Reviewed: June 5, 2009
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Digital Leisure

Developer
Digital Leisure

Released: June 2, 2009
Genre: Action
Players: 1

8
9
8
8
8.4

System Requirements

Dragon's Lair spawned a short-lived era of laserdisc games including the now famous Space Ace, and countless others. Even after arcades started to vanish from the local malls, these laserdisc games persisted in their popularity, spilling over into the PC world in the form of chopped up versions on floppy and eventually CD-ROM’s. Even though Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp was in development around the same time as Space Ace, it was the latter game that actually snuck into arcades before the bottom fell out of the industry. Time Warp was resigned to sit in the video vault as an unfinished product for at least five more years. In fact, is was 1990 before I even knew this title existed, when it first arrived on a stack of 5” floppies. That VGA release was the first and last time I heard about the game until it was released on the Xbox back in 2001.

Now, eight years later, Digital Leisure brings us the original sequel, fully restored and totally intact and in glorious 1080p HD on Blu-ray disc complete with interviews with game creators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, PiP video commentary as the creators discuss their favorite scenes as the game plays out, a “watch mode” so you can simply sit back and watch the story play out without all those troublesome death sequences, and even some lost footage of the deleted Pirate Ship sequence. All of this bonus content is also offered in crisp HD.

The story picks ups several years after the first game, Dirk is married to Princess Daphne, the girl he rescued from the dragon in the first game, and they are living with her mother with a whole litter of little Dirks and Princesses running around. Daphne is kidnapped by the evil wizard Mordroc and taken back into time in an evil plot to make her his wife. Dirk must first escape a hostile mother-in-law, and then set forth on an adventure through time to find and rescue Daphne.

Time Warp stands out for several reasons. First of all is the gameplay. When the original game released people claimed it was too easy. There are some who can recite the entire move list from memory. I was able to master the game in about two days. So when the design team went to create the sequel they created a game that was much more difficult, but one that also told a more linear tale. Gone are the seemingly random rooms, mirrored repeats, and overall lack of story.

We now have a progressive narrative with a compelling reason to keep playing and a rewarding finale. The frequency of the command inputs has been increased greatly for each scene and they have even snuck in some misdirection to throw off the unobservant gamer. Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp is easily the most challenging of all the interactive animated videogames. Best of all, there is hardly any lag or noticeable disc access time in loading the scenes.

The PC floppy version was in pathetic VGA and the Xbox version was only slightly better in MPEG quality but this Blu-ray release will blow you away with a frame-by-frame restoration that features vibrant color and stunning Disney-style animation that Don Bluth is famous for. Don goes on record as saying:

“The visuals and story of this game really bring me back.” says creator Don Bluth. “I haven't seen this game look this good since it was on film, before we put it to laser disc at just TV resolution, two decades ago. It looks and sounds better than ever. You gotta just love Blu-ray and what you can do with sound today. People are in for a real treat with this release!”

Despite the amazing animation and challenging gameplay the nature of the game is still memorization. You only have five possible actions; up, down, left, right, and use the sword, which also doubles as a level for your time machine. Even though the game prompts your next action with flashes of light overlaid on the colorful background art, these visual cues only allow for a fraction of a second of error and you will never win by reflexes alone. Timing is critical, and if you get too confident and start pressing the buttons too soon you are certain to meet all sorts of grisly, albeit humorous demises.

The Blu-ray version of Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp uses the new Blu-ray Disc Java or BD-J. This is an interactive platform supporting advanced content for Blu-ray Discs. BD-J coding allows control of the video, audio and overlays using Java code, which makes Dragon's Lair one of the most sophisticated Blu-ray titles on the market. All Blu-ray Disc players are designed to play BD-J titles based on the Blu-ray Disc Association Specifications, so it will work with the PS3 or any standalone Blu-ray player.

Don Bluth is a masterful animator and you can really tell that a lot of time and care went into the creation of this game. The colors are rich and vibrant and the characters are delightful. Even the scarier creatures have a humorous side that makes this game great for kids of all ages. There are some truly unforgettable moments in this game that are worthy of the big screen.

The sounds and music are better than ever and presented in a powerful 5.1 surround mix for those with the home theater to enjoy it. I was amazed that the audio engineers could go back to the original sound masters and separate all the effects and truly immerse you in this game. The booming voice of the narrator gets you pumped up during the opening movie. Dirk doesn't say much other than a few girlish shrieks during some encounters, and the shrill nagging voice of the mother-in-law is one you won't soon forget.

With remastered HD video and stunning 5.1 surround sound, this is truly a work of art and a great modern tribute to a game that was never given the chance it deserved. Thanks to Digital Leisure and a lot of technical wizardry, we can now all experience this game better than any of us could have expected back in the 80’s. Adults and kids won’t be able to resist the mesmerizing visuals and the memorizing gameplay of Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp.