Dragon's Lair 3D review:2 stars (Boring...) - This game is boring. I wanted to like it, I really did. I tried to like it. I went into it with a biased mind already deciding that I did like it. After all, I love the original Dragon's Lair, so I thought this one would be great. So I played it through. Boy, was I ever wrong.

PROS:
1. Good graphics, very reminiscent of the original DL.
2. Additional animations provided by Don Bluth.
3. Additional bad guys provided for the game.
4. Some visually innovative and interesting levels.

The good things about this game stop right there.

CONS:

1. Play Control. Huh? What's that? The play control in this game is the worst I have ever seen. Dirk moves sluggishly, even when you are holding down the Run button (which you will be doing a lot of, unfortunately). And that's another stupid thing. Why do we need a "Run" button anyway? We already have an analog stick! Dirk moves so freakin' slow without the run button pushed that it makes me wonder when anyone would ever use NOT use it. You find yourself holding down that button about 95% of the time.

2. Platforming. This ties in again to play control. The platforming in this game really sucks. For a game that emphasizes it so much, you would think the developers would try to get it right or at least do a LITTLE better than this. For one thing, your jump control stinks. For another, if you happen to have your sword out you are sunk. You will find yourself laboriously getting your sword out to fight or ring a bell, then hitting the button again to sheath your sword so you will be able to grab ledges. If you forgot, then sorry, but you're gonna die. THE END.

3. Ridiculously Difficult Boss Battles. Don't get me wrong - I LIKE hard games. I beat the original Castlevania for NES, so it's not like I have a problem with hard bosses. But this game makes beating a boss more of a chore than having fun. The Smithee is a real pain to fight. So is Singe. In fact, good luck beating Singe without reading a FAQ. There is only 1 way to do it, and if you don't do it that one way then you are DEAD. At least in the original DL you could learn from your mistakes. Not in this game.

4. Missing Elements from the Original Dragon's Lair. Where is the "Drink Me" potion? Where are the snakes? What happened to the barrel and the rapids? Where went the metal horse? This game could have been so great. It takes some good potential and just destroys it. This is NOT Dragon's Lair 3D. This is some other game, a sort of parody. Why did they take out so much of the fun parts from the original game? The metal horse and rapids would have been even MORE fun in 3D! But here they are nowhere to be found.

5. Stupid Treasure Incentives. You find and collect stuff in this game. WHY? None of the gold and treasure you get ever does anything that I can see. Maybe you don't get anything until you get it all. Good luck with that.

6. Disappointing Documentary. I liked watching the history of Dragon's Lair documentary (unlike another reviewer I did not experience any audio problems), but I did not like the rather self-congratulatory tone of the documentary. I mean, I like hearing about the history of DL, but I am not interested in watching an infomercial. That's what this thing felt like. An infomercial trying to over-hype what is actually just another mediocre platforming game.

7. Dirk's Blandness. Part of what made the original game so great was all the little grunts, whoops, and squeals that Dirk made as he went through everything. Plus all his funny facial expressions. All that is GONE here. The game would have have been so much better if they had just gone to the trouble to make a FEW cut scenes with Dirk doing some goofy stuff. Or at least have him do a few expressions rather than just stare ahead like a robot all the time.

8. Glitchy Crossbow and Magic. The Crossbow is a pain to play with. The camera jumps all over the place while you are trying to aim, and you will constantly lose your lock on on your target. Or worse yet, you will be targeting the wrong thing while you are being hit. This was just another annoyance to add to this game, as was the magic. None of the magic items were very fun or useful. They added virtually nothing to the game.

9. FINALLY, SLOW and BORING. Don't get me wrong - as you wander around this castle and game, the visuals are definitely interesting. But that's it. The interest ends there. By the time you beat this game, you will just be glad that you finally got it over with. The play control is so freakin' bad and slow that getting to the end of this game is a real chore.

CONCLUSION:

This game plays like a poor man's Prince of Persia (those games beat this one by a LONG shot!). It looks a lot like the original Dragon's Lair, but it's just not very much fun. This is a game that could have been so much. It had so much potential, but in the end that potential was wasted by the developers. They lost their focus. Instead of concentrating on redoing the original Dragon's Lair in full 3-D glory, they tried to do something new and added a bunch of unnecessary junk while taking out the cool and memorable stuff from the original. Disappointing.4 stars (Dirk doesn't fit the environment!) - Yes, this game is fun and easy. The graphics are great, but Dirk the Daring looks annoyingly 2D, in the game and on the box. It's like putting some old cartoon in the real world. If you can ignore this fact, you will enjoy the game.5 stars (THIS IS ONE FUN AND GOOD GAME) - THIS GAME IS VERY FUN. THE GRAPHICS MAKE IT LOOK YOU'RE IN A CARTOON. DIRK IS VERY EASY TO CONTROL AND FITS INTO ALL THE SCENES AWESOMELY. SOME PUZZLES GET FRUSTRATING BUT ARE WELL WORTH IT AFTER YOU FIGURE IT OUT. AND DAPHNEY I WOULD GO THROUGH A CASTLE MYSELF TO GET THIS FOX. EXCELLANT GAMEPLAY EXCELLANT GRAPHICS AND EXCELLANT FUN. GO GET THIS ONE
Dragon's Lair 3D Features:
Video Games
Gamecube (Game Cube, Game-cube)
Action
Adventure

Dragon-s Lair 3D is the Video Game version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 29.89USD.