Dragon's Lair HD review

A gaming landmark gets totally remastered - for a price

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But while the gameplay still feels moldy, Dragon's Lair HD's animation is anything but. Fans familiar with the arcade original and the previous home releases will be floored to see the restored colors; it's never looked better or brighter. Since the original game was drawn for standard arcade monitors, the 4:3 ratio is the most historically accurate (albeit much larger at 1440x1080), but you'll also find versions formatted for 5:4 (modern flatscreen) and 16:9 (widescreen) monitors. The 1920x1080 widescreen version actually chops off the top and bottom of the original picture, but you can run any of the three resolutions in a window for old-school accuracy.

Dragon's Lair HD requires no-installation- just pop the DVD in the drive and it automatically plays. You can copy the files to your hard drive for a small boost in loading times if you like, but it's not necessary for the casual nostalgic gamer. The soundtrack has been remastered in 5.1 surround, too, assuming your PC has the hardware. Hell, why interact when you can simply click Watch and let the remastered cartoon play out as a movie? You'll curse less.

More info

GenreArcade
DescriptionIf you're expecting modern gameplay, Dragon's Lair HD won't be worth your time - but as an animated artifact, this coin-op classic has truly never looked better.
Platform"PC","Xbox 360"
US censor rating"Everyone","Everyone"
UK censor rating"",""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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