Toronto Thumbs

Byte-Size Review
Dragon’s Lair II – Time Warp

Over the last week I’ve been struggling to find the right approach with regards to From Software’s Ninja Blade – a game that uses quick-time events as a heavily integrated game-play feature. And oddly enough, I’ve also had the opportunity to review the upcoming Blu-ray release of Dragon’s Lair II – Time Warp – a game that is entirely composed of a series of quick-time events. The Don Bluth series of games has often given rise to an argument questioning whether that single mechanic actually constitutes game-play. At my simplest, my vote would be that the requirement of input from the player to receive visual outputs as a response to actions means that it is at least a video game in the two word sense.

As a video game, Dragon’s Lair II is infuriatingly hard. And I say that not just as a gamer, but also as a veteran of every title from the Metal Slug series to date. Controlling Dirk, or signally in what direction he is meant to move or how he should react is handled by five buttons – four directional and one action. Visual cues appear during the animation, signaling what Dirk will be doing should the player respond to that cue in time. These moments are incredibly quick – I did in fact suffer some brief embarrassment when first starting the game, having expected an introduction animation to setup the story. It took me a few minutes to realize that the game had started and wasn’t just looping in error. The game immediately begins as the animation does, and continues without pause right up into the final moments that allow Dirk and Daphne to again pursue their happily ever after.

This type of game-play requires focus and reflex, sometimes feeling a bit unfair given the nature of the cues. For instance, a flashing cue might appear beneath and to the right of Dirk, leaving the player to guess whether the correct action is pushing down, or right on the controls. Overall, the game is a great deal of trial and error, and essentially a matter of memorization. Dirk’s death animations are consistently amusing, but will be seen several times over. Those moments enforce a surprising sense of failure on my part. I felt like I was breaking the animation. And that certainly must be essential to understanding Bluth’s project overall. There’s a rhythm to animation, but the translation to game responses isn’t immediately natural. Yet, if the player can master it and find a groove, there’s this great sense of accomplishment in keeping the animation flowing.

Fortunately this release also allows the animation to be viewed without playing the game. This ensures that if the niche entertainment of the game fades, the animation prevails as the greater source of long term appreciation. There are so many nuances sprinkled throughout this animation that it was a pleasure to simply watch the piece repeatedly. And it’s apparent that where the original Dragon’s Lair fitted animation into an idea of game-play, the sequel is much more inclined to use the game-play as an opportunity for the player to travel through a loose and overly imaginative style of animation that has become increasingly rare. Dirk’s adventure doesn’t merely take him through time in a traditional sense. Instead, sequences involve revisiting Alice in Wonderland, the Garden of Eden, and even Beethoven’s living room. And there’s this freedom of style to the entire piece, a structured but chaotic flow that is really compelling as an animation in its own right. All of this could be rendered within a new game today easily, but would it have the same soul I wonder?

The ample space of the Blu-ray is filled out with an interview, commentary, the ability to play the game in widescreen or original formats – as well as a deleted sequence and playable demos of Bluth’s other two games, Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace. The sound and visuals are as sharp as one would expect from a Blu-ray release. While I’ve never played the original release of the game, the time since its release undoubtedly required a degree of skilled restoration here. What I particularly enjoyed was listening to Don Bluth and Gary Goldman talk about the project, their ambitions, and a factoid about the halt in the game’s development. It’s very rare that special features grab my attention, but the extra content left me wanting even more information about a project that remains relevant for its innovative experimentation. That the animation itself drips with nostalgic value is an added bonus.

Tickle Your Nostalgia Bone With A Trailer For Dragon’s Lair II – Time Warp »

Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp Blu-ray will be available June 2nd and you can learn more about the release by visiting Digital Leisure.

Posted in Blu-ray, Byte-Size Reviews |