Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Dragon's Lair II arcade flyer
Publisher(s) Leland Corporation, Digital Leisure, EA (iOS port)
Platform(s) Arcade, CD-i, PC, DVD, Blu-ray, iOS, PlayStation 3, Wii, DSiWare, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Macintosh
Release Arcade
June 16, 1991
CD-i
DSiWare
  • NA: December 20, 2010
  • EU: July 7, 2011
PlayStation 3
  • NA: June 1, 2011
Genre(s) Interactive movie
Mode(s) Single-player

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a 1991 laserdisc video game by the Leland Corporation. It is regarded as the first "true" sequel to Dragon's Lair. As with the original, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp consists of an animated short film that requires the player to move the joystick or press a fire button at certain times in order to continue. It takes place years after the original Dragon's Lair. Dirk has married Daphne, and the marriage has produced many children. When Daphne is kidnapped by the evil wizard Mordroc in order to be forced into marriage, Dirk's children and his mother-in-law are clearly upset by the abduction of Daphne, and Dirk must once again save her.

Home ports of the game were announced for the Sega Saturn,[2] Philips CD-i, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, and Atari Jaguar CD. However, only the CD-i version was actually released, though non-playable demos of the 3DO and Jaguar CD versions appear on those consoles' respective versions of Brain Dead 13. The game was later ported to the Wii as part of the compilation release Dragon's Lair Trilogy. A PlayStation 3 port was released on June 1, 2011.

Story

Dirk the Daring must find and rescue Daphne with the help of a well-spoken time machine. It seems that the time machine is (or has been) possessed by the brother of Mordroc, the foul wizard that has kidnapped Daphne. Dirk travels through several dimensions and historical eras searching for Daphne, some inspired by classic stories and fairy tales such as Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty, to prevent Mordroc from enslaving Daphne to his whim with the dreaded Death Ring. Voice actor Michael Rye reprises his role as the narrator in the attract sequence, as he did with Dragon's Lair as well as Space Ace.

Gameplay

Gameplay differs from the original in two important ways. First, it follows a linear sequence of events which flow one into the next, as opposed to the randomized sequences of rooms from the first game;[2] "dying" in the sequel also forces the player to resume from a checkpoint in the level rather than starting a randomly different level as in the original. Second, golden treasures are scattered throughout the game; getting each treasure is optional and requires an extra move, but the player is awarded extra points. If the player misses any, at the end of the game it loops back to the first treasure missed. As well, unlike in the first game, the actions the player must do are prompted by a brief flash of what Dirk should use or where he should go next.

Development

Development on the game began in 1983 after the success of the original Dragon's Lair, and finally reached arcades eight years later, hence Leland Interactive's credit on the title screen, although a commercial from Don Bluth Productions featuring completed animation from stage 3 in the game had aired on television in 1984. Actually creating the game's animation took three years.[2]

Stages

  • Stage 1; Dirk is terrified and horrified to death of his angered mother-in-law trying to smack him with a rolling pin or toss destructible objects towards him for her revenge on him because of the kidnapping to his married Princess Daphne by Mordroc. He must flee from her while getting past several creatures and obstacles in the deceased Singe's old castle, including a ravenous snake wearing a Tam o' Shanter, in order to reach the time machine that will allow him to pursue Mordroc.
  • Stage 2; In prehistoric times, Mordroc takes a moment to taunt Dirk as he battles pterodactyls, a T-rex, and two bat-winged centaurs that carry Daphne away. As this happens, the tiny island they are on gradually crumbles into the sea.
  • Stage 3; In 1865, Dirk is materialized in Alice Liddell's house and goes through the looking-glass that hangs over the fireplace. While being dressed as Alice by enemy characters, he tumbles into Wonderland where he faces Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Queen of Hearts, her army of playing card soldiers, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, the Jabberwocky and the Cheshire Cat.
  • Stage 4; In the Garden of Eden, Dirk has to escape from guardian angels, the advances of Eve the fat Lady, two snakes (one wanting to eat Dirk and the other a smooth-talker), and finally, the ruin of Eden itself when Eve accidentally eats the forbidden apple.
  • Stage 5; In 1808, Dirk is shrunk to the size of a mouse in Ludwig van Beethoven's study, where he must avoid the predations of the composer's constant playing the piano with his hands, his wicked hungry cat and the sheer chaos of his creative gust.
  • Stage 6; In Ancient Egypt, Dirk finds what appears to be Daphne (wrapped completely in linen bandages) but is actually Mordroc in disguise, leading Dirk on a wild goose chase as he explores an ancient tomb while narrowly avoiding poison gas, spiders, giant bats, corrosive acid, scarabs, and a giant mummy.
  • Stage 7; At his castle, Mordroc puts the Death Ring on Daphne's finger, which transforms her into a monstrous banshee. Dirk must avoid the monstrous Daphne's mindless attempts to devour him. He must get the ring off her finger, restore her to normal, and defeat Mordroc at the same time. In addition to the alternate scene in the non-arcade version, Dirk has to remove the ring from Daphne and throw it at Mordroc.
  • Final Stage; Although Mordroc is defeated, Dirk must fight off Mordoc's last surviving minions, who are trying to get their revenge on him for defeating their master, so that Dirk safely escapes the crumbling castle with Daphne.

During the course of the game, the player can optionally find and collect "treasures". In the Director's Cut version of the game, gathering all the treasures offers an alternate, shorter and easier second-to-last stage. In it, Dirk must get the Death Ring and then throw it at Mordroc. This also includes three death scenes that were not used in the final release.

Releases

Home computers

Around the time the Arcade was out, an abridged version was released for the Amiga home computers by ReadySoft. It included only some of the scenes and most stages were absent altogether. It included the introduction reaching the machine, followed by the prehistoric stage, the Garden of Eden, and the final stage.[3]

The game was followed by Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread also by ReadySoft. it presented an original storyline with Mordroc's sister, the evil witch "Mordread". She arrives at Dirk's and Daphne's home, and absorbing both the house and Daphne into an orb. This game incorporated the stages of Wonderland and Beethoven's piano from Time Warp but also included some original sequences: an intro, a stage on a pirate ship, a stage in the time realm, and an original ending.

DVD release

Dragon's Lair II was released on DVD on April 17, 2007.

Blu-ray release

Following the release of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace in high-definition for Blu-ray, Digital Leisure said they were working on a Blu-ray version of Dragon's Lair II for some time in 2008. The disc was released on June 2, 2009.

An easter egg on the Space Ace Blu-ray allows the player to play the first scene of Dragon's Lair II in Blu-ray format.

PlayStation 3 release

Dragon's Lair II was released on the PlayStation 3 on June 1, 2011.

Reception

Computer Gaming World called Dragon's Lair II "an exceptional program which suffers from uninteresting game-play". The magazine criticized the game for, like its predecessor, being "a long series of trial and error" instead of testing the player's ability.[4] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the CD-i version a 7.25 out of 10, commenting that it looks and plays just as good as the arcade version, and praising the addition of collectable items. One of the reviewers dissented with the majority opinion, saying that FMV games had lost their novelty and that the game was lacking in interaction.[1] GamePro gave it a rave review. They applauded the sharp and colorful graphics, absence of slowdown, high frame rate, realistic sound effects, and outstanding controls, elaborating that "The CD-i's circular directional pad gives you quicker, more accurate button presses that help you get past every snake, dragon, and mother-in-law in sight."[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Review Crew: Dragon's Lair II". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 65. Sendai Publishing. December 1994. p. 46.
  2. 1 2 3 "Dragon's Lair 2: The Daring Dirk Returns". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 86. Ziff Davis. September 1996. pp. 84–84.
  3. ↑ "Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp for Amiga (1990)". MobyGames.
  4. ↑ Greenberg, Allen L. (March 1992). "As the Worm Turns". Computer Gaming World. p. 74. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "ProReview: Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp". GamePro. No. 67. IDG. February 1995. p. 106.
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