All video games in the 1980s were based on programmed patterns, but the laserdisc arcade games were the most obvious. You can’t control the character directly, but instead have to wait for a specific time between the animation to push the right button or you’ll die.

That made for very frustrating gameplay, and meant that you’ll see the death scenes a lot. Thankfully, in Dragon’s Lair, the death scenes are just as beautifully animated as the scenes that progress the story. I’m pretty horrible at games like this, so thankfully the laserdisc emulator Daphne lets you play the Digital Leisure DVD of Dragon’s Lair with the option to have unlimited continues.

It is animated by Don Bluth, who was a former Disney animator who went on to form his own animation studio with The Secret of NIMH as their feature film debut. The Disney influence is very evident here, as the animation is truly beautiful.

The voice acting does not fare as well as the animation, but thankfully the narrator is excellent. His is the only voice you’ll hear often, with the exception of the hero Dirk’s grunts, groans and screams which aren’t too jarring to listen to. Princess Daphne on the other hand, has a very grating voice. Throughout most of the game, you don’t hear a lot from her, except for a “Help! Save me!” occasionally in some scenes. In the final scene in the Dragon’s Lair however, she has a speech telling Dirk how to defeat the dragon. Her voice is very high pitched in an over-exaggerated “air-headed blonde” type of voice. I died a lot trying to figure out the right buttons to press to finally defeat the dragon, and I quickly grew tired of hearing that speech over and over again.

Thankfully, other than the part I mentioned above, the rest of the game is very enjoyable. With unlimited continues, I found the game to be a lot of fun.