Dragon's Lair officially back on DS to taunt us all over again
And - brace yourselves - it's bringing some friends
Good news for anyone fancying a nostagia hit and, more to the point, needing a reminder of just how good they have it nowadays, with games that can both look good and have some semblance of gameplay.
Dragon's Lair – the original LaserDisc arcade game already announced as coming to DS – has managed to secure Conspiracy Entertainment as its publisher in Europe. It's due for release in early 2008 and its successor, Dragon's Lair II: Warp Time, has been confirmed to follow at a later date, also on DS.
"This is such an important gaming franchise as it falls into one of those conversations 'Do you remember were where you when Elvis or Diana died?'," said Hans Olsen, lead programmer and executive producer at United Coders, somewhat questionably. "Except with this game it's, 'Do you remember in which chip shop or arcade you first played this game?'."
We probably left several fist marks in the wall of the chippy we were at when trying to navigate Dirk the Daring across firey pits by pressing a button at exactly the right nanosecond, so for us it isn't too difficult to recall.
The worry is how the DS will fare when thrown across the room should the gameplay prove as 'challenging'. Still, the handheld version features two modes of play – 1983 Arcade mode and Director's Cut. As you'd imagine, Arcade mode remains 100 per cent faithful to the interactive cartoon experience of the original, whereas Director's Cut – the mode we'll be heading straight to – will play differently, using the stylus for control and offering Rumble Pak and voice recognition support.
Despite our differences with the original game, we're actually intrigued to see if Dragon's Lair can be transformed into an all-round enjoyable gaming experience at last.
Which brings us to Space Ace. Yes, another LaserDisc affair from yesteryear with which we associate traumatic episodes of our youth. Well, Conspiracy has announced it is also bringing it to DS.
Other than the fact it will arrive after Dragon's Lair, there are no details on it yet. We suspect it is likely to get a similar makeover with regards to exploiting the DS's abilities, though. It'll need to.
