A fantasy adventure where you become a knight on a quest to rescue the fair princess
- NA release: 22nd December 2002
- EU release: 26th March 2004
- NA release: N/A
- Developer: Dragonstone Software
- Publisher: Encore (NA), THQ (EU)
- NGC Magazine: 48%
- Mods Used: None


Depending on region, this was released with the subtitles “Return to the Lair” and “Special Edition”, with none of them being true to what the game is. Dragon’s Lair 3D is a reimagining of the original arcade Dragon’s Lair as a 3D platformer, with some major changes to the story. The cel-shaded design certainly does a good job at evoking the Don Bluth style of the originals, even if it isn’t quite as…animated. Some touches are done really well – such as enemy designs and the movement of Princess Daphne – but others, like Drik himself, don’t really work.
One interesting tidbit is that this game was sort of released on PC – but as an FMV game called Dragon’s Lair III. There’s no new animation, you’re just tapping along as you watch someone play this version of the game. It was supposed to be a bonus “classic” mode for the console version. It seems quite obscure, as the only footage I could find was uploaded two weeks before I wrote this.

In terms of gameplay, they’ve certainly done a great job at translating Dragon’s Lair into a 3D platformer. The game is filled with traps and misdirection, resulting in many deaths. The problem is that, in the original, you were rewarded with a wonderfully animated death, while here it doesn’t really come across the same. Deaths aren’t fun, even if you’re only reset to the start of the room you were in, it’s still tedious trudging back to try another option in the trial-and-error gameplay.

These frustrating gameplay elements are confounded further when the controls come into play. Dirk the Daring was a fast-moving agile character in the original, yet here’s he’s a plodding idiot. The controls are stiff and unresponsive, and having to take out your sword and put it away in order to fight or climb up ledges (which doesn’t always work anyway) is a massive pain. This means you have to contend with both the tricks the game plays on you and unfair deaths from dodgy controls. You do get more abilities as you progress, but I burst out laughing at how bad the glide ability was, with it being tediously slow.

Even the combat is dull, there’s not much do it and it’s far too easy against a single opponent, but frustrating against more as the lock-on is not designed for it. I do like the colour vanishing to denote someone being hit, but it never makes combat fun, and has some really frustrating moments like having to climb a ledge near an enemy. If you get hit while drawing your sword, it get cancelled, which can happen multiple times in tight spaces.

It’s quite a strange game because it sort of manages to pull off what it tries to do really well: be a 3D recreation of the original, with some of the puzzles from the original version re-created as something you can actually interact with. If the gameplay was smoother and combat quicker, I don’t think the deaths from traps would be a huge issue. But as it stands, it’s just not that nice to actually play.

Fine
Vestiges of the unforgiving original remain – one false move and you die – and that simply doesn’t cut it these days. The many scenes from the original which have been reproduced here will certainly twang the heart-strings of soft old retro fans, but the rest of the game isn’t built very well at all. Dirk the Daring frequently falls of ledges and through tiny gaps, and the simple puzzles on offer are mostly just frustrating. So at least it’s true to its heritage in spirit.
NGC Magazine #91
Remake or remaster?
I think with a little bit of a spruce and better controls, such as not needing to sheathe your sword and a faster glide, could turn this into a fun game.
Official Ways to get the game
There’s no official way to buy Dragon’s Lair 3D.
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