Dragon's Lair - Platform Ports

Platform Ports

Dragon's Lair led to the creation of numerous video game ports for home systems. Since some original sequences did not fit in the ports for those systems, they were re-released only in a virtual sequel called Escape from Singe's Castle. A non-linear arcade interpretation of Dragon's Lair and Escape from Singe's Castle with elements of platform and puzzle was made by Software Projects for 8-bit machines in 1986.

The sequence with the drawbridge and eyestalks seen in the attract mode was excised from the original arcade version of the game, but still remains on the laserdisc, playable in fan-made modifications of the program, or in the version of the game released in Europe as well as the Sega CD, PC, DVD, and HD versions.

A platformer adaptation of the game was also made for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES called Dragon's Lair.

The Game Boy version (entitled Dragon's Lair: The Legend) in particular has almost nothing to do with the source game aside from Dirk as the protagonist, Mordroc as the villain, and saving Princess Daphne as the objective. In fact, the game is a port of a five-year-old ZX Spectrum game, Roller Coaster, the result being a platform game where Dirk has to negotiate a series of thinly-disguised fairground rides. The later Game Boy Color version, however, is a relatively faithful rendition of the original game.

The Dragon's Lair Deluxe Pack was released for home computers containing all the FMV for all three games. Though it contains all the video including some scenes cut from the North American version of the game, the gameplay was reported as lackluster.

ReadySoft released Dragon’s Lair for the Apple Macintosh on CD-ROM in 1994. A Sega CD version was also released.

DAPHNE, an emulator for laserdisc based games, can emulate the original 1983 version. DAPHNE requires the ROM files plus the original laserdisc to run. Alternatively, an MPEG-2 video stream and Ogg Vorbis audio stream can be substituted for the laserdisc. These streams can be generated from the original laserdisc or from Digital Leisure's 2002 DVD.

In July 2010 The iOS version is released by Electronic Arts on Apple's App Store. The game graphics have been cleaned up for the iPhone screen.