About one year ago, Digital Leisure remaster the legendary Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair to Blu-Ray, the most digitally advanced form of optical media to date. It was only a matter of time before the Dragon’s Lair’s sequel also received this royal treatment.
Just like the first remastering, Dragon’s Lair II Time Warp is now displayed in 1080p, contains developer commentary, “watch” mode is included, and even a bunch of previews of the other classic laserdisc games are also included.
At the time of its release, Dragon’s Lair was known for its unique take on video gaming while mixing the wonders of movie-like animation. Not truly a game but not just a movie, these classic Don Bluth titles are something in-between. As if watching a movie, the player simply has to press a corresponding button on their Blu-ray remote when something glows on screen. For example, if a door glows on the left hand side of the screen, press left. If Dirk’s sword glows, press Enter. The challenge comes from timing and memorization – and challenging this game is. Expect to die much more often than not. In fact, it took me about five tries just to get past the very first screen in the game. If there were Achievement points on these Blu-Ray remakes, getting the “I beat the game” Achievement would be on par with unlocking the Through the Fire and Flames Guitar Hero III Achievement; it will only be unlocked by a select few people.
Because of the game’s challenging difficulty, may gamers will be turned off by it. However, when you think of this title’s origins, it was really designed to suck quarters out of pockets using movie-quality animation. Fan of the series, on the other hand, should eat this disc right up.
Although it is a great remastering, the biggest problem with this release has to be the price. Retailing for about $40 is quite steep for this disc, although some online outlets have been selling it for cheaper (Amazon is currently selling it for $22.99). The $40 price tag would have fit much better if Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace, and Dragon’s Lair II were sold in a bundle. But the higher cost is just like it was in the past; it’s designed to steal money directly out of your wallet while you have a smile on your face.
Fans will love it while newcomers might not enjoy the unforgiving and absolutely brutal difficulty. This fact retains that “take it or leave it” attitude. But no matter which side of the fence you are on, Digital Leisure has done a great job compiling this Blu-ray title.