Several years ago MacCentral first brought readers news about Dragon’s Lair 3D — a then-new game in development. You may have forgotten about it or written it off as never coming to fruition, but you’d be wrong. Now Dragon’s Lair 3D is getting tantalizingly close to release, and publisher Ubi Soft has just launched a new Web site to publicize the game. And as we reported in 1999, the game is still being developed for the Macintosh.
Dragon’s Lair itself was a seminal achievement during the golden age of coin-operated video games in the 1980’s. Featuring cel animation created by motion picture animation giant Don Bluth, Dragon’s Lair was designed by Rick Dyer, a pioneer in the video disc-based arcade game market. Dragon’s Lair told the story of Dirk the Daring, an intrepid knight on a mission to save Princess Daphne from the clutches of Singe, an evil dragon.
Unlike other games of the era, which largely featured barely recognizable colored blips on a screen, Dragon’s Lair featured complete movie-quality animation. The game was controlled using a joystick and an action button, and at key moments — listening for audio cues or watching for flashes on the screen — players would have to move Dirk or make him thrust his sword in order to progress to the next screen.
Dragon’s Lair spawned a sequel and other related games, and paved the way for other video disc-based arcade games. In recent years, the Dragon’s Lair series has been resurrected on CD-ROM and DVD as well (thanks to the efforts of the folks at Digital Leisure).
This new game, Dragon’s Lair 3D, is a complete reinvention of the original title. While it still sports the cel-style animation evocative of its originator, Dragon’s Lair 3D is set in a fully realized 3D world in which you have total freedom of motion.
Dragon’s Lair 3D features 43 areas to explore and more than 250 rooms, populated with more than 30 enemies, including more than a dozen new creatures designed by Bluth. Dirk can choose and collect new items, weapons and potions along the way. The game sports new intro and ending movies and an original 90-minute musical score as well.
Dragon’s Lair 3D is coming this fall for a variety of platforms — Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Windows and Mac OS. For more details, or to view movies or download desktop wallpaper, visit the Dragon’s Lair 3D Web site.
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