Dragon's Lair HD Version... classic arcade at it's best!
The gameplay IS the ORIGINAL! Not a remake... not a wanna be... but the EXACT GAMEPLAY taken from the original Laser Disk that was in the game! That is what makes this game so much fun. It is just like having the actual arcade game in your house... with no quarter slot required!
Graphics are at an all time high here being they have been taken from the original laser disk and then mastered into HD Quality! If you have a high end monitor, or even an HDTV... you are in for a real treat! The colors are just so beautiful and alive with sparkles and twinkles and alot more!
The sound is redone in 5.1 surround sound so that also adds to the game play too making it even more enjoyable to play. You can boost your bass up and get the feel for the game while having the highs scream out Dirk as he screams in pain and anguish. The sound of his sword is very defined now as are all of the other effects.
In previous versions that were released... they had altered or cut out certain scenes to make it fit onto the CD. In this version... being it is a DVD... EVERYTHING IS THERE! Even the platforms you jump onto as you decend down from platform to platform. That was always left out in the prior versions.
Gameplay is very straight forward in that you use your keyboard arrow keys to direct his movements and the spacebar to sword. They even included the beep to tell you if you made the correct choice or a mistake. All of the death scenes are there too. Now that I don't have to pay alot of quarters to play... it is kinda fun to see the death scenes as they can be quite amusing at times. You also only get 3 lives per turn and then have the choice to continue from that point if you wish... but your score is reset to zero at that time. I was also very happy to see that you have to... just like in the original, play every scene before you can reach the dragon. This also includes the mirror version of each room that had that.
There are 3 ways to play... either the game as it was meant to be played... or 2 automatic modes. In these you have the choice of having the DVD play the game with or without the death scenes included. I highly recommend that you play the game first and then watch the DVD play it either way you choose. That way you can relive the fun of this classic arcade game.
If you are a die hard gamer from arcades gone by... and this was one of those games you just loved to play, then this game is for you. It can lose it's appeal after about a hour of play... being the actual game if you can play it straight thru only takes about 30 minutes or less. I would recommend getting it at a discount price instead of full price because of this. I found it online for around $20.00 and that was still a little expensive... but I do collect games from my past and this is one I just couldn't let go by. Classic arcade at it's finest... Dragon's Lair HD is just a great game!