Though he's undoubtedly died millions of times, Dirk the Daring certainly has lived a long life through the many re-releases of the Dragon's Lair. The latest reincarnation of the laserdisc-based, Don Bluth-animated arcade game comes in the form of a Blu-Ray disc, playing much the same way as the original.
With the illusion of control, you press the either the Select or directional buttons at precisely the right moment to queue up either successful moves, daring battles or a skin-stripping demise thanks to a giggling Lizard King, slimy lava monsters and googly-eyed purple beasties. You can also play it in the Blu-Ray-friendly PS3 using X button and either the directional pad or the left thumbstick.
DL looks and sounds truly amazing in this HD release, with crystal clear animations that are completely scratch, dust and blur free and 5.1 surround sound thanks to pricey remastering and restorations. This is also the most complete version of the game so far, including the once-excised drawbridge task, all the playable mirrored levels and a couple unplayable clips of scenes that didn't make it into the game.
To help a little with the DL's chronically frustrating and often difficult game play, Digital Leisure has included a few visual clues so you can get a better idea of proper timing and correct direction to move. It makes the game a little easier, reducing – but certainly not eliminating - the number of vulgarities that will spew forth from the most polite gamers when being crushed by the self-filling brick wall for the umpteenth time.
