Dragon’s Lair…. in space!

By Dan Zuccarelli . November 22, 2007 . 4:39pm

 

Back in the hay-day of arcades you could usually get away with creating an entire game around a gimmick (let's be honest it still works a fair amount these days too). One of those gimmicks was the laserdisc. It allowed for fantastic graphics and animation, but severely limited control and interaction. There were a few games out there that took advantage of this system, and the two super famous ones featured animation by Don Bluth.

 

Dragon's Lair is by far the most famous one, and to casual game fans probably the only one they know about. Well Don Bluth did a pseudo-sequel that used the same exact control scheme and animation style, only this time is took place in space. Dragon's Lair is fun for those of us that remember it, can Space Ace fill a similar niche?

 

It's hard to separate in my mind the two games, since they're so inheritely similar. In all honesty the only difference is the locale the game takes place in, space as opposed to a castle. The animation style is the same (not a bad thing, it is Don Bluth after all) but it doesn't do much to make the game feel like a different experience.

 

Even the control scheme is identical. A portion of the screen flashes and you have a split-second to take the controller in that direction. Rinse, repeat.

 

Now as I said, this isn't a bad thing… so long as you like Dragon's Lair. Otherwise there's nothing here that'll make you like this one over the other. It's a fun path to walk back down because I remember wasting quarters on both these games as a young arcade goer. But the gameplay is far to limiting to offer anything other than a nostalgic experience.

 

It seems that Dragon's Lair and Space Ace have been released on just about every format ever, so chances are good that if you don't but it this time you'll have another chance in 5 years when the cycle rolls over again. Though as the arcade memories dim further from view, these games just feel more and more dated.

 

Personally, I enjoyed it. But like I said, more from nostalgia than anything else.