Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair (known as Dragon's Lair 3D: Special Edition in Europe) is an action-adventure video game released in 2002 by Dragonstone Software. The game is based on Cinematronics' 1983 laserdisc arcade game "Dragon's Lair", and follows a similar story; the hero, Dirk the Daring, must enter the evil wizard Mordroc's castle to rescue Princess Daphne from Singe the Dragon. Many of the characters and locations from the 1983 original make appearances in the game, along with new puzzles, rooms and enemies. Animator  and director Don Bluth, who produced the cartoon animation for the arcade original, also produced two new animated sequences for the opening and ending of the game. The game uses cel shading to mimic the distinctive style of the original. Gameplay. The game is the first in the series to host non-restricted movement for the player. A mostly linear exploration of the castle is broken up with boss fights, many of which are characters from the original arcade game, but not all. Many of the rooms seen in the original are seen again, though some are modified. New mechanics  are introduced by the Dragon Essences that grant new powers. Health and Mana meters are also introduced and can be given upgrades throughout the game. A crossbow is also introduced and is used as an alternative weapon and resourceful object for puzzles. Treasure is also brought into the game to act as optional challenges to complete; collecting all 100 treasures unlocks extra gameplay options such as unlimited mana, alternate character skins, and faster sword charging for use when the player starts a new game. Plot. The story starts as the Princess Daphne is captured by the dragon Singe commanded by  the wizard Mordroc. Dirk sees this as he is riding his horse, Bertram, and unsuccessfully tries to rescue her. Daphne is taken through a portal, but leaves behind an amulet that allows her to talk to Dirk as he works his way through the castle withholding her. Daphne explains to Dirk how the wizard has become extremely powerful and would be undefeatable without the help of the Dragon Essences: magical objects that grant their users abilities and are each guarded by the strongest beings in the castle. Dirk manages to find the princess and goes into battle with Singe, largely  mirroring the original arcade's version of the fight. As the knight walks away with the princess in his arms, he notices a different reflection in a nearby crystal and drops her to find that she is really a dark alter-ego version of himself in disguise. The evil Dirk laughs at the hero for almost falling for his trap and goes on to explain how he is one of the beings holding an essence and that long ago, those who held the essences grew corrupt, thus a civil war between the forces broke out. Dirk defeats the alter-ego  and goes onto gather the rest of the essences, but as he gains a magical set of arrows that are the only weapon capable of dispatching the wizard, Daphne begins to chastise Dirk for picking them up. Soon after, it is revealed that the Daphne speaking to Dirk up to this point was Mordroc impersonating her (much like in ""). Nevertheless, Dirk travels to where the princess is held captive and duels the wizard, who transforms into a dragon. Ultimately, he is defeated by the magical arrows and the knight saves the princess. Reception. The game received "mixed or average reviews  on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Digital Leisure's Dragon's Lair III". In late 2004, Digital Leisure released "Dragon's Lair III". This was based on footage taken from "Dragon's Lair 3D", but using a control system closer to the original and akin to their DVD version of the original "Dragon's Lair". Reviews of this version were largely negative, with CheatCentral noting: "In a nutshell, they've taken footage of someone playing "Dragon's Lair 3D" and turned it into an interactive cartoon, much like the original "Dragon's Lair". [...] You would be  hard-pressed to tell that this was an interactive version of "DL3D"".