Legacy
The original Fantasy Machine was later released as a prototype video game console known as Halcyon.
Various home computer adaptations of Dragon's Lair were released during the 1980s and 1990s but because of (at the time) high memory consumption due to the detailed animation of the games, not all the scenes from the original game were included. Reviewers of the home computer versions differed widely in their appraisal of the game, with one Amiga magazine awarding 92% due to the unprecedented audio-visual quality, while another magazine giving the same version a score of only 32% on account of the "wooden" gameplay. This led to Escape from Singe's Castle, a pseudo-sequel where Daphne is kidnapped at the moment of Dirk's victory by a shapeshifter, forcing him to venture even further into the castle to save her again. The game was made up of unused scenes from the laserdisc version, though some portions (such as the lizard king and mud men) were shortened. The 8-bit versions were created by Software Projects, while Readysoft handled the 16-bit versions. These used video compression and new storage techniques, but came on multiple 3.5" floppy disks.
The game also led to the creation of a short-lived television animated series, Dragon's Lair by Ruby-Spears Productions where Dirk the Daring was voiced by Bob Sarlatte and the unseen storyteller that narrates each episode is voiced by Clive Revill. Changes in the TV series included the originally nameless Dragon was given the name Singe (voiced by Arthur Burghardt), Princess Daphne (voiced by Ellen Gerstell) now wore a long pink dress, and included some exclusive characters like Princess Daphne's father King Ethelred (voiced by Michael Mish), Dirk the Daring's horse Bertram (vocal effects provided by Peter Cullen), Dirk the Daring's squire Timothy (voiced by Michael Mish), and Dirk the Daring's rival Sir Hubert Blunt (voiced by Peter Cullen). Several enemies from the original game also make their appearance as adversaries such as the Lizard King, the Phantom Knight, the Giddy Goons, and the Mudmen. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced and aired on the ABC network from September 8, 1984, to April 27, 1985. It was last aired on the USA Cartoon Express between the late '80s and the early '90s, with a commercial bumper showing Dirk inside the train entertaining children with magic tricks while Singe the Dragon ran by his back while Dirk pulled out his sword and chased Singe. The show was generally run of the mill, but boasted an unusual feature: to keep the show in the spirit of the game, before each commercial break the storyteller would ask what the viewer would do to solve the problem facing Dirk. After the commercial break, the outcomes of the various choices were shown before Dirk acts on the correct idea (with the occasional exception) to save the day.
The game inspired a sequel (disregarding the Escape from Singe's Castle as one), Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, created shortly after the original, but released in 1991.
It also led to the creation of 1984's Space Ace, another game animated by Don Bluth and his crew. Space Ace was also a ROM and disc upgrade kit for the Dragon's Lair cabinets, complete with new control panel overlay, side art and header.
Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread was made for Amiga and DOS in 1993, mixing original footage with scenes from Time Warp that were not included in the original PC release due to memory constraints. The game also included a newly produced "Blackbeard the Pirate" stage that was originally intended to be in the arcade game but was never completed.
In late 2002, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original arcade release of the smash hit, Digital Leisure Inc. produced a special edition DVD box set of the three arcade classics that defined laser disc arcade games: Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp. All the scenes from the original arcade releases were included and optionally the player could select new scenes that were animated in 1983, but not included in any previous Dragon’s Lair release. The games were also updated to include higher quality video, authentic scene order and a new difficulty selection to make it more challenging for Dragon’s Lair pros. Digital Leisure worked with a small independent game developer, Derek Sweet, to release a CD-ROM 4-Disc Box Set for Windows based PCs.
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair was developed in 2002, as a 3D interpretation of the game for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, GameCube and the PS2.
A comic book miniseries based on the game, but incorporating elements from the cartoon series as well, like Dirk's horse Bertram, was released in 2003 by Crossgen Publishing, concurrent with a mini series based on Space Ace. Arcana Studio is published the entire comic book series in 2006, as there were three issues that were never before published.
In 2005, Digital Leisure created a new Dragon's Lair III which utilized 3D footage from Dragon's Lair 3D, but controlled via a system like the original arcade games.
In the late 2006, Digital Leisure released "Dragon's Lair HD", which features an all-new High-Definition transfer from the original negatives (as opposed to just sourcing the laserdisc). The original mono soundtrack has also been remastered into Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (on PCs that can support it).
According to Don Bluth and Gary Goldman a Dragon's Lair movie has been scripted and is ready to go into production once financing for the project is in place. The film will be in the classic, traditional 2D animation style. Currently, however, the project is in development hell.
On April 9, 2007, a Blu-ray version of Dragon's Lair was released. This uses the same HD transfer as the aforementioned PC release, but went through a 6 month process to clean and remaster the image. Dragon's Lair Blu-ray is the first title to fully utilize BD-J technology.
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Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 14661536)