"A poor tribute to a classic game"

Around 2002, a game came out called DRAGON'S LAIR 3D, to commemorate the 20 th anniversary of the original famous arcade hit. It's suppose to be released on all three consoles at the time, but it only came out for the XBOX and PC. It received little fanfare and mostly low reviews, complaining on jerky controls, bad camera scenes and overall difficult game play. Now, Digital Leisure Inc, for some reason, maybe to help out Dragonstone, creator of DRAGON'S LAIR 3D, try to savage this and released it on DVD format. I never heard of this game before I saw it in a EB GAMES store one day. I thought it was one of the earlier PC games like DRAGON'S LAIR 2: REVENGE OF SINGE, or something, but it's not. I was disappointed with this DVD version game after buying it nevertheless.

In this third sequel, Dirk has to rescue Princess Daphe again, this time from Mordroc the wizard, all the baddies from the first classic game (Singe, Giddy Goons, Lizard King, etc.), plus a new foe, a doppleganger named Hallow. The DVD game is the same as the XBOX version, but instead of being a free-roaming, 3D action platform, it was reduced to being an interactive adventure, playing in the same manner as the first two DRAGON'S LAIR arcade games.

I haven't played the XBOX version, but I have seen photo shots of it and the DVD version is actually like it. It's 3D computer animation using cel texture. Although it tries, it doesn't really replace the cartoon likeness of the original. It doesn't have the extreme, over-the-top antics and it came off almost lifeless instead.

The sound effects are okay, and the music is great. I like it, but it really doesn't save this game. You can hear the game soundtrack made by Chris Stone, separately by going to the feature section. I wish, though, they placed it in a CD and put that in the case, instead of including it in the DVD.

The game play controls are the only major difference from the 3D version. Instead of moving Dirk around freely, you just hit the commands at precise moments, like the original first game. Like the other DVD games such as SPACE ACE, this too suffers from the pause effect after you execute a move. I guess they decided make this game out for the DVD because people complained about the controls in the XBOX 3D version, but now this version is far too simple to play. Battling the bosses is a piece of cake and going through the levels is a bit tricky unless you know the directions. In truth, it's practically like watching someone play the game, while you just fill in certain "blanks".

They are extra features, to try to attract the players. Along with the game soundtrack, there's a music video. It's not bad, but I doubt you see it on MTV. It has history, character galleries, storyboards, and background cell artwork included. It also has an one-hour special, called DRAGON'S LAIR: 20 YEARS IN THE MAKING, which is the exact movie found in DRAGON'S LAIR 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION BOX SET. When you play the game, you'll discover it features save codes (both EASY and HARD versions) to access certain levels and even has 5 extra levels not found in the 3D version after you beat the game. You can tell right off they're new add-ons because they're incomplete. Dirk and other characters and objects are completely white, as if no one bothered to color them in.

Maybe this move from transforming the 3-D action plat former to DVD interactive adventure might have been a good idea to the producers and makers of the game, but I think it backfired. The extra features barely save this from falling straight flat! If you like DRAGON'S LAIR, it's best to get the original, like the box set, which is also in DVD format and leave DL3 alone. Especially if you have the PC or XBOX 3-D version, because it's basically the same, just easier to play.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/21/05