Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair [GC]

Back in 1983 famous artist Don Bluth united with designer Rick Dyer and the now-classic arcade game Dragon's Lair was born. The title, which followed the exploits of bumbling would-be hero Dirk the Daring on a quest to rescue Daphne the Princess from the evil Dragon Singe, overflowed with character thanks to some truly incredible animation. But even by the standards of the time, it wasn't so much a videogame as it was a mildly interactive cartoon adventure.

Now, 20 years later, Dirk is back, but this time in fully polygonal 3D. Dragon's Lair 3D returns players to the stubborn, booby-trapped castle of the arcade game and builds in new rooms and enemies, puzzles, new storyline details and more. The end result is both nostalgic and decidedly fresh at the same time. More compelling than any of that, though, is the fact that Dirk himself now comes with full freedom of movement and a host of never-before-seen moves, including the ability to arm and disarm original weapons.

But 20 years is a long time, and while Dirk was on vacation the gaming industry pioneered into the realm of 3D and then released game after game, each more polished than the next. Dragon's Lair 3D for GameCube delivers a fun, light challenge, but the overall experience feels downright clunky by comparison to better 3D adventures like Zelda.

The Facts

• Dragon's Lair reborn in full 3D
• True control over hero Dirk in polygonal 3D environments
• More than 250 rooms to explore -- seven times of the original arcade game
• Between 20-30 hours of gameplay
• Close to 40 different characters -- 20 plus new
• Cel-shaded graphics and original art by Don Bluth
• Power-ups, hidden secrets and special unlocks
• Brand new intro and ending movies animated by Don Bluth
• 40 original music pieces, totaling more than 90 minutes
• Brand new Dragon's Lair theme song and music video
• Dolby Surround
• Single-player

Gameplay
Princess Daphne has been kidnapped and it's Dirk the Daring to the rescue. Sound familiar? It's supposed to be. Dragon's Lair 3D is both a remake of the arcade game and an all-new experience to boot. The same premise is back, and indeed you'll even see many of the same rooms and enemies that the knight first encountered in the early 80s. But on top of that the design team at developer Dragonstone has created some 250 rooms in all for an experience that is seven times the size of the classic and filled with brand new puzzles only possible in 3D, more devious enemies and so much more. It's an ambitious effort for sure and hardcore Dragon's Lair fans in this respect are sure to be pleased.

You control Dirk as he explores the booby-trapped castle, battles with enemies, engages in a series of platformer-styled challenges and generally solves puzzles to advance. As far as action-adventures go, this one's actually pretty basic, seeming to follow the Zelda formula to the best of its abilities. The puzzles, a mixture of good and very sloppy, range from having to position Dirk on the right set of tiles to avoid harm, to flipping a series of switches to activate bridges and doorways, and to simply devising the correct way out of a particular environment. Sometimes it's easier written than done, we can assure you and there is definitely a clear sense of satisfaction with having bested some of the puzzles and challenges. There are times, though, when the "try, die, and try again" design -- the backbone of the adventure -- grows extremely thin. It's one thing to meet your end because you miscalculated your defense. It's another thing entirely to find your character ambushed by a booby-trap and killed before you can do anything about it. It's ironic that it's this same formula that both most closely mimics the core of the arcade classic and simultaneously dates the mechanics of the update.

Dragonstone has also worked to mimic the setup of the Zelda series and it some ways it has succeeded. There's no doubting that Dragon's Lair 3D for GameCube lacks polish and it shows. From a camera system that often bangs into walls and barriers and interrupts the pacing to a poor sense of collision detection during enemy battles, and some puzzles that are more baffling than they are obvious, the game could definitely use some improvement. And yet, this doesn't negate the fact that there is at least a useable lock-on feature in place or that the camera system works well enough to get the job done (and can be manually manipulated), which are two claims that at least some other adventure titles cannot make.