, titled as ''Sullivan Bluth Presents: Dragon's Lair'' on the cover art and in-game as ''Sullivan Bluth's Dragon's Lair'' or ''Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair'', is a cinematic platform video game developed by Motivetime and published by

CSG Imagesoft Sony Imagesoft Inc. was an American video game publisher that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and in ...

for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

. Based on the LaserDisc game of the same name, it is identical plotwise to the original.

Gameplay

The game is a

side-scroller '' A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics ...

with the character walking slowly. Dirk can walk, crawl, or jump forward, and he has an array of weapons that he can discover and use to dispose of enemies. The controller layout is reversed from other mainstream NES titles, with Select functioning as the Pause button while Start is used for the Candle object (which helps reveal hidden weapons). Also, B is used for jumping, and A for attacking (the input of the A & B buttons is almost always the opposite in similar NES games). In the Japanese version, the controls have been altered; the Up button jumps while the B button uses the candle.

Areas and levels

There are seven areas of the castle and four main levels of play: * The Drawbridge * The Entrance Hall (Level 1) * The Treasury * The Elevator Shaft * The Gold Mines (Level 2) * The Hall of the Grim Reaper (Level 3) * Singe's Cavern (Level 4) * The Lizard King's Throne Room (bonus level)

Regional differences

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

and Famicom versions have faster gameplay than the original North American release due to improved framerate. Both versions also use 256KB

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

s compared to the US's 128KB ROM. Furthermore, the PAL version has also additional enemies in The Entrance Hall level: spiders, flying insects, and a giant snake boss at the end; new death animation (when Dirk gets flattened); splash screens that appear as the player enters each level (beside The Dungeon stage); and The Elevator Shaft area has increased difficulty with added projectiles flying around, touching one is instant death. The Japanese and PAL versions play most of the songs faster. Also, a part of the ending theme was changed.

30 Life Code

30 Life Code was added exclusively to the PAL and Japanese versions. It gives 30 lives after the player gains a high score, and then enters "BATS" as his name. The player will get the extra lives for the next game.

Reception

The game was panned by critics and gamers alike due to its poor controls, trudging movement, and immense difficulty level. Gamers especially criticized the game for the player dying from one hit by any object or enemy, despite the player having an obvious health bar.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Dragon's Lair 1990 video games Cinematic platform games Dark fantasy video games Dragon's Lair Epic/Sony Records games Fantasy video games set in the Middle Ages Mattel video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Video games about personifications of death Side-scrolling platform games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Mark Cooksey Video games with rotoscoped graphics