Dragon's Lair

n/a

Dragon's Lair
System(s): Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: Sega (JP/EU), ReadySoft (US)
Developer: ReadySoft
Licensor: Epicenter Interactive
Original system(s): Arcade Boards
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1994-06-03 ¥6,8006,800 G-6035 US 1993-12 $59.9959.99 T-121015 EU 1994-03 4436-50 UK 1994-03 £49.9949.99 4436-50 BR 199x 061030
Non-Sega versions 3DO Arcade CD-i IBM PC Jaguar CD Macintosh

Dragon's Lair (ドラゴンズ・レア) is a full-motion video game released for numerous consoles including the Sega Mega-CD in 1993. It was revolutionary when first released in the arcades in 1983, and served as the first successful full-motion video game which relies solely on quick time events.

The Sega Mega-CD version is mostly faithful to the arcade original, but suffers due to the limited colour palette of the system. A Sega Saturn version was also planned but never materialized.

The game features animation from former Disney animator Don Bluth. It was followed by a spiritual successor, Space Ace, which was also ported to the Mega-CD.

Story

Characters

The knight Dirk the Daring must find his way through the castle of a dark wizard to rescue Princess Daphne from the clutches of an evil dragon.

Gameplay

The game is on rails, meaning the narrative is predetermined and the player has very limited influence on its progression. The game consists of a sequence of challenges played in a partially randomized order. The player does not control the Dirk's actions directly but controls his reflexes, with different animated segments playing for correct or incorrect choices. The player must execute an action at the correct time by selecting , , , or or pressing to swing Dirk's sword.

Comedic aspects of the game include bizarre-looking creatures and humorous death scenes, and the portrayal of the player character as a clumsy, easily scared, and reluctant hero.

The player has limited lives with which to clear the game and returns to a checkpoint after losing a life.

Levels

Levels 3, 4, 5, and 6 are played in a randomized order. The scenes in Levels 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are randomized. If the player loses a life, Dirk starts over at the beginning of the current level.

	Level 1
	Level 2
	Level 3
	Level 4
	Level 5
	Level 6
	Level 7
	The Dragon's Lair

Production credits

Sega Conversion

• Produced by: David Foster
• Directed by: Tony Bozek
• Programmed by: David Foster
• Computer Graphic Touchup: Mike Boulet, Tony Bozek, Carol Chan, Jackie Liew, David Magerman, Norice Millen, Shawn Moore, Jason Silverberg, Joe Verissimo, Nadia Yee
• Sound: David Foster, David Magerman
• End Music: Tony Bozek, Shawn Moore
• Additional Programming by: Anselm Hook

Source:

In-game credits (JP)

Magazine articles

Main article: Dragon's Lair/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Game Players (US) #0612: "Vol. 6 No. 12 December 1993" (1993-1x-xx)
also published in:

• Sega Visions (US) #16: "December/January 1993/1994" (1993-xx-xx)
• GamePro (US) #54: "January 1994" (199x-xx-xx)
• Sega Visions (US) #17: "February/March 1994" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) #16: "January 1994" (1993-12-21)

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• EGM² (US) #1: "July 1994" (1994-07-19)

Print advert in Game Players (US) #0705: "Vol. 7 No. 5 May 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #58: "May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #59: "June 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-05: "May 1994" (1994-04-08)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 68 Consoles + (FR) 82 Digitiser (UK) 32 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 62 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 90 Gamers (DE) 7 GamesMaster (UK) NTSC-U 46 Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL 29 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 40 Hyper (AU) 44 Joypad (FR) PAL 87 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 42 Mega (UK) NTSC-U 80 MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U 67 Magazina Igrushek (RU) 50 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U 67 Player One (FR) 75 Play Time (DE) 48 Play Time (DE) 30 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U 63 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 90 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 45 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 69 Todo Sega (ES) 75 Video Games (DE) NTSC-U 69

	58
Based on 25 reviews

Dragon's Lair

Mega-CD, JP
Cover
Disc Jewel Case

Mega-CD, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, EU
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual

Mega-CD, AU

Mega-CD, BR
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	609,457,296		CD (JP)	G-6035
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	212,178,624		CD (US)	T-121015