly as it felt like you were playing through a Disney movie, and there wasn't anything quite like it available. In reality, it's a QTE based game, where the QTEs stay the same everytime you play it, completely removing any semblance of replayability. I'll stick to the cartoon...
  • While I dug Dragon's Lair, I always preferred Cliff Hanger (based on the anime Castle Cagliostro). Same style of game, just way more fun IMHO.
  • how much is it?
  • that video was horrible. it barely showed anything. it had more crappy cgi pretending to play the game with kinect than of actually gameplay footage. horrible
  • I can't beleive Im going to be buying Dragons Lair again for the fiftieth time across multiple systems (just like Doom and I), but Im pretty darn excited for Kinect Support. Not because I think it'll make the game any better, but I can only imagine the hilarity resulting from drunk friends attempting to perform the correct actions and the Kinect sensor misreading their movements and killing them.
  • I remember this from its original release. Sucked then, and will suck now. Even worse it that it's the precursor to the piss-poor Heavy Rain.
  • Funny I see this today...Just last night I watched the Angry Video Game Nerd's review of Dragon's Lair for the NES...and boy was it shit.
  • No sane person would consider this a game. Because it is not.
  • I can understand why Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were so popular back in the day. I think only really hardcore fans would want to play them again now though.
  • Dragon's Lair was always a poor game , even in its hayday.It had a graphical gimmic but absolutely no real gameplay.Not sure why this is getting a release when there are far more deserving titles from that era that get ignored
  • AWESOME! This and space ace.
  • If they are bringing back Dragon's Lair, how about a the old coin push games from the arcades? They were just as much a game as this was...
  • Love how they try to say it's even better with Kinect.......not my cup of tea at all. I remember the horrible Snes version and would rather stick my head in a den of rabid tazmanian devils than play that again
  • Sorry if im coming across a wee bit negative but i remember the negative impact this cartoon had on the arcades , although it did take people away from those Star Wars machines.Now that was an arcade machine...
  • @16 The gameplay certainly wasn't traditional even by today's standards. Like #7 said it was kinda like a QTE game except it didn't give you an onscreen prompt to hit a specific button. It was an exercise in trial & error to be sure. At $.50 a pop in the mid 80's, this game made a shitload of money very quickly. It may not be even close to what would be considered a good game today, but it's historical place within the industry surely secures it a place on XBL-Arcade.
  • @21 while i disagree with your comments concerning Dragon's Lair importance as a historically important title.It just disappoints me that there are far more deserving titles from this era and before that are ignored, yet money is thrown at this early prototype of the QTE.Dirk the Daring for me was a negative impact on the arcades as it was a major puch towards graphics before gameplay.Watch the Star Wars trench run from the films and compare it to the arcade game that was available in the early '80s.That for me has been the closest match between a film and game, now why hasnt this been brought to PSN or XBLA , for me that has more importance that Dirk ever had
  • Always wanted to try this game!
  • Calling this a game is a misnomer.
  • @22 I agree with what you're saying about gameplay, no doubt. I played both games in the arcades when they were new. Star Wars was definitely a better piece of actual programming. However, I would bet that Dragon's Lair brought in more quarters back in the day & would still outsell Star Wars if it were released on XBLA today. I'm not saying that DL is a better game persay, but it's certainly more marketable.
  • @25 totally agree with you and thats the sad part , that this Dragon's lair is more marketable is a sad comment of the false nostalgia that is prevalent in the industry today.The true gaming gems are not re-made and instead we have these "blockbusters" that were never that great to start with.
  • For thirty years this game has had lovers and haters. But hey, you all know what it is, even though its before your time (most of you). That in itself can tell you the effect this game had on the industry.
  • Am I the only one who wants x360a to go back to using Youtube for the video player?
  • @28 - Nope :) i have never played this, i mean i was only born in 84 ;) still i knew what its about in the gameplay department and yet i find it strange that some people think the QTE is a recent invention.
  • You have been able to get the game on BluRay for a while now. You use your remote to play the game. FYI
  • I'll probably way tho see GiantBomb QuickLook this game especially to see how the Kinect stuff works. But this is definitely on my radar.
  • Nobody's gonna pay a point over 800 for this.
  • Nice to see it's still riling people after all these years :) To say it's not a game or has no replayability is a bit harsh; a good game is up for debate. As pointed out it's a long QTE, but the rooms within levels, and then levels themselves, are randomised. It was about learning the sequence and timing for a room, quickly recognising which room you were turning into and having the speed, dexterity, timing and wits to string them all together in one hit to keep progressing and ultimately the fortitude to not smash the fucking thing or go broke. To say it is of no historical value is dismissing the fact that along with Pong and Pacman is the only permanently exhibited cabinet at The Smithsonian. I bought the 20th Anniversay Edition when it came out on DVD (2003) but had never found the self loathing required to inflict making a serious run at it on myself. Last year I rediscovered it on a shelf, smoked copious quantities of weed and knocked it over in a couple hours. If you are the type who can maintain a constant mellow through it, you have a chance. If you are the kind of gamer who screams "FUCK!!!" everytime some fires near you while you are playing COD don't buy it; we'll see you on the news picking people off from a bell tower.
  • #28 - no, you're not.
  • Man I miss arcades specially the badass on in Times Square and many others that are lost to time due to home gaming grrrrrr I loved watching drunk mofos destroying the machine when it ate their quarter,hey that's what happens when ya mix drinking,dragons lair and coin machines. In NYC back in the day! But I will dig this bring me back big time
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