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Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp

Score: 40%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Digital Leisure
Developer: Digital Leisure
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Action

Graphics & Sound:

After Don Bluth and his team released Dragon's Lair and Space Ace to a wildly receptive arcade population back in the '80s, it only made sense to produce a third title in the same vein (to him, anyway). Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp offered smoother animation and fuller environments than its previous laserdisc-based brethren, yet still lacked that tiny underlying factor that so many developers seem to ignore: fun.

But yes, it did look better. As Bluth was the genius behind 'The Secret of NIMH' and other Disney features before starting his own solo company, he certainly had the know-how to create a few engrossing cartoon films in his prime. It's been over a decade since the game's initial release (so many of the colors seem a bit lackluster), yet noticing a step up in quality since Space Ace isn't difficult.

Sound value stayed about the same with one, though; Dirk's grunts and yelps are still pretty much the best part of the game, and Daphne's obnoxious squeals still hurt my ears. Most of the movie has something of a goofy, synthesized soundtrack to accompany particularly eventful scenes -- nothing special compared to some of the brilliant works found in today's titles.


Gameplay:

The evil wizard Mordroc has kidnapped Daphne while Dirk the Daring was away, and now it's up to you to guide Dirk through a series of wormholes in time to get her back. Along the way you'll brave twisted renditions of Alice in Wonderland, the Garden of Eden, and a terrifying mummy's tomb before cornering Mordroc into a final showdown -- all in a day's work for any cartoon hero, of course. But storyline aside, how fun could it really be to play an animated motion picture with the Xbox DVD remote?

Eh, not very. Continuing the 'memorize-or-die' mentality of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, Dragon's Lair II requires gamers to watch for telltale flashes in order to clear each level. When a platform flashes to Dirk's immediate right, the player has less than a second to press the right arrow on the remote before witnessing one of countless hilarious death scenes (and you'll be seeing them a few hundred times before getting close to completing this game). When Dirk's sword flashes, hit the Action button to kill something or swat an object out of the way. Gameplay continues in this manner throughout the title, for roughly an hour or until dementia sets in.

The worst part about all this lies with hardware issues, not really the game itself. Since all DVD players take a second to read information from different points on a disc in rapid succession, each action frame causes the animation to freeze for a brief moment, completely messing up the movie's flow and ticking off the player in the process. It'll take some getting used to, but this is the only way to play Dragon's Lair II on your Xbox -- if that's really what you want to do.


Difficulty:

Be warned: Dragon's Lair II is definitely much, much harder than its predecessors. Although Dirk's next moves are always made evident by all those flashes (unlike the first one), there are often way too many things going on at once to focus on the task at hand. No matter how quick your reflexes are, you're going to die about a trillion times before memorizing the correct sequences to get Dirk through each jam he comes across. It's more than a little frustrating from the start, but that's just how the game works. Fortunately, there's no limit on continues so it's actually possible to beat the game -- although this doesn't provide much incentive to try to conserve lives.

Game Mechanics:

With just five buttons to work with, controlling Dirk isn't too tough; it's the dexterity required that really drives the game (and your mind to the brink of insanity). As long as you get used to pressing the correct button when the window of opportunity is open, you won't be seeing the Xbox's annoying 'Selection Unavailable' message too often.

As added bonus material (what kind of DVD would this be without it?), Digital Leisure has included the pre-production version of Dragon's Lair II where you can check out pencil test animations, trial audio tracks and every death scene intact before they were compiled into the final product. Or, you can opt to watch the full movie run its course without having to play through every action yourself, and even take a gander at the trailers for Digital Leisure's other releases, including Space Ace, Hologram Time Traveler, and Kingdom II: Shadoan.

This is just one of those games reserved for hardcore collectors or those pining for some bittersweet nostalgia. Sure, it's a hoot to watch in its entirety, but it can be a hell of a beast to play through. If Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp had the intuitive gameplay of the first installment or less chaotic design than Space Ace, it could've had the chance to best all other laserdisc-based titles. In the end, though, there's really no good reason to add this one to your Xbox collection.


-Ben Monkey, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ben Lewis

Microsoft Xbox Dragon's Lair DVD Microsoft Xbox Hologram Time Traveler DVD

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated