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March 14, 2011

Remembering Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair

Original Dragon's Lair Arcade Cabinet
I always loved Don Bluth's 'Dragon's Lair' when I was a kid. It was always the coolest game at The Bow Wow which, for all of you guys not from Howard Beach, Queens, was a huge arcade on the corner of 163th Ave and Crossbay Blvd. This place was like heaven on earth, with well over 100 arcade cabinet games to play. They had all the newest titles, but as they all came and went, 'Dragon's Lair' stayed put. The vivid graphics were just so entrancing, they blew the doors off even the best games of the time. Sure, there wasn't much to the game (it wasn't easy but, you were merely controlling the motions of the hero, Dirk the Daring). Dirk was a real hero, bumbling as he may be. And Daphne had some boobies on her, so that didn't hurt to make the game popular amongst the fellas. Throw in a bad ass dragon named Singe and you got yourself a hell of a package.

Dragon's Lair by Tom Whalen
The game was popular on computers of the time, and then they made versions of the game for various systems such as Super Nintendo and X-Box. It also lead to a short lived cartoon series (only 13 episodes) that was pretty much a perfect animated copy of the game itself. I have always loved the styling of Don Bluth's artistry, and the cartoon-y yet awesomeness of the characters is hard to ignore. I hope this little trip down memory lane jars some memories of this great game and cartoon. Do you remember 'Dragon's Lair'? Did you play it in the arcade? Did you watch the cartoon? Let us know in the comment section below.

Dragon's Lair by Tony Washington

Also, check out this cool behind the scenes review of the original 'Dragon's Lair' game by The Choco Bros. This will surely refresh some of your memories if you need it. Great stuff.

1 comment:

  1. This one was always so hard to learn that it chewed up the quarters. I gave up on it pretty early. Galaga was my game along with Ms Packman and many of the shooters. I envied anyone who could get very far into the story.

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