Dragon's Lair / Philips CD-i

[darkidol]

I see they released the ancient arcade game Dragon's Lair on XBLA (with kinect support).  Does anyone remember this (or the sequel, Timewarp) in arcades?  Moreover, does anyone remember the Philips CD-i?  I got one for free (short story, but won't tell it) back in the early 90's.  From Wikipedia and Google image search I can say it was mostly likely of the 220 series.  Had a Palm Springs golf game, Escape from Cyber City (felt really hard at the time, wonder if it still would), Caeser's World of Gambling, Text Tiles, 7th Guest, and some Rave CD with flashing graphics (this music was popular in the UK at the time).

I later bought Micro Machines, Litil Divil, and really wanted Mad Dog McCree, which I had liked in the arcades.  Also got both the Link and Zelda games they released as well as some medievil knight story where I remember you had to farm gold.

But my favourite of all was the Don Bluth games they released.  They felt truly arcade perfect ports at a time I was always disappointed with the liberal use of the term 'true arcade port' for home console games.  There were both Dragon's Lair games available as well as Space Ace, and later Brain Dead 13, which took a bit of getting used to before I enjoyed.  The former three were amazing though.  I've bought the XBLA version but haven't downloaded it yet.  I think I've sighed heavily at any quicktime event that's occured in a game I've been playing since the Xbox came out, so I'm a bit apprehensive I'm not going to experience anything like the joy these games used to give when I was younger.

Does anyone remember this console or these Don Bluth games in the arcade?

This is really an appreciation thread, you do a simple google search for 'Philips CD-i' and you'll see nothing but bad reviews, almost copying each other.  There's nothing new in that angle, so it'd be great to hear from anyone that has fond memories of this system.

[dan76]

Yeah, I remember them. I'm just old enough to remember seeing Dragon's Lair when it was first released. Blew us all away, until we played it and thought it was crap - then watched a fella get pretty far into the castle, which made us all interested again. When I was at college the local Pleasure Beach got Dragon's Lair 2 but the damn thing wouldn't get past the second stage...

I think Dragon's Lair 2 is better. The animation is really beautiful and I prefer how you're playing through a more narrative story rather than choppy little stages. Also each "level" has really good themes - Alice in Wonderland, Garden of Eden.

I've got to admit that playing through Black Ops reminded me of Dragon's Lair. It's barely any more interactive and has much less charm. I've owned loads of different versions, most recently the US Wii release, which I think is the best as you can choose different modes for all three games.

[darkidol]

Do you mean Blackpool Pleasure Beach?  If so I think we may have played the same cab!..  All I remember was it was a proper cabinet and was upstairs.  The carpet may have been beige and matted (a bit minging) and they also had Street Fighter (the first game), which was the first time I had ever seen that one.  It must have been between 1991 and 1996 (last time I visited Blackpool), maybe leaning towards the early 90's.  I think the arcade may have been near Ripley's Believe it or Not and not too far from the beachfront.  Maybe it's another UK Pleasure Beach, but it was the Blackpool one I visited.

I agree totally about Dragon's Lair 2; that was the first thing I said to my friend when I saw it was being released (didn't know it had already been ported to PS3 and Wii) - "why are they releasing this one and not the Timewarp one?"  I prefer Dragon's Lair 2 to both the original and Space Ace (with Space Ace to Dragon's Lair - less choppy, harder and actually rewarding when you finally no-miss the end of it).  The change in themes was great and really jarring at times - e.g. when the obese Eve eats the apple.  My favourite was probably the Beethoven level where I liked the cat character.  I reckon both this and Space Ace would have played better to a new audience, though I did play this port they released and I'm sure there were substantial numbers on the leaderboards... so?  Who knows. 

[dan76]

It was Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (where I'm from) - it's like a mini me version of Blackpool. Anyhow, going off topic, I spent many happy times in Blackpool in the mid- late 80's. One year a giant inflatable King Kong was put up on the tower.

There used to be an arcade where a cup of tea cost 10p, just along from the Dr.Who exhibit. When I was last there, about 5 years ago, the Dr.Who exhibit was still going and the arcade had a sign in the window saying "Tea, still only 10p!". Sticking with Blackpool, did you ever go into the Funhouse in the Pleasure Beach. They had a huge "death slide" in there, it was as tall as the funhouse itself. Those were the days.

Back to Dragon's Lair, I was playing the Wii version a fair bit around Christmas, didn't actually 1cc Timewarp, but came close (got to the Egyptian stage). Might have to dig the Wii out again. If you can find a way of "acquiring" with a funny Wii I'd recommend it.